Tomato Bisque is super silky smooth version of the classic tomato soup we all love with a finishing touch of heavy cream in less than an hour and no babysitting the pot!
Soup season is rushing in and along with our Slow Cooker Pot Roast we are ALL about soups. Favorites around here are Slow Cooker Beef Stew,Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup and Clam Chowder.
Tomato Bisque
Why tomato bisque right? If you’re a fan of tomato soup you are probably picturing a mostly smooth but hearty soup that stands up to grilled cheese dipping. In this case you have a silky, creamy soup that is so luxurious you can serve this to a delighted and impressed crowd of people.
What is the difference between tomato soup and tomato bisque? In the most classic version to call it a bisque you’d need to use a stock from shellfish, but in current incarnations the difference can be the texture in addition to the use of heavy cream in the soup.
As the weather starts to cool down and the crop of garden tomatoes comes to an end and I’ve got you covered. This soup uses canned crushed tomatoes. And with a good quality crushed tomato like these you will have all the flavors of fresh tomatoes.
If you want to make a healthy tomato bisque or even a vegan tomato bisque you can swap out the heavy cream for coconut milk.
Roasted Tomato Bisque:
If you want to make the flavors bolder and you’re using fresh tomatoes you can roast them before adding them to the soup. First cut them in half and de-seed them. Toss them with olive oil and kosher salt and roast them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. When they’re done roasting peel off the skin before adding them to the soup and continuing the recipe as described.
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tomato bisque with fresh tomatoes:
If you’d like to use fresh tomatoes first ask yourself if the tomatoes are flavorful enough. You want gorgeous maybe slightly too ripe or soft tomatoes that are still delicious. Then you’re going to boil them for 60 seconds then shock them in ice water before peeling. Then de-seed the tomatoes before adding them to the recipe.
When serving you can add a touch of heavy cream in a circle pattern to up the plating style of the soup since is a smooth pink color. If you want to make it even more fun use a toothpick to make designs through the heavy cream swirl. I usually make figure 8s through the cream.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion, celery, salt, pepper, cayenne and basil for about 5-6 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
- Add in the garlic and stir an additional 45 seconds before adding in the broth, tomatoes and sugar.
- Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes before blending until perfectly smooth with an immersion blender.
- Add in the heavy cream, mix well and serve using more heavy cream and parsley as garnishes.
Nutrition
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, finally found a receipe that was a big hit with me and the family. Made grilled cheese with bacon and it was perfect.
Love hearing reports like this! So glad you all enjoyed and thanks Mary, for the 5 star review.
We made a soup like this at work but we skipped the basil and added a 1/4-1/3 cup of pesto and oh my gosh!! So good?
I have the bisque simmering. The only change I have made to the recipe is the addition of extra sugar. We like ours sweeter, personal preference. The need for extra could also be the difference in the brands of crushed tomatoes. I will be adding cooked elbow macaroni to my husband’s. Can’t wait till it has the cream added. Texture is great.
How did it turn out?!
How many fresh tomatoes do you use to roast?
I have only used crushed canned tomatoes. If you try the recipe with fresh tomatoes, would love your feedback and how the bisque turned out!
I read the reviews and had low expectations, but seriously – this was DELICIOUS. I’ve made tomato bisques that were extremely involved. This one was so quick and easy and the flavor and consistency were wonderful.
I think good quality chicken broth is important. I used better than bullion base, and made it exactly as written. If yours comes out watery, try simmering for a little longer. I topped mine with some gourmet pepper flakes and freshly grated parm.
This will absolutely make the rotation with how quick, easy, and flavorful it is.
Do you add the whole cans of tomatoes or drain them?
Hi Cathy! Thanks for asking. The recipe calls for:
28 ounces crushed tomatoes
Add the entire can, crushed tomatoes and juices.
Enjoy!
Do you think if I add some pesto at the end it will make up for my lack of basil? The soup has great flavor and I love it, but it could use a little basil.
Sounds yummy – let us know how it turned out!
