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Homemade Tomato Soup is a classic soup recipe made with fresh ripe tomatoes and fresh herbs blended with a hint of cream.
The tomatoes are roasted with a hint of garlic to bring out the natural flavor and then blended to a creamy finish. Velvety rich, jam-packed with flavor, and easy to make!!
Homemade is Best
The best tomato soup recipe is simple and made with fresh ingredients just like this recipe.
This easy soup can be prepared in under an hour making it the perfect weeknight meal!
TOMATOES FOR SOUP
Any kind of tomatoes will work but of course use the ripest, reddest ones you can find as they’ll have the best (and sweetest) flavor. In a pinch you can use canned tomatoes, they won’t have the same flavor as roasted tomatoes but are still great. Use a portion of canned fire-roasted tomatoes for extra flavor.
The tomatoes are roasted along with a bit of red bell pepper. The red pepper adds a bit of sweetness to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. Cooked carrots will also work (I add shredded carrots to marinara for sweetness too).
How Many Tomatoes in a Pound
Of course, this varies based on the variety of tomato but to give you a general idea here are the approximates. This recipe is forgiving so it is ok if there’s a little bit more or less.
1 lb of tomatoes is approximately (remember you need 3lbs for this recipe):
- 2 large tomatoes
- 3 medium tomatoes
- 4 Roma tomatoes
- 2 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
- 20 cherry tomatoes
How to Make Tomato Soup
- Place tomatoes and peppers on a pan with olive oil and seasonings. Roast until you see a bit of char.
- Bring broth to a boil and add roasted tomatoes.
- Blend using a hand blender until smooth & creamy.
Top with parmesan cheese or a drizzle of heavy cream if you prefer.
If Your Tomatoes Are Too Tart
This recipe calls for heavy cream which is optional. I don’t generally add the cream, however, sometimes tomatoes can be very tart (depending on the variety) so the addition of extra cream can help smooth out the flavor.
Other additions for a tart soup include a shredded carrot cooked with the mixture, pinch of sugar, a couple of pats of butter or some coconut milk (make sure it’s unsweetened).
We often eat tomato soup with a classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich for dipping or topped with croutons and parmesan cheese!
What to Eat with Tomato Soup:
A classic grilled cheese (or Grilled Cheese Roll-Ups) and tomato soup is definitely a favorite!
More Fresh Tomato Recipes
- Tomato Bisque
- Garden Fresh Bruschetta
- Fresh Tomato Salad
- Pico de Gallo
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Roasted Tomatoes
- Tomato Pie
Did you enjoy this Fresh Tomato Soup? Leave a rating and a comment below!
Homemade Tomato Soup (Fresh Tomatoes)
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ripe tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- ½ onion diced
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, oregano
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish, optional
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream optional
- thinly sliced fresh basil leaves for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Wash the tomatoes, or peel them if desired (see notes). Cut smaller apricot sized tomatoes in half and cut larger tomatoes into quarters or eighths.
- Place tomatoes, garlic, onion, bell pepper, olive oil, salt, pepper and dried herbs on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Roast 25 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Turn oven to broil and broil 3-4 minutes or until some of the tomatoes get a little bit of char color on them.
- Bring chicken broth to a boil, add tomatoes, and fresh herbs. Using a blender or hand blender to blend the mixture until smooth and creamy. Add heavy cream if using.
- Top with parmesan cheese, croutons or a drizzle of heavy cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Soup
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I’m 70 and had never made tomato soup. My husband came home with a bag of tomatoes. So I thought to make soup. This is the BEST tomato soup I have ever had. I added some turmeric. Thank you for sharing.
This soup was easy and pure heaven! I wish I’d seen this recipe at the beginning of the tomato season as I would have made it every week!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Diane!
Best tomato soup ever!!
Added rice and spoon of sour cream to serving bowl, it was SOOO good!!!
Thank you !!
if you leave out the cream and cheese (to be added when ready to eat), can this be canned in pints?
If so how long would you need to hot water bath?
Hi Carol, I don’t have experience with canning so I can’t say for certain.
Hi Carol,
I made a recipe similar to this and left out the cream. To can it, I added 2 TBS lemon juice per quart jar and processed in a water bath for 40-45 min.
The soup was delicious and pretty easy.
Delicious! I add extra herbs but I love herbs
This turned out so good. I used a variety of different tomatoes from my garden. I added heavy cream to the portion I served, thinking I could freeze the rest for later. Well, there were no leftovers! I made grilled cheese croutons with sourdough and Kerry gold aged cheese.
I’ll make this again.
Not a lot of flavor and was gritty/chunky. I should have strained it through a cheese cloth.
That is definitely an option. I would love to hear how that turns out for you, Ellie!
Does this freeze?
Robin, yes, without cream it’ll freeze beautifully.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It was absolutely a hit with my family including my 2 young boys. One question I had is how to get the seeds out. The flavor after blending was on point but heavy on the seeds. Next time I may try taking the seeds out and trying it that way.
Sarah, if you have one, try running the Roma tomatoes through a food mill and it will remove the skin and seeds.
Great way to use up produce from garden!
Excellent recipe! I used Cherokee Purples, Pink Beauties and San Marzanos from the garden along with fresh basil. Huge hit! Many more tomatoes coming so we all look forward to this soup again!
So easy and so flavorful! ❤️
So good! Made this with fresh roma tomatoes out of my garden. Followed direction exactly and added ½ the cream just before serving. Thank you for a great recipe.
I’m looking forward to using a bunch of garden tomatoes a friend gave me. I’m going to be making more bisque than we can eat in a week. Can this easily be frozen? Any modifications needed? Thank you!
Nicole, we haven’t tried it but some readers have had success freezing it. Let us know how it goes!
Nicole I freeze it after the step where you roast all the vegetables. I then complete the soup when we want to eat it. Works great.
Delicious! So fresh with our garden tomatoes. Didn’t have red pepper so roasted carrots and thought it tasted great, didn’t have to add sugar. Does nutrition information include the optional heavy cream add in?
So glad you loved it Alexa! The nutritional information does not include the cream.
Delicious soup! Curious what amount of grams are the nutrition facts are based on? How many grams is 1 serving?
The nutritional information is an estimate based on 1/6th of the recipe. The number of grams can vary slightly.