THE best tomato soup I've ever had, just in time for tomato season. This Soup Sisters tomato soup recipe uses all of the in-season ingredients like basil, sage and tomatoes to create an easy tomato soup like no other I've tasted.
I normally don't just copy and paste recipes and post them. Anything I post is usually a recipe I've developed over years of trying different things or something I've tweaked a little. Taking a bit of this, a bit of that and working it until it's right. My chili recipe is a good example of that, or my chicken pot pie.
But this tomato soup recipe?
No changes needed. It was good right outta the box. Or out of the pot more precisely. An example of something that's good right outta the box would be Kraft Dinner. Or a pair of diamond earrings.
We have hit tomato season folks. And that means having access to 4.5 million tomatoes. Even more if you grew more than 1 plant.
That means in addition to doing things like roasting (recipe here), canning (method here) and making salads (recipe here) out of them, you're going to have to broaden your tomato horizons if you expect to get through the first couple of million.
This soup is a quick and easy way to use up all the tomatoes that are on your kitchen counter blinking at you with expectation.
Part of what makes this recipe good is the addition of a roasted red pepper. (this is the one change I made to the original recipe) All the best tomato soups have roasted peppers in them. In fact I published another tomato soup post years ago that's just as delicious but very different and a bit more time consuming to make. It includes smoked sweet and hot peppers. You can see that recipe here if you want more of a weekend tomato soup.
The gist of the recipe is to roast up some heirloom tomatoes, onions and garlic ...
... add your herbs and spices, blend the tomatoes and simmer them on the stove for a bit.
Roasting the tomatoes changes the flavours of the tomatoes and brings out their sweetness while adding a roasty, toasty flavour.
Heirloom Tomato Soup
Heirloom Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs tomatoes halfed, use heirlooms if you can get them
- 1 onion quartered
- 3 cloves garlic unpeeled
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 10 leaves basil
- 3 leaves sage
- 1 sprig oregano leaves only
- 1 pinch hot pepper flakes
- 2 cups broth vegetable or chicken
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 roasted red pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Set oven to 375 f
- Toss tomatoes, onions and unpeeled garlic in olive oil and roast on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 45 minutes. Just until everything starts to darken and the sugars caramelize.
- Let the roasted vegetables cool for a minute, slip the garlic out of it's skin then blend everything in a regular blender or with an immersion blender along with the herbs. Don't forget to add the herbs and the roasted red pepper if you included it.
- Transfer to a soup pot and add as much broth as you need to make the soup the consistency you like.
- Simmer for 10 minutes then finish the soup by adding salt and pepper to taste and the balsamic vinegar.
- Top each bowl of this tomatoey soup with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese AND if you really like heat, some deep fried jalapeno crisps.
Nutrition
If you think this recipe looks good, get The Soup Sisters cookbook. I did!
I haven't tried this soup cold, but I imagine it's pretty good that way. If it was a cream based soup I might feel differently about that option, but give it a go and let me know how you like it.
Only a little over 4 million more tomatoes to go.
This is my go to. I haven’t tried another. No need to. I make it straight from the garden and miss it when it runs out. I don’t use the oil and don’t miss it. I also use whatever tomatoes I have handy and it’s always delish. Thanks Karen!
Made a test batch and loved it! Just finished roasting 15 lbs of tomatoes and will be freezing our winter tomato soup. Made no knead bread to go with this...pure heaven.
That's great! Thanks for letting me know and leaving a review. :) ~ karen!
First off let me please just say a very grateful thank you for this extraordinarily yummo soup. My wee family enjoyed it immensely.
Secondly since this recipe made enough for five or six people and there were but three of us, we had a little leftover. Soooooooo... a few nights later I boiled up some tortellini, I made a small batch of cream sauce and then I added the rest of the leftover tomato soup to make a new blended sauce which I poured over the pasta. And good lord that was delicious!!!! I’m case you ever wonder what to do with your leftover soup, I highly recommend the slight alteration!
Thirdly, just wanted to say I’m very sad that I won’t be able to make more of your yummy soup this summer bc I got a puppy and he has grown a fondness for eating all of my tomatoes. Ugh. I put up a fence around them and yet, he has managed to wiggle his way inside. I almost took a picture for you but I was equally furious with him and enamored by him bc who doesn’t love fresh home grown tomatoes?!
Lastly I just wanted to say thank you for your lovely blog. I read it diligently, dreaming of one day having a garden as lovely as yours and some day going hunting for antique bargains with you and pink tool bag. You are lovely and delightful and I appreciate you.
So glad you posted this after seeing your comments on Instagram. And HOORAY! It is dairy-free. (My life is over. I can't have dairy anymore.) This looks great and bonus: I have everything except a sprig of oregano to pop in. I'll use the powdered stuff I bought last week, if you don't mind. (And maybe if you do.)
