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Made with fresh from the garden tomatoes and fresh basil this classic soup couldn’t be easier. Serve it with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich for a dinner everyone will enjoy.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
When the tomatoes in my garden come in, this recipe from Fresh Tomato Soup is always one of the first things on the menu. This recipe was inspired from Tessa’s favorite soup at the Stephanie Inn. If you are ever in Cannon Beach Oregon, you should check out the Inn and the tomato soup! This restaurant quality soup is as good as the real thing.
Ingredients Needed
- Olive oil
- Garlic cloves. Fresh minced.
- Onions. I use white or yellow onion
- Tomatoes. I prefer to use Roma tomatoes but you can use whatever tomatoes you have on hand.
- Herbs. Fresh parsley, oregano and basil. If you are using dried, use half the amount.
- Sugar. You can also substitute honey. If your tomatoes are really sweet you may not need this
- Chicken Broth. May also use vegetable broth.
- Whipping Cream. Can leave this out if you need the soup to be dairy free.
How to Peel Tomatoes
For this fresh tomato soup, if you have a high powered blender such as a Vitamix or a Blendtec you really don’t need to peel the tomatoes. If you just have a regular blender you may want to peel them unless you like a lot of texture in your soup.
To peel tomatoes you will need:
- a pot of boiling water,
- a bowl of cool water
- two more bowls for the skins and the skinned tomatoes.
- Place the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water until the skins begin to crack, about 30-60 seconds.
- Remove them to the bowl of cool water. If you let them cook too long they will get mushy.
- The skins should be cracked and easy to pull off. Place skins in another bowl.
- Rough cut the tomatoes.
Again you can skip the chopping part if you have a Vitamix or a Blendtec. Just throw the tomatoes in whole or cut in half and blend them up!
How To Make Fresh Tomato Soup
- Add the onions and garlic to the olive oil and saute until soft, about 8 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes, chicken broth and chopped parsley.
- Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add in sugar or honey if needed for sweetness. Fresh garden tomatoes will probably not need it.
Can I Put Hot Soup in a Blender?
You can put hot soup into a blender as long as it is a high powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec. Do not over fill the blender, only about half way full if the soup is warm. You will need to do this soup in two batches. Take my word on this. If you overfill your blender you end up with soup all over your wall!
If you don’t have a high powered blender you can use a regular blender but you will need to let the soup cool first. You can also use an immersion hand blender and blend the fresh tomato soup while it’s warm.
- Puree soup until desired smoothness. You will either need to wait until the soup has cooled and then blend or use an immersion hand blender to blend it.
- Put the soup back into the saucepan and add in the cream and heat through to serve.
- Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and sliced fresh basil.
What to Serve on Fresh Tomato Soup
- Parmesan Cheese
- Gorgonzola Cheese
- Pine Nuts
- Chopped Basil
- Drizzle of Greek yogurt or sour cream
Frequently Asked Questions
The cream is optional and the soup is delicious with it or without it. You could also add in some coconut milk if you want it dairy free.
It won’t be fresh tomato soup if you use canned tomatoes but it will still be yummy. I recommend using a high quality canned tomato such as San Marzano or Cento.
If you are using a high speed blender you can leave the skins on. If you are using a regular blender, the soup will just have more texture to it if you leave the skins on.
In the refrigerator: store any leftover soup in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop.
In the freezer: Pour any leftover soup into a freezer zipper bag or airtight container. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Fresh Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 cup onions diced
- 8 cups tomatoes diced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley or 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp honey or sugar if needed for sweetness
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped, additional for garnish
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- pine nuts garnish
- Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Peel tomatoes
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan over medium heat.
- Stir in the garlic and onions. Cook on low for about 8 minutes or until the onions are tender and opaque.
- Stir in the peeled tomatoes, parsley and chicken broth. Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Add the basil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Puree the soup in a food processor or blender (let it cool first to avoid an explosion if not using a high powered blender. Only fill blender half full!)
- Pour the pureed soup back into the pan. Add the heavy cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with Parmesan cheese and pine nuts.
Tips & Notes:
In the freezer: Pour any leftover soup into a freezer zipper bag or airtight container. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
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Nutrition Facts:
Gloria says
I made this wonderful soup for dinner tonight. At first the pine nuts sounded kind of different but added them to my soup bowl, it was really good I loved the crunch.