Simple 6 Ingredient 6 Minute Creamy Tomato Soup from Scratch is about as easy and nutritious as a lunch can get. Have your classic American lunch without any of the nasty additives or preservatives in the canned stuff!
With the possible exception of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, can you think of a more classic American kid meal than grilled cheese and tomato soup?
Everyone knows the manoeuver. You pick up a wedge of your sandwich and dunk it into the soup then get it to your mouth quickly so it doesn’t drip down your hands.
And the key is to dip just enough of your sandwich in for one bite, so the rest stays crispy crusted until you’re ready. Every American kid knows this move.
The tomato soup is the supporting player in this duo. Until now.
The problem with many “real” tomato soups -defined as a soup that starts with recognizable tomatoes rather than a paste or puree- is that they take what seems like forever to cook down. This ‘forever’ is in the kid sense.
As in, “MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! This soup is taking FOREVER. I’m STARVING.”
What my kids want (and what I want) is a soup that is silky smooth, has body and great flavour. It needs to be done in the same amount of time as the stuff you dilute from a can.
That’s another part of the beauty of the grilled cheese/tomato soup partnership. If you plan things right, they’re both done in about the same amount of time.
There are more tomato soup recipes floating around out there in the vast internet world than I can count (including one here.) Many deliver great tomato taste but take forever (kid defined or otherwise).
Some deliver fast results but start with a base of less than fresh ingredients (paste, ketchup, etc…) that leave a soup that tastes flat or old. Some are innovative but ask for ingredients that are difficult to source or out of season.
This recipe is fast, flavourful, fresh, and innovative. It’s also delicious and meets my kids’ approval!
What kind of craziness am I presenting you today? It’s a soup made entirely in the blender. I mean Simple 6 Ingredient 6 Minute Creamy Tomato Soup.
That picture above isn’t for effect. You’re looking at half an onion, a peeled clove of garlic (it’s hiding in there somewhere), a carrot lobbed in half, and the small, leafy, inner stalks of a bunch of celery in my blender.
As an aside: your eyes do not deceive you. My carrot wasn’t peeled.
I just don’t bother when I buy organic carrots which are -nicely- the same price per pound as the conventionally grown ones at Wegman’s. I scrub the carrots, trim the ends, and call it a day when I’m doing something like this.
Joining the aforementioned vegetables are a twenty eight ounce can of my favourite diced tomatoes and a fourteen-and-a-half ounce can of diced tomatoes with Italian herbs. And that, my friends, is the hardest part of the whole task.
Onto the blender base it goes, the lid gets fitted firmly in place. Oh DO make sure it’s firmly in place. Cleaning tomato soup off of the ceiling, walls, and everything on the counter top is not my idea of a good time.
Blend on high for 6 minutes or until steam is rising from the vent in the carafe of your blender. WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
It’s SOUP; it’s Simple 6 Ingredient 6 Minute Creamy Tomato Soup. You’ve got a couple of places you can go from here.
If you want that super familiar flavour, you glug in a little milk and blend just forty five more seconds, or until hot all the way through. That is a taste of childhood, but better.
If you want to be a little more grown-up about it, you can drizzle in a little heavy cream right before serving.
Wanna dress your tomato soup up for company? Add a dollop of crème fraîche to the bowl and stir it in with your spoon.
All that is optional because the soup is really wonderful just as it is: full of real tomato, given body and subtle flavour by the carrot, celery, and garlic, and smooth as can possibly be.
Dressing Simple 6 Ingredient 6 Minute Creamy Tomato Soup up with delicious cream is optional. Dunking is required.
Cook’s Notes
- If you’d prefer, you can use an equivalent amount of home-canned tomatoes. I ran out in January (cue sad violins), but I love, love, love canned diced tomatoes from the store in this soup. Use a brand whose flavour you like best!
- If you don’t want to use or can’t find the diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, substitute a 14.5 ounce can of regular diced tomatoes and add 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning and a 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil.
- I do not call for salt in the recipe. This is because most canned tomatoes have a pretty decent amount of salt in them as it is. Taste your soup when it is finished. If you find you need salt, add it just 1/4 teaspoon at a time, blending after each addition, until it is just as you like it!
- The carrot serves two purposes in the soup. First, it takes a little acidic edge off of the tomatoes without adding sugar or HFCS like the stuff in the can does. WIN!
Second, It gives the finished soup some body or thickness without adding any starches or flours making this extremely allergy friendly. No gluten, no corn starch, no nuttin’. Another win!
And taste wise, it beats the canned stuff by a mile without being an unfamiliar flavour. Win/Win/WIN!
- The soup is a little frothy immediately after blending. We found this to be pleasant. If you’d prefer it to be less so, let it rest for 10 minutes after blending then give a quick stir before pouring into serving dishes.
- This recipe was tested with both a Blendtec blender and a Vitamix blender. Both blenders turned out perfect soup. I have not tested it with any other blenders.