But maybe fresh thyme or more fresh basil? And olive oil instead of the cheese on top. Seriously... dairy free. UGH. Thank heavens for that favorite chocolate pudding which is dairy free. And chocolate sorbet. And blueberry tart, with the crust that is in the oven right now.
Oh yeah, chocolate sorbet for the win. I've been making chocolate/raspberry sorbet this summer to use up my raspberries and it's GREAT. ~ karen!
I'm wishing it was richer, not quite so healthy. Has anyone tried adding cream to this recipe?
Okay, I just answered my own question. I added some heavy cream, green tabasco, and extra salt, and it's exactly what I was hoping for.
So don't be afraid.
Fear not the cream.
Perfection!
For all those asking about freezing, I’ve made a similar soup for years, and it freezes really well. The only difference is some of the seasoning and the fact that everything is roasted first, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
That said, this soup sounds superior to anything I’ve tried, and tomorrow I’m roasting and blending and making this soup, and I know it won’t make it to the freezer! The difference between this recipe and my old standby is significant enough to declare it a new winner at my house already. Thanks, Karen.
WAAAAH! Alberta’s “summer” is still yet to arrive. I have YET to harvest One. Single. Tomato. And my bean plants froze a couple nights ago, which does not bode well for the next few weeks. I will have to save this soup recipe for next year!
Made it tonight for dinner tomorrow. It was DELICIOUS! And I hadn't even added the cheese yet. I'm not sure it would survive in my house and make it to the freezer.
Ok so about a week or 3 or whatever ago, I headed down into your valley from the heights of the Niagara Escarpment to hit a grocery store we don’t have and found myself returning via the route that goes right by your garden. So I opened my car windows in anticipation of scoring some flying zucchini but there was none to be had.... and no cops hanging around either. I was pissed.
😬🍆 btw that’s a flying purple zucchini (not an eggplant lol)
Do we or don't we have to remove the outer skin of garlic cloves? I keep seeing different takes on this and am confused. It would be so nice not to have to peel garlic skin of little cloves that then clings to your finger tips. Course, this is a first world problem, I realize.
You don't peel it to roast it. The peel helps keep it from drying out. Once you get to the step of blending the ingredients, then you remove the peel. ~ karen!
This sounds delicious -- so delicious in fact, that I may be forced to have a serving size larger than the 1 g. in the nutrition list. ;-)
LOL. I'll have to look into that. ~ karen!
The garlic and onion are unpeeled for roasting; do you blend them without removing the skins?
No, you slip those out of the skins. ~ karen!
Welcome back...This looks delicious and I would think that cold would be great...I also thought that there was a red pepper added to the tomatoes in the oven ??? Thanks for sharing ...
Guessing that the roasted red pepper should be added to the mix as well?...
I'm going to make this tonight. Perfect timing - tomatoes are ripe, and it's a rainy day so heat has broken.
Yeah! You use the same crappy paper towels that I do! 🤓 Thanks for the recipe.
Oh. My. Goodness. This sounds amazing! I wish I had access to my friend’s tomatoes from Pome on the Range Orchard in Ottawa, Kansas, right now. When I was there two weeks ago, they did not have ripe tomatoes, but right about now, I’ll bet they have about a half billion.
This recipe sounds like it would be an amazing pizza sauce, if you simmered it waaaay down to thick.
I may have to try both ways.
Thanks, Karen, for the beautiful photos of the gorgeous tomatoes. I want some of those cherry/grape/teeny tomatoes in my mouth right now. I can feel the wonderful burst of juice and flavor in my fantasy! : )
The soup sounds delightful and welcome back from vacation!
Do you know if this freezes well? It sounds like something I would love on a cold winter's day!
Hi Laura. I haven't frozen this soup in particular but I've frozen every other soup I've made. They all freeze well, but sometimes their consistency changes. If that's the case usually just whisking the soup during heating will fix that. ~ karen!
So, you don’t add a roasted red pepper to this soup?
My question too..
that's what I thought too :)
Can this be frozen? I'd love to make some now and then again for the winter when I have no fresh tomatoes!
I've never tried to freeze this soup in particular but I don't see any reason why it couldn't be frozen. I freeze all my other soups and tomato sauce too and they all freeze well. :) ~ karen
Hi! ACK! I forgot to write the one line explaining that the only change I sometimes make to the recipe is to add a roasted red pepper, lol. O.K. I've updated the recipe and post. The pepper is optional. The original recipe doesn't include it but I like to add a roasted red pepper to any tomato soup I make. ~ karen!
Oh my goodness. My mouth is watering and it's beyond bedtime. My brother has at least that many tomatoes. I shall have to be nice to him. Yum!