Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Super smooth, ultra Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is both the best and easiest way to make soup from fresh tomatoes. You’re going to love this so much, you’ll want to double, triple or even quadruple the recipe to keep on hand in the freezer long after summer and fresh tomatoes are a pleasant memory.

Not only is this easy tomato basil soup a great way to use up an abundance of fresh tomatoes, but it also happens to be the best tomato soup recipe I’ve ever eaten. I’m a huge fan of tomato soup and have eaten just about every tomato soup possible.

From homemade soups to canned ones, I’ve tried them all. Whether you prefer a chunky texture or creamy texture, this easy tomato soup is a revelation.

Just 5 ingredients are needed to make our flavourful, creamy tomato basil soup recipe and -shocker!- not one of them is cream! Now don’t fret, dairy lovers, you can certainly add a glug of heavy cream or milk to your bowl of tomato soup. I’m just saying this soup is great even without it.

And you don’t have to peel or seed these tomatoes. Heck, depending on the types of tomatoes you use, you may not even have to remove the cores! (More on this in a minute…)

This is one of those unicorn recipes that is both fast enough to make on a busy weeknight and easy enough to make a big enough batch that you can eat off of for more than one meal. While you have the oven going, you can make a second batch, too, setting you up for many a fast meal of grilled cheese sandwich + good tomato soup.

Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe

That’s right, we’re roasting these tomatoes! This is what gives our homemade tomato soup such robust flavor.

It tames some of the acidity of the tomatoes and intensifies and concentrates the fresh tomato essence. This is a memorably good creamy tomato soup.

What do you need equipment wise? I’m glad you asked.

1. 1 knife
2. 1 cutting board
3. 1 rimmed half sheet pan
4. 1 blender or food processor (a stick blender will work here with minor modifications)

That’s it! That’s seriously all you need. No pressure cooker, slow cooker, instant pot, or soup pot is needed!

And honestly, if you’re blender-less in every way and you like a chunky soup, you can even get away with a potato masher. My personal preference is for smooth creamy tomato basil soup, but I know there are a lot of folks who like a little more chunky texture to chew on in their soup bowl.

Easy Homemade Tomato Basil Soup Recipe

As far as ingredients go, there is nothing exotic or difficult to source. Just look at this ingredient list; not counting the salt and pepper, it’s just 5 ingredients.

1. Fresh Tomatoes
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5. Fresh Basil
6. Salt
7. Pepper

Hit up your garden or favourite farm stand or grocery store, and nab some tomatoes, onions, and fresh basil. I’m betting you have everything else you need to make creamy tomato basil soup in your kitchen already!

That’s all you need. You don’t need tomato sauce or tomato paste or a bay leaf of any of that. Just 5 simple, fresh ingredients.

I prefer to use plum, roma, or San Marzano tomatoes for our Creamy Tomato Basil Soup. You can definitely use heirloom, beefsteak, or any other fresh, whole tomatoes including cherry tomatoes. Just use approximately the same number of pounds and you’ll be good to go.

Please note, too, that you can have a mix of super ripe and slightly firmer tomatoes. The less ripe tomatoes have higher amounts of naturally occurring pectin, and make for a smoother, silkier, slightly thicker soup.

When I tell you that you should probably just go ahead and double this recipe, I mean it. Heck. Triple it or quadruple it.

You can divide any leftover soup into an airtight container or individual serving size containers and freeze it for later use. You’ll be so pleased with yourself if you have a stash of creamy tomato basil soup.

Soup with Canned Tomatoes

If you’re looking to make soup with canned tomatoes, never fear! You can make this Simple 6 Ingredient Tomato Soup, Wegmans Lasagna Soup Recipe Copycat, Tortellini Vegetable Soup, Vegetable Beef Barley Soup, or Taco Soup.

And if you’re craving a hearty stew or chili, try out our Beef Curry Stew – Beef Stew in the Oven, Ham and Lentil Stew, Chorizo Chili, or Cincinnati Chili, among others!

Canned Tomato Soup

If you’re into canning, this tomato soup is an ideal candidate for canned tomato soup. Because there is no added dairy or stock, it’s pretty speedy work to load into jars and pressure can extra.

I don’t advise water bath canning this soup, though it might be okay. The reason for this is that it may or may not be acidic enough to ensure shelf stability and food safety.

To pressure can for shelf stable storage, reheat the soup after blending and pour into clean pint or quart jars leaving 1 inch of headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel dipped in white vinegar to clean them.

Fix new, two-piece lids in place and adjust to fingertip tightness. Bring water to a boil according to your pressure canner manufacturer’s instructions. Load the jars into the canner, fix the lid in place, and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

• For pints: Process for 60 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure for 1,000 ft. altitude or below or 15 lbs of pressure for above 1,000 ft.
• For quarts: Process for 75 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure for 1,000 ft. altitude or below or 15 lbs of pressure for above 1,000 ft.