This is a great base to modify as you like. I added carrot, extra celery, onion, garlic and stuck to just basil and oregano. Using roasted cherry tomatoes drizzled in honey, balsalmic and OO upped the flavour profile imo. So I omitted the sugar. Used some veggie stock. Garnish with Italian parsley is lovely. I actually tried it 6 ways (all with same pot). Not puréed / puréed with/without heavy cream each. And my favourite was 2/3 puréed with some veg held back for texture and generous cream. I also tried adding lemon zest to this variation and it brought it next level too. My second favourite was actually completely unpureeed and it was lovely with or without the cream. So your vegans I think will like this especially if you make it with a mirepoix to make it a little more hearty. Will definitely make again!
This has to be the best tomato bisque recipe. It’s simple and my kids love it…win.win
Made this soup for dinner today. It was delicious! Definitely a keeper and so easy to prepare.
Made this for my daughter and I. The recipe was easy to follow and very good. It is important to let it simmer for 30 to 40 minutes to thicken up and incorporate the flavors. Since we like our soups spicy, I added extra cayenne, a dash of smoked paprika, extra basil and omitted the sugar. Goes great with a grilled cheese sandwich. This has become a staple in our weekly soup making for this time of year.
This was a simple and good bisque. As others….I would have liked it a bit thicker but mine thickened up more when I used a counter top blender. It was great with a bacon grilled cheese sandwich. Thanks for sharing.
I’m pretty sure the people who are complaining about the soup being too watery aren’t simmering for the 30-40 mins or using a high enough heat for the simmer.
I’ve made this many times and it’s always a hit, absolutely no need it excuse to make canned tomato soup ever again.
For those who are saying it’s too watery, not sure what you’re talking about as mine comes out just fine. The only amendment I do is due to my lack of an immersion blender, I’ll let the soup cool once it’s ready to be blended, then add to my counter-top blender, blend, then re-add to the pot and reheat before serving. This could possibly contribute to mine being slightly thicker but I couldn’t say. All in all it’s a fantastic and simple recipe I’ve used time and again and won’t be replacing any time soon.
It was not bad but was not the bisque I was looking for it was too watery for me and it lacked flavor.
This bisque is an annual tradition for Shark Week. I made a triple batch (freeze some for later) and make Shark fin shaped grill cheese sandwiches to stand up in the soup. My family goes crazy over it. We also love it on a cool Fall or cold Winter night. This is an absolute family favorite. I do spice it up a bit with chipotle sea salt, but be careful not to use too much because it is very strong.
sabrina you are wonderful. when looking for direction you are my go to thank you
After reading some of the comments, people complained about it being to watery, so I cut the chicken broth in half, did two cups instead. Then the other complaint was it was bland, which was another valid complaint, so I added a little more sugar and some garlic all seasoning and all season salt. It came out nice and creamy and delicious.
Love! This soup is delicious and easy to make!
Sabrina, I heard your tomato bisque one of my friends made it and I was hooked on it, he told me where to find it and I just wanted to let you know one terrific soup for me. My name
I tried this recipe last night. It’s excellent, though I didn’t mulch the soup at the end. Mostly due to not wanting to break out the blender, but I think keeping the diced veggies gives it a bit more thickness. I actually like how it came out in the end. I used a sweet onion instead of yellow. I also didn’t use garlic because mine were expired. I generally don’t like garlic anyways. The soup still came out great.
This soup is so flavorless and watery. Tastes nothing like a bisque.
Holy chicken broth. This soup just tastes like chicken broth. Really thin. Compared to every other recipe online this one has like 3x more chicken broth.
My frist time to make from scratch. Flavor is very good. Serving grilled cheese sandwiches on the side.
Yummy
Yum!
Incredible!! I used roasted fresh tomatoes and roasted garlic. I recommend adding a cup of crushed for a more intense tomato flavor. But everyone loved this! Thank you!
This recipe has become a favorite for my husband and I. We love the flavor of the roasted tomatoes and the velvety richness of the cream. For some added texture, we top it with some homemade croutons. Yum!
Wonderful recipe! I doubled and it was just perfect.
