This creamy tomato soup recipe is simple and quick to make. Plus, like all good vegetable soups, it is flavoursome, healthy and nutritious. Make it with either tinned, roasted or fresh tomatoes, it’s a brilliant way to use up that summer glut. Want to know more? Then read on…
Tomato Soup must be one of the most popular soups on the planet and there are many different recipes around for making your own. This Tomato soup, however, is simple and quick and full of sweet tomato flavours, I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.
If you’re a gardener, this soup is a great way of dealing with a summer glut and if you’re not, don’t worry this recipe gives you the option of using fresh or tinned tomatoes. So, good news, you need never be without your favourite soup.
This soup is deliciously creamy too, it uses a little milk instead of cream (dairy or non-dairy) and is blended silky smooth.
Ingredients in this creamy Tomato Soup recipe
- tomatoes –
- fresh tomatoes – make good use of the plentiful, sweet tomatoes of summer.
- roasted fresh tomatoes – roasting intensifies the flavour of the tomatoes and cooking them with thyme and balsamic vinegar gives a real depth of flavour. Definitely worth doing if you’ve a little time on your hands and lots of beautiful tomatoes.
- tinned tomatoes – if fresh tomatoes aren’t available then make this recipe with 2, 15-ounce tins of tomatoes. These can be ‘chopped’ or plum tomatoes. The flavour will differ slightly from fresh tomatoes but delicious, one is not better than the other, just different.
- sun-dried tomatoes – an optional addition for a richer soup.
- onions, garlic – white or red onions and a couple of cloves of garlic for savouriness.
- carrots and celery – add a little sweetness and body to the soup.
- stock, tomato puree, milk (almond, oat or dairy) – all are present to add flavour.
Fresh, Tinned or Roasted Tomatoes?
This creamy tomato soup recipe will work with either tinned, roasted or fresh tomatoes. The recipe below gives the precise amounts and instructions needed for each option. Using roasted tomatoes will take longer to make. Each variation will taste a little different from the other but’s each one is really good. Through the winter months, we eat the tinned version quite regularly as it’s a really warming and tasty soup.
Variations
One variation is deciding which tomatoes to use and then what to do with them… roast them … use them as they are… undo the tins. Once that decision is made it’s all easy.
For those days when you’d like a little spicy heat, add a chopped fresh green chilli (keep the seeds if you really like a bit of heat) or a 1/8th of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
The sun dried tomtoes add a nice touch to the flavour but aren’t essential.
If you love your herbs you may like a little basil, torn up and added at the end of the cooking. Oregano, rosemary and thyme are all wonderful herbs with tomatoes too. Take your pick or add a mixture. They’ll work really well.
Leave out the milky element or increase the amount a little if you wish
F.A.Q’s
This soup is can be made suitable for plant-based and vegan diets by ensuring that you use a suitable milk. Itend to use either unsweetened almond milk or oat milk in this recipe. So, it’s tried and tested.
To serve, why not sprinkle some of your favourite vegan grated cheese on top and let it melt into the hot soup? Vegan friendly yogurt or sour creams are also really great additions.
This soup can be made suitable for dairy-free diets by using a suitable milk replacement. Unsweetened almond milk and oat milk both work well as replacements. Why not try it with your favourite brand?
Consider using dairy-free cheeses, yoghurts or sour cream to add a few simple little finishing touches to the soup.
Ideas for Serving
Here are a few of our ideas for serving this soup.
I like to serve this creamy Tomato soup with Baked Garlic Croutons. These are really good when it comes to adding a little savoury, garlicky flavour and a good amount of crunch. Baked croutons are really simple to make and because they’re baked in the oven, the kitchen doesn’t have that frying smell left hanging around. By the way, try adding some finely chopped basil leaves to them. Basil and tomatoes are the best of friends and this is quite delicious with this soup.
How about some wonderful, fresh crusty bread? Or a sprinkle of your favourite cheese? Use a sprinkle of nutritional yeast if you’re vegan or even if you’re not, it tastes good. Most vegetable soups go beautifully with cheese or cheese flavours and it adds a little protein too. Just wonderful!
How about herbs? Tomato soup goes really well with lots of summery, mediterranean herbs, such as rosemary, basil or oregano. There are so many choices and we haven’t even touched on seeds, toasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or some toasted pine nuts. There are so many options and I bet you have a few of your own ideas.
If you can think of any more I’d love to know… just comment in the box below and I’ll get back to you.
Storing and Re-heating the soup
This soup will last for up to 3 days if stored in the refrigerator. It will also last for up to 3 months in the freezer.
To eat, defrost on the countertop before heating it through on the hob until it is piping hot. Stir the soup whilst heating, to prevent it from catching on the bottom of the saucepan. Serve with your favourite soup additions and enjoy!
