Sopa de Ajo (Spanish Garlic Bread Soup)

Garlicky and smoky sopa de ajo or sopa Castellana is a traditional Spanish garlic soup. Lots of sautéed garlic and Spanish smoked paprika flavor the broth thickened with toasted bread. Just before serving, beaten eggs are stirred into the simmering soup for a humble but filling meal.

Sopa de ajo is quite a bit different from our other recipe for garlic soup, a smooth and creamy blended soup of slowly caramelized garlic thickened with potatoes. Traditional Spanish sopa de ajo’s smoky paprika, toasted bread, and ribbons of egg make it a comforting and filling meal. Since the soup isn’t blended smooth, it has a more rustic feel, reflecting its centuries of history.

Like a Spanish pappa al pomodoro, sopa de ajo or garlic soup is an easy and comforting meal to warm up with on cold winter nights. With soothing garlic and chicken stock, it’s easy on the stomach but far from dull on the tastebuds, leading many to tout it as both a hangover cure and cold remedy.

I turn to sopa de ajo on cold nights when I’m not feeling my best. If it’s cold and dark outside, it’s nearly impossible to convince myself to head to the store or pick up take-out. I usually have what I need to make this soup and am rewarded with a cozy night in.

Table of Contents

1. Ingredients for Sopa de Ajo
2. How to Make Sopa de Ajo
3. Variations on Sopa de Ajo
4. What to Serve with Sopa de Ajo
5. More Bread Soup Recipes Plus 1 for Garlic-Lovers
6. Sopa de Ajo Recipe

Ingredients for Sopa de Ajo

This is a humble meal using a short list of pantry staples. The key to the best flavor is a good quality chicken stock and a fresh jar of smoked paprika. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Crusty white bread: You could use plain stale bread or pan-fry it in olive oil, but I prefer baking it until it’s crisp and golden for the toasty flavor.
• Extra virgin olive oil: Use good-quality Spanish extra virgin olive oil to sauté the garlic and bloom the paprika.
• Garlic: Slice the garlic as thinly as possible and sauté it until it’s just starting to turn golden. If the garlic browns too much, it will taste overly bitter.
• Spanish smoked paprika: Smoked paprika adds a fruity, smoky flavor to the soup without any heat.
• Bay leaf: Adding a bay leaf to simmer in the stock adds a subtle herbaceous flavor.
• White wine: White wine adds a bit of fruity acidity to the soup. You can substitute it with an equal amount of stock plus 1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar.
• Chicken stock: Use homemade or good quality store-bought low-sodium chicken stock. Or to make this recipe vegetarian you can use homemade vegetable broth.
• Eggs: Similar to egg drop soup, whisked eggs are poured and stirred into the hot soup to form thin ribbons of egg.
• Parsley: I like to finish the soup a pinch of minced flat-leaf parsley for its fresh, green flavor.
• Kosher salt and pepper: Salt and freshly ground black pepper season the soup.

How to Make Sopa de Ajo

This simple and warming garlic soup comes together in just under an hour. After toasting the bread, just sauté the garlic, simmer for 15 minutes, then add the eggs. Here’s how to make it:

• Get ready. Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 400°F. Cut 5 ounces of crusty white bread into 3/4-inch cubes. 
• Toast the bread: Place the bread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, tossing halfway through, until crisp and golden. Set aside.
• Sauté the garlic: Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add 10 thinly sliced garlic cloves and cook until lightly golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add the bread: Add the toasted bread and 1 bay leaf and toss to coat with the garlic and paprika oil. Pour in 1/2 cup dry white wine and cook until completely absorbed into the bread, about 3 minutes.
• Simmer: Pour in 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock and season the soup with 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and a pinch of Freshly ground black pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer to allow the flavors to meld, about 15 minutes.
• Add the eggs: With the soup still at a low simmer, slowly drizzle in the 2 large beaten eggs while stirring. Cook until the egg is set, about 1 minute.
• Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, and serve.

Variations on Sopa de Ajo

It’s easy to make Spanish bread soup your own. You can elevate it by poaching the eggs or bolster it with Spanish ham or tomatoes for a more filling soup with a richer flavor. Here are some of my favorite variations:

• Poach the eggs: Instead of adding whisked eggs to the soup, you can poach whole eggs in it. Poach one egg per serving. Crack one egg at a time into a cup and slide each egg carefully onto the surface of the soup. Cook until the whites are set and the yolks are cooked to your desired doneness, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add Spanish ham or pancetta: Add 4 ounces of finely diced cured Spanish ham or pancetta along with the garlic.
• Make it vegetarian: Use vegetable broth instead of chicken stock to make the soup vegetarian.
• Add tomato: In southern Spain, diced tomatoes are sometimes added to the soup. Add one large or two small diced tomatoes along with the toasted bread.
• Make it spicy: Spain isn’t known for spicy food, so this isn’t a traditional addition. I like to add some cayenne pepper or hot paprika to taste to add a kick.

What to Serve with Sopa de Ajo

A hot bowl of sopa de ajo can be a comforting meal all on its own. If I have any leftover bread, I like to dip it in the soup or some seasoned olive oil.

To make a larger meal, I’d add a salad like this quick and satisfying Tuna White Bean Salad, this Olive Salad with Lemon and Pomegranate, or this Mini Sweet Bell Pepper Salad.

More Bread Soup Recipes Plus 1 for Garlic-Lovers

Soups and Stews

Pappa al Pomodoro (Italian Bread and Tomato Soup)

Italian

Ribollita (Tuscan White Bean Soup)

Moroccan and Tunisian

Lablabi (Tunisian Chickpea Stew)

Soups and Stews

Garlic Soup with Aleppo Pepper Oil and Fried Garlic

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