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This creamy tomato soup is ready in just 30 minutes, making it the perfect quick and comforting meal. It’s simple to prepare—watch the video for a smooth, velvety texture and perfect flavor every time!
Whenever I’m in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich, I pair it with this delicious creamy tomato soup. It’s super quick, using mostly pantry staples like canned crushed tomatoes, and comes together on the stovetop in under 30 minutes.
This recipe is also perfect for the colder months when tomatoes aren’t in season. I love enjoying a bowl of comforting soup, alternating between my favorites like potato leek soup, broccoli cheddar soup, carrot soup, and this tomato soup. It’s so satisfying, especially with extra parmesan melting over the hot soup.
And if you are reading this when you have a bunch of juicy fresh tomatoes, check out this delicious roasted tomato soup that will use your bounty!
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Watch the tomato soup video
Ingredients
- Crushed Tomatoes: I love using canned tomatoes for this recipe, and I often use my own homemade canned whole tomatoes and crush them. You can also use fresh, ripe tomatoes—just be sure to crush or puree them for the smoothest texture.
- Stock: I often use homemade vegetable stock or homemade chicken stock for the best flavor. But storebought options work just as well.
- Cream: I love using heavy cream or whipping cream for the smoothest, creamiest results.
- Parmesan cheese: To add some saltiness and cheesy flavor.
- Aromatics: I use yellow onions and garlic.
- Olive oil and butter.
- Basil leaves: Use fresh basil leaves and, if wanted, keep some for garnish.
- Seasonings: You’ll need a little sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes, along with black pepper for flavor. I usually skip adding salt since the stock and Parmesan are already salty, but feel free to adjust to your taste.
You will also need a non-reactive pot like stainless steel, enameled cast iron, or ceramic pot. This is needed because the acidity in tomatoes can react with the metal, potentially resulting in the soup having a metallic taste.
See the printable recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make tomato soup
Sauté onion and garlic: Peel and chop the onion, mince the garlic, and chop the basil leaves.
Next, add the butter and oil to a non-reactive large pot and heat over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for about 10 minutes until translucent and soft. Add the minced garlic and stir to combine.
Add the tomatoes, stock, basil, sugar, and pepper, then simmer: Stir in the crushed tomatoes, stock, chopped basil, sugar, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes to let the flavors meld together.
Blend the soup: At this point, I love to blend the tomato soup to achieve a creamy texture. You can leave it chunky if preferred. To blend directly in the pot, use an immersion blender and process until your desired texture.
Alternatively, you can transfer the soup to a blender. Make sure to let the steam out from time to time while blending, and use a kitchen towel to hold the lid down. Work in batches so the blender jug is not too full.
Stir in cream and parmesan: Add the cream and parmesan and simmer the soup again for a couple of minutes. Taste test and adjust any of the seasonings. If it’s too acidic, add a bit more sugar to balance the flavor.
Serve: Finally, remove from the heat and serve the creamy tomato soup. You can top it with a few fresh basil leaves and extra shavings of parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
How to serve tomato soup
Here are some of my favorite ways to serve this tomato soup:
- Grilled cheese sandwich: I love to pair it with an ooey and gooey grilled cheese sandwich—it’s perfect for dipping!
- Croutons: Crunchy homemade croutons make a great topping.
- Toast: Dip crusty bread into the soup.
- Extra parmesan: Add grated or shaved Parmesan to the hot soup for a melty finish.
- Fresh Basil: Top with thinly sliced basil or small basil leaves.
More favorite soup recipes
Check out more delicious, easy soup recipes here for even more ideas!
If you try this tomato basil soup recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments below. I’d appreciate a recipe card rating and would love to see your recipe recreations – tag me on Instagram @Alphafoodie!
Tomato Soup
Equipment
- Hand-held immersion blender or blender
- Pot non-reactive, like stainless steel, enameled cast iron, or ceramic pot
Ingredients
- 56 oz crushed tomatoes 2 x 28oz cans (DOP San Marsano are great)
- 3 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 2 onions medium-sized, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic small, minced
- 1/3 cup basil leaves chopped (or 1 Tbsp dried basil)
- 3 Tbsp butter unsalted
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel and dice the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Chop the basil leaves.
- Heat the butter and oil in a non-reactive pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for about 10 minutes until translucent and soft.
- Add the minced garlic and stir to combine.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, the stock, chopped basil, sugar, and black pepper. Stir until well combined.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Optionally, blend the soup to your desired texture with an immersion blender (straight in the pot) or using a blender.Alternatively, leave it chunky.
- Add the cream and parmesan and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Taste the creamy tomato soup and adjust the seasonings as needed. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just finished making and eating. Delicious. Had some tired tomatoes so roasted them with onion , fresh rosemary and garlic purée (all I had). I had about 2/3 cup leftover lentil chicken rice soup so I blended it all together and added about 1/4 c 18% cream. Delicious and will make again when I have all the proper ingredients. It was a delicious way to use up things I would have thrown out. Lesson learned.
So happy to hear, Elaine! Glad you liked it! 🙂