Easy Creamy Tomato Soup with tomatoes, garlic, onion, vegetable broth, and real cream is a cozy bowl of comfort ready in less than 40 minutes.
As the weather cools down, hot Soup Recipes are a perfect way to stay warm and cozy all season long. With easy recipes like Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup, Classic Chicken Noodle Soup, and Easy Taco Soup, you’ll be serving your family a hearty, comforting meal in no time.
Creamy Tomato Soup is a comforting classic that makes the perfect lunch. Whether you serve it simply with a few croutons as we love to, or pair it with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, this Easy Creamy Tomato Soup Recipe is sure to replace the canned stuff in your pantry. There’s almost no effort required in making this perfect soup, it is as easy as letting your dutch oven simmer on the stovetop with a few simple ingredients then puree it using your immersion blender.
Tomato soup fans will LOVE this homemade tomato soup. You can add your favorite seasonings, toppings, or dip crusty bread into this simple and versatile recipe. We’ve created a classic creamy tomato recipe to follow, which means you can customize it to your liking with favorite add-ins like wilted spinach, grated Parmesan cheese, or fresh basil.
Crunchy croutons with awesome garlic flavor are perfect when you’re not in a grilled cheese mood, but you still want some crispy, buttery bread to soak up the savory and sweet soup. I usually add a few extras and dunk about half of them into the bowl to soften them. When you eat them within a couple of minutes the inside of the croutons are still crispy too.
This rich soup recipe isn’t full of lots of complicated ingredients, herbs and spices. This is your classic Campbell’s Tomato Soup kicked up about 10 notches. The fanciest thing we’ve added here is heavy cream (and you can even sub half and half or whole milk). Serve this homemade tomato soup alongside a fresh and crispy Winter Pear Salad and fresh baked Dinner Rolls for a complete meal that will warm the heart.
How to Make Creamy Tomato Soup
- Add the olive oil and butter to a pan on medium heat. Then add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes or until translucent.
- Add in the salt and pepper and flour and whisk well until the flour is cooked for roughly 30 seconds and fully incorporated. This creates a roux that will thicken the broth. Pour in the broth slowly while whisking until smooth.
- Mix in the tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar. Lower the heat to low and let cook for 20 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, blend until completely smooth.
- Add in the cream and let cook for an additional 5 minutes before serving.
Easy Slow Cooker Soups
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Swap out the butter for your favorite margarine substitute, and replace the heavy cream with your favorite diary free alternative for a delicious vegan tomato soup. Full fat canned coconut milk works well as a tasty dairy free substitution.
If you have a Dutch oven, the heavy pot is is great for sauteeing the veggies and maintaining an even temperature for simmering. This Dutch Oven is great for soups or braised meats and the lid is actually a frying pan.
If you don’t have a stick blender, you can use a regular blender to puree the soup in batches until it’s nice and smooth. Allow the soup to cool enough to work with safely. Then work in batches to fill your blender about half way each batch and blend. Be very careful not to burn yourself.
A roux is a mixture of equal parts flour and fat, which can be butter, oil, or a combination of both. They are cooked together to make a paste that is the base for creamy sauces and soups. By cooking the flour, you remove the raw flavor and create a delicious, rich thickener. Then when liquid is added, it incorporates smoothly without clumps and creates a velvety finish to your creamy and smooth soup.
A tiny amount of sugar will help to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes and balance the acidic flavor. Combined with the savory ingredients of the vegetable broth, garlic, onions, and salt, the sugar is not noticeable.
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Key Ingredients in Creamy Tomato Soup
- Tomatoes: Canned tomatoes are perfect for this tomato soup recipe. Use whole peeled plum tomatoes. If you can find them, San Marzano tomatoes are a type of Italian tomato perfect for cooking because they have fewer seeds and lower acidity than most plum varieties. You’ll use all the juices from the can, too, so nothing goes to waste!
- Vegetables: Garlic and onion are classic aromatics that add a savory depth of flavor to the soup. Cooking them first in the butter and oil helps to soften them and removes the sharp bitterness from the veggies. The delicious flavors also permeate the butter and oil to enhance the finished soup.
- Broth: Use low sodium vegetable broth if you can find it. This way you can adjust the amount and season with salt at the end instead of starting with a higher amount.
- Cream: Full fat heavy cream adds a rich, silky texture and hearty flavor to the Easy Creamy Tomato Soup.
