A hearty, fortifying garlic soup recipe made with roasted and slow-sautéed garlic along with potatoes, shallots, and fresh herbs.
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This recipe was originally posted in October 2014; the photos and recipe were updated in September 2019.
Pumpkin Season is Upon Us
Home decor, especially kitchen appliances, can last a long time, so even though I was born after the heyday of burnt orange and pea green, the palette persisted well into my childhood. Even now, overly warm wood stains, yellow undertones, and dimly lit television shows all send me running for aesthetic cleansing. This may be why I have such difficulty embracing the hues of fall. Besides the pervasive orange-ness of the season, to embrace all things squash or pumpkin is an admission of defeat. For me, pumpkin season signals the end of the growing season, meaning everything from now until April is either a storage food or from someplace else.
So while the vibrant orange starting to spread across the tops of the neighborhood maples is gorgeous, I’ll be holding off on pumpkin season for as long as I can. When the first frosty night hits, when scarves start making sense, then I’ll break out the pumpkins. For now, I’m savoring the last of the local produce from our farm share, herbs from my backyard garden, and big bulbs of crisp local hardneck garlic.
Velvety Garlic Roasted Soup
Another seasonal situation, a family-wide fall cold, sent me into the kitchen for something fortifying, and this velvety, robust-but-not-overwhelming garlic soup was spot on. With one head roasted and the other slow-sautéed, this garlic soup is nicely balanced. There’s also a shallot and a bouquet garni of herbs at work, making for an incredibly good bowl of fall soup. The garlic soup recipe below serves four, but since the soup is even better the next day and reheats like a dream, consider making a double batch.
For best flavor, use homemade vegetable or chicken broth.
A fortifying garlic soup recipe made with roasted and slow-sautéed garlic, along with potatoes, shallots, fresh herbs, and lots of black pepper. This recipe was originally posted in October 2014; it was updated in September 2019.
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 large heads hardneck garlic (12 – 15 cloves each), divided
- 1 large shallot, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 sea salt, divided, plus more as needed
- 1/4 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon white wine
- 4 - 5 cups rich broth (chicken or vegetable)
- 4 sprigs each fresh thyme and parsley, tied with twine
- 2 medium russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
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Trim root end off one head of garlic. Set cloves, trimmed side down, in a small, oven-proof ramekin. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch sea salt. Cover with foil, set on a rimmed baking sheet, and slide into oven. Roast garlic about 15 minutes, or until garlic is soft, but not at all brown. Once garlic is done, carefully remove foil and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, slide cloves out of their skins and reserve. Reseve garlic-infused olive oil.
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Meanwhile, trim, smash, and peel remaining head of garlic. In a heavy bottomed 2- or 3-quart pot, 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add cloves to pot, along with the sliced shallots, a generous pinch sea salt, chili flakes, and several twists black pepper. Sauté 2 - 3 minutes, then turn heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until garlic and shallots are transluscent and fragrant, about 20 minutes.
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Next, turn heat to medium, add white wine, scrape up any brown bits, then pour in 3 cups stock. Add potatoes, reserved roasted garlic cloves and olive oil, and tied herbs (or bouquet garni), along with a 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.
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Bring mixture to a boil, and then turn heat down to a bubbling simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
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Remove bouquet garni and carefully puree soup in a blender. Return soup to pot, adding up to 1 - 2 more cups of broth, depending on your preferred texture. Add sea salt to taste, add a splash more white wine if needed, lots and lots of black pepper, and serve topped with minced thyme and parsley leaves.
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The flavor will develop further after a day in the fridge. The soup reheats beautifully, but does tend to thicken – keep a 1/2 cup of stock (water will work, too) on hand to thin soup if needed.
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Wow! The flavors in this just pop right off the page — I haven’t even had breakfast and you’ve got me craving garlic!
Yay! Glad the recipe struck a flavor craving for you Sue.
Please don’t use extra virgin olive oil to cook with. Once it’s heated it essentially becomes burning plastic. But thank you for the recipe, I’m trying it out today 🙂
Hi Hayley, Thank you for trying out the recipe! I do want to note that olive oil has been cooked with for millennia and is perfectly safe as long as it is not heated past the smoke point (and even then, it’s largely safe!). This recipe is an ideal use of EVOO! Here’s some more info: https://www.seriouseats.com/cooking-with-olive-oil-faq-safety-flavor
I am all over this!! LOVE this flavour. And gorgeous photos, as always.
