Food bloggers as a lot tend to wax super-duper poetic about every single recipe they post. I mean, if they don’t love what they’re sharing, they probably wouldn’t blog it to begin with, right?
Every once in awhile though, it feels a little … well, almost fake … when I find myself writing yet again about how utterly fabulous this pasta dish is or the transcendent, life-altering qualities of this sangria.
But the fact is, it’s not fake. I’m pretty much in love with just about every recipe I post. I’ve usually spent weeks, sometimes months, making and remaking and tweaking until I think it’s just right. So I guess the fact that I find myself going on and on about how tasty and perfect a dish shouldn’t be a huge surprise to me. But I guarantee that as I write up this week’s batch of posts, I’ll sigh yet again as I type more glowingly elaborate food descriptions.
This recipe, though? It’s extra amazing. Extra utterly fabulous. Extra, yes, life-altering and transcendent. The heavens open up, light shines, angels sing.
I’m exaggerating.
But only a little.
Seriously, it’s quite possibly the best soup I’ve ever tasted – and certainly the best soup to ever come out of my kitchen.
It’s garlicky. You’re aware of this – you saw the title of this – it’s got 40 garlic cloves. 40! Yes, you will probably smell like garlic for a day or so after eating this soup. Yes, you know it’s worth it.
It’s such a simple soup, and therein lies the beauty. Onions, thyme, and rich vegetable broth provide the stage for the obvious star – garlic cloves both roasted and simmered. The pour of whipping cream, squeeze of lemon, and sprinkle of Parmesan respectively highlight the sweet, buttery, nutty notes in the garlic.
No faking, here. This one is a must-try.
As far as the size of the garlic goes, I kept forgetting to weigh my heads of garlic so that I could give you an estimation. I think as long as your cloves aren’t super-small or you’re not using elephant garlic, your soup should come out just fine.

40 Cloves of Garlic Soup
Ingredients
- 25 garlic cloves (unpeeled + 15 garlic cloves, peeled)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups sliced onions (about 1 medium onion)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme)
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- Kosher (coarse salt and freshly ground pepper)
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 4 lemon wedges
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the top(s) off of your head(s) of garlic and separate out 25 cloves, making sure each clove has an end chopped off (this will help with squeezing out the roasted garlic later on).
- Place the 25 cloves in a small glass baking dish, pour the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top, and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, until cloves are light golden brown and very tender. Remove from oven and cool.
- Squeeze the roasted garlic between your fingertips to release the garlic and discard the peel. Set roasted garlic aside.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and thyme; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add both the roasted garlic and the 15 peeled raw garlic cloves and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes.
- Add vegetable stock and, continuing over medium heat, bring the soup just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until garlic is very tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Using an immersion blender or working in batches with a blender, puree soup until smooth.
- Return soup to pan and stir in heavy whipping cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese into each bowl and ladle the soup over the top. Squeeze one lemon wedge over each bowl and sprinkle with additional Parmesan if desired. Serve.
Hey there – I totally understand where you’re coming from about working and reworking a recipe until it’s something you go on-and-on about. And how couldn’t you when there’s 40 cloves of garlic involved…that’s awesome!
Hi Tony! Right?! It’s like your baby by the time you put it out there for the world! 🙂
This looks divine! I’m so glad to hear that I will only have to peel 15 of the cloves the hard way! *phew* Your photography is amazing too! I would love to know what you use for set up:)
Hi Bee! Yeah, peeling cloves is a pain! I like to smash whenever possible but that doesn’t really work with the roasted cloves. :\ Thanks so much for the photography compliments! The quality certainly varies, usually with the amount of time I have and depending upon the light, which is a challenge in the darkness of winter. Honestly? This one was taken with my Canon Rebel and a 50mm f1.8 lens (I call it my magic lens – such a bargain for $100 bucks)! I styled it, um, on top of a cardboard box in the foyer with the front door open for light! And I still didn’t have quite enough light (I should really use a tripod, that helps when light is lacking).