How to make Tomato Soup in the oven:
To make this amazing soup completely in the oven, add the tomatoes, garlic. and spices to your dutch oven with the olive oil and roast it at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Once roasted, you’ll puree the ingredients, add in the cream and liquids and let it finish cooking low and slow, covered at 300 degrees for an additional 30 minutes.
Variations on Easy Creamy Tomato Soup
- Vegetables: In addition to the fresh garlic and onion used to flavor your tomato soup, you can add your favorite chopped veggies like bell pepper, carrots, fresh tomatoes, broccoli, peas, or mushrooms. Wilt in fresh greens such as spinach, kale, or chard for a nice crunch.
- Herbs: Chopped fresh herbs like fresh basil, oregano, thyme, or rosemary add a delicious Italian flavor to your Creamy Tomato Soup
- Seasonings: Use garlic powder, chili powder, Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper, cayenne pepper, or paprika to kick up the flavor in this amazing tomato soup.
- Cheese: Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese, cheddar, or Pepper Jack on top for a gooey cheesy tomato soup.
- Soup Toppers: Top your homemade tomato soup with sour cream, Greek yogurt, or creme fraiche for an extra creamy, tangy flavor. Diced avocado also makes a delicious addition. Or add crunchy toppings like croutons, corn chips, crispy tortilla strips, crushed saltines, or cheesy goldfish crackers.
- Dippers: In addition to grilled cheese sandwiches, you can dip delicious side breads like Garlic Bread, Pepperoni Cheesy Bread, or Pesto Cheesy Bread.
- Texture: If you prefer a chunky soup, blend soup only halfway with the stick blender. Or transfer the soup in batches to your traditional blender pulse just until it reaches the consistency you like.
What to Serve with Creamy Tomato Soup
How to Store Easy Creamy Tomato Soup
- Serve: Do not leave this Creamy Tomato Soup recipe at room temperature longer than 2 hours.
- Store: Store leftover soup in the refrigerator up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze: You can freeze creamy tomato soup as long as the milk product used in the soup is heavy cream. If you use half and half or milk in the soup don’t add it before freezing. Freeze without, then thaw and add in in while gently reheating the soup.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion , chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled plum tomatoes , including the liquid
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Add the olive oil and butter to a pan on medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes or until translucent.
- Add in the salt and pepper and flour and whisk well until the flour is cooked for roughly 30 seconds and fully incorporated.
- Add in the broth slowly while whisking.
- Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar.
- Lower the heat to low and let cook for 20 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, blend until completely smooth.
- Add in the cream and let cook for an additional 5 minutes before serving.
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Made this exactly as stated and it was delicious and perfect for the beginning of cold weather. I know I’ll be making this recipe as my go to soup. Also made grilled cheese croutons to add to the yumminess.
Try freezing the extra tomato paste in silicone ice cube trays. Put a T of paste in each compartment. After it’s frozen place in zip lock bags in freezer. I open 2 cans at once and it fills a whole tray. Very convenient. No waste.
Also, I NEVER use sugar in any of my tomato based recipes. Depending on how acdic the tomatoes are, I lightly sprinkle a pinch of baking soda while it is cooking and stir till foam dissipates, then taste , and add a little more soda if needed. Be sure to do that at the beginning so it has time to cook off soda taste (30min) Then all you have is the natural sweetness of the tomato ?. I’ve been doing this for 46 years.
Delicious and so easy to make. It’s our favourite. Can leftovers be frozen?
This soup is delicious and easy to make.
My niece has shared this recipe with the
our family…Thank you for sharing.
I give it a 10+
Wow, thanks!
This is so delicious! I have tried homemade tomato soups before, including one by the Queen, I.G., 🙂 , but this is the best by far. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the 5 stars, Genna.
I wish I could emphasize the word “Delicious!” It was perfect on this rainy afternoon. I had to omit the onions because I didn’t have any at the time. I added instead of croutons, small amount of white cheddar crackers and it was wonderful. This recipe will definitely be a stable in my house.
Glad you were able to customize it to what you have on hand. Thanks for the 5 stars, Renee.
I did change some things like I used the beefy tomatoes I have in my garden , I also added bazel, Italian seasoning with some slap your mama and tumeric. But besides that The soup was excellent.
