Thyme soup Recipe and properties

How to make medicinal thyme soup

Recipe and properties of thyme soup

Thyme soup is a recipe that warms the body, ideal in autumn, winter or during changes of season. It has an aromatic, pungent and warm flavor, and is a delicious and medicinal recipe, which heals while nourishing and comforting. There are many ways to prepare this soup, in the following text you will find

two different ones, with their respective photos.

What properties does thyme soup have?

Thyme soup is a light, easy to digest and healthy recipe. It is named after its most aromatic ingredient, thyme, which is one of the most valued antiseptics in phytotherapy. The plant can be harvested, preferably in flower, in late spring and summer. It is then dried and stored in the pantry so that the plant can be used throughout the year. If you buy thyme, it is recommended to do it at herbalists or trusted stores, so that it is of the best possible quality.

This soup provides the medicinal components of onion, garlic and thyme. These are three powerful diuretics, natural antibiotics and expectorants. Traditionally, thyme soup has properties to dissolve mucus, cough up the lungs and help the body fight infections.

Who is thyme soup recommended for?

Thyme soup can be consumed in any healthy diet, but it is especially recommended when there are infections or the first symptoms of the disease, such as colds, flu or catarrhal processes, or those first symptoms of infection typically characterized by headache, mucus, fluid retention and cold extremities (cold hands and feet).

It is advisable that young people, adults and the elderly learn to prepare it. So that they can treat colds at the first symptom with a remedy as effective, economical, healthy, tasty and simple as thyme soup.

Thyme soup ingredients

This first version of thyme soup is a slightly longer recipe than usual (30 minutes), because you have to wait for the onion to cook. Below is a second version, without onion, which takes a little longer to prepare:

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 4 tablespoons dried thyme, or a very dense bunch

• 

  1 liter of water (or vegetable broth from boiling vegetables)

• 1 large onion
• Virgin olive oil (unrefined)
• 1 laurel leaf
• Pinch of salt (or herb salt)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 4 slices of toast

Preparation of thyme soup

• Cut the onion into very thin half-moons and sauté it with the oil, bay leaf, and a pinch of salt.
• Prepare a thyme infusion: Boil 1 liter of water or vegetable broth. When it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and quickly add 2 tablespoons of dried thyme per half liter of water. Cover and let stand for 5 – 12 minutes (covered!).
• Pour the thyme infusion over the poached onion. With the help of a strainer, we will remove the excess thyme leaves. Remove the bay leaf. Season to taste.
• Keep warm until ready to serve (do not boil)
• How to serve thyme soup: Traditionally, thyme soup is served as follows: Toasted bread is prepared. Toasted bread is rubbed with a raw garlic, which, like thyme, is also a powerful antibiotic, as well as an aromatic herb. A slice of toast is placed on each diner’s plate. Pour the hot soup into each plate, over the slice of bread.

Second version of the thyme soup recipe (without onion and faster to make)

Ingredients for 2 people:

• 

  4 slices of toasted or dry bread

• Two cloves of garlic
• A handful of thyme
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Easy preparation of thyme soup (second recipe)

• Put some slices of toast or dry bread on the plate, spread with a clove of garlic and virgin olive oil. The rest of the leftover garlic is also crumbled on top of the plate.
• Place a sprig of thyme on the plate, removing the woody stems.
• Finally, everything is bathed with a powerful infusion of thyme, which we will have prepared. For the infusion: Boil 1 liter of water or vegetable broth. When it begins to boil, turn off the heat and quickly add 2 tablespoons of dried thyme per half liter of water. Cover and let stand for 5 – 12 minutes (covered!).
• Let stand for a few minutes. So, meanwhile, the bread softens, with the spoon, we turn it a few times on the plate, so that it falls apart and is easier to eat, like a creamy soup.

Tips for preparing thyme soup and other advices

• It is important to cover the infusion because this prevents the essential oils released by the plant in the infusion from evaporating, which are very volatile. If you look at a thyme infusion against the light, look closely and you will see tiny droplets on its surface: this is the essential oil of the plant that remains in the infusion water.
• Rubbing raw garlic on bread is a great way to extract the active principles of garlic. This is because alliin, a component of the bulb, needs contact with oxygen to be transformed into allicin, the active ingredient in garlic.
• It is best to consume the soup right after making it, because if it is left to stand for too long or reheated, thyme may leave a slightly bitter or stronger flavor than desired.

Other home remedies with thyme

In phytotherapy or natural herbal medicine, thyme has antiseptic properties used for the treatment of respiratory, digestive and genitourinary conditions. In the next article you will find all kinds of remedies with thyme: Thyme home remedies

More information on thyme

Written by Editorial Botanical-online team in charge of content writing

2 December, 2023