Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Roasted tomato basil soup is the perfect way to use those garden tomatoes or farmer's market bounty. Roasting the tomatoes brings out their natural sweetness and deepens the flavors. This homemade tomato soup feels and tastes gourmet, but it couldn't be easier to make!

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Recipe:
• Ingredient Notes:
• How to make it, step by step
• Helpful tips
• Variations & optional add-ins
• Serving suggestions
• Some of my other favorite soup recipes
• Recipe
• Comments

Why You'll Love This Recipe:

• Quick and easy: Once the tomatoes are roasted, it takes just 15 minutes to make this delicious roasted tomato soup recipe.
• Healthy: Tomatoes are packed with nutrients like vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants.
• Freezer friendly: This easy tomato basil soup freezes beautifully, so you can enjoy this tasty comfort food and time of year. What could be better on a winter night that bowl of homemade tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich?
• Delicious: Roasting tomatoes brings out their best flavor. Tomato soup fans will never want to buy canned soup again!

Ingredient Notes:

To make the best tomato soup, you'll need the following ingredients:

• Tomatoes: This recipe has just a few simple ingredients, so fresh ripe tomatoes are essential. Roma tomatoes (also called plum tomatoes) are my favorite for soup, but any tomatoes work. I have made this recipe with an assortment of tomatoes from the garden, even cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes.
• Canned Tomatoes: Canned tomatoes in combination with fresh roasted tomatoes give the soup a great texture and boost the tomato flavor. You can use whole, diced, or crushed tomatoes. San Marzano tomatoes are worth looking for.
• Garlic: I use a whole head of garlic, roasted along with the tomatoes and onion. But you can use fewer cloves of garlic. Roasting garlic makes it creamy, mild and sweet, so I do recommend it. But you can also use garlic powder if you don't have fresh garlic cloves.
• Onion: The onion is roasted with the tomatoes to make it soft and sweet and it gives the tomato soup a delicious flavor boost.
• Olive Oil: Use a good quality olive oil.
• Fresh Basil Leaves: Fragrant basil leaves are the star herb in this recipe. Since tomato season is also basil season,it shouldn't be hard to find in the grocery store or farmer's market, if not in your garden.
• Vegetable Broth: Try to find low sodium or no sodium vegetable broth. You can use chicken stock instead.
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper

How to make it, step by step

1. Preheat oven to 400° Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise.
3. Toss tomatoes & quartered onions in olive oil and spread in a single layer over the baking sheet ( you may need two) Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Cut the top off of a head of garlic, drizzle with a little of the oil, and put it onto one of the baking sheets.

5. Roast everything for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and starting to turn golden brown.

6. Put the vegetable stock, canned tomatoes, basil, and roasted tomatoes and onions, along with their juices, in a large pot or large Dutch oven.
7. Squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves into the soup pot.

7. Bring to a boil, over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes
8. Use an immersion blender to puree hot soup right in the pot, or, transfer in batches to a blender or food processor, remembering to open the steam vent.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with more fresh basil.

Variations & optional add-ins

Here are a few ways to make this recipe your own:

• Add spice: Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne powder for a little hit of spice. Or roast a jalapeno along with the vegetables.
• Sweetness: If your tomatoes are very acidic, add a little bit of sugar until you get the right amount of balance. The soup won't be sweet, but the sugar will balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
• Cream: For a creamier version, stir in a little heavy cream, sour cream, of Greek yogurt. If you want to keep this a vegan tomato soup, use vegan yogurt or sour cream to get that creamy texture.
• Cheese: Sprinkle bowls of soup with parmesan cheese or feta cheese. 
• Bacon: Cooked and crumbled bacon is a delicious addition to this already perfect soup.
• Crunch: Top each bowl with toasted croutons, or try my spiced lemon roasted chickpeas to keep it gluten-free.

Serving suggestions

Of course, a gooey grilled cheese sandwich is the ultimate match for tomato soup, but you can also pair it with a salad, like this grilled halloumi salad, or Greek pasta salad. Try these amazing sausage stuffed mini peppers, or zucchini fritters along with your roasted tomato basil soup. Cornbread, naan bread, or Irish soda bread are all great choices, too.

Some of my other favorite soup recipes

• Chicken Minestrone Soup
• Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup
• Beet Soup Recipe - Ukrainian Borscht
• French Onion Soup With Lager
• Red Cabbage Soup
• Or browse all the Food Blog's soup recipes.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating in the comments below and let us know how it turned out. Did you make any changes? We would love for you to share and your feedback is important! Thank you for visiting The Food Blog!

This recipe is adapted from The Food Network, Ina Garten.

Recipe