Roasted Tomato Basil Soup Recipe
I know that I can’t be the only one that still has tomato coming out her ears. Right? I was wracking my brain about what to do with our huge colander stacked high with tomatoes, when I suddenly thought, what if I use those flavors, but make a soup to help move us into fall?
DING DING DING! Creamy tomato basil soup with mini grilled cheese croutons was born.
I love those little grilled cheese bites that act like little croutons in the soup. I’m not even kidding, it’s so delicious together.
The best soup is always made when you roast the veggies first. Roasting tomatoes always sounds a little fancy when in fact it’s the easiest thing you can do in the kitchen. Slice, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven.
Ingredients in Roasted Tomato Soup
To make this easy fresh tomato soup recipe, you’ll need the following:
- Fresh tomatoes
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Salt and pepper
- Dark brown sugar
- Chicken broth
- Heavy cream
- Fresh basil
- Baguette
- Fresh mozzarella cheese
- Butter
How to Make Roasted Tomato Soup
Making tomato soup with fresh tomatoes is easier than you might think! Here’s an overview of the recipe:
- Roast the tomatoes until soft.
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Let the tomatoes cool for a few minutes, then place into a blender. Puree until you have 3 cups.
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Drizzle some olive oil in a large sauce pot, then heat until shimmering.
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Add the garlic and onions and cook until fragrant.
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Add the tomato puree you just made, tomato juice from the roasting pan, chicken stock, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
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Stir and then allow to come to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes.
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Add the cream and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- While the fresh tomato soup is simmering away, prep the grilled cheese croutons.
- When the soup is done, top with croutons and dig in!
FAQ
How Long Does Tomato Soup Last?
Creamy tomato basil soup will keep 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
Can You Freeze Tomato Soup?
Good news: tomato soups freeze very well! However, we recommend leaving the cream out if planning on freezing this soup. Stir the cream in when you’re reheating the frozen soup!
What Are the Best Tomatoes for Tomato Soup?
We recommend using Roma tomatoes or vine ripened tomatoes for this creamy tomato basil soup. Avoid using beefsteak tomatoes, as we find they lack the bold flavor this soup needs.
Tips for Making Fresh Tomato Soup
- If you’d like to make this tomato soup healthier, you can use a blend of heavy cream and unsweetened almond milk. Or, use all unsweetened almond milk!
- For an extra punch of flavor, try adding a few shakes of dried Italian herbs and / or red pepper flakes to this soup as it’s simmering.
- You can use really any kind of bread you’d like to make the grilled cheese croutons. We just like using a baguette since it crisps up nicely.
More Easy Soup Recipes:
- Meatball Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Taco Chili Soup
- One-Pot Zuppa Toscana
- The Ultimate Cheeseburger Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cheesy Southwest Chicken Soup
- Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Classic Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Brown Butter Cauliflower Soup
- Homemade Egg Drop Soup
- All of our soup recipes!
Roasted Tomato Soup
Description
Ingredients
Roasted tomatoes:
- 8-12 Tomatoes, , chopped in quarters (depending on the size is how many you'll need)
- 2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
Soup:
- 2 Tablespoons Onion, , chopped
- 2 Cloves Garlic, , minced
- 3 Cups Roasted Tomato Puree, (from the above; place in a blender and puree until desired texture)
- 1 Cup Juice from roasting, , seeds strained out
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 Cup Chicken Broth
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil, , chopped
Grilled cheese croutons:
- Baguette, , sliced into crostinis
- Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
- Butter
Instructions
Roast the tomatoes:
- Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet that has been lightly drizzled with olive oil.
- Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and toss to coat.
- Sprinkle evenly with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Roast at 425F for 20-40 minutes or until shriveled and soft.
- Remove from the oven.
Make the soup:
- Let tomatoes cool for a few minutes and then place the tomatoes, reserving the juices, into a blender (we use Blendtec) and puree until you have 3 cups. If you come up short just add tomato sauce to reach 3 cups.