Thanks, Katrina. I can never have enough garlic and it sounds like you’re a fan too. xo
I’m not generally much of a soup person but I am totally smitten with the idea of this! I love that it’s rich and flavourful without being too heavy – perfect for this time of year when I’m also totally in denial about the orangeness of the season!
So glad to have another orange-fighter on board. Thanks for stopping by, Kathryn.
i so appreciate seeing non-pumpkin/orange fall recipes, too. not that i dislike any of the orange stuff, i just want variety. your soup looks lovely. i got two surprise heads of local garlic in my CSA last week (and totally used them already) but am hoping i get some more this week so i can try this soup.
Ohhhh, local garlic is my favorite. In the spring, I will often eat it raw, but this time of year it often has a little more kick. I’m jealous!
Elizabeth, your delicious soup looks like the perfect seasonal transition dish! I bet that garlic worked its magic on your family’s cold. I hope so.
xoxo from Berkeley,
E
Hi Erin, Always such a pleasure to see your lovely face here. I think the garlic did the trick! Hope the Berkeley fall is splendid, and damp. xoxo
Oh yum! You know, I was never a huge fan of french onion soup, but garlic soup is something I can get behind. Hope you all are feeling better.
Hi Autumn, Oh man, I love the French onion soup too, but do find the sweetness *and* beef broth can be pretty rich. This garlic one’s a total charmer, though.
Saving this recipe now! Beautiful photos.
Glad to hear it, Ashley! And thank you.
incredible, elizabeth! garlic soup is my absolute favorite, can’t wait to make this!
Hi Lindsey, Happy to hear you’re a garlic lover too! I can already tell that this soup’s going to play a major role in getting me through the winter months. Cheers!
Lovely job, Elizabeth! Garlic soup is a favorite – gonna give yours a go soon!
Yes! Glad you think so, Mallory!
Garlic soup? Oh heck yes! This looks so good. And beautiful photos. Love the warm tones in them 🙂
Thanks Kristie! It’s a good time of year for a little warm toned goodness. Appreciate you coming by.
This looks amazing Elizabeth! Looks so comforting!
Thanks Millie! Comfort is always a good thing.
This garlic soup looks delicious and the pictures are stunning! I am definitely going to try this.
Glad to hear it, Irina. Thanks for the picture love.
that looks delicious! (says the girl who can’t get enough garlic!)
Hi Crista, Don’t worry. You are not alone.
I’m confused about when to add the garlic that has been roasted. Did I miss that when I read the recipe? Also if you add a splash of wine at the end wouldn’t it have a raw wine taste? Or would you simmer the soup a little longer?
Looks delicious. I’ve been wanting to make a garlic soup.
Hi Jazz, You’re right –– thanks for catching that! I just updated the recipe to include adding the roasted garlic with the potatoes. As for the wine splash at the end, I leave that as an option, but it’s just to taste. I like a hit of brightness in everything, whether that’s a little lemon, vinegar, or wine. In my tests of the recipe, the final splash (just a teaspoon or so) added the tiniest hint of sourness and bite, but you should absolutely skip it if it’s not appealing to your palate.
Several omissions in this recipe. When do you add the herbs? What happens with the roasted garlic cloves?
Hi Jill, Thanks for catching that. The recipe’s been updated –– both are added at the same time as the potatoes.
There is something so comforting about roasted garlic. Sounds like a wonderful soup!
Hi Marie, I so agree about roasted garlic. It just makes everything better.
The perfect way to deal with a cold. I’m going to mark this one down for a day when we’re going to get stuck inside because of a blizzard. This, a roaring fire, followed by a hot toddy.
Oh man, Brian, that sounds amazing. And now i have a raging case of blizzard *and* fireplace envy.
I have never heard of garlic soup before but I know I want a bowl or two of it.
Yay! Glad you found the recipe intriguing, Jamie! Thanks for stopping by.
Very excited to try this recipe. Also curious where the plates were found?
Hi Jill, They’re from Anthropologie, but I don’t think they carry them any more. Sorry!
This is my favorite soup…have you tried it with black garlic…it’s delicious! Beautiful photos…happy nesting.
“Home decor, especially kitchen appliances, can last a long time, so even though I was born after the heyday of burnt orange and pea green, the palette persisted well into my childhood. Even now, overly warm wood stains, yellow undertones, and dimly lit television shows all send me running for aesthetic cleansing. This may be why I have such difficulty embracing the hues of October.”
I’ve been trying to articulate this icky fall feeling for 35 years. You NAILED it. And you love garlic. We are soul sisters. Can’t wait to try this!
This was really good!! I only had 1 potato so I threw in 2 big handfuls of cauliflower too. It was oh so velvety and garlicky. I’ve had a little cold the past couple of days, and as I sipped on this soup, I felt my ears open and my head clear. Thanks so much!
