Cheesy & Creamy Garlic Soup

Cheesy creamy garlic soup is the kind of bowl that proves twelve cloves of garlic is not a typo, it’s a feature. The garlic gets the long, slow caramelization treatment with sliced onion, which mellows the bite into something nutty and almost sweet. By the time it hits your spoon, the garlic doesn’t taste pungent at all, just deeply savory.

The trick to the silky body is the French bread. Two cups of cubes go in toward the end, soak up the broth and wine, then everything gets puréed smooth with a hand blender. The bread is the thickener, no flour, no roux, no cornstarch needed. This is how French country cooks have been making soup for centuries.

Deglazing with dry white wine after the caramelization adds an acidic backbone that keeps the soup from going one-note. The wine cooks down concentrated for a full ten minutes before the chicken stock joins.

Gruyère on top is the right cheese, nutty, sharp, and melty. Its flavor stands up to all that garlic without being bullied.

Chef Tips

• Slice the garlic thin instead of mincing, you want it to caramelize without burning.
• Don’t rush the caramelization, the full 10 to 12 minutes is what builds the soup’s depth.
• Use stale bread if you have it, it absorbs better than fresh bread.
• Let the soup rest off heat for 10 minutes before puréeing, this gives the bread time to fully break down.

Variations

• Add a sprig of fresh thyme with the bay leaf for an herbal note.
• Top each bowl with a slice of toasted bread floating on top, like a French onion soup.
• Stir in a tablespoon of sherry at the end for a nuttier, more complex finish.