- Drizzle about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large sauce pot.
- Heat over medium high heat until shimmering.
- Add the garlic and onions, turn down to medium and stir frequently.
- Allow to cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato puree, juice, chicken stock, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
- Stir and then allow to come to a boil.
- Boil for 10 minutes and turn down to a simmer.
- Add the cream and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Make the grilled cheese croutons:
- Meanwhile, place mozzarella between slices of the baguette, butter the outside and cook in a skillet over medium heat until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden. (You're just making little grilled cheeses)
- Remove to a cutting board and chop into 1/2 to 1-inch squares.
- Fill a bowl with soup, fresh basil and mini grilled cheese croutons. Enjoy!
Jill
Do you think I could can this soup?
Sweet Basil
Hi Jill! I don’t see why you couldn’t can this soup. I would just can it without the cream added and add it right before serving. It also freezes extremely well if you want to store the soup that way. Enjoy!
Heather
I find that roasting the onion and garlic with the tomatoes and blending them all at once gives a better flavor. And then there are no chunks too, just a smooth soup.
Sweet Basil
Hi Heather! I love that suggestion! Thank you!
Rachel
Super easy and delicious
Sweet Basil
Thanks!
Kaitlin
I’m so excited to come across this recipe! Tomato soup is one of most favorite comfort foods. My husband and I just picked SO many San Marzano tomatoes from our garden and I’ve been wondering what to do with all of them! I’m going to make a big batch of this delicious soup and freeze some for the winter! Can’t wait! 🙂
Sweet Basil
YEAH!! San Marzanos are going to be great in this!! Enjoy! We would love to hear what you think! Leave the cream out of the soup you freeze and then add it when you serve it!
Sharmila
Just made this soup.
Fab recipe and so simple.
Loved it.
Thank you
Cindy Riedl
Please indicate how many pounds of tomatoes since size varies greatly.
Alison
What kind of tomatoes is the best to use
Sweet Basil
We use roma or vine ripe. Just don’t use beefsteak!
Deb Beeton
Why not beef steak tomatoes?
Sweet Basil
Hey Deb! We have found that they lack the bold flavor we love for this soup.
Sandy Hillman
Can you use light brown sugar?
Sweet Basil
Absolutely
Shelby
Yes, I did and it tasted the same.
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes)
Tomato soup and grilled cheese!! Hard to beat this combination!!!
Sweet Basil
It’s a classic!
Serena | Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
This soup looks amazing! Love the Grilled Cheese Croutons!
Sweet Basil
Thanks so much!
Nichole
This soup sounds so fantastic! Loving those mini grilled cheese bites. Looking forward to trying this recipe over the weekend! 🙂
Sweet Basil
Thank you!
Kim
Do you think you could can this without the cream it looks fantastic
Sweet Basil
Hi Kim,
We’ve made it with milk and it was still pretty darn good. Obviously nothing beats cream, but I say go for it!
Kate
I made this vegan by using veg stock and coconut milk. I roasted the head of garlic (with tips chopped) with tomatoes and squeezed it out to purée. I added chipotle in adobo chopped for depth and simmered with bay leaves. Sooo yummy!!
Marcie
I just sat down after doing a yoga workout and came on pintrest to look up a few healthy recipes to try. I came across this delicious looking tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons that my daughters would love. I was so pleased to come across this recipe, but also to read your story and your trying experiences. I know this post was from a few years ago, but it is so clear that you are dedicated to your values. It was also refreshing to see that “the good guys” won in the court situation. I hope you and your family are doing well and thank you for posting your inspiring words. It truly is a good start to my day. Also, I look forward to this recipe!
Sweet Basil
Marcie, thank you so much for your sweet comment. I felt so discouraged going through all of that because kind of like you stated, the bad guys definitely win a lot and that worried me. So grateful for such a good judge that listened to the facts and boy did we learn a lot about the type of people we want to be.
