Czech Garlic Soup – Česnečka (Authentic Recipe) - Cook Like Czechs (2024)

This recipe for Czech garlic soup is light yet rich in taste. It's often used as a fortifying soup while being sick, and some people call it the best hangover cure! In the Czech Republic, this traditional garlic soup is known as česnečka or česneková polévka.

My husband always asks for homemade garlic soup when he feels sick. And I’m happy to cook it for him because I know this wholesome garlic soup will ever get him back on his feet.

Try it too: If you feel you’re getting ill, try this clear garlic soup. Nothing beats a steaming soup in those cases!

MY TIP: Don’t miss white cauliflower soup, Czech květáková polévka (it tastes so good!)

➜ What Is Czech garlic soup?

Czech garlic soup, called česnečka, is a clear soup without cream made from chicken broth and potatoes, loaded with fresh garlic. Dried marjoram and some bay leaves give the soup the real Czech flavor. Threw a handful of toasted bread croutons into your plate as the last step!

➜ Pronunciation

I recorded a short audio clip on how to pronounce the Czech word česnečka. The first word in the audio is "česnečka", the last is "česneková polévka", which means garlic soup.

➜ Ingredients

To make Czech česnečka garlic soup, you will need:

• Fresh garlic; peeled cloves, sliced
• Brown potatoes; peeled and diced
• Chicken stock; for more flavor and rich taste. Optionally, use plain water.
• Dried marjoram
• Black pepper; ideally fresh ground
• Bay leaves
• Pork lard; or vegetable oil such as sunflower or Canola

For bread croutons, you’ll need one or two slices of stale rye bread. If you don’t have rye bread, white bread will work as well. Czechs make bread croutons for soup from their typical white breads: veka, braided housky, or rohlíky rolls.

✅You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

➜ Making garlic soup from scratch

I've heard many people calling the Czech česnečka one of the best garlic soups globally gastronomy.

I have to say that it is true, but you need to know how to make it right. If you just boiled the garlic and potatoes in water, the soup wouldn’t taste as rich as it tastes when well prepared.

The secret of a hearty and rich česnečka soup? You have to sauté diced potatoes and sliced garlic before adding the chicken stock.

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Peel the garlic cloves and cut them into thin slices. Peel the potatoes, dice them into cubes about ½ inch (1-1.5 cm) thick.

STEP 2: In a soup pot, melt the lard over medium heat. Add the potato cubes and sauté them until lightly golden brown. It takes about 5 minutes. Stir frequently.

STEP 3: Add the slices of garlic, bay leaves, and sauté for 1 minute (no longer!).

STEP 4: Pour in chicken stock, bring to a boil.

SETP 5: Reduce the heat, add salt, pepper, and marjoram, cook covered with a lid for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

➜ Serving

Serve Czech garlic soup hot with rye bread croutons. Optionally, garnish with chopped parsley leaves. For an even more intensive taste, add some freshly crushed raw garlic into the soup at the very end!

➜ Useful Tips

• Sauté the garlic for 1 minute at most in the beginning. If garlic slices went brown, the soup would be bitter.
• Before you add the dried marjoram, slightly rub it between your fingers, it will smell better it the soup.
• If you don’t have any chicken stock, you can prepare the garlic soup from water. The soup will acquire the taste of potatoes and garlic while cooking.

More traditional Czech soups:

• Zelňačka – sauerkraut soup with klobasa sausage
• Bramboračka – potato soup with mushrooms
• Gulášová polévka – goulash soup with beef

Still hungry? Browse the category with all soup recipes!

➜ Rye bread croutons

Crunchy toasted bread croutons belong to the Czech garlic soup. Add them right before you eat the soup, not earlier.

After you throw the croutons into the soup, they soak up some water and stop being crispy. Thus, the croutons are usually made of rye bread, which is harder, and it remains crispy for longer.

If you only have white bread, you can use it, but the croutons made out of white bread soak up the soup faster.

How to make bread croutons in a few simple steps:

1. Grab 1-2 slices of stale bread. Cut it in cubes about ½ inch (1-1.5 cm) in size.
2. Grease a baking dish with a little bit of butter.
3. Add bread cubes and place the dish into an oven preheated to 340°F (170°C)
4. Bake for 10 minutes. Halfway through, mix the bread cubes to get crispy from all sides.

Place the bread croutons into the soup just before you eat it.

➜ Optional ingredients / garnishes

There are several Czech česnečka soup recipe variants. My recipe describes the traditional one, but if you visit Prague and order the soup in a restaurant, it can come to the table with extra ingredients.

Here are some of the more common extra adds or garnishes:

• Hard cheese; grated or cubed, usually served separately in a small bowl
• Diced ham; similar to cheese, served separately in a bowl
• Whisked Egg; drizzled in a soup
• Onion; some recipes call for onion; however, the basic recipe for česnečka doesn’t contain any
• Caraway seeds; typical Czech spice goes into many soups