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Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is a rich and creamy soup using tomatoes, garlic, sauteed onions, fresh basil, and cream.
I have been blogging at Modern Honey for almost two years. In some ways, it feels like it flew by and in other ways, it feels like a lifetime. It depends on the day. 🙂
For the past two years my friend, Julie, has been asking me to create a creamy tomato basil soup recipe. She orders tomato soup at Nordstrom and Panera Bread all of the time and wants to finally make it at home. It may have taken me 23 months to get it to her…so I hope it was worth the wait.
My husband’s ultimate comfort meal is grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup. It started in his college days when he would grab the Campbell’s tomato soup from the can and call it good. Every single time it rains in Arizona, he calls me from work and asks if we could have grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner.
We have ditched the can and it’s all homemade from here on out. When creamy tomato basil soup tastes this good, you say bye-bye canned tomato soup.
How do you make Homemade Creamy Tomato Basil Soup?
- It all starts with the flavor makers — onions and garlic sauteed in butter and extra-virgin olive oil. The onions are what gives this soup its base of flavor and sauteeing them mellows the onions out. Everyone loves a mellow onion. A strong onion isn’t so popular. Give it some time to soften the onions. It’s worth the wait!
- Use Canned or Fresh Tomatoes. I usually use canned because they are readily available in my pantry. I prefer to use San Marzano tomatoes, especially when tomatoes are the star of the show, but any whole tomatoes work well.
- A pinch of red pepper flakes give it a touch of spice, which is barely noticeable and the sugar helps balance out the acidity in the tomatoes. It’s all about balance in this soup!
- Chicken Broth gives the soup flavor without adding fat. Oh, chicken broth is a miracle worker.
- Blend, baby, Blend. This soup is known for its creamy texture so you want to use an immersion blender or kitchen blender to puree the soup. If you are using a stand-up blender, be careful because the soup will be hot. Blend it in batches and vent the lid just a tad to let the steam escape. If you have an immersion blender, it works like a charm because you can leave the soup in the pot.
- Heavy Cream is the real MVP in this soup. It is what gives the Creamy Tomato Basil Soup the rich, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Pair this Cream of Tomato Soup with a crusty, warm, and gooey grilled cheese sandwich and you have the ultimate comfort food meal. My husband says he doesn’t even need to buy the cans anymore. Progress, people, progress! 🙂
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Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Onion diced
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 2 - 28- ounce cans Whole Tomatoes with juices
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 3 cups Chicken Broth
- 1/4 cup Fresh Basil or 2 Tablespoons dried basil
- 1 cup Heavy Cream may add a little less or more depending on how creamy you like it
Garnish:
- Fresh Basil Ribbons
- Parmesan Cheese
- Croutons
Instructions
- In large pot, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 10 minutes or until soft. Stir often.
- Add garlic, red chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in tomatoes and sugar. Cook for 10 minutes, smashing tomatoes with a wooden spoon as they cook.
- Stir in chicken broth and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add basil.
- Blend until smooth and creamy with an immersion blender or in a kitchen blender. Be careful as the soup will be hot so vent the lid to release the steam. Work in batches.
- Stir in heavy cream. Add more if you want it to be creamier. Salt as needed.
- Garnish with fresh basil ribbons and parmesan cheese.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Cooking, my friends! What’s the weather like where you are? Is it soup and sweater weather? I hope you love this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup.
My absolute favorite soup! My husband and I love it! I use canned diced tomatoes instead of the whole tomatoes and they are the perfect size for us. Add a grilled cheese sandwich and this is the greatest and the easiest meal.
I’m making this soup right now, for dinner tonight. I’ve made it several times before now. I guess I forgot to do a review.
It is fabulous soup!! I follow it exactly, except I use diced tomatoes. I don’t see a reason to use whole. You are going to break them up anyway, then blend them.
We love this soup, and my neighbors do too!! I gave them some once and they were crazy about it!
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! Best tomato soup ever! Only changes that I made: used my own canned tomatoes and substituted a pinch of Cayenne Pepper for the red chili flakes (because I was out of this spice).
My husband and I can’t get enough of this soup. We’ve probably made it eight times in the past few months! We like to pair it with a rosemary sourdough toasted with grated parm on top. Just finished another batch today and already looking forward to the next!
How much fresh tomatoes would be used collee this recipe?
Love this Tomato soup! I’ve made it a couple of times, and make it again now. I make one change. I use mascarpone cheese instead of the heavy cream. I had it on hand the first time I made the soup, and didn’t have heavy cream. It worked beautifully, so I’ve been using it since. I use dry basil because I never have fresh on hand.
This is a wonderful recipe. It really is better than canned!
Tried it tonight and its great! Thank you for sharing!
About how many cups of chopped fresh tomatoes would you use? By the way, I found your smoothie recipes online last spring and I have had a smoothie for breakfast every day since. It’s a total game changer. Thank-you!!
Yum! We made this on a rainy day too and it was perfect. The flavor is everything you want in tomato basil soup! So good!
Hi McKenzie! You are the best! I am so happy to hear that. Thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind comment!
Wowza! I made this exactly as written and it is a truly beautiful tasting soup. So glad I happened upon your website. And my 16-year old has a new favorite chocolate chip cookie, thanks to you as well. ????
Hi Jesi! I am so glad that you loved it! I appreciate it so much.