Oh what I wouldn’t give for a naturally-lit kitchen with amazing counter tops and white subway tile back splash … someday. 🙂
the angels will sing if 40 cloves of garlic are involved! This is my kind of soup!
And their breath might stink, but who cares?! 😉
This soup looks devine, it will definitely keep a cold away (not to mention the vampires). I love that you used both roasted and raw garlic. Yummo!
Yes, I’ve been waiting for a cold to strike (as much as one “waits” for a cold) so I can test its healing properties!
I don’t go on & on about how wonderful everything I make is. It’s just not me! So I write more about the process or how I came up with the idea. Sometimes I have to remind myself to add a line mentioning that the recipe is good so people don’t think I’m trying to skirt the issue because it’s terrible. 😉 But this one sounds so amazing, I think you are entitled to pat yourself on the back–delicious!
And really I should be raving about Bon Appetit since it’s pretty much minor tweaks on *their* recipe! 🙂
I highly doubt it would cross anyone’s minds that you would ever think one of your recipes is terrible – ha! I do hope what I said didn’t come across as insulting to other food bloggers though, especially in light of recent negativity – doh.
Yum! This sounds amazing! My hubby is a huge fan of garlic(OK, I am too!) so we’ll have to try this out some time 🙂
When I first started dating my husband, he messaged me asking if I wanted to go out for a bite after work. I messaged back and said, well … sure … but I a had lunch at Grazie {an Italian restaurant known for its amazing, but seriously garlicky bread dip}, and I’m pretty sure I reek of garlic, like, bad. His reply? “Well good. I *love* garlic!” Hee hee – keeper. 😉
Hi! Sounds delicious! But I was wondering if it matters what type of onion that you use??
Thanks!
This was a great recipe. Hands down the best soup I’ve ever tasted. Thank you so much for this!
I’m so glad you loved it! 🙂
Hi Jason, thanks for commenting! It’s a fantastic soup, isn’t it? I think it’s going to have to be on my Halloween menu this year. 🙂
I never comment on things like this but WOW this soup is INCREDIBLE!!!!! I made it exactly as the recipe called and my husband and i inhaled it! Thank you for sharing! I may even double it next time!
40 cloves? I’m surprised  I hadn’t thought of that. I LOVE my garlic, and usually get complaints form my family that i’m a) stinking up the house b) ruining garlic for them because of how much I smell like it or c) I’m always telling everybody to eat garlic. Cold? Garlic. Cough? Garlic. Sore throat? Garlic. After eating it raw by the clove (with a bit of salt of course) I thought to try this. I made it, and when I tasted it, it was like that voiceover at the end of The Pursuit of Happyness when he gets the job and is like “this is happiness” or whatever. That was me, mumbling to myself. God it’s good. Thanks for this recipe and I’m probably making more later today. Take care! 🙂
Ha ha ha, I love this comment! I, too, have heard songs from soundtracks when trying certain foods. 🙂 I’m so glad you like it!
So, so delicious. Â Had friends over and ALL four adults and five kids loved it! Â Thank you!
If you didn’t want to use whipping cream, could you sub in coconut cream instead? Thanks!
Hi Keith, I haven’t tried it, but it might work okay. My concern would be the sweetness that coconut cream can lend. Are you averse to cashew cream? I think that might be a better substitute. Or if you try the coconut cream, maybe start with a small amount and go from there. If you try either please report back! 🙂
Keith, Did you ever make it with coconut cream?
Very yummy and tasty thanks for sharing this recipe
Easy, healthy and it tastes absolutely fabulous! I’m gluten and dairy free, so ….no cream but anyway so so so yummy!
Love Ur intro 😂 the soup looks very cream and it definitily has the most cloves of garlic ever seen in a garlic soup!