Creamy Tomato Soup Recipe

I promised my dairy aficionados some love and I’m here to deliver! Here are some tips on making your creamy soups even creamier!

Fresh milk and cream have a tendency to curdle in the combined presence of tomato’s acidity and the soup’s heat, but there are a couple of ways around that. Here’s how you prevent having little curds in your soup.

1. You can use evaporated milk, which is much more stable in acidity and heat. Simply stir into the hot soup and let it heat through.
2. You can warm up fresh milk or cream gently in a small saucepan over medium low heat before stirring it into your soup.
3. You can skip dairy altogether and stir in full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Wash your tomatoes. If you have any tomatoes with a woody or tough core/stem area, trim it away, otherwise, simply cut each tomato into 8 wedges. 

Spread them out on a rimmed half sheet pan. Scatter the onions and garlic cloves around the pan.

Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the contents of the pan and then sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until all of the tomatoes are tender, have started to shrivel at the edges, and there are some standing cooking juices in the pan.

Remove the pan from the oven and toss the half of your fresh basil leaves around on top of the hot tomatoes. Let the whole pan rest for about 5 minutes. The basil will darken and become fragrant.

Carefully transfer your cooked tomatoes and any accumulated cooking juices to a blender or food processor. Add the remaining basil leaves as well.

Blend on high until the contents are smooth.

Serve immediately garnished with fresh chopped basil or whole basil leaves or divide into single serving sizes and freeze in airtight containers for up to a year. 

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

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Rebecca Lindamood

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

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Super smooth, ultra Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is both the best and easiest way to make soup from fresh tomatoes. You’re going to love this so much, you’ll want to double, triple or even quadruple the recipe to keep on hand in the freezer long after summer and fresh tomatoes are a pleasant memory.

Equipment

• 1 Rimmed half sheet pan
• 1 blender, stick blender, or food processor

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 lbs plum tomatoes see notes
• 1 onions peeled and cut into wedges
• 6 cloves garlic peeled but left whole, (See Notes)
• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 to 12 large leaves fresh basil

Instructions

 

To Make Roasted Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

• Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
• Wash your tomatoes. If you have any tomatoes with a woody or tough core/stem area, trim it away, otherwise, simply cut each tomato into 8 wedges.
• Spread them out on a rimmed half sheet pan. Scatter the onions and garlic cloves around the pan.
• Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the contents of the pan and then sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until all of the tomatoes are tender, have started to shrivel at the edges, and there are some standing cooking juices in the pan.
• Remove the pan from the oven and toss the half of your fresh basil leaves around on top of the hot tomatoes. Let the whole pan rest for about 5 minutes. The basil will darken and become fragrant.
• Carefully transfer your cooked tomatoes and any accumulated cooking juices to a blender or food processor. Add the remaining basil leaves as well.
• Blend on high until the contents are smooth. If using a blender, be sure to vent the blender so steam can escape.
• If you want thinner soup, you can blend in a little milk, heavy cream, or broth. Please note this should be done before serving, but not with soup that you plan to freeze or can.
• Serve immediately garnished with fresh basil or divide into single serving sizes and freeze in airtight containers for up to a year.

Tomato Soup Canning

• If desired, this soup can be pressure canned for shelf-stable storage. To do this, you want to reheat the soup after blending and pour into clean pint or quart jars leaving 1 inch of headspace.
• Wipe the rims of the jars with a paper towel dipped in white vinegar to clean them.
• Fix new, two-piece lids in place and adjust to fingertip tightness. Bring water to a boil according to your pressure canner manufacturer's instructions. Load the jars into the canner, fix the lid in place, and process according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• For pints: Process for 60 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure for 1,000 ft. altitude or below or 15 lbs of pressure for above 1,000 ft.
• For quarts: Process for 75 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure for 1,000 ft. altitude or below or 15 lbs of pressure for above 1,000 ft.
• Allow the jars to return to normal pressure naturally, then remove the canner lid and carefully transfer to a cooling rack or a sheet pan lined with towels. Allow them to cool -undisturbed- overnight before removing the rings, wiping clean, labeling and storing in a cool, dark place for up to a year.

Notes

-I prefer plum tomatoes as they are a little more substantial and you get a higher yield, but any fresh tomatoes will be delicious in this soup. Beefsteak tomatoes will yield a slightly looser soup than plum tomatoes.

If that worries you, you can roast the tomatoes a little longer to evaporate more of the water from them.

The tomatoes do not need to be uniformly ripe but should all be ripe or ripe-ish. Very ripe tomatoes mixed with slightly more firm tomatoes will actually yield a delicious soup. The riper tomatoes will give great tomato flavour and the naturally occurring pectin in the firmer tomatoes will nicely thicken your soup.

-You can either purchase peeled whole garlic cloves, or smack cloves with a heavy pan or the side of a chef’s knife to lightly crush them just enough to loosen the peel on each clove.

Nutrition

Calories: 159kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gSodium: 400mgPotassium: 581mgFiber: 3gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 1926IUVitamin C: 33mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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