Do you love garlic bread? This creamy and delicious garlic bread soup tastes like garlic bread but in a bowl! It’s seasoned just like garlic bread and thickened with blended cubes of French bread, cream, and parmesan cheese. Serve it with homemade croutons or it is also a perfect pairing to dip grilled cheese into.

Hello, garlic lovers! If this is your first time making this soup, it’s a delicious meal that you’ll want to make again and again. I love sautéing aromatics like onions and garlic to develop flavor. It’s one of those that you can dip anything into – a sandwich, grilled cheese, or croutons!
This creamy garlic soup is a real treat around our house. My in-laws introduced me to garlic bread soup several years ago. Somehow, my soup always tasted different than theirs, so I tweaked it a bit and we love it!
Ingredients for Garlic Bread Soup

- Day Old French Bread (other stale bread works too)
- Chicken Broth
- Bay Leaves
- Thyme
- Olive Oil
- Minced Garlic
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Yellow Onion
- Heavy Cream
- Parmesan
Ingredients for Homemade Croutons
- French Bread
- Butter
- Minced Garlic
- Basil
- Salt
How to Make Garlic Bread Soup
Homemade Croutons


- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut French bread into 1″ cubes.
- Melt butter and minced garlic in a small bowl. Drizzle bread cubes with garlic butter, and sprinkle with chopped basil and salt. Toss bread cubes to coat and place on a baking pan in a single layer.


- Cook for 15 minutes, stirring halfway. Set aside.
Garlic Bread Soup


- Add olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add onions, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper, and cook for 7-8 minutes until the onions begin to brown. Add garlic and cook until it becomes aromatic about 30-60 seconds.


- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves.


- Whisk French bread cubes and heavy whipping cream into the broth. Allow the bread cubes to absorb the liquid for about 5 minutes at a simmer.


- Using an immersion blender, blend the onion and bread cubes in the soup.
- Whisk in grated parmesan cheese. Serve with homemade croutons.
Thickening Garlic Bread Soup
Creamy soup is a comforting and indulgent type of soup known for its smooth, velvety texture.
I’m always interested in learning new ways to thicken soups with food (especially vegetables!) instead of with cornstarch or flour. To make the creamy texture in this soup, it’s thickened with heavy whipping cream and bread, which is perfect since it is garlic bread soup.

Blending the Soup
You will need an immersion blender or food processor/blender for this garlic bread soup to be blended properly.
Note: If you have a nonstick pot, be careful using a metal immersion blender in the pan! It will scratch the nonstick coating off the bottom of your pot.
How to avoid scratches in your pot:
- Use a pot without a nonstick surface that scratches easily.
- Use an immersion blender with a plastic base.
- Transfer the soup to another container, such as a large mixing bowl or Tupperware, that won’t be scratched.
- If you use your food processor or blender there’s no worry of scratches.

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Creamy Garlic Bread Soup with Homemade Croutons
Ingredients
Garlic Bread Soup
- 14 ounces Day Old French Bread, cubed
- 8 cups Chicken Broth, reduced-sodium
- 1 Medium-Sized Yellow Onion, Diced
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Minced Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Dash of Pepper
- ½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- ½ cup Grated Parmesan
Homemade Croutons
- 2 cups French Bread, cut into 1″ cubes
- 3 tablespoons Butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Basil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Homemade Croutons
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut French bread into 1″ cubes.
- Melt butter and minced garlic in a small dish. Drizzle bread cubes with garlic butter, and sprinkle with basil and salt. Toss bread cubes to coat and place on a baking pan in a single layer.
- Bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway. Set aside.
Garlic Bread Soup
- Add olive oil to a large pot over medium-sized heat. Once hot, add onions, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper, and cook for 7-8 minutes until onions begin to brown. Add garlic and cook until it becomes aromatic, about 30-60 seconds.
- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
- Whisk French bread cubes and heavy whipping cream into broth. Allow the bread cubes to absorb the liquid for about 5 minutes at a simmer.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the onion and bread cubes in the soup.
- Whisk in grated parmesan cheese. Serve with homemade croutons.
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Made this tonite. It was awesome. And easy
Better than the recipe sounds! The pic with the croutons, parsley, and Parm is more representative of this soup. Do follow through with the croutons, for sure. It is worth the investment of your time. I made homemade bread for this soup and croutons and am eager to see if it is as good with bought bread. I loved the creamy soup. I could not think of a single thing to add to it. It is a wonderful soup to serve in a chunky cup as an appetizer on a cold day. I will definitely make it again.
Can u use store bought croutons in the soup?
You can, but they will be harder than the homemade version. I find homemade croutons have a certain crisp yet chewiness that works well in soups.
This is an amazing meal!! Loved it!
Hello, I am going to make this next week as part of a birthday dinner, but would you please let me know if the 16 oz of bread cubes are for both the soup & croutons? Just want to make sure I don’t need an additional 2 cups of bread cubes for the croutons? Hope my question makes sense. Thank you!
Hi Kris,
The 14 to 16 ounces of French bread is just for the soup itself and the 2 cups of cubed bread for the croutons is additionally needed.
I hope that answers your question. Let me know if you have any more questions.
-Tiffany
This sounds really delicious!