Whether you believe in garlic’s legendary flu-fighting reputation or simply love its flavour, this creamy French Garlic Soup made with 50 cloves of garlic is pure comfort in a bowl!
Nagi's Notes
I know – 50 cloves of garlic sounds INSANE!!! But you will be so amazed, the garlic flavour in the soup is incredibly mild and mellow, sweetened from sautéing until golden in butter. There is no hint of harsh raw garlic flavour at all. It’s completely addictive and I swear it has worked wonders to cure my cold!!
PS While we don’t always use pre-peeled garlic, if there was ever a recipe where it’s encouraged, it would be this one! 🙂
50 Clove Garlic Soup
French Garlic Soup is a traditional rustic soup made by simmering a generous amount of garlic clove in a broth until it becomes sweet and mellow, without any trace of the harshness of raw garlic. There is no single way to make it, though there are some well known regional styles such as in South West France where garlic soup is finished with egg ribbons (tourin) and in Provence which is heavy on herbs and finished with a dollop of aoili.
The version I’m sharing today is a simple homestyle one that is my take on this French classic. I created it because the cold days are here in Australia and everyone seems to be getting unwell. Garlic is known for its “good-for-you” reputation, and though I can’t promise that a bowl of this soup will cure your cold, I can promise that there is no better way to consume five whole heads of garlic. And it will keep the vampires away!!
What Goes in Garlic Soup
Here is what you need. As Nagi mentioned above, you can use pre-peeled cloves to save time. However, I forbid you to use garlic in jar or tube form for this recipe!
Garlic – The star of the show. Fresh garlic only! This is one recipe where there’s really no substitute. Garlic pastes from jars or tubes have a noticeably different flavour because of the preservatives, often with a slightly sour taste. So don’t even think about it. (That’s the part when you’re supposed to say “Oui chef!”)
Onion – Essential flavour base, don’t skip it!
Potatoes – What makes the soup velvety. As they simmer, they break down and blend into a naturally creamy soup. Use the starchy kind:
– Australia – Sebago (dirty brushed / common washed potatoes), you can get it at any supermarket. Do not use the waxy kind (red potatoes, new potatoes) because they are low in starch and will not break down as much when boiling to create a creamy soup.
– US – Russet, Yukon Gold.
– UK – Maris Piper, King Edward.Vegetable stock / broth – The liquid for the soup. Tastier than water! Use low sodium, though if you’ve only got regular salted stock, just reduce the salt listed in the ingredients 1/2 teaspoon.
If you can make your own homemade vegetable stock, please do! You’ll have to increase the salt quantity by 1/2 teaspoon.
Cream – Thickened cream / heavy cream. Just enough to add richness and round out the flavours.
Butter – Unsalted, for sautéing the vegetables.
Salt – The usual cooking salt / kosher salt, for seasoning.
White pepper – I prefer white pepper here because it blends seamlessly into the soup, keeping the beautiful pale creamy colour free from little black speckles.
How To Make Garlic Soup
This is a very simple soup and if you’ve survived peeling five heads of garlic, you’ve already conquered the hardest part of this recipe. All you have left to do is gently cook the garlic until golden, simmer everything until the potatoes are tender, then blitz until silky smooth. It doesn’t get much easier than this!
Sauté the garlic in butter until light golden, stirring regularly to prevent it catching on the bottom of the pot. At this stage it should smell sweet and fragrant rather than sharp.
Add onion and cook for 2 minutes until softened. By then, the garlic should be golden.
Stir in potato and cook for 1 minute, to coat all pieces in the buttery garlic mixture.
Simmer – Add the stock, water, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft (check with a knife).
Cream – Add the cream and simmer for another 1 minute.
Blitz and serve – Blitz with a stick blender until completely smooth. Taste, adjust the seasoning and thickness if needed or add more cream if you want a richer finish. Then ladle into bowls and I encourage you to garnish the soup with a crunchy topping – see next section.
Garnish options for Garlic Soup
I always like to garnish creamy soups with something that will bring a bit of texture. Croutons is the obvious choice (see here for recipe), or for an out-of-the-packet options, crispy fried shallots is convenient.
I’ve used panko breadcrumbs that I toasted with olive oil to make it golden and crunchy with a little pinch of salt and finely chopped parsley for a bit of colour. I like the way it can be sprinkled all across the surface of the soup so you get a bit of crunch in every spoonful – because there never seems to be enough croutons!
