Roasted Tomato Soup

You’re in for a treat with this roasted tomato soup. To earn its gold stars, this recipe starts with fresh tomatoes that roast in the oven to concentrate their natural sweetness and add a hint of smokiness. Minced garlic goes in the same roasting pan and mellows enough in the oven that we call for most of a garlic head. With such an intense base, this roasted tomato soup recipe skips common flavor boosters like chicken broth or beef stock and simply stirs in a little cream for a hint of decadence.

Once you taste a spoonful, you’ll return to this vegetarian-friendly soup recipe again and again.

Roasted Tomato Soup Ingredients

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• Tomatoes: Roast fresh tomatoes to intensify their flavor as the juices cook and caramelize. Once they’re soft and have cooled enough to handle, it’s easy to slip off the skins, adding these to your compost bin and the remaining flesh to the soup pot.
• Oil: Canola or another oil with a high smoke point lets you roast and saute without setting off a smoke alarm. When cooking with high heat, reach for one of the best oils for frying rather than a more temperature-sensitive option like extra virgin olive oil.
• Garlic: Mincing then roasting the garlic lets the tomatoes’ juices meld with its distinctive flavor. Both the roasting time and the acidity of the tomatoes make the garlic taste less harsh than it does when raw and fresh.
• Onion: All types of onions lose their raw sharpness and become sweeter the longer they cook. Yellow onions hold up well to cooking and can be sauteed over low, slow heat until caramelized. To shorten the cooking time, start with a sweet onion variety, like Walla Walla.
• Red pepper flakes: The red pepper flakes are optional but complement the main ingredients so well that they’re worth adding.
• Cream: A little cream makes this soup thicker and richer. It also balances the tomatoes’ acidity and softens their bright color.
• Fresh basil: Sprinkle basil on each serving to create a simple yet attractive garnish.

Directions

Step 1: Roast the tomatoes

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Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the tomatoes in a greased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Combine 1/4 cup oil and the garlic and drizzle over the tomatoes. Toss to coat.

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Bake the oil-coated tomatoes until softened, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the tomato skins.

Editor’s Tip: Roasting softens the tomatoes until the skins slip right off. Wait until the oven-hot tomatoes cool slightly before removing and composting the skins. In contrast, tomato seeds are easiest to remove before roasting. After quartering the fresh tomatoes, simply run a knife or your fingers between the firm flesh and soft gel sac that holds the seeds.

Step 2: Saute the onion

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In a Dutch oven or similarly sized pot, saute the onion in the remaining 2 tablespoons oil until tender.

Step 3: Simmer

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Add the tomatoes, water, salt and, if desired, red pepper flakes to the Dutch oven. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer while the flavors blend, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly.

Step 4: Puree until smooth

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In a blender, process the soup in batches until smooth.

Editor’s Tip: You can also use an immersion blender for this task and keep the soup in the Dutch oven.

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Return the soup to pan, stir in the cream and heat through. Sprinkle with fresh basil if desired.

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Recipe Variations

• Roast all the vegetables: For more roasted flavor, leave the garlic cloves whole and in their skin and the peeled onion in larger chunks. Toss these vegetables with a little oil before roasting them in a separate pan alongside the tomatoes until the garlic becomes soft and creamy and the onion caramelizes. Remove the garlic skins and separate the onion layers before placing them in the Dutch oven with the roasted tomatoes and continuing with the recipe.
• Boost the basil: If you love basil, add more directly to the soup. Start with 1/2 cup chiffonade-cut fresh basil or about half as much dried basil and add more to taste as desired.
• Turn up the heat: For more heat, stir in extra crushed red pepper flakes or a tablespoon or more of hot sauce. For more complex spiciness with less heat, use 1 tablespoon curry powder.
• Swap in vegetable stock: Replace the water with vegetable broth to add even more flavor to this soup.

How to Store Roasted Tomato Soup

The hardest part about storing soup is cooling it quickly enough that bacteria miss their chance to settle in. For safety, food should be left between 40° and 140° for no more than two hours at room temperature—a challenging target to meet with an entire pot of piping hot soup.

To cool it more quickly, divide the soup among a couple of shallow pans or fill the kitchen sink with ice and a little water and set the entire pot in this ice bath. Once the soup hits room temperature, move the pans or pot to the refrigerator and let the soup cool completely before dividing it into containers with airtight lids and storing it in the fridge or freezer.

How long does roasted tomato soup last?

Roasted tomato soup keeps in the refrigerator for up to four days, but you may find the flavor deteriorates sooner because of the cream. To keep the soup fresh, be sure it has cooled completely and seal leftovers in an airtight container with a lid. To maximize the storage time, wait to stir in the cream until you reheat the soup.

Can you freeze roasted tomato soup?

Roasted tomato soup keeps well in the freezer for up to three months. However, creamy soups often change in texture and flavor when frozen and defrosted. If you know you’ll be freezing some of the soup, separate out the amount you plan to serve for dinner and stir the cream into just that portion. Then follow these steps for freezing soup to minimize the risk of freezer burn.

How do you reheat roasted tomato soup?

For the best texture and flavor, thaw frozen roasted tomato soup overnight in the refrigerator before you reheat it. The previously frozen soup can then be reheated in the same way as leftovers from the fridge: Pour the soup into a large saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Divide the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

Roasted Tomato Soup Tips

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What type of tomato should you use for roasted tomato soup?

All types of tomatoes can be roasted, but some are easier to handle than others. Beefsteak tomatoes and some heirloom varieties can be quite juicy, so you might want to roast them in a deeper pan to avoid overflow. Plum tomatoes hold their shape well when raw and roasted, speeding up peel and seed removal. Cherry tomatoes often have an intense sweetness unmatched by larger tomatoes but are tedious to peel. For these tiny flavor bombs, leave the skins on and seeds intact and puree the finished soup well.

Can you use an immersion blender to puree roasted tomato soup?

Yes, an immersion blender makes quick work of this step. It’s an ideal tool for pureeing soup, sidestepping the need to pour hot soup back and forth or keep it from popping loose the upright blender’s lid. Remove the soup from the heat and stick the immersion blender straight into the pot, keeping the cord clear of the liquid and still-hot surfaces.

Quartered tomatoes may still be quite chunky when the soup is ready for blending, so give the pot a good stir before you put the blender away to make sure you smoothed it out completely.

What can you serve with roasted tomato soup?

A hunk of homemade bread might be all you need alongside a bowl of creamy roasted tomato soup. Expand the meal with a side salad, a slice of spinach quiche or a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Pair a cup of this soup any kind of sandwich—grilled cheese, a cold turkey club or a tuna melt.