I always liked tomato soup; but I have to say, for most of my life I never knew how incredible it could be when you make it from scratch with fresh tomatoes, or in this case, roasted tomatoes and fresh basil. I also didn’t know how easy it would be to make; which, my friend, is what I’m here to tell you today!

In this post, I’ll get into the basics of how to make roasted tomato soup from scratch, and a few helpful tips for making it great.

Making tomato soup from scratch

Making tomato soup from scratch is a great go-to recipe, especially on these cold, dark winter days. For those times when you’re not sure what else to make for dinner, a bowl of this with some crusty bread, a fresh homemade roll, or grilled cheese sandwiches is just the best!

The process of making roasted tomato soup from scratch is pretty simple: You use a savory base such as chicken broth, beef broth, or vegetable broth for the base, and then you add your roasted tomatoes, onions, and roasted fresh garlic cloves. From there, you cook the veggies till soft, season it, and blend it until smooth with cream using an immersion blender.

The best tomatoes to use

The best tomatoes to use are probably roma tomatoes, since they are the meatiest tomato with the thickest pulp/texture. Other tomato varieties can be a little more watery, both in texture and in flavor.

That said, for this recipe, I’m going with what I most often have on hand: beefsteak tomatoes (or whatever garden tomatoes there are in abundance). In addition to these, I use a little bit of tomato paste to increase the bold tomato flavor.

You can, however, get a pretty incredible flavor with just about any kind of tomato: try subbing each large tomato in this recipe with a handful of cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or a couple of other ripe tomatoes that you’re trying to use up! 

Making this recipe without tomato paste

The tomato paste in this recipe makes the flavour a little more bold, but if you like you can omit that and reduce the evaporated milk or cream down to 1/2 cup.

​Using canned tomatoes

You can definitely substitute fresh tomatoes for canned ones, but to get that roasted tomato flavor, I would recommend pouring the tomatoes into an oven safe casserole dish or dutch oven to simmer, uncovered, in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

If you have roasted canned tomatoes, that would certainly be the easiest way to go!

How to reduce the acidity of tomato soup

You can reduce the acidity of the tomatoes in soup by adding brown sugar, honey, or carrot for its natural sweetness. If you’re using carrot, I would recommend cooking it until it is extremely soft in the broth base before you add your tomatoes (the acidity in tomatoes can prevent other vegetables from softening). Once the carrot is soft, add the other veggies, and then use an immersion blender to smooth the whole thing out and get that delicious creamy consistency.

Roasting tomatoes vs. cooking the tomatoes

I like to roast the veggies ahead of time, since the caramelization in the oven just makes it taste that much better. In my opinion, it’s the best way to make tomato soup!

If you want to go a simpler route, you can just cook the veggies in the broth until they are very soft, and then continue with the directions from there.

​The best cream to use

To make this recipe easy to make with what’s currently on hand, I just use evaporated milk for adding the creamy component. That said, cream is definitely a good (if not better) option for making this soup! For extra creaminess, try using heavy cream to make your roasted tomato basil soup.

​Is an immersion blender necessary?

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can of course use a blender or food processor to puree your soup. That said, my preference is not to use those tools to puree hot liquids, since they are more likely to splatter. 

How to use a blender or food processor for this recipe:

To use those tools, I would prefer to cook my ingredients until soft the day before I want to serve this soup, and then puree them cold and re-heat them.

​The sales pitch: yes, the immersion blender is worth it

If you have been looking for someone to convince you that an immersion blender is a good investment – here I am, yes hi, hello. My immersion blender is honestly one of the favorite things I use in my kitchen. 

I use to it to make pureed soups, apple butter, dutch baby pancakes, and for emergency thinning out of lumpy gravy, sauces, or puddings that have gotten a little bit less supervision than they should have had. (Yes. That has happened to me.)

Great toppings and accompaniments:

Tomato soup seems to have been designed to pair perfectly with cheese and homemade bread. You can serve those things on the side of course, but you can also top your soup with some crusty croutons, parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs.

Here are some great sides to serve with homemade tomato soup:

• Grilled cheese sandwich
• Sundried Tomato and Cheese Sourdough Bread
• Cheesy Pull-Apart Garlic Bread
• Crusty Sourdough Bread
• Homemade French Bread
• Assorted cheeses and cold cuts

You will need:

• Ingredients (see recipe card)
• 9×13 glass casserole dish
• Medium-large pot or dutch oven
• Small saucepan
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Immersion blender

How to make roasted tomato soup with fresh basil

Here’s a breakdown of how to make this recipe, step-by-step! This easy roasted tomato soup recipe is just the hot soup you need for a cold day. 

1 – Heat the oven and prep the veggies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a roasting pan or other baking dish, arrange the tomato chunks, onion pieces, and garlic cloves cut side up in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the tips of the tomatoes and onions just begin to brown/blacken.

2 – Add the first ingredients to a soup pot

In a large soup pot, combine the roasted tomato mixture with the beef or chicken stock and tomato paste. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and add 1 tsp. salt, a dash of pepper, the fresh herbs, and the sugar and chilli flakes (if desired). Reduce heat to a low simmer.

3 – Heat the milk to prevent curdling

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, gently heat* the evaporated milk or cream until very hot, stirring frequently to prevent it burning. Add this to the tomato/broth/herb mixture in the larger pot.

Using an immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth and creamy. Add the bay leaves, season to taste with salt and pepper, and allow the soup to simmer for about 20 minutes.

4 – Serve

Discard the bay leaves and serve hot.

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

• Easy Sugar-Free Tomato Meat Sauce
• Easy No-Knead White Sourdough Bread
• Basic White Bread Rolls
• Spinach, Feta and Tomato Quiche Tarts

As always, if you make this soup, tag me in your photos on Instagram @naomicakesofficial! I would love to see how it came out, and I’m always super thrilled to hear from you guys.

Thanks for stopping in,

Naomi

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