This soup did what every pot of soup should do to the body, nourishment. Homemade Tomato Soup that's quick and easy without carrots and celery, yet still gives you those cozy comforting vibes in under 30 minutes! Made with a few simple ingredients, add some natural spices, saucy tomatoes, seasoning, garlic and onion and you're ready for the warm feelings on a cold winters day.
I've had a terrible winter flu that came from nowhere and has forced me to take it easy. That's what happens when you don't rest! I'll tell you one thing that I appreciate from this, that it's winter so resting is cozier.
As soon as I could make it to the kitchen to stand long enough, I was cooking! I needed something that would take minimal effort since standing up without my heading pounding was a challenge. That's the reason why this tomato soup has no carrots and no celery but should you want to start it off with a soffritto base, then by all means do that.
Inspired by my Broccoli Soup that is as quick and easy.
How to make Homemade Tomato Soup - in 3 Simple Steps
- Sauté the aromatics - onion, garlic and tomato paste. Add your favorite spice for flavor and aroma. Never underestimate what a little spice can do, especially when you feel run down.
- Cook the tomato sauce
- Blend the soup
You can add carrots and celery or just one of these to the aromatics but it's not always necessary. As long as you give the onions enough time to build the bed for the rest of the flavors, you're off to a good start!
Did you know that what you feel when you cook is transferred into your food? Your emotions on a plate is what I think. You can add the best ingredients and have a heavy heart, that is what is transported into your food. A few ingredients, simple food with love, and that is what you get to eat.
Why You Should Make Tomato Soup
- Boosts the immune
- Satisfying
- Smooth creamy texture
- Nutritious
- Convenient starter or main dish
- It will help you fight off the awful feeling of flu.
- Did I say easy throughout the first paragraph? It's easy.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients that you will need;
Oil and Butter: You need both and in most of my recipes like this pasta soup I start by melting the butter and then adding the oil. They add a richness to the food.
Onion and Garlic: You can use shallots or red onion for a slightly sweeter taste and less pungency. This recipe uses one brown onion.
Tip: I can't say that I stood there cutting onion because I didn't. What I did do is blitz the onion in the food processor. If you didn't know that, now you do. The food processor will chop onion up for you in a second. No need to wait till you have 10 onions to chop, you can do just one onion in seconds!
I know that you're probably thinking: Geez, Miranda! I'm not taking the food processor out for one onion! Listen:
You can buy a really small food processor or something like a chopper which is even cheaper than a processor, they both come in all different brands and don't have to be expensive. These are great because they take up less counter space and you will use it more than one large food processor! Plus a quick rinse is all it takes.
Canned Tomatoes: Diced or whole, both work since it will all be blend later. Personally, I prefer whole canned tomatoes when I want a thicker sauce. Roasted tomatoes is also an option, see below in the FAQ's section.
Tomato Paste: Rich concentrated flavor.
Passata: Cooks in with the canned tomatoes after the aromatics, makes it nice and thick too since we are not doing a slow simmer.
Sugar: It helps with a little balance with all the acidity in the tomato. I generally never add sugar when cooking tomato sauce because I find that if you let the tomatoes simmer long enough, the question then is 'what acidity?'
Stock: You can use either chicken or vegetable stock, everyone has their own preference or make your own homemade stock. You can also make any soup using water and no stock. For this recipe I went with chicken stock because it has a great flavor especially when your ingredients are a few.
Why you should keep all your veggie bits when cooking
Tip: Keep all your bits and pieces of veggies in a freezer bag. When you have enough pop them into a pot with water, some spices like bay leaves and peppercorns, top up with water, bring to a boil, simmer and you have stock. That's the uncomplicated method! Freeze them too until you're ready to make stock.
Salt and Pepper: Follow the measurements of seasoning in any recipe as a guideline and taste as you go when cooking. For additional seasoning, I like adding garlic and herb for some earthy flavors and for heat, paprika or chili flakes.
Butter: Blend and pour the soup back into the pot on a low simmer and add butter.
Garnish: Fresh basil leaves, olive oil and black pepper.
The recipe card can be found below this post.
How To Make This Tomato Soup
This method is super simple, here's how to make it.
Sautee the onions In a large Dutch oven or pot, over medium heat, melt the butter and add the oil. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook till soft. This will take about 5 to 8 minutes giving the onions a chance to bed the aromatics. Add the garlic, stir and cook them for about a minute, just enough time to marry the two.
Cook the tomatoes Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, tomato paste and passata all at the same time. If you've made any of my similar recipes, you know that I normally love giving the tomato paste a chance to dance with the onions and garlic but in this recipe they go in with the tomato ingredients.
Tomato water: Pour a ⅓ of a cup of water into the empty tomato can, give it a swirl and set it aside.
Spices: If you're going to be adding any spices this would be a good time, with the tomatoes.
Tomato water: Pour the tomato water (from earlier) into the pot, season a little more, add the stock and the sugar. Give it all a good mix.
How to make your own stock alternative?