I’d love to hear what you think if you give it a try. And if you have any questions, please drop them below – I keep a close eye on questions for the first few days after publishing new recipes so I will be sure to answer them. Bon appétit! – JB
FAQ – 50 Clove Garlic Soup
Not at all! Raw garlic is sharp, but slowly cooking it in butter mellows it dramatically, bringing out its natural sweetness. The finished soup has a rich garlic flavour that’s delicate rather than overpowering.
Yes! Pre-peeled garlic works perfectly well and will save you a lot of peeling. The flavour is usually a little milder than freshly peeled garlic because it’s been washed and exposed to air, but the soup will still be delicious.
I don’t recommend using garlic from jars or squeeze tubes, though. They contain preservatives that give the garlic a slightly sour, artificial flavour, which really stands out in a recipe like this where garlic is the star.
Absolutely. It tastes also great the next day once the flavours have had time to develop. Reheat gently over a medium-low heat stirring regularly until hot.
Yes! Let the soup cool completely before freezing in airtight containers for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat gently on the stove. The panko garnish is best made fresh.
Watch How To Make It
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50 Clove Garlic Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp / 50g unsalted butter
- 1 2/3 cups / 250g (50 – 60 cloves) peeled garlic cloves, roughly chopped (5 medium bulbs ~ 60g / 2oz each before peeling) (Note 1 & 2)
- 1 small brown or yellow onion (or 1/2 large), diced small
- 1.5 kg / 3.3 lbs starchy potato , peeled and cut into 2.5cm / 1" cubes (Note 3)
- 3 cups vegetable stock / broth , salt-reduced (Note 4)
- 3 cups water
- 2 tsp cooking / kosher salt , halve for table salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper powder
- 1/2 cup thickened cream (heavy cream)
Soup Garnish
- 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (Note 5)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8 tsp cooking / kosher salt , halve for table salt
- 2 tsp finely chopped parsley
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Cook garlic 5 minutes in butter. Onion 2 minutes, potato 1 minute then add stock, water, salt and pepper. Simmer 15 minutes. Add cream, cook 1 minute. Blitz and serve hot with garnish.
FULL RECIPE:
- Sauté – Heat butter in a large heavy base pot over medium high heat until melted. Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. The garlic should be nicely golden on the edges. Don't let it brown too deeply or it can become bitter.
- Add onion and cook for 2 minutes until softened.
- Add potato and cook for 1 minute, stirring regularly.
- Simmer 15 minutes – Turn the stove up to high. Pour in stock and water. Season with salt and pepper. Stir, then once it comes to a simmer, lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes (no lid) until the potatoes are soft (check with a knife). (Note 6)
- Stir in cream, simmer for 1 minute.
- Blitz – Remove from the heat and use a stick blender to blitz until fully smooth. Or puree in batches in a blender. Adjust to taste – Add water if it's too thin, salt and pepper if needed, extra cream if you want it richer.
- Serve hot in bowls with toasted panko garnish, a drizzle of olive oil and warm crusty bread. 😋
Garnish (to make while the soup is cooking):
- Mix panko, olive oil and salt in a small bowl until all combined. Heat up a small frying pan over medium high heat. Place the panko into the pan and cook stirring constantly for 3 minutes until nicely golden all over. Remove from stove, toss in the parsley and set aside.
Recipe Notes:
- Australia – Sebago (dirty brushed / common washed potatoes you can get at any supermarket. Do not use red potatoes or new potatoes. The waxy kind that you use for potato salad because they are low in starch so will not break down as much when boiling to create a creamy soup).
- US – Russet, Yukon Gold
- UK – Maris Piper, King Edward
Nutrition Information:
Life Of Jaffle
Winter soups and Jaffle seem to go together very well! He spent the whole shoot sitting patiently in the studio with us, watching every bowl of garlic soup being photographed as if he was supervising the whole operation.
By the end of the shoot, all he wanted was a few pats and a cuddle, which, of course, he got. Life is exhausting when you’re the official RecipeTin Eats taste tester in training… even if you’re not allowed anywhere near the garlic!
The soup looks wonderful, but will we have ‘garlic breath’ for 2 days after eating it? I may need to plan accordingly if we will. 🙂
Do you think this could work in the Instant Pot as long as the garlic etc are sautéed first?
Question: could you use chicken broth, if that’s all you have in the pantry?
Hi Joan, yes chicken stock or broth can be used instead of vegetable. It will gives the soup a more savoury flavour, while vegetable stock lets the garlic shine a little more. But both are delicious. 🙂
possibly I’m a heretic asking this question. I was wondering if yoghurt could be substituted for the cream. Thanks Nagi.
