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    Garlic Soup

    Ward off everything from vampires to the weeknight dinner blues—and maybe even the common cold—with our ultra-craveable, creamy, pancetta-topped roasted garlic soup.

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    garlic soup in a bowl with a spoon

    Garlic, and Garlic, and More Garlic, Oh My!

    Our creamy garlic soup recipe calls for four heads of garlic—not cloves, heads. Now, before you worry that you’re going to have to eat this soup in the privacy of your bedroom and wait six-to-eight weeks before socializing again, hear us out. While fresh, raw garlic is a powerful allium that packs a seriously sharp punch, roasted garlic is a different beast entirely. Once roasted, fresh garlic cloves melt and become sweet, taking on a mellow, almost nutty flavor. This sweet and yielding iteration of garlic is what our garlic soup is built on—nothing sharp here. Just purely flavorful, creamy bowls of comfort.

    kale, onion, 4 heads of garlic, pancetta, chicken stock, parmesan, heavy cream, olive oil, salt and pepper for soup

    What Is Garlic Soup?

    It’s just what it sounds like—garlic-centric soup! Just as cream of mushroom soup is a creamy ode to mushrooms, this is essentially a cream of garlic soup and it’s a garlic-lovers dream. Our easy garlic soup recipe is a love letter from us, to garlic. And it’s about time we wrote one, right? We put it in everything! Lovely fresh garlic heads roasted to soft sweetness, caramelized onions, heavy cream and chicken stock, then puréed to silky perfection. Wilted kale lends an air of health, while fried pancetta balances that out with plenty of rich fat—skip the pancetta and you’ve got a vegetarian-friendly soup on your hands. Garlic soup is easy, versatile and CALLING. YOUR. NAME.

    raw garlic heads wrapped in foil with olive oil
    four roasted garlic heads on foil
    Roasted garlic in a bowl
    Garlic Soup 5

    How to Roast Garlic

    No garlic soup recipe is complete without a fool-proof, easy roasted garlic recipe, obviously! Here’s how to roast garlic:

    • Preheat your oven to 350°
    • Slice the tops off of your garlic heads, just enough to expose the cloves.
    • Drizzle the cloves with olive oil.
    • Wrap each garlic head, cut side up, in foil.
    • Roast the foil-wrapped garlic 45 minutes.
    onions and olive oil in a stock pot
    roasted garlic and stick in a blender
    creamy garlic soup in a blender
    creamy garlic soup with raw kale in a large pot

    Is Garlic Soup Good for You?

    The possible health benefits of garlic have actually studied pretty extensively, and raw garlic does seem to contain powerful antioxidants, antimicrobial possibly antiviral properties. That said, this soup is a “maybe a little bit healthy” at best. Our garlic soup recipe features roasted garlic, instead of raw—which is the type of garlic that has been studied the most—so unfortunately many health benefits might be lost in the roasting process. Plus, the heavy cream and pancetta *might* cancel out any other benefits the soup may offer. But! What’s good for the soul is good for the body, right? And we can say for sure that this soup is our version of soul food. We definitely believe that garlic soup has curative properties.

    Tools You’ll Need

    pot of creamy garlic soup with kale
    garlic soup in a bowl with kale and crispy pancetta

    Soups On.

    Nothing says love like a bowl full of comforting soup. Whether it’s been a particularly long day, or a friend or loved one just needs a pick-me-up, these fast-cooking and soul-satisfying soups hit the spot, every time.

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    • This Coconut Chicken Soup is infused with lemongrass and red curry paste was inspired by one of our favorite Thai takeout dishes.
    • Dried ramen noodles and fresh ginger, garlic and sesame oil come together in this brilliant Easy Chicken Ramen Soup hack you can feel good about serving to your family.
    garlic soup topped with crispy pancetta
    creamy garlic soup with kale and pancetta in a bowl

    Roasted Garlic Soup For The Win!

