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Garlic Soup (Sopa de Ajo)
José Andrés taught us this “end of month” recipe—the sort of meal to make quickly with whatever is on hand and money is tight. His approach: garlic cooked in copious amounts of olive oil with handfuls of thinly sliced stale bread and several tablespoons of smoked paprika. Add some water and simmer, then off heat stir in four or five whisked eggs. Supper is served. For our version, we realized the leftover bread, garlic and smoked paprika we had in our cupboards weren't up to Andrés’ standards. So we needed to tweak. We boosted flavor by using chicken bouillon (an easy pantry flavor booster) instead of plain water, and we sautéed both sweet and smoked paprika with garlic and scallions. We actually didn't have stale bread, so we turned a loaf of rustic sourdough (a baguette or any crusty loaf will do) into delicious croutons. To serve, the soup and croutons are married in the serving bowls, allowing each person to adjust the ratio of soup to bread, as well as how long they soak.
4
Servings
Tip
Don't skip tempering the egg yolks with some of the hot broth before adding to the soup. This prevents them from curdling in the hot broth.
45 minutes
Ingredients
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6
scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced, whites and greens separated
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6
garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Directions
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01In a medium saucepan over medium-low, combine the scallion whites, garlic and 3 tablespoons of the oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to color, 8 to 10 minutes. Add both paprikas and cook, stirring, until fragrant and darkened, 30 seconds.
Reviews
June 7, 2025
A great staple with tons of variation
This is one of those recipes I keep in my back pocket, and I am so glad for Milk Street and José Andrés for teaching it to me. The recipe as written is a great, but also as a starting point to countless variations. I enjoy a spicier take with a mix of dulce and picante smoked paprika. You can thicken with egg yolk, whisk in whole eggs for ribbons, or even poach. I love this for when my bread goes stale, it gives it new life and I can make it ahead of time before adding the egg so it’s an easy side to a quick dinner. Also: the acid at the end really elevates this dish, so feel free to look for a nice sherry vinegar, or fresh citrus.
October 18, 2024
Cures the final throws of an illness
This has become our house hold go to when recovering from sickness and getting appetite back.
May 5, 2023
Winner
Absolutely LOVE this dish. Perfection. Making it tomorrow for the 5th time
I made this for the third time yesterday and again it was a winner. My friends and I liked the strong blended flavors. This soup benefits from being made the day before serving. I added the sherry vinegar just before serving. I baked the croutons in the oven since there is less chance for burning than using the stove top.
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I would encourage Milk Street to take another look at this recipe. I used the Knorr bouillon as recommended. It is very salty; if you do not have fresh broth I would use store low sodium broth and I will do that next time. The paprikas add a great flavor but it is too strong: you cannot detect any garlic flavor let alone scallions. I do like how the eggs are added and the bread cubes in the skillet. That makes it easier that the traditional recipe I had been using for years. I did not bother with whisking and instead used an immersion blender at the end before eggs are added. Nice smooth consistency that way.