Monday is Halloween. And what is more appropriate this time of year than a vampire slayer soup? Seriously, this soup will protect you on Halloween from all the scary monsters lurking around corners, especially the vampires…. With 52 cloves of garlic, you’ll also ensure people keep a wide radius around you! Now, you might be wondering why in the world would you make a 52 clove garlic soup. Because that is a lot of garlic. Well, research has shown that garlic can help boost immunity, increase antioxidant levels, and has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. That being said, I think I’m going to start making this vampire slayer 52 clove garlic soup every week, especially during flu season.
I have to get my flu shot by the end of the month. Not very excited. First of all, I hate shots. I have a remote history of fainting after getting shots….and one time I fainted after having blood drawn…. Shots are just one of those things that stresses me out. Secondly, it’s mandatory when you work at a hospital. I could elaborate but will leave it at that. I procrastinated getting the flu shot until the last possible day.
In preparation for the flu shot, I have been taking extra good care of myself. (Note that I have no evidence to back any of this up. This is just me being paranoid). I’ve been drinking kefir and kombucha every day, taking Vitamin C and Vitamin D, working out (crossfit, hell ya), drinking lots of water, trying to get at least seven hours of sleep, and am eating this vampire slayer 52 clove garlic soup.
This soup might be the key. It’s going to keep me healthy through the winter cold and flu season. Probably do a better job than the actual flu shot…. Inspiration for this recipe came from this post on Complete Health and Happiness. For more information on garlic, check out this article.
But to be honest, this soup really is amazing. I do love garlic though. Lots and lots of garlic, like I at least double the amount of garlic in recipes and when I write recipes, I write for the minimum amount. I realize that not everyone shares my love of garlic. But if anything, make this soup for your health… or at least to keep the vampires away.
- 26 cloves of garlic unpeeled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 2 medium onions sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme stemmed removed, roughly chopped
- 26 cloves of garlic peeled
- 1 - 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
- 4 cups 32 oz vegetable broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Lemon wedges
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Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Place 26 unpeeled garlic cloves in a small baking dish.
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Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and salt.
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Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until garlic cloves are golden brown.
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When garlic cloves have roasted, remove from oven and let cool. Remove peel from cloves.
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While garlic cloves are roasting, melt 2 tbsp butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
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Add onions, thyme, ginger, cayenne pepper and cook approximately 5-10 minutes, until onions are translucent.
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Next, add roasted and raw garlic cloves and cook another 5 minutes.
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Finally, add vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
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Working in batches if needed, place soup in a blender and puree until smooth.
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Place pureed soup back in saucepan and add coconut milk. Stir to combine.
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Add salt and pepper to taste.
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Serve with lemon wedge.
*As mentioned by several comments, cooking the garlic does reduce it’s cold and flu fighting properties. To increase the antimicrobial effects of garlic, you can add some raw minced garlic at the end of cooking or let your garlic rest for 10-15 minutes after chopping to allow the allicin compound in garlic to breakdown to form a powerful antioxidant. And, I do have to admit that whenever I’m trying to give my immune system a boost, I do eat a clove or two of raw garlic a day…..just know that you will probably have garlic coming out of your pores! 😉
I love this soup I added some carrots, potatoes and celery and put the whole thing in the blender. I have been eating it all day long. Not only is it delicious, but I am expecting to feel like Wonder Woman at the end of the day. Goodbye to my endless list of viruses that I no longer desire to host any longer.
Hi Yvonne,
Yum! I haven’t tried adding additional vegetables, sounds delicious! Hope this soup helped you feel like Wonder Woman!
Emily
I tried adding carrots. It was delish!
52 cloves of garlic. Cloves vary in size, How big are the cloves. Most range in very different sizes.
I love garlic so I just use the biggest ones I can find, haha. It doesn’t really matter, personal preference works fine!
Ok, garlic for flavor, but once you’ve heated the garlic, most of the antimicrobial factors are lost… For the true allicin effect, once damaged, best crushed, the freshly disturbed garlic is at its most effective.
Hi Steve,
Yes, cooking the garlic does breakdown most of the antimicrobial factors. Raw garlic could definitely be added 🙂
Emily
Thank you for mentioning this! I was on board until “roast the garlic”…
I’m sure this is tasty soup, and still has blood-pressure-lowering action, but not the anti-mocrobial cold and flu medicine suggested.
Side note: to help preserve some of the antimicrobial properties of garlic to be cooked, chop it and let it sit 15 minutes before heating*
Hi Julene,
You can definitely keep all or part of the garlic raw. I was worried people would be scared to make a soup with 52 raw garlic cloves, haha!
Letting the garlic rest 10-15 minutes after chopping does let the allicin compound form a powerful antioxidant. 🙂
Emily
I broke my parent’s blender, which they got for an engagement present, making this soup.
It was worth it.
Oh no, haha! Well, I’m glad it was worth it!
The recipe title mentions 52 cloves, but the actual recipe only calls for 26 cloves. Did I miss something?
Never mind! I just figured it out. 🙂
Do you have the nutritional on this
I use these ingredients regularly as a tea and am so glad to find them as a soup. I found another recipe that has a lesser amount of coconut milk and stock, but yours balance the flavors much better! The ginger has me sweating! Lol! I found it the most pungent flavor. Thanks for sharing, this will definitely become a regular in my home!
So glad you like it! It’s perfect this time of year!
Would it be okay to substitute almond milk for coconut? I’m allergic 🙁
Can you tolerate regular milk? I’d probably do cream over almond milk.
I don’t understand the 52 cloves of garlic when the recipe calls for 26 cloves. Is it 26 bulbs? I want to make this today for my husband. I make roasted garlic a lot for snacking but I roast the whole bulb, is this acceptable for this soup?
The recipe has 26 cloves of peeled garlic and 26 cloves of unpeeled garlic. You roasted 26 cloves and then add 26 cloves to sauté. It’s 52 cloves total, not bulbs. Hopefully that makes sense.
Hi, is the coconut milk sweetened or unsweetened?
Unsweetened!
I made this today, and my sinuses are thanking you, and me. I changed just a few little things – used an immersion blender and then strained through a large metal sieve. Added the juice of a lemon at the end..
I’m recuperating from an operation, and it has weirdly helped.
Anyway, it was wonderful. Thank you! Only prob was that it didn’t make enough!
Sounds delicious with lemon juice, yum! Glad you liked it and that it seemed to help you recover!