Garlic Tonic Soup

Garlic Tonic Soup
Photolibrary/Getty Images
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 20 mins
Serving: 1 to 2 servings

These days cooking dinner seems more like a chore than a necessity. Apparently, everyone else thinks so, too. The Washington Post released an article last may talking about The Slow Death of The Home-Cooked Meal. In this article, we find that over the last year, only 60 percent of home meals were actually cooked at home (Ferdman, 2015). 

This Garlic Tonic Soup has very few ingredients but the flavor will still knock you off your chair. Sure it might not be as cheesy and covered in pepperoni, but it can cure a cold pretty quickly. And it might even keep away the vampires (ha ha). 

The best part is that even though it contains an entire head of garlic, this simple garlic soup is soothing, mellow and mild. Not so garlic strong that it will burn your tongue. It can be enjoyed regularly to support healthy immune function, or try it at the first signs of illness, to harness garlic's antiviral and antimicrobial properties. Garlic is also known to help maintain healthy blood pressure levels. 

Worried about garlic breath? You see ​garlic loses a lot of its "bite" when baked or cooked. You may have a slight sweet reminiscence of garlic on the breath, but you aren't going to make others pass out.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups vegetable broth, or chicken broth

  • 1 head garlic, cloves separated, smashed, peeled, hard ends trimmed

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  • Salt, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Start by placing the broth and garlic cloves in a small saucepan over medium heat.

  3. Next, bring the broth to a boil and reduce heat. Allow the broth to simmer, partially covered, until garlic softens. This may take about 10 to 15 minutes.

  4. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

  5. Lastly, using an immersion or regular blender, puree the soup.

  6. Season to taste with pepper and sea salt and enjoy. 

    Use Caution When Blending Hot Ingredients

    Steam expands quickly in a blender, and can cause ingredients to splatter everywhere or cause burns. To prevent this, fill the blender only one-third of the way up, vent the top, and cover with a folded kitchen towel while blending.

Recipe Variations

  • Try adding some finely chopped chives and add after you puree or top as a garnish.
  • Try browning the garlic before boiling with broth. Browning of the garlic clove can be done by baking in the oven or by sautéing with oil in a nonstick skillet. This will add some caramelization to the outside of the garlic cloves and provide an extra element of flavor. 

Tip

  • Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to three days. You may have to re-emulsify before eating leftovers as ingredients may separate and settle at the bottom of the dish. 
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
36 Calories
0g Fat
7g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1 to 2
Amount per serving
Calories 36
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 960mg 42%
Total Carbohydrate 7g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 6mg 28%
Calcium 35mg 3%
Iron 0mg 3%
Potassium 109mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)