Garlic-Potato Soup

4.39 from 21 votes

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I was in the grocery checkout line with one head of garlic, a couple of russets, a bag of red potatoes, a leek, and heavy cream on the belt. The woman behind me looked at my lineup. Then picked up my garlic and weighed it in her palm. “Honey, that’s not enough.” I smiled politely. Then she said, “If you’re making what I think you’re making, you need two heads. Maybe even more if I’m being honest.”

I admit I was questioning her sanity for maybe 6 seconds. I told her that two heads sounded just really bonkers. She just shook her head and told me that whole heads go in the pot still in their skins. Whaaaaat??? Yep. Apparently they simmer in the broth until the cloves become buttery soft. Once they’re there, you mash them up into a paste and it turns sweet and mellow. Almost nutty. I think I was just blinking very rapidly. But for some reason I trusted her. The cashier was staring at me. I just asked the lady to save my spot and ran back to grab more loose cloves (sorry, cashier….).

So I rushed home to make the soup. And that lady was an angel unaware because she was sooooo right. I couldn’t believe it. The sweet leeks soften in butter. Garlic heads simmer until the cloves slip out of their skins like little caramel pillows. Russet and red bliss potatoes break down to make this creamy base. Then you add the heavy cream at the end. Crispy garlic chips fried in oil on top because apparently you can never have too much garlic in this thing.

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Why You’ll Love Garlic Potato Soup

Two whole heads (not cloves) of garlic in one pot sounds like insanity until you take that first taste. The long simmer time turns the garlic so sweet and mellow it’s almost surreal. Everything happens in one Dutch oven. Brown the leeks and simmer the garlic with the potatoes. Blend right there in the same pot. Not a lot of ingredients in this soup so you’re not gonna break the bank.

Some of the potatoes blend smooth and creamy. But some stay in tender chunks. So every spoonful you put in your mouth is both creamy and just a tiny bit rustic at the same time. Crispy garlic chips adding a sharp bite to contrast with the mellow body. You’ll be making this once a week in the wintertime. Guarantee it.

Ingredients

For the Soup:

Unsalted butter
Leek
Cloves garlic,
Heads garlic
Low-sodium chicken broth
Bay leaves
Salt
Russet potatoes
Red Bliss potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Heavy cream
Minced fresh thyme leaves
Ground black pepper
Minced fresh chives

For the Garlic Chips:

Olive oil
Cloves garlic

Ingredient Deep Dive

Whole Garlic Heads

This is the whole reason the soup exists. Two full heads of garlic, in their skins, dropped into the broth alongside a few smashed cloves. The long simmer does the work. The cloves turn soft and sweet inside the papery skins. Then you squeeze them out like toothpaste. I know that sounds gross.

It isn’t. Mash them with a fork into a paste and stir half into the soup right at the end. Taste. Then add more if you want it more garlicky. Fresh heads only. The pre-peeled jarred stuff loses something the second you open it.

Leeks

Leeks are like the sophisticated cousin of the onion. Sweeter. Softer. Less bite. You’re using just the white and pale green parts here. Slice them in half lengthwise first and run cold water through the layers. They hide a ridiculous amount of grit between those leaves and it’ll ruin your soup if you skip this.

If your store is out of leeks, you can use a sweet yellow onion instead. Just cook it slow so it goes soft and sweet, not browned. Browned onion competes with the garlic. Mellow is what we want.

Russet and Red Bliss Potatoes

Two kinds of potatoes is what makes this work. Russets are starchy and break down easy when blended. So they give you that thick, creamy soup body. Red bliss potatoes hold their shape better.

They keep tender bites of potato suspended in the smooth base. Only russets and the soup goes uniformly velvety. Only red bliss and you’ll need to blend more to get the body right. Don’t skip the red bliss if you can help it. Yukon golds substitute for them in a pinch.

Heavy Cream

Heavy cream goes in at the very end. Not earlier. If you add it too soon you risk it breaking when the soup keeps bubbling. A little goes a long way because the broth already has body from the potatoes. The cream takes everything from rustic to silky in about thirty seconds. You can substitute half-and-half for a lighter soup.

Whole milk works but it’ll be noticeably thinner. Don’t use skim. There’s not enough fat to do the job. The cream is what makes you go back for a second bowl.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Garlic Potato Soup

Step 1: Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat and cook the leeks until soft.

add leeks and cook until soft but not browned

Once the foaming on the butter dies down, the leeks go in. You’re looking for tender and translucent, not browned. About five to eight minutes total, stirring now and then. They’ll get sweeter as they cook and the kitchen will start smelling buttery and oniony in the best way. If you see any browning on the edges, drop the heat a notch.

Step 2: Add the smashed garlic cloves, then the garlic heads, broth, bay leaves, and salt.

Cook the smashed cloves with the leeks for about a minute first. You’ll smell that toasty raw garlic note bloom. Then in goes everything else. The whole heads sit right in the broth. Partially cover the pot and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Drop the heat to low. Let it bubble away for thirty to forty minutes. The cloves inside those heads need to go completely tender.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute

Step 3: Add the potatoes and simmer until they’re tender.

Both kinds of potatoes go in at the same time. Keep the lid partially on. Fifteen to twenty minutes is the window. Test with a knife in the biggest piece you can find. It should slide right through with no fight. The broth will look a little cloudy now because the starches are doing their thing. That’s exactly what you want for body.

Add potatoes and continue to simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes

Step 4: Fish out the bay leaves and the garlic heads, then squeeze the soft cloves out of their skins.

Use tongs to grab the heads out. They’ll be hot. Squeeze them from the root end into a bowl and the soft golden cloves slip out one by one. Some will be jammy. Some will be paste-soft. Mash them with the back of a fork into a smooth paste. This is the magic. The whole pot is about to taste like roasted garlic.

Using a fork, mash garlic to smooth paste in a bowl;

Step 5: Stir in the cream, thyme, and half the garlic paste, then blend the soup in the pot.

Heat for about two minutes so the cream warms through. Don’t let it boil. Taste and add more garlic paste if you want. Grab an immersion blender and blitz until the soup is creamy with some potato chunks still in there. Without an immersion blender, scoop about a cup and a half of potatoes plus a cup of broth into a regular blender and pulse till smooth.

Stir cream, thyme, and half of the mashed garlic into soup; heat soup until hot, about 2 minutes.

Step 6: Make the garlic chips and serve.

Heat olive oil and the remaining sliced cloves in a ten-inch skillet over medium-high. Turn them constantly with a slotted spoon.

heat oil, and garlic in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat

About three minutes and they’ll be light golden brown. Any darker and they go bitter. Pull them onto a paper towel with a pinch of salt.

Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, scatter chives on top, finish with the garlic chips.

Pro-Tips and Technique

The whole game is the long simmer on those garlic heads. Don’t rush it. Thirty to forty minutes is what gets you sweet, mellow, jammy cloves instead of sharp ones. You’ll know they’re ready when a knife slides into a head with zero resistance.

When you make the crispy garlic chips at the end, watch them like you owe them money. They go from golden to burnt in about ten seconds, and burnt garlic tastes bitter. Pull them out earlier than you think.

Taste the soup before you dump all the mashed garlic in. Stir in half. Taste. Add more based on what your family likes. I always end up using all of it because I’m a garlic person.

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Garlic-Potato Soup

Cook Time: 1 15

Servings:

Winter is the perfect time to enjoy a big bowl of comforting soup. And this garlic potato soup recipe is sure to hit the spot. Loaded with flavorful garlic and potatoes, this soup is hearty and satisfying.

4.39 from 21 votes

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