Tomato Basil Soup – creamy, thick and delicious freezer-friendly dish with deep flavors from roasted tomatoes and garlic, fresh basil, Italian seasoning and a hint of heat from red pepper flakes to awaken your tastebuds. Soul-warming soup that is fantastic year-round, with or without any accompaniment!
With this cold weather, it’s hard to be in the mood for cooking in the kitchen. Yesss! Even if I do a lot of cooking to share on this blog, colder days sort of throw me out of my motion. I just want to lay in my bed or sit on my couch with something warm to drink and, of course, anything baked.
But with this simple yet flavorful Tomato Soup recipe, you don’t have to worry about any cooking slump. Yep! You can make them ahead and store them in the fridge or freezer. How does soul-warming flavorful soup in a jiffy sound to you?
Tomato Soup
What makes this Tomato Basil Soup here a standout is that it’s made with roasted plump Roma tomatoes and garlic. That roasted flavor truly elevates this humble comforting dish to a whole new level. Unlike my thicker Tomato Bisque HERE, this homemade tomato soup has all the bells and whistles you’d want.
It has a hint of heat to complement that natural sweetness from roasted tomatoes, a little bit of sugar (coz you know me 😉) and my sought after Homemade Italian Seasoning. Boy, oh boy, it’s ridiculously delicious!
What Types of Tomato Are Best for Tomato Soup?
You don’t have anything to consider when choosing the right tomatoes for this soup EXCEPT that they should big and meaty. Okay, small ones work fine, but meaty ones tend to have that more juice making your soup rich and deeper in flavor. So if I were you, look for fresh organic tomatoes like Roma tomatoes.
If in a hurry, feel free to use canned tomatoes. They work fine, but the flavors won’t be a good as the roasted tomatoes.
Tomato Soup Benefits
In case you need a refresher on why you need to make this creamy tomato soup. Here’s why. It’s packed with nutrients essential for:
- Protecting against cancer
- Maintaining healthy blood pressure
- Helping good eyesight
- Promoting beautiful skin
- Having a wide array of anti-oxidants
….and a whole lot more!
How to Thicken Tomato Soup?
To create that wonderful thickness in this soup, I decided to add about 1/2 cup of cream. But it’s totally optional! You may leave it out or swap it with coconut milk or basically just all-purpose flour.
On the other hand, others would use potatoes as a natural thickener. To use potatoes as a thickener, fried it along with the bell peppers and onions and let it simmer until they’re soft.
How Do You Reheat Tomato Soup?
For those who wish to keep it aside first, you can totally make this ahead and just reheat over medium heat until it starts to simmer. Take note, that when making this recipe for the purpose of freezing it, please leave out the cream and just add it in instead when you’re reheating.
What to Serve with Tomato Basil Soup?
I love love to pair this with anything bread. And you’d want to agree with me that it should be on a weekly rotation. Among my favorites are the following below:
- Homemade Garlic Bread
- Crusty bread
- Homemade Croutons
- Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- Easy Dinner Rolls
- Buttermilk Biscuits
Going on a dinner date night at home this coming Valentine’s Day? This creamy tomato soup would just be the perfect meal starter! ❤️
More Comforting Soup Recipes to Explore
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
- Chicken and Rice Soup
- Beef Barley Soup
- Black Bean Soup
How To Make Tomato Basil Soup
Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Set aside. Wash tomatoes properly and slice in half or cut in quarters, depending on the size of tomatoes. Smaller tomatoes may be left whole. Place the tomatoes and garlic cloves in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Generously season with salt and pepper then drizzle with olive oil. Roast tomatoes for about 40-50 minutes or until the skin softens and slightly charred on the top of the bottom part. Tomatoes will start to burst and ooze out the liquid. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Add roasted tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, broth, Italian seasoning, sugar, and red pepper flakes to the saucepan. Reduce heat to low, and cook. Simmer the soup uncovered for about 20 minutes.
Using an immersion blender or handheld blender, carefully blend your homemade tomato basil soup in batches on high-speed. Resist the temptation of over-blending. It might cause the soup to be too watery.
Return soup to your dutch pan, add in the cream if using any, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil, crunchy croutons, if desired.
Watch How To Make It
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Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 ½ -3 pounds (1.13 - 1.36 kg) plump Roma tomatoes
- 6-8 peeled garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) freshly ground black pepper
- olive oil for drizzling
- 1 medium onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
- ½ red bell pepper , sliced
- 1 cup (24 g) packed basil leaves
- 3 cups (750 ml) liquid (water, chicken or vegetarian broth)
- 1 teaspoon (1.8 g) Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) red pepper flakes
- ½ cup (120 ml) cream or coconut milk (optional)
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter or oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
- Wash tomatoes properly and slice in half or cut in quarters, depending on the size of tomatoes. Smaller tomatoes may be left whole.
- Place the tomatoes and garlic cloves in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Generously season with salt and pepper then drizzle with olive oil.
- Roast tomatoes for about 40-50 minutes or until the skin softens and slightly charred on the top of the bottom part. Tomatoes will start to burst and ooze out the liquid. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Heat up a medium saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons butter or oil and heat over medium-high heat. Once it immediately it heats up, add onions and bell pepper. Saute while stirring frequently for about 8 to 10 minutes until the onions are translucent and slightly caramelized.
- Add roasted tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, broth, Italian seasoning, sugar, and red pepper flakes to the saucepan. Reduce heat to low, and cook. Simmer the soup uncovered for about 20 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender or handheld blender, carefully blend your homemade tomato basil soup in batches on high-speed. Resist the temptation of over-blending. It might cause the soup to be too watery.
- Return soup to your dutch pan, add in the cream if using any, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil, crunchy croutons, if desired.
Tips & Notes:
- Store tomato basil soup in airtight containers in the refrigerator for about 4 to 5 days.
- Tomato basil soup can be kept in freezer safe bags in the freezer for about 3 months.
- You can make tomato basil soup vegan by using vegetable broth.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
MissKimchi says
Oh man.. I made this recipe ALMOST exactly as-is and normally I’d need to make a ton of adjustments but NOPE! I’m never buying store can tomato soup again! This recipe could easily be doubled to fill an aluminum rice pot’s worth. ENJOY CAUSE WE WILL BE!!?
MissKimchi says
.. The slight adjustment I made was I used a whole red pepper and I roasted it with the tomato and garlic at the same time. Next time will add the onion to cause ugghhhhhhhh. And next time I’ll just use a half tsp for the recipe instead of a whole
Imma says
Thank you:) There’s more to come, so stay tuned
B. Cheek says
Nevermind i see it. My apologies
Latoya says
I had been on the hunt for a good tomato soup recipe I could make at home and as usual you delivered. It’s so delicious and savory. I substituted non dairy heavy cream. Superb!! Will make again in the future and try it with coconut milk.
imma africanbites says
Thank you, Latoya. So happy you like it just as much as I do.
Chris Stepp says
YUM gorgeous recipe
imma africanbites says
Thank you. It sure is.
Dawn says
This soup looks AMAZING !! Of course I have almost none of the ingredients on hand at the moment. Guess I’m heading out to the grocery store this afternoon 😉 Thank you Imma, for this recipe !
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Can’t wait to hear how it works out for you. Thanks Dawn.
Carmela says
Looks tempting. When you say cream or coconut milk, is it dairy cream or coconut?
ImmaculateBites says
It’s dairy cream.