- On that note, I want to assure you that this soup is REALLY as smooth as velvet! The blenders absolutely pulverized the fresh, raw, whole vegetables that went into them and cooked them to perfection. And people! The soup coming out of those blenders is HOT. There will be steam when you remove the lid, so please remove the lid carefully!
- The soup stores well in a tightly lidded jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheats like a dream.
Use this to make Simple 6 Ingredient 6 Minute Creamy Tomato Soup from Scratch:
Look how easy it is to make 6 Minute 6 Ingredient Tomato Soup from Scratch
Simple 6 Ingredient 6 Minute Tomato Soup
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1/2 of a small onion peeled and trimmed of the ends
- 1 large celery stalk leaves still attached, preferably
- 1 medium to large size carrot scrubbed and trimmed of the ends, broken in half
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 1 can diced tomatoes in juice 28 ounce
- 1 can diced tomatoes with Italian Herbs 14.5 ounces, or an identically sized can of plain diced tomatoes with 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings + 1/2 teaspoon dried basil.
Optional for serving:
- 1/2 to 1 cup milk and/or heavy cream or creme fraiche to stir in at the end.
Instructions
- Add the onion, celery stalk, carrot, garlic clove, and both cans of tomatoes with their liquid into the blender. Fix the lid carefully in place and blend on HIGH for 6 minutes, or until steam is coming from the top of the blender. If using milk, add it and blend on HIGH for 45 seconds or until hot all the way through.
- If desired, drizzle heavy cream or creme fraiche in the soup as you serve.
Nutrition
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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Reader's Thoughts...
Myra says
I love this soup! It’s my go-to Tomato Soup. I much prefer the taste when the onions and garlic are sauteed first. I actually just microwave them for a minute or two with a little butter. Tonight, I didn’t have any celery on hand, so I used a tiny bit of celery salt (it worked, but I’m hoping I have fresh celery the next time my Tomato
Soup craving hits). I also added some dried thyme, which I think was a winning addition. I’m so glad I found this recipe! Thank you for posting it. 🙂
Becky says
I made this soup in my beloved vitamix….it is the first soup I’ve made (the idea of cooking in a blender kind of freaks me out). I added about a tsp of pure maple syrup and a few generous grinds of pepper…dolloped the top with a big spoonful of sheep Yogourt…and ate alongside a grilled cheese made with homemade sourdough. YUM. Thanks for helping me conquer my pregnancy craving for Campbell’s soup and Kraft slices!
Rebecca says
I live to serve! I’m so glad you liked it! I love the idea of the maple syrup addition!!!
Emily says
I actually made this and I’m sorry to say I was let down.
The frothiness was fine, I use a Vitamixer to make soups and I don’t mind it.
Be very sparing with the Italian seasoning, 1 tsp was way too much.
I added light cream which helped but overall- meh. Maybe its because it uses canned tomatoes and not fresh.
Sounded good…but wasn’t.
Teressa says
My vitamix has a soup button can I just use that? Also I’m trying to steer clear from canned tomatoes how would I sub these out or any idea of brands that come in glass or boxes?
Rebecca says
Definitely use the soup setting on your Vitamix. Those things are fabulous! You can sub in any equal amount of ‘canned’ tomatoes whether they be in boxes or jars. Just maintain the same quantity of tomatoes and juice.
Lola says
How many servings is the 6 min 6 ingredient soup?
Judi says
I’m guessing (just guessing) if your soup comes out of a blender hot…then you’re probably on the verge of burning up your motor. Six minutes on high is a long time! Blenders should not heat the contents.
Rebecca says
Actually, Blendtec and Vitamix both sell blenders that are intended to be used to cook things. They even market them that way! It’s one of the beautiful features of both of those brands and one of the reasons they’re a little pricier. 🙂
judi says
I did not know that. I have burned out 2 motors crushing frozen fruit: one an Oster and the other a KitchenAid. I know this is common with standard mixers. I guess Vitamix is different. Good to know.
Rebecca says
Yes, indeedy! I make this soup for my kids in my Blendtec at least once a week. Those machines are absolute beasts!
DD says
Honestly this wasn’t great. I like the idea but next time think the onion and garlic needs to be cooked separately first – otherwise the flavors in the garlic/onion are too strong.
cro64057 says
Made this today. Added heavy cream, a little kosher salt and Parmesan cheese at the end. Never been a fan of tomato soup but this is AWESOME!!
Jessicat says
I made this tonight. It was my first time attempting soup in my new Vitamix!
Turned out pretty good. Only feedback is that I think there was too much onion.
I also added a cup of milk to the Vitamix to blend in and some parmesan cheese! Yum!
Still, it was a little tart/bitter (I suppose it depends on the tomatoes you use – mine were organic canned tomatoes from Trader Joe’s) so I added a teaspoon of sugar and it took the edge right off! 😉
Thanks for the recipe!