Hi Jon, not a heretic at all haha! You can use yoghurt, I’d recommend full-fat Greek yoghurt for the best result. Stir it in right at the end over a very low heat and don’t let the soup boil afterwards, otherwise it can split. The soup won’t be quite as silky as the cream version, but it will still be lovely, with a little tang.
Donc JB, dix gousses de plus que le poulet? Farce à part, j’essaie cette recette sous peu. Merci pour toutes tes recettes. .
Oui, c’est ça! 😂 Merci Patrick, et de rien!
I adore garlic soup! And since everything on your website is fabulous, I can’t wait to make this! And puppy is getting big fast, yes? PS-LOVE the French recipes, Thank you!!!
Thank you so much Lorna for your kind comment. Please make it soon!
OMG 😋 JB you have done it again!
My husband and I just made this – WOW very very tasty. Perfect amount of Garlic. He couldn’t wait to put it into the bowl he kept eating out of the saucepan!!
We absolutely love yours and Nagi’s recipes.
My husband absolutely adores your crepes it’s a Sunday morning ritual!
Thank you so much for sharing. E and K
Wow Elise! I think you are the first person in the world – other than JB and I – to make this!! I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed it so much Elise. I have had a LOT of this soup in the past week!! Very happily having leftovers day after day! 🙂 – N x
Hi Elise, thank you so much for leaving a message here! I’m so impress that you guys have made it already and so happy that it was a HIT! Thank you again for your kind words ♥️
Where do you rate this soup amongst others you make Nagi? I’m from the UK and Pea &Ham was always my go to until I starting making your Zuppa Toscana. It’s the best ever winter soup in my book!
Hi Wayne, that’s high praise, thank you! Zuppa Toscana is definitely one of those hearty, substantial soups that’s hard to beat on a cold winter’s day. This garlic soup is a little different. It’s much more traditional in the way classic soups are made. It’s lighter and more delicate. If you love garlic, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by just how much flavour such a simple soup can have.
I have to admit… while every recipe posted looks (and turns out!) absolutely AMAZING, the first thing I do on every single post is go straight down to the Jaffle pics!!
Haha, I think you are not the only one Illy! ♥️ 🦮 Thank you for your kind words.
Definitely cheaper if Garlic is already peeled. $6/kg at the fruit and veg shop but imported from China
Your choice Anna.
I live in South East Asia and was there during a cholera outbreak in the 1970’s.
Read on……………..
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67662779
I can’t wait to make this soup. It looks utterly delicious. And thank you for the panko garnish, I would never have thought to do that with breadcrumbs.
Oui chef! And my thoughts to those in Bordeaux facing the wildfires. Vous êtes cher à mon cœur
Thanks Dale, hope you like it!
You’re right : garlic soup is a famous feel-good anti-cold soup ! Your recipe looks very tempting : very silky, creamy and comforting.
I am visiting my son in Switzerland and though it’s summer here, the evenings are very chilly! I will suggest your soup and serve it with croûtons ! Thank you Chef !
Thanks Adeline, yes garlic is so good for you! Enjoy your holidays in Switzerland! ♥️
Can’t wait to try this but do you leave the garlic cloves halved or cut smaller ?
I’m wondering the same thing
Hi Ann, check out the video on the page, JBs cutting skills taught me the better method to cut an onion! He chops the garlic in it too. I love watching the recipe videos, but they make me hungry! I can’t wait to try it too!
Hi Ann, you have to cut them roughly after peeling. Thank you for pointing that out, I’ve updated the garlic in the recipe card ingredients.
I remember a friend making croutons by cutting the bread with alphabet cutters and had each guest’s name on their soup.
I might borrow that idea Sam! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love love love garlic so this has my name on it to make. Thank you JB
Thank you Ingrid, I hope you can make it soon!
He’s getting so big….
I will be making this soup for sure this winter and maybe even before
Thanks Rosalea! 🙂
Im just wondering if I could use elephant garlic instead of normal garlic. It would save an enormous amount of peeling.
Hi Esther, you can definitely use elephant garlic if you can get your hands on it. Just bear in mind that elephant garlic is more closely related to onions and leeks and have a much milder flavour than regular garlic.
This soup looks divine ! Sydney is tropical compared to The Macedon Ranges in Victoria !! I definitely miss living on the South Coast !! Jaffle will graduate with honours soon to Offical Taste tester with Dozer’s blessing 💛🧡
Thanks for your message Tiff! Yes, I think Jaffle will graduate soon, he is almost ready 🙂