In the final photo it looks like the soup has not been puréed. I like the idea of it being brothy with chunks or garlic and potatoes. Do you think that would still work? Also did you garnish with shaved Parmesan?
Hi Kristina, The final picture is of the soup just before the puree. It’s a matter of texture preference, and I think it would be quite delicious either half pureed, or left entirely chunky. I’d cut the potatoes into a dice or 1/2-inch cube, and possibly reduce their cook time – just long enough for them to be tender but not mushy.
The pale shapes in the final photo are of the potato pieces floating to the surface. I’m always up for adding Parmesan, and it sounds like a nice addition!
Thanks for stopping by!
Delicious! This is the first recipe I’ve tried from your site and man it was really really tasty. I ran out of white cooking wine so added a splash of white wine vinegar instead – I think it got the slight tang needed.
I love garlic and I love this soup! Can’t wait to try out more of your recipes.
im not really into making stock, can i just use water and add chicken instead?
Hi there! If you’re not into making stock, I’d suggest store-bought. The stock provides the base for the soup’s flavor, and, unless simmered for hours with onions, celery, and carrots, the combination of chicken and water will be relatively flavorless. My favorite store-bought stock is Imagine brand chicken stock – it tastes the closest to homemade.
Great recipe. How about adding a poached egg on top?
Ooooh, I love that idea! The flavors would be wonderful. Thanks for checking out the recipe, Ann!
Oh I love garlic so much and this is right up my street! More garlic the better!
Rae http://www.foodnerd4life.com
I have just made this and it is hands down the best soup I have ever eaten in my entire life. Is it wrong that I had a side of garlic bread? No vampires round me! Thank you for this x
I made this tonight because my husband and son were recalling a garlic soup they had in Spain when they were walking the Camino de Santiago some years ago. A couple of thoughts… most of the heads of garlic that I had didn’t have anywhere near that many cloves in them so I ended up using about 9-10 heads of garlic for a triple recipe. Perhaps I got too much garlic (?), but the soup did seem to need to be “smoothed out” some when I finished with it. So, instead of adding more stock I added probably about a cup or so of heavy cream. It was served then with a garnish of sour cream, olive oil and parsley. We also added some smoked paprika for serving. In the end it tasted really good and my guys thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for the recipe. And we’re anxious to try it tomorrow when it has had some time to mellow. I did make a triple batch.
Just found this recipe and made it last night-sooooo good! Two alterations. I didn’t have fresh parsley so subbed in some rosemary along with the thyme and loved it. Also added about 1/2-3/4 cups each of heavy cream and milk at the end and then heated back up to a simmer prior to serving. It was amazing with homemade focaccia.
My husband grows different varieties of garlic in our garden so I made a double batch and used four different kinds – polish stiffneck, godfather, Russian red and chesnok. I don’t know if that made a difference but this is a very good recipe. It’s better the next day and freezes well.
I am going to make this today—so do you actually cook on low for 30 min, the 1 tablespoons of oil and smashed garlic after sautéing it? Wouldn’t that small amount burn? Or is it supposed to be 3 min?
Hi Lauren, In my testing, the garlic did not burn, but you could definitely skip that step if you prefer. I found the recipe to be kind of awkwardly written, so I’ve edited it for clarity. I hope you enjoy the soup!
Love this delicious with these all such garlic soup recipe made with roasted and slow-sautéed garlic along with potatoes, shallots, and fresh herbs. Thanks for sharing this
Super excited to try this delicious one Garlic Soup, never tried this before . Best way to boost Immune System specially in pandemic like days during lockdown. Thanks for sharing this soup recipe with us.
Hi inhave to make this. I have never roasted garlic
before. Does it go into the oven whole and then take apart or do I separate the cloves while raw and put in oven. Thanks
Hi Theresa, Yes – you slice off the root and woody parts from the bottom, cook the head of garlic whole, and then squeeze the cooked cloves out of their skins once the garlic has cooked and cooled. It’s SO delicious and easy once you get the hang of it. Happy cooking!
One more thing: depending on how woody and big the root is, the head will come apart when the bottom is sliced off. If this happens, just gather the cloves and cook them together cut side down.
For y’all making this, be careful about the 20 minute cook on the shallots and garlic. Unless you are cooking on top of a match they will be burnt to a crisp in 14 minutes. Here I sit with blackened bits and ordering delivery food.
This roasted and slow-sautéed garlic along with potatoes, shallots, and fresh herbs recipe seems amazing and unique.