Kate
What kind of tomatoes did you use for this recipe?
KatiePalmer
How many servings does this recipe make? I’m making it tomorrow night and I just want to make sure I have enough for leftovers!
Sweet Basil
Hi Katie, I hope I caught you in time. Our makes about 6-8 servings, but I’ve been told we have (literally a few friends said this) odd sized bowls, so you may get a little different amount. Ours are a bit small.
Meaghan
Just made a vegan version of this tonight and it was delicious!
I made my own cashew cream to substitute the heavy cream and used Daiya Vegan Mozzarella cheese in the croutons. I also added in some sun dried tomatoes to the croutons as well.
I found the whole thing to be a bit too “chunky” in the end so I ended up using an immersion blender to break it down.
It turned out perfect! Thanks for the recipe!
Kassidy Sears
Can you freeze it? Tomatoes are still fresh from the garden now but I would like to have it for the winter. Thanks
Sweet Basil
We totally freeze ours! I make everything but leave out the milk products, freeze it, and then when I’m reheating add the milk and cream. It’s awesome! I need to hurry and get my batched frozen for winter too.
Muriette
just made your soup last night- it was lovely. thknas so much for the recipe, it was just the thing on a cold night. returning from a long business trip to a mostly empty refrigerator (save a lucky butternut squash) almost kept me out of the kitchen but this was easy and quick to pull together with few ingredients. i added a shallot and some cloves of garlic. the leftovers today were even better!
Sweet Basil
So glad to hear it! Shallot sounds wonderful, I’ll have to try that.
Laura
When does the brown sugar get into the soup??
Carrian
When you add the tomatoes. Sorry about that, I’m going to go fix it! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!!
Chef Jeff
Love a good tomato soup. Just made a batch this week. https://hometownslop.blogspot.com/2012/08/roasted-tomato-bisque-creamy-with-just.html
Thanks again.
Alanna
This soup looks amazing! I was just thinking about making a tomato soup with grilled cheese last night, and found this recipe in my inbox this morning via NoshOn.It. Gorgeous photos!
I'm so sorry you and Cade had to deal with such a crappy company and Mr. A–hole. Glad that you guys killed it in court, and that your judge had a brain! Looking forward to perusing your site some more. : )
Barbara Bakes
The soup sounds fantastic. I'm so glad the truth won out in the end!
Brandi
I'm so happy to have found your blog Carrian! I love it and your secrets to a happy family! This soup looks delicious! I make a roasted tomato pepper sauce with basil on my blog that's so similar, so I'm loving yours and need to try it! Love your blog!:)
Julie @ Table for Two
I love how gorgeous this soup looks and the flavors are just incredible!
Kalyn Denny
The soup sounds fantastic!
Emily
Good for you two taking the higher road. What an idiot (Mr. A) and what an awful, horrible, no-good company. Can't wait for karma to bite them in the butt.
Ashlee Christopher
This soup is stunning I have said it before and I will say it over and over I am sure but you are an amazing photographer wow just wow! Can't wait to try the soup!
Cookin’ Canuck
Oh my goodness, good for Cade keeping his cool I would have wanted to give Mr. A a swift kick in the shins. So glad it turned out in Cade's favor!
And this soup…gorgeous, just gorgeous.
Carrian Cheney
Paloma, after roasting your tomatoes in the oven, the pan should be filled with juice. That's the juice I'm referring to.
Deborah
First of all, this soup sounds amazing! My parents have tomatoes like crazy right now. In fact, my mom just made tomato soup last night. I am loving this version!
And thanks so much for sharing your story. I totally know what you mean about it all helping to build a stronger foundation. Things will only get better!!
Paloma
It looks just delicious! Thanks for sharing! I just pinned it! (didn't understand the “roasting juice” ingredient though… and roasted crushed tomatoes, did you roast them or used canned? )