If you like this… then you may like to try these too
- Spicy Tomato and Chilli Soup
- Creamy Cauliflower Soup
- Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup
- Simple Green Pea Soup recipe
- Spicy Red Lentil Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
- Leek and Potato Soup
- Simple Corn Chowder Recipe
- 5-Hearty Vegetarian Soups – this is a collection of soup recipes, which includes some of the above
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Creamy Tomato Soup Recipe
Equipment
- large saucepan
- blender
Ingredients
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 2 carrots medium, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks washed and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 pints stock
- 1/4 pint almond milk dairy or oat milk, unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Use tinned tomatoes
- 30 ounces tinned tomatoes (2 15 oz cans or 2 400g tins)
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional
Use fresh tomatoes
- 4 lbs tomatoes fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
Roasting the fresh tomatoes. (an optional step)
- 4 lbs tomatoes sliced in half
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 thyme sprigs
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they are soft.
- Add the chopped celery, cook for a few minutes and then add the garlic and stir.
- Add the tomatoes (fresh or tinned) and stir. Add in the vegetable stock, the tomato puree and the sun-dried tomatoes if using and allow the soup to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Blend the soup to a consistency that you like. You may have to do this in batches if you are using a blender. A stick blender will do this job really well.
- Put the soup back into a saucepan and add the milk (this can be unsweetened almond or oat milk). Warm it through stirring as it does so.
- Taste the soup to check that it is to your liking. Does it need more seasoning? If so add a little more salt or pepper. If you've used tinned tomatoes you may need to add a 1 tsp of sugar, to take away some of the acidity that tinned tomatoes can have.
- If the soup seems to be too thick, add a little more water to thin it down. If it too thin then cook it for a little longer to thicken it up.
Using fresh tomatoes
- You may wish to pass the fresh tomato soup through a sieve to remove some pieces of tomato skin that may not disappear when the soup is blended. If you do not wish to do this the flavour will be just as wonderful and look pretty in the bowl.
Roasting the Fresh tomatoes (optional)
- Pre-heat the oven to 400F/180C/ 160C Fan
- Line the pan with tin foil for easier cleaning up. Slice the tomatoes in half and lay them in the roasting pan with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic and some sprigs of fresh thyme. (The herbs aren't essential but are nice.)
- Roast for between 40 minutes to 1 hour. You want a them tinged with a little colour but not much. Keep an eye on them.
- When roasted take them out of the oven, add to the other soup vegetables. Make sure to add the thyme leaves but not the stalks and all of the juice created from roasting the fruit. Continue with the recipe as it is written.
Notes
- Add Baked Garlic Croutons. These are really good when it comes to adding a little flavour and a good amount of crunch. Baked croutons are really simple to make and because they’re baked in the oven, the kitchen doesn’t have that frying smell left hanging around. By the way, try adding a few chilli pepper flakes to them. These are quite delicious with this soup.
- Fresh crusty bread? Few things are better than freshly baked bread.
- Sprinkle some of your favourite grated cheese on top and let it melt into the hot soup.
- Make it special by swirling a little sour cream or plain yoghurt (oat yoghurt is nice) on the top. This makes a lovely colour contrast to the vibrant tomato red of the soup itself.
- Sprinkle a few chopped herbs such thyme, basil or rosemary on the top.
Nutrition
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I love tomato soup! When it’s paired with an extra gooey grilled cheese, it’s even better. Thanks for this recipe! 🙂
Yum – love this soup with a cheese toastie. Those flavours really work.
YUM!! This soup sounds so good, especially with the garlic croutons! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll definitely have to try this.
I hope you do try it, whether you eat it with croutons or a toasted cheese sandwich it’s a good one.
I love this! I was just looking for a vegan recipe to use up tomatoes. Love that you have “if you like this then..” So useful!
I hope you get to try the recipe out. It’s one of our favourites.
My partner is in love with tomato soups so I made this for him and he very much approved! So glad to have found this recipe!
Yum! I can’t wait to eat this with a grilled cheese!
I have so many tomatoes ripening in my garden right now. This recipe will be a delicious way to use them!
A terrific and easy recipe! I followed the recipe regarding ingredients, using tomatoes from the farmers’ market and basil from my herb garden. I read the other reviews before I made the soup, noting that some without an immersion blender ended up wearing the soup. Since I do not have an immersion blender, the only change I made was stopping after step 1 and refrigerated the unblended soup overnight. The next day, I used my blender on the chilled soup and continued with step 2. No soup bath and a deliciously easy recipe!
I’m so pleased that you liked it. We eat this quite often in the summer months when tomatoees are plentiful.