Rebecca says
You’re welcome! I’m glad you played around with it to adjust it to your personal tastes. I’m a big onion fan, and love a very present onion flavour in my soup!
tibbs says
Use shallots, they are milder in flavor than onions.
Neo says
Very Important: Make absolutely sure the nut on the bottom of your Vitamix blender container is on correctly and tightly and the bottom of your container is sealed properly. Test this with plain water first, so if there’s a leak or explosion, the mess won’t be as bad.
I just attempted to make this soup and 5 minutes into ‘cooking’ the soup in my Vitamix container, tomato soup came hurling out the bottom of the container. The heat from the soup somehow compromised or bypassed the seal on the bottom of the container. Tomato soup went everywhere and was an unholy mess.
Do *not* leave your blender unattended even if everyone and their cousin insists you can. Just don’t do it.
My other suggestion is to heat your ingredients in the microwave first (tomatoes, paste, liquids) and then add all to the container and then only blend for a minute or so to thoroughly mix all ingredients and not to do your heating. “Cooking” in the Vitamix can be done, but can also be much more trouble than it’s worth if something goes wrong and the liquid either leaks out or blows out. It does happen sometimes.
Kelly says
I just bought a Vitamix and can’t wait to try this soup…I was wondering, did you use the 64oz container to make this amount of soup? I have the 48oz container and wanted to check if I will need to adjust the recipe so as to not over fill the blender container. Thanks!
Madeline says
I seem to be alone in this, but I did not have the experience of the soup warming itself in the blender. I also had to add so much stuff (bay leaves, soy sauce, garlic powder, etc.) to get it to not be bland. I like the base idea, but had to get inventive with the seasonings to make it palatable.
Rebecca says
Hi Madeline- may I ask what kind of blender you have? That may have something to do with the lack of heating you experienced. And about the seasoning… I always encourage folks to tailor things to their preference!
Emily says
Put in a food processor instead of a blender and it made a delicious raw pasta sauce!!
Jo says
My hubby and I tried this out in our Vitamix last night. Only in our increasing effort to not use canned foods and make things from scratch, we swapped the canned tomatoes for fresh ones. I used three medium tomatoes, and added just a little bit of water to adjust for the water that would be in the canned tomatoes. It turned out great!!! It was delicious, but in the future, we will use more like 1/4 of a small onion, as the principle flavor was overwhelmingly onion. Otherwise a great, quick recipe! Thank you for sharing!!
Rie says
Had a big birthday last month and got a BIG present, a Blendtec Blender. Used it today. This was the first recipe I made with it and it won’t be the last time I make. YUM.
Anna Bushong says
I just made this soup in my vitamix and it was absolutely wonderful! I did add 2-3 tbsp of sugar to cut the acidity a little bit since I was out of any milk replacements. That you so much for this recipe because now I know what to make when I am feeling under the weather and do not want to make a huge mess of my kitchen!
Eileen says
Tonight I made this and it turned out Amazing!!! The only thing I did was steam the carrots/celery in 1\2 c of water in a bowl in microwave for 5 min, I have a cheapo blender and didn’t wanna burn out the engine.. I then heated it in a sauce pan.. It turned out perfect and I will never use another recipe or can again;-) thank you!
Rebecca says
What a clever recipe hack, Eileen! I’m so glad you were able to make it work for you. And if anyone else has a cheapo blender, I’ll give them your solution!!! Thank you!
K Ann Guinn says
That answers my question!
Amber says
How many servings of soup does this recipe make? 🙂
Anna Bushong says
It makes a good 7-8 cups of soup (a full vitamix)! Plenty of soup for two people or enough for four as a side dish.
Liz says
I finally got around to trying this recipe tonight. Worked great in my Vitamix. It was filled to the tippy-top so I was a little worried for the first few minutes that the whole works would explode all over my kitchen, but it went off without a hitch and was sooo good with a crusty grilled cheese. Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow! Thanks for a great new go-to recipe!
Lauren says
Am I supposed to heat this at some point? It says it’ll be hot out of the blender but never says to heat any of the ingredient???
Rebecca says
Nope! The blender creates enough heat through friction to cook the whole thing!
tibbs says
The Vitamix runs at considerably higher rpm than the standard blender, thus generating heat thru friction of the extremely high rpm of the blades and interaction with the ingredients. I have seen the Vitamix demonstrations at trade shows and fairs many times. Figure the cost of that 6 minute soup you make after you pay $500 for your Vitamix blender, quite costly for convienance, tho it is very healthy for you. I just could not justify the financial expenditure for the luxury of having a Vitamix.
Rebecca says
I understand a Vitamix is expensive. An equally capable Blendtec is slightly less expensive. That said, it’s slightly silly to think that you’d only make soup in a high-powered blender. They’re great for a multitude of uses in the kitchen and for people who are trying actively to eat more nutritious food, the Vitamix or Blendtec can be an investment in healthier eating vs. a luxury for convenience.