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!
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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Can this be frozen?
This soup freezes well before adding cream but the tomatoes can also be frozen after broiling.
Hi,
My very 1st try at making homemade tomato soup with your recipe and this is
probably a dum question but how do you remove the tomatoe seeds?
Thanks,
jp
Hi JP, we actually don’t remove the seeds for this recipe. We just cut the tomatoes and use them as is!
Excellent! I didn’t have any peppers, so I left them out. I did add about 1/4 cup milk to smooth out the texture. This is a great way to use all the campari tomatoes coming out of my garden all of a sudden. My husband loved it. Thank you!
Used garden fresh tomatoes for this recipe and it was so good! The flavor of the tomatoes really stood out! We loved it. SWP Employee
This looks fantastic and I was wondering if you could do a tomato soup with canned tomatoes as unfortunately fresh tomato season has ended and I love tomato soup!!
Thank you. Stephanie:)
It should be okay with canned tomatoes, Stephanie! We’d love to hear how it turns out.
Really, really good!
Excellent recipe thank you so much for sharing. I added a little rice vinegar and 1 T sugar. Used some half-and-half and topped with Parmesan cheese before serving. So yummy.!!!
I appreciate the simplicity of this recipe and am using it as the basis for a five gallon batch I’m canning. Thanks.
Very tasty!! I like to experiment a bit so added a dash of celery salt and a splash of Cayenne and it did add a bit of flavour.
Such a wonderful recipe! I’m wondering if there’s any way to freeze the tomato mixture after it’s been broiled? I would love to preserve some of the home grown tomatoes for making this in the winter!
Hi Lisa, this soup freezes well before adding cream but the tomatoes can also be frozen after broiling. Enjoy!
We made this tonight with a medley of homegrown tomatoes and it honestly came out more bland than expected, with none of the rich, tomato flavor we were hoping for. It’s still fine to dunk a grilled cheese into, but I don’t know that we’ll be revisiting this one again. If we do, we’ll definitely try the tip about adding a can of fire-roasted tomatoes to see if that makes a difference.
Thanks for trying this recipe, KO. Sorry it wasn’t what you expected, we would love to hear what you think after adding the fire-roasted tomatoes!
Delicious! I have made this now 4x. Family loves it. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
We LOVED this soup!! So delicious! So easy. Thank you!!
I love this soup and it’s easy! I did however blend in blender. I love I can use whatever tomatoes I have that need used up! I also thought I read you a freeze this. Have you and has any one else? How was it?
I thought I left a review but cannot seem to find so, I will write another one. I had so many tomatoes from a friend’s garden, I decided to make tomato soup. This soup was so good, why have I been buying canned tomato soup all these years. The flavor was so very good, I would not change anything with your recipe the herbs were perfect for the soup. Just wish tomato season was longer than just summer months, as this is great way to use bumper crop of tomatoes.
I don’t have a hand blender, is it okay if I just moved the soup mixture to the blender and combined it that way?
Yes, absolutely. Ensure that the lid is not sealed tightly or pressure can build from the steam and it can burst open, cover it but allow the steam to escape.
I have never made homemade tomato soup and was amazed with the flavor difference from traditional can soup.
My friend gifted me with so many tomatoes and decided to use them to make this recipe. I will make this again!!!
Oh my goodness, this soup was DELICIOUS, and my husband and I loved it! I used basil as my fresh herb, and since I didn’t have any heavy cream, used half-and-half. My only regret is that our other homegrown tomatoes aren’t quite ripe enough yet, so we’ll be fighting over the leftovers. :-)
We did NOT like this soup.
We wasted home-grown tomatoes (that are so good) & all the other ingredients that were used. Which = $$$$.
I always (almost) use recipes, so I don’t think it was anything that I did wrong.
Thanks for nothing.
How disappointing for you Patti, I can’t say for sure what went wrong as most readers love this soup. Thank you for trying the recipe.
Critical reviews are completely fine, but wow. The money you save by not making this in the future would be well spent on some tact classes.
I read your comments and felt your ending was quite rude… you could have made your point in the review in a more fair and diplomatic way. When cooking some recipes you will always have some that are a hit or a miss to you personally. Please give a thought to the time and dedication it takes to run a blog to this high standard….
I have incidentally made this soup several times and I am always asked for the recipe.
Note: for readers if the tomatoes are out of season and don’t have a lot of flavour – I use less fresh tomatoes and add a tin of San Marzano canned tomatoes to the soup and then blend. I find blending in my Vitamix gives the best results. If I use a hand blender I let the tomatoes cool and remove the skins…
For the 2 T. fresh herbs, is it a combination of the three, or just one (or however you want to do it)? Thank you!
2 tablespoons total fresh herbs. You can use a combination or just one depending on what you have on hand.
Thank you so much, Holly. Am making the soup this evening. :-)