50 Clove Garlic Soup

5 from 2 votes

Recipe video above. I created this French garlic soup because the cold days are here in Australia and everyone seems to be getting unwell. While garlic isn't a miracle cure, it's been known for its "good-for-you" reputation, and there's no better excuse to enjoy five whole heads of it. It's a silky, comforting soup with a sweet and mellow garlic taste - no harsh raw garlic flavour at all - served with crisp golden panko for a perfect crunchy finish. Exactly the kind of thing I crave on a cold winter's day.

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Appetiser, entree, Soup

Cuisine: French

Keyword: 50 clove garlic soup, Garlic soup

Servings:

Calories: 515cal

Author: Chef JB (RecipeTin)

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

Cups - Metric

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.

Notes

1. Garlic - Garlic head sizes vary, but as a guide I used 5 medium heads weighing about 60g / 2 oz each before peeling (around 300g / 10.5 oz total). You can also use pre-peeled garlic if you prefer. It works perfectly well, though I find fresh garlic has a brighter, more complex flavour while pre-peeled garlic can be a little milder because it has already been washed and exposed to air. The soup will still be delicious.

2. Peel garlic - The quickest way I've found to peel this much garlic is to separate all the cloves, cut each one in half lengthways, then peel them individually. Once cut, the skins loosen and slip off much more easily, making the job surprisingly quick.

3. Potato -

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

4. Stock - If you can make your own vegetable stock, I couldn't recommend it more. You will have to add an extra ½ teaspoon of salt to compensate for the salt that's already present in store-bought stock and keeps the soup well seasoned.

5. Panko - Panko are Japanese-style breadcrumbs. They’re lighter and crispier than regular breadcrumbs. You can buy it at most big supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths) in the Asian foods section and Asian stores. If you can't find it you can blitz stale bread or make croutons from this recipe.

6. Simmering - Keep the soup at a steady simmer over medium heat, with bubbles breaking the surface. Don't let it boil vigorously, but don't keep it too low either. A proper simmer will cook the potatoes through evenly so they blend into a silky, smooth soup without lumps.

Leftovers and storage - Leftovers will keep for 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave, adding a splash of water or stock if the soup has thickened. It also freezes well for 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat gently until hot. The crunchy panko garnish is best made fresh.

Nutrition per serving. Assuming 5 large servings.

Nutrition