Preparing for Flu Season: Sopa de Ajo

Feel a cold coming on? This easy, garlic-infused soup is exactly what you need to get you back on your feet.

If you couldn’t tell from the name, sopa de ajo has its origins in Spain and literally translates as “garlic soup.” It’s made with three basic ingredients: garlic, leftover bread, and broth. A little smoked paprika can be thrown in for color and savory flavor. A poached egg or two is also traditional, but we only add them when our stomachs can handle the richness.

For sheer simplicity, this soup edges out chicken noodle in our opinion. It comes together in about 20 minutes and is pretty much fool proof as long as you don’t burn the garlic. This is much appreciated when standing upright for more than a few minutes makes us woozy!

Our favorite recipe for Sopa de Ajo comes from Mario Batali by way of Serious Eats, and we go back to it again and again. Some recipes make this soup way more fussy than it needs to be, but this one keeps it simple and basic.

• Sopa de Ajo from Mario Batali’s Spain via Serious Eats

Do you love this soup when you’re sick, too? What’s your favorite version?

(Image: Flickr member stu spivack licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (4)

i made this last year and overdid on the garlic....i felt so sick afterwards, and the bad breath would not go away for a whole evening. yuk

Many people here in Spain make a couple slight changes to it:

1. Fry a bit the garlic cloves in the oil, so they release some flavor.
2. Add bits of serrano ham or chorizo, fry.
3. Add bread, pimentón (not necessarily hot, I always use sweet bc the garlic is enough for me) and cook for 30 or 60 seconds.
4. Add broth.
5. When the broth is hot, poach the eggs in the soup. No need to dirt more pans, and all the flavor stays together.

Try this version, you won't regret it.

Oh, and for a milder soup, 1 clove per person is enough.

So, sort of inspired by this post, I made my own garlic soup, but not really the Spanish style, so I won't call it sopa de ajo. No bread, just some fideos thrown in. And I thought 4-6 cloves was not enough, so I used a whole head of garlic that I fried up first so they got all toasty brown. And some chopped leek and carrot. No egg. I did use the pimentón picante. No meat. Anyhow, loved it! Had two bowls last night. Going to have the rest today. Who needs chicken soup? Not me!

In the book Under the Tuscan Sun there is a fantastic recipe for cold garlic soup that is actually quiet delicious hot.