This soup is everything I want a fresh tomato soup to be! It’s bursting with amazing tomato flavour! There’s no need to wait until summer’s harvest of ripe tomatoes to make this soup recipe. This one is made with vine-ripened tomatoes which are slow-cooked together with a little onion, garlic, tomato puree and balsamico to bring out their deliciously sweet flavour.
Why you’ll love this homemade tomato soup recipe
Here are a few reasons why I think this tomato soup recipe will become your new favourite:
- This recipe offers classic homemade tomato soup flavour, using simple ingredients, and is easy to make.
- It has a rich tomato flavour, is light and creamy, however doesn’t contain any cream (or cream substitutes).
- This soup is vegan and gluten-free. It uses a root starch for thickening instead of flour. And since it is plant-based it is perfect following a vegetarian or vegan diet.
- It makes the perfect main meal soup for two, but can easily be doubled, or even tripled if you’re serving more.
How to make the best fresh tomato soup
1) Slowly saute the chopped onion in olive oil under tender.
Every great tasting soup starts with an onion! And here it is gently cooked so that it slowly cooks, rather than browns. Once tender, garlic is added and once fragrant, we stir in some balsamico and tomato paste. Both which add richness, intensity and deepen the tomato flavour to this soup.
2) Add the chopped tomatoes and gently simmer for 60 minutes.
Next, we’ll add the chopped up tomatoes. When choosing tomatoes, pick the best ones you can find. I like to use vine-ripened tomatoes for this soup recipe, but Roma tomatoes would also be a good choice. Just stay away from pale, watery looking tomatoes. We want flavour here.
Now is the perfect time to clean the kitchen, make a pesto or simply kick back and enjoy a glass of wine. 🙂
3) Blend the tomatoes and add the last essential ingredients.
I like to use an immersion blender but you could also use a high-powered stand blender. And now we add the broth, bay leaf and the starch and simmer for a few more minutes. Arrowroot is always my go-to. It is flavourless and does the job of thickening quite well. Otherwise, corn starch or other starch of choice can be used.
4) The finale. Strain and serve.
So now that we have done the final last simmering of this fresh tomato soup, we are ready to strain it. This gets rid of any of those little tomato seeds that might not been pureed. Plus we want to discard the bay leaf. The result and fine and light creamy soup.
And if you want to stretch this soup out for three people, then the best way to do that is to serve it with a classic grilled cheese sandwich. Some fresh ciabatta or focaccia bread. Or you could also enjoy it with a big green salad.
Looking for other tomato soup recipes?
If you are looking for a tomato soup recipe made from canned tomatoes then try my tomato-orange soup or a minestrone soup. Both are easy, quick and super delicious.
Fresh Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2-3 small yellow onion, chopped (150 g)
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato purée
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (aceto balsamico)
- 500 g vine-ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped (5 medium)
- pinch of sugar (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (or other starch)
- 600 ml vegetable broth (or water)
- 1 bay leaf
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
To serve (optional):
- Serve with fresh pesto, chopped chives, or micro greens.
Method
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In a medium saucepan (I use non-stick), heat the olive oil of medium heat. Add the onion and gently saute for 10 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and balsamic vinegar. Stir for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and season with salt (plus a pinch of sugar, if using). Cover and simmer for 10 minutes on medium heat then reduce heat to a light simmer, and cook for 50 more minutes (1 hour in total).
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Use an immersion blender to process the cooked tomatoes until smooth.
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In a small bowl, mix the starch with 1 tablespoon of water. Add to the saucepan, along with the bay leaf and vegetable broth (or water). Let simmer for 15 more minutes.
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Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the soup to remove the bay leaf any remaining seeds from tomatoes. Taste and season with more salt and some freshly ground pepper.
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Serve with the soup into bowls and enjoy!
Notes
I like to serve this soup with micro greens and a dollop of fresh basil pesto. A simple pesto can be made with a handful of basil leaves, some pine nuts, parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt - blended with an immersion blender or using a mortar and pestle.
If you like, you could add a swirl of crème fraîche to this to make a cream of tomato soup, but I like the fresh flavour as it is.
If you find the tomatoes too acidic, adding sugar to the soup (1 teaspoon) helps balance this. Alternatively, add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. This also mellows acidity. Otherwise, some cooks add a little butter to do the job. The fresh tomatoes I use are quite sweet, so I haven't found this necessary.
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