For the tomato paste, is that 3 ounces by volume or weight? Do you have an equivalent measurement in teaspoons or tablespoons? In Canada, a small tin of tomato paste is 156 ml (5.5 fl oz). Tomato paste also comes in tubes which is great for recipes that require a small amount and saves you from having to open a tin. Thank you
By weight, since we sell it in 6 ounce cans here it seemed easiest to do the measure as about half the can. I wish tubes here were more cost effective, I love them too, but for the can its about a half a dollar and the tubes are multiple dollars for less volume.
a friend’s mother made canned tomato soup using butter in the recipe and I haven’t been able to find one similar and am tickled to pieces to find this one to try.
Enjoy!
Made this last night with Pizza Margherita grilled cheese sandwiches with my homemade sourdough bread. The only change I made was put in a pinch of red pepper flakes and used my homemade chicken broth for the vegetable broth. Amazing. Everyone loved it. Thanks so much.
Glad it was a hit, Karen.
Easy to make and has wonderful flavor. The aroma in the kitchen is amazing! Love this soup on a chilly day.
Add a bit of Italian seasoning or just sweet basil. I have l also added some bacon browned bacon pieces to this. We love it.
Sounds delicious!
Can I make this a day ahead?
Sure 🙂
This was quick to make and absolutely delicious. It has an intense flavor and is definitely a keeper! I made it to bring to the office for lunch and it reheats beautifully!!
So happy to hear that! It’s a perfect lunch, especially now that the weather is cooling down!
Can you use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth? Will it change the taste drastically ?
Definitely you can use it! I’ve made it both ways and both are delicious.
You can make this gluten free by using cron starch instead of flour. Tastes great.
Thanks for the tip! It’s awesome when a small swap makes it more available to all diet types!
If you use a good quality canned tomato it’s close to fresh. I seem to make tomato soup on the spur of the moment and don’t always have enough fresh tomatoes but always have canned (organic Kirkland). It works in a pinch.
Why do all tomato soup recipies call for sugar? Is it because of the acid in the tomatoes?
If that is the case, then instead of the sugar that too many Americans tend to use to excess, why not put in just a pinch of baking soda? That neutralizes the acid instead of just sweetening it. The natural sweetness of the tomatoes then is able to come through. I do that with all my recipies that call for tomatoes. Been doing so for over 40 years. Always get rave reviews on spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc. Otherwise this recipies is good and I will add it to my favorites. Thanks!
Baking soda is a great alternative for those who want to enhance the sweetness without adding to it. Thanks for sharing!
Easy, flavourful, great! Thanks
Very good, very easy.
I made this soup yesterday. It is a wonderful version of creamy tomato soup. I used whole milk because that’s what I had on hand, and I left out the sugar because I liked the way it tasted without it. I believe using high quality plum tomatoes, such as Cento brand is a must! I blended the soup using my Vitamix blender (once it had cooled down a bit of course) which gave it a super smooth and silky texture. This is a great recipe! I loved it. Thank you for sharing!
Couldn’t agree with you more about higher quality of ingredients. So glad you enjoyed it!
The tomato soup is my favorite go to feel good homey feeling! It is so good too! I thought I might be alone in adding the crutons.It makes such a difference.You could even make your own if you feel adventurous.Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
Great minds think alike 🙂
But, you’re using CANNED tomatoes!
You can opt to use fresh if you prefer. 🙂
If you use a good quality canned tomato it’s close to fresh. I seem to make tomato soup on the spur of the moment and don’t always have enough fresh tomatoes but always have canned (organic Kirkland). It works in a pinch.
Dill Weed has been a must have for topping tomato soup passed down. Truly freshens the experience !
Love it!
Roasted red pepper soup is one of our favorites!!! Love this and the yummy croutons
Thank you Christal!
I love this soup! Grilled cheese would go great with these!
YES! I love this stuff too! Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Thanks Allyson!
Such a great recipe! Gotta make this!
Thank you so much Erin!
I hadn’t thought about putting croutons in my tomato soup, yum! I ate tomato soup for lunch today and I did add cheese and sour cream. I love homemade soups!
It’s so good, right?!
All I need is a grilled cheese on the side, & I am set! 🙂
They go hand and hand!!
Creamy tomato soup is one of my favorites, and I’m also a huge croutons on top of soup fan 🙂
Love tomato soup + easy recipes! Thanks for this!
You’re welcome!