Tip: Whenever you use salt in a recipe that also calls for stock, make sure to check the sodium levels of the stock so that you don't end up with salty food. Try to use low sodium stock although they tend to be expensive, in which case, you can alternate with water. Water makes great soup! If you want more flavor from just water, add a knob of butter into hot water + your favorite spice (low salt or no salt) and make your own make-shift stock!
Liquid: Add the liquid by means of stock or water depending on what you are using. Let the tomatoes simmer for about 10 minutes. Add your favorite fresh herbs and your soup is ready for the blender.
Blend Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. You can use a stand blender or an immersion blender, whatever works for you. If you use a nutribullet, you will have to pour the soup into a few cups or use one cup, blend and then do another cup. Always a good idea to have more cups if you use your nutribullet a lot. Just having additional cups makes the job easier.
Serve with crostini, fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil.
Cream: This is always an option for a creamy soup but it's not mandatory to the recipe.
If you prefer a more textured chunky soup with bits of veggies in like my Vegetable Turmeric Soup you can skip on the blending.
FAQ's
Whole or chopped tomatoes?
Chopped tomatoes and whole canned tomatoes work. For a thicker canned tomato sauce, I prefer whole tomatoes. Break them down with a spoon as they cook or pulse in a food processor if you prefer. For more of a chunky soup, don't use the processor.
Can I use fresh tomatoes for tomato soup?
Yes you can, you have to roast them first and then you can go ahead and blend them. Here is a recipe for oven roasted tomatoes.
Can I use both fresh and roasted tomatoes in the same soup?
TIP: Yes. You can roast the tomatoes and add them in with your canned tomatoes for extra flavor. Just decide if you want to remove the peels before blending. For a smoother soup finish you would have to remove the skin from the roasted tomatoes. For a more textured finish, you can leave them on.
What's the perfect way to serve soup?
A great way to serve soup is to create a cheese board and add a selection of bread sticks, croutons and a few cheese types on the table to serve with a pot of warm soup!
What type of cream can I use for soup?
Fresh cream, extra thick cream, sour cream, crème fraiche, mascarpone cheese cream, cottage cream, feta cheese, creamed cheese are the ones off the top of my mind right now.
Do I have to blend all the soup?
No. You can blend half of the soup and leave other other half for a textured soup. You can also not blend at all, it depends on what you like.
How To Serve Soup
I love soup and not only as dinner or on a cold day although so comforting, soup serves as a wonderful appetizer too. Serve small amounts as a starter or go all out and add naan bread or crostini for a main serving. I know you might prefer a toasted sandwich with your soup but if truth be told this soup needs very little else, it's satisfying and delicious in just one bowl.
Bread, cheese and fresh herbs are probably the most complimentary to a bowl of soup.
Storing Tomato Soup
Store your leftover soup for 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Freezing Soup
Soups tend to freeze very well for 3 to 4 months just as long as protect it from any ice entering and remember to not overfill the container when freezing!
Variations
If needed here are a few variations for this Homemade Tomato Soup!
Bread is always the first suggestion only because it goes so well with soup. Whether you toast it, simply add olive oil or make cheese toasties, bread is always a great idea.
Salads I know that I've said this before but let me say it again incase this is your first time on my blog. I find it very difficult to suggest something that I don't do and eating a salad with soup is not what I would do and that's the truth. Soup is all about warmth and comfort to us so breads like I've suggested above are more fitting than salad.
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RATE AND COMMENT: If you enjoyed reading this recipe with all the tips and suggestions or have tried my recipe, please do let me know. Leave a comment and rating below in the recipe card. Thank you.
More Soup Recipes
Homemade Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt more like a pinch of salt for the onions to sweat
- 2 tbsps tomato paste
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 2 tbsps butter unsalted
- 2 canned chopped or whole tomatoes
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- ½ cup passatta
- 1 teaspoon salt & pepper blend
- 500 ml low sodium chicken broth roughly 2 cups
- 1 cup tomato water
- fresh herbs
Topping Ideas
- Crostini
- cheese fresh mozzarella, shaved parmesan or any
- fresh basil
- olive oil
Instructions
- Sautee the onions In a large Dutch oven or pot, over medium heat, melt the butter and add the oil. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook till soft. This will take about 5 to 8 minutes giving the onions a chance to bed the aromatics. Add the garlic, stir and cook them for about a minute, just enough time to marry the two.
- Cook the tomatoes Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, tomato paste and passata all at the same time and cook on medium to high heat.
- Tomato water: Pour a 1 cup of water into the empty tomato can, give it a swirl and set it aside.
- Spices: If you’re going to be adding any spices this would be a good time to add them with the tomatoes.
- Tomato water: Pour the tomato water (from earlier), season a little more, add the stock and the sugar. Give it all a good mix. Cover the pot with lid at a slight slant and cook for 10 minutes. Add your choice of fresh herbs if using and your soup is ready for the blender.
- Blend Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Serving options: cream, crostini, fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil and black pepper.
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