This warm, creamy, silky smooth garlic and potato soup will warm you up on the coolest of days. It is light and healthy but has all the comfort you expect from a bowl of soup.

This recipe for creamy garlic and potato soup is my grandma’s specialty. It is absolute perfection. Smooth, creamy, and just the right flavour balance.

You’d think this soup might have a strong taste but it doesn’t at all. It has a hint of roasted garlic with undertones of parmesan. Combined with the croutons this soup has the perfect combination of textures and flavours.

Preparing Cream of Garlic and Potato Soup

Ingredients

Produce

Garlic:

Garlic is a bulb that is edible and is grown in soil. Though the green shoots it sprouts, called garlic scapes, are also edible, we are referring to the actual bulb that the scapes grow from. Garlic bulbs are made up of multiple cloves and depending on the variety you may have anywhere from 4 to 10 cloves, if not more.

Potatoes: This root vegetable is starchy and is native to the Americas. Potatoes are rich in vitamin C and potassium and even contain small amounts of protein. There are many varieties and shades of potatoes. I like yellow flesh potatoes for this recipe but any type will work great.

Dairy

Grated parmesan: Grated parmesan cheese is perfect for this recipe, and I don’t mean freshly grated. The relatively inexpensive pre-grated type is just right here. The flavour is perfect and I always find it a bit of a waste to use the freshly grated stuff in a sauce where it just melts away. Save the expensive fresh stuff for topping your pasta.

Half and Half cream: Half and half cream is called half and half because it is equal parts cream and milk. The fat content of the most common varieties is 10% but it can vary up to 18%. The nutritional information in our recipe reflects a 10% fat content.

Butter: Butter is churned milk or cream and is high in fat. It is solidified when refrigerated, holds a semi-soft, spreadable consistency at room temperature, or can be liquefied when heated.

Pantry

Stock: I use vegetable stock in this recipe because of its mild flavour. It also makes this soup vegetarian. Vegetable stock is made by cooking vegetables and some spices to release the flavours. The liquid is the broth or stock that is then used for other means, such as the base for this cauliflower soup.

Olive oil: I use olive oil for this recipe because of its mild flavour. Olive oil is the fat extracted from olives. The least processed is extra virgin olive oil, which I use in this recipe.

Baked Goods

Rye bread: Bread is made from water and flour, and sometimes other ingredients, and is baked as a loaf. It comes in many different varieties, shapes and sizes. It’s most commonly made from wheat however there are many different flours that yield delicious bread. Our favourites for this recipe are toast bread and rye bread, but sourdough is also at the top of the list.

How to Make Creamy Garlic and Potato Soup

This soup is another easy and straightforward recipe. Get your ingredients ready and let’s get started!

TIP: If you plan on using an immersion blender don’t use a Dutch oven for this recipe (like I did). Use a stainless steel pot so that your immersion blender won’t scratch the bottom.

Step 1: Prep the produce

Peer the potatoes and cut them into ½-inch pieces. Then, peel the garlic and roughly chop it.

Step 2: Cook the Soup

Add the oil to a Dutch oven or large pot and heat up on medium heat.

Once the oil is hot add the potatoes and garlic and sauté for a minute or two stirring frequently to make sure the garlic doesn’t brown.

Now, add the stock, salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Step 3: Make the Croutons

While the soup is cooking, cut the rye bread slices into ¼-inch cubes. Add the butter to a large pan and once hot add the bread to the pan. Cook for 4 minutes per side on medium-high heat until all the sides are browned.

You can also roughly chop some fresh parsley for serving.

Step 4: Blend

After 20 minutes, add the cream and parmesan. Cook stirring until the parmesan is melted and the soup begins to bubble. Turn off the burner and mix using an immersion blender, or pour into your high-powered blender.

CAUTION: The soup will be very hot and the vegetables may splatter when moving to the jug of the blender. Use a ladle and pour gently.

Substitutions

Half and Half cream: You can use heavy cream instead of half and half if that’s all you have on hand. Note the soup will be even more creamy and slightly heavier given the higher fat content of table cream.

Potatoes: I use yellow potatoes for this recipe for two reasons. 1) They are more moist and slightly sweeter than other varieties of potatoes, and 2) it’s usually all I have on hand because of reason 1.

Stock: I use whatever stock I have on hand but if you want to keep this soup vegetarian use vegetable stock.

Serving Creamy Garlic and Potato Soup

This soup is perfectly creamy and silky and really benefits from the added crunch of croutons. I like to top my soup with freshly made croutons and fresh parsley.

My kids on the other hand skip the parsley and swap out the croutons for crumbled crackers.