Tomato Basil Soup

This luscious, richly flavored tomato basil soup packs a double punch of tomato using roasted fresh and canned tomatoes! A thick, creamy, four-season soup!

Course Soup

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword Tomato Basil Soup

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 1 35

Total Time 2 35

Servings servings

Calories 197kcal

Author Kathleen

Ingredients

3 pounds ripe Roma tomatoes cut in half
1/4 cup Plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
2 cups yellow onion chopped
1 tablespoon garlic minced
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF (204ºC).
Mix together the cut tomatoes, 1/4 cup of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Cook in a preheated oven for 45 minutes or until nicely browned.
Sauté the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and butter, over medium heat, in a large 8-quart stockpot, until the onions begin to brown.
Stir in the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme and chicken stock. Stir in the roasted tomatoes, including any juices that have accumulated on the baking sheet. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade or blend with a stick blender. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Notes

Let’s Talk Texture: This recipe creates a wonderful, homestyle, chunky tomato basil soup.
Thin It: If you prefer a thinner soup, use chicken stock to thin out the recipe a little.
Food Mill: I love my food mill. It’s an amazing tool. Running this soup through a food mill creates a silky smooth refined texture. Don’t bother skinning the tomatoes—the mill will do it for you. It should take out most of the tomato seeds as well!
- Here’s the one I use (this is an affiliate link. If you use the link I will make a very small commission. It really helps me keep this website going! Thanks so much for your help!)
If you want to keep it slightly chunky and dense, only pass 1/2 or 1/3 of the cooked soup through the food mill.
No Food Mill? If you don’t happen to have a food mill you can use a stick blender (affiliate link) or blender.
Bisque Anyone? Using a little heavy cream with this recipe can make an excellent tomato basil bisque. To make that tomato basil bisque vegan, substitute coconut milk for heavy cream.
Spice It Up!! Those who love spice can add extra red pepper flakes to really heat this soup up. Be careful though! I wouldn’t add too much extra until you’ve tried the original recipe. The simmering process really spices up the ingredients. Too many additional red pepper flakes could make this recipe too spicy for your taste!

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