    This roasted garlic soup is a total win, right? The next time you’ve got a pot simmering away, share it with us by posting a pic to Instagram and tagging @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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    Roasted Garlic Soup with Kale, Parmesan and Crispy Pancetta

    Originally published: October 25, 2015

    • Serves: 4
    • Prep Time:  5 min
    • Cook Time:  1 hr 10 min
    • Calories: 391
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    Ingredients

    • 3-4 heads of garlic
    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 4-8 oz pancetta, diced
    • 1 small onion, chopped
    • 4 cups chicken stock
    • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
    • 2 cups kale, ribs removed, shredded
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp pepper

    Method

    1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
    2. Trim the tops off 4 of the heads of garlic. Just enough to expose all its cloves. Pour ½ tablespoon olive oil over the exposed cloves and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Place each bulb right side up on a small square of foil. Fold the foil around the bulb of garlic and place on a cookie sheet. Roast the garlic for 45 minutes. Cool thoroughly.
    3. In a large pot, cook diced pancetta over medium heat until crispy, about 5-7 minutes. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of pancetta fat. Reserve crispy pancetta in bowl. Add chopped onion to pancetta drippings in pan. Sauté onions until they start to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
    4. When roasted garlic is cooled, press it out of its skins. Add it to a blender along with the chicken stock and cooked onions. Purée the soup until smooth.
    5. Return soup to the pot, add kale and parmesan and bring to a simmer until kale is tender. Add cream and heat until desired temperature. Sprinkle the pancetta evenly among bowls and serve.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories391
    • Protein19 g
    • Carbohydrates17 g
    • Total Fat27 g
    • Dietary Fiber1 g
    • Cholesterol28 mg
    • sodium629 mg
    • Total Sugars3 g

    Garlic Soup

    Questions & Reviews

    Join the discussion below.

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    • Bari

      Do you have a suggestion for substituting the heavy cream for a healthier version of this delicious recipe?

      You could try full fat canned coconut milk. Hope you enjoy!

    • Marilyn

      Wow! Delish! Didn’t have pancetta so subbed with bacon. Loved the garlic soup and was having a craving! Had it several times in Austria and this was very close to it!

      Thanks Marilyn, we are so glad it satisfied your craving!

    • Chris

      Can this recipe be scaled up for larger groups?

      Sure!

    • Laureen

      My husband and I are not exactly kale fans. Is there anything else you would recommend as a substitute or would it be ok to leave it out entirely? (Could just have a green salad on the side to get the healthy bits.)

      Yes, you can just leave it out or sub with spinach or another leafy green you like this Swiss chard etc..

    • Tara

      The salt content looks quite high. Is that all from the pancetta? I didn't see that much salt separately in the ingredients

      Hi Tara, There is quite a bit of salt in pancetta and it probably comes form the chicken broth as well but you could use low sodium chicken broth.

    • Nicole

      This soup is amazing. I love garlic, so I was super excited to try it, and it did not disappoint. I used bacon since I couldn't find pancetta. I will absolutely be making this again. (I wish I'd doubled the recipe!)

      Thanks Nicole, so happy you loved it!

    • Rob

      I'm vegetarian so used veg broth and seasoned tofu instead of pancetta. This was really, really nice. Will make again. Thanks!

      Thank you Rob! We are so happy you love it!

    • Kholland

      This soup is incredible— the roasted garlic is life changing (maybe a tad dramatic) someone asked below about using a substitute for the heavy cream— I used extra creamy oat milk instead and the soup was still silky like I would expect the cream was going to do. Thanks for posting such a simple good recipe!

      Thanks! So glad you loved it!

    • Sophia

      We really liked it! We subbed bacon in and used cayenne, smoked paprika, and Italian seasoning to spice it up a bit. Super good!

      Thanks Sophia, glad you enjoyed it

    • K

      I really liked this soup! It had a really good flavor. It is a bit thinner than I would prefer, so when I make it again I'm probably going to use less stock.
      I did have to substitute in bacon for the pancetta, because it's what the store had

      Thanks K, glad you enjoyed it!