Oh wow this was so worth the effort to make. I’m not quite sure how you get 4 servings though, since I’m liable to finish this first batch on my own. 😀 The flavor is incredible, though mine came out just a little on the “thin” side, not quite as hearty/creamy as expected. On the next attempt I might try simmering with the lid off to cook down a little more before adding the cream. Already plotting how I can make this ahead of time to save work at the end … maybe do everything up through pureeing, then freeze. Then when it’s time to use, thaw, heat back to simmer, add cream, and enjoy.
My neighbor Kris brought this for a neighborhood get-to-gather. It was such a smash that all of us requested the recipe.
If I had heavy whipping cream on hand, I would have made it right away. I’m positive it would taste better the following day! In our family we appreciate strong flavored and fusion foods. My husband is part Peruvian and Italian and I am from India. Do share similar; easy to make and delicious recipes. Thanks for this awesome soup.
Thank you for the glowing review! So glad you all liked it. 🙂 I will work on more strong-flavored fusion foods! They’re so interesting and fun.
I was wondering if I could use coconut milk or milk alternative instead of cream
Have made 3 times now because it is a hit. Adding corn starch will make it creamier.Â
Love it. Great tip with the corn starch!
Absolutely DELICIOUS!Â
Although I would double the recipe so you can freeze some. It’s time consuming enough with 40 Cloves of Garlic 🧄, so what’s 40 more!Â
Ha, good suggestion! Glad you liked this one!
We made this for the first time for lunch today & loved it. Thanks so much for posting this because this soup will become a regular in our house.
Woo hoo! So glad this one’s a keeper for you!
This is like something from heaven – what a soup!
I’m so glad it was a hit! 🙂
This soup is fantastic!!! My entire family loved it!
I did double it, next time I will triple it so there will left overs.
I did rename the soup to SOCIAL DISTANCING SOUP
Due to whats going on in our world today. It’s perfect for that.
Hahaha, that cracks me up! I might have to rename it too! So glad it was a hit.
Love the recipe and intend to make it tomorrow. Do you think I could substitute coconut milk for the whipping cream?
Thanks
I think that should work nicely. I have been meaning to try it that way myself as I can’t do dairy now but haven’t tested it. Please report back if you give it a try!
Made the soup tonight using coconut milk. It was very very tasty and It gave another dimension of flavour. I admit I had difficulty squeezing the roasted garlic out of the skin. Perhaps it baked it too longÂ
As it was, I did it for 38 minutes.. I did find it a little thin, but that was  because I was comparing it  to Sopa de Aho, which I had in Mexico.
Hello! This recipe looks absolutely delicious so I have to try it! I’m a garlic freak and its nearly in everything I make.
A helpful hint for peeling raw garlic – just don’t! Put the amount of cloves you need in a large glass jar, seal the top and shake very vigorously for several minutes, like REALLY vigorously. I can get a whole head done in about 3 minutes tops. If you’re like me and go through heads of garlic weekly, this is invaluable. Note there needs to be a lot space for the garlic to move from side to side and up & down. Simply keep a large glass jar in your pantry for all your garlic peeling needs, like an old spaghetti sauce jar or large mason jar (although the tops on the mason aren’t as sturdy and will require a bit more shaking effort).
Give this a try, you’ll never have to peel again.
Love this tip! Thank you so much, Mireille!
Awesome soup, COVID doesn’t stand a chance lol I cooked this up today and my wife made fresh bread, great easy to follow instructions. -22 outside and healthy warming soup……can’t go wrong!
Made this last night -served with croutons  deliciousÂ
I’ve been making this garlic soup for a few years, it just doesn’t make enough – you have to double up! My tip is to cut the end off the ones you are going to roast and they come out extra easily when gently squeezed. I also add two sticks of celery as well as the onion, chopped. I usually make this in the winter months but also good when the summer colds are around.
Love that it’s a mainstay for you! Appreciate the tips – I’ll have to try it with celery next time!