This soup was outstanding! Crunched for time, I started the soup and threw together a salad. Although I didn’t cook the soup for the full 30 minutes, (probably only 15) it still turned out great with an amazing depth of flavor.
This soup was outstanding! Crunched for time, I started the soup and threw together a salad. Although I didn’t cook the soup for the full 30 minutes, (probably only 15) it still turned out great with an amazing depth of flavor.
Just made this today and it was really good! I made a few changes (omitted the celery but added an extra diced onion as neither I nor my partner care for celery, increased the garlic, cayenne pepper and basil, and added just a touch more sugar) because my household likes things heavily seasoned but I think it would have been quite good without them.
As much as I enjoyed this tomato bisque soup it was too thin for me. I had cornstarch to it and blended it. Then it was perfect!
Good recipe. I roasted 2 while bulbs of garlic for this recipe. I found that after the blending there was incredibly undesirable strings from the celery that were like plastic threads. I actually did think it was plastic. I had to really think hard about what the hell it could be. I had to strain the soup through cheese cloth to get rid of it all.
I want to add ground beef and elbow macaroni and some veggies to this soup. Ideas??
Experimenting is half the fun!
Tried this recipe, was very disappointed, watery and lacked flavor. Next day I doctored it by adding I small can of tomato paste, 1/3 cup cream, 1/4 cup sugar, more basil, salt, pepper. Also sautéed zucchini, onions, kidney beans in butterand added as well. This was amazing! Tasted like real tomato bisque.
It’s not really bisque. Bisque is supposed to be thick and sweet and this “bisque” really isn’t at all. I had to add a lot more sugar to make it edible. I will not be making this again.
Hi. This is the definition of bisque – a rich, creamy soup typically made with shellfish, especially lobster.
My new favorite tomato bisque recipe! So easy to make. Creamy and delicious! This is one the whole family enjoys.
Recipe was perfect. Delish. I had to substitute cream cheese for heavy cream. It worked out.
Sabrina! I’m super excited to make this recipe tomorrow with my garden tomatoes that I just picked. I love a good bisque!!!
Yay! I hope you love it!
This is the second time I’ve made this recipe in the last three weeks. I love it! It is a bit thin so this time I took the suggestion to add a bit of cornstarch. I also added fresh grated parmesan cheese to thicken it up. In addition to the the spices in the recipe, I added a little cinnamon and it is like the secret ingredient! I garnished with fresh basil and parsley, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a few red pepper flakes for a touch more heat! So so yummy!!
Excellent Tomato bisque recipe. It’s an easy receipe. Quick to prepare and a wonderful first course to any autumn or winter meal.
You can substitute sour cream in place of heavy cream and add oregano & dried red peppers for a delicious spark, too.
Excellent, easy receipt. Quick to prepare and a wonderful first course to any autumn or winter meal.
You can substitute sour cream in place of heavy cream and add oregano & red peppers for a delicious spark, too.
Apparently you don’t know what the recipe is because you don’t want to show it.
Wonderful flavor – right combination of basil, garlic and celery . Well written instructions and great picture – I
wanted to make it immediately. I have already sent photos to family and friends.
Thank you Christine!
This is NOT vegetarian!!!!!!!!!!
Renee, this is not said to be a vegetarian dish. But if you read the blog post we do offer a way to have it vegan.
I didn’t see anything saying it was but I’m sure you can adjust
There’s a local restaurant that is known for their tomato bisque soup with Asiago toasts. This wonderful soup rivals it. The real upside is this is not loaded with sodium. I’m absolutely thankful to have this.
Wow, thanks for the compliment. I’m so glad you love it so much.
Good recepie, I would say it’s more of a guideline like all recepies and you can adjust to your taste. I doubled the garlic, pepper and made it vegan with dairy free cream and veggie broth.
A bit under-seasoned. I added more basil and sugar and it made it more bisque-y 🙂 thanks for sharing!
I tried this. Very bland . Great if your health conscious. But a very bland soup. Does not taste like other tomato bisque’s I’ve had before.
You can always adjust the seasoning to fit more to your liking.
I made this tonight using the roasted tomato method and it was great. I used fresh basil and doubled the garlic.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Rob.