Sweet peppers add color and flavor to any dish, fresh or cooked. But roasting them rockets that flavor off the charts, maximizing sweetness and adding smoky richness. Other ingredients, like the onion, garlic and cream in this roasted red pepper soup recipe, merely play a supporting role.
The jars of roasted peppers tend to be expensive, so look for large jars of sweet red peppers rather than the smaller ones of pimiento peppers used to stuff olives and make pimiento cheese. Add a sweet onion, garlic, vegetable broth and half-and-half cream to your shopping list, and you’ll have everything you need to whip up this homemade soup recipe in about half an hour.
Ingredients for Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Butter: With such a short saute time, the onion and garlic cook in butter with little risk of scorching. Butter adds flavor to the soup that a neutral oil can’t achieve.
- Sweet onion: Sweet onion has a milder taste than many other types of onions, which makes it a popular choice for fresh uses. When cooked, it takes less time to bring out this flavor profile than it does when caramelizing a yellow onion.
- Garlic: Like onions, garlic loses its raw sharpness when heated. You can even cook with sprouted garlic in this roasted red pepper soup, because any bitterness should be masked by the other ingredients.
- Roasted red peppers: Roasted red peppers have a sweeter, smokier taste than fresh ones. They’re packed in brine when sealed in jars, so drain them well to avoid adding unwanted acidity to this soup.
- Vegetable broth: Store-bought broth works in this recipe, but it’s so easy to make vegetable broth that you should consider keeping homemade broth in the freezer. It costs less and has less sodium than grocery store brands.
- Basil: Basil and peppers hit their peak at the same time in the garden, making them traditional companions for red pepper bruschetta and other summer favorites. With jars of roasted red peppers and dried basil at hand, you can enjoy the pairing all year.
- Half-and-half cream: Half-and-half has far less fat than heavy cream, yet a similar effect when stirred into this soup, balancing the other ingredients and mellowing the overall taste. If you only have heavy cream in your refrigerator, use the same amount called for in this recipe and enjoy the decadence.
Directions
Step 1: Saute onion and garlic
In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, then add the onion. Cook and stir the onion until it’s tender, three to five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute longer.
Step 2: Simmer the soup
Stir in the red peppers, broth, basil and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover the saucepan and simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Cool slightly.
Step 3: Puree
Pour part of the soup into a blender, cover and process until smooth. Keep processing the soup in batches, never filling the blender more than halfway full. You can also use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the saucepan.
Remove one cup of soup to a small bowl and stir in the cream.
Step 4: Finish with cream
Return the remaining puree to the pan. Stir in the cream mixture and heat through. Don’t let the soup come to a boil, though. If desired, garnish each serving with a splash of cream and basil.
Editor’s Tip: Tempering the cream with a little bit of the warm soup and then adding this mixture to the rest of the saucepan helps to keep the soup from curdling but won’t protect it entirely, especially with the acidity of the peppers. Be sure the soup never comes back to a boil once the cream is stirred in!
Recipe Variations
- Add celery and carrots: When cooked in butter with onion, celery and carrots are known as mirepoix. Use half as much celery and carrot as onion to avoid overpowering the soup.
- Add a can of beans: This thick puree becomes a one-bowl meal with a plant-based protein in the mix. Cannellini beans have a natural creaminess that complements the texture of this soup. If you use black beans, substitute cilantro for the basil and add hot sauce or chili powder for southwestern flair.
- Top the soup with something fun: If fresh basil is out of season, put a spoonful of homemade pesto on top of each serving instead. A dollop of Greek yogurt, or sour cream if you added black beans, boosts the creaminess and tanginess. Homemade croutons make an easy garnish, or choose an unexpected soup topper like fresh apple or baked kale chips.
How to Store Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Red roasted pepper soup can be stored in the fridge or freezer, but you’ll want to cool it as quickly and completely as possible before you pack it away. Drop the soup to room temperature within two hours and down to 40°F in no more than four hours to keep bacteria at bay. Cool an entire pot quickly by dividing the soup in shallow pans or sinking the saucepan into an ice bath. Once cool, divide it into labeled containers with airtight lids, leaving plenty of headspace, and place them in the fridge for up to four days or freezer for up to three months.
How long does roasted red pepper soup last?
With a generous dose of cream, this soup is best eaten within one or two days. It will likely still be edible for up to four days, but you might notice a difference in how it tastes. To keep the flavor fresher, leave the cream out of any soup you plan to store and then stir it into a little reheated soup and add the mixture to the pot just before serving.
Can you freeze roasted red pepper soup?
Once cooled and transferred to freezer-safe containers, this soup can be frozen for up to three months. Yet as with refrigerated leftovers, the half-and-half becomes a bit of a wildcard in terms of reheated flavor and texture. For the best results, wait to add the cream until after you’ve thawed the soup and warmed it on the stovetop. It might be tempting to defrost the container in the microwave or hot water, but soup tastes best if you let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight—especially when freezing soup that contains a lot of cream.
How do you reheat roasted red pepper soup?
Reheat in a saucepan over low heat on the stovetop. Avoid bringing the soup up to a full boil; the cream is just as prone to curdling when reheated as it was in the original cooking. This risk also makes a saucepan on the stove a better bet than a bowl in the microwave when you’re reheating the leftovers.
Roasted Red Pepper Soup Tips
How can you roast your own red peppers for this recipe?
Jars of roasted red peppers get two thumbs up for convenience, but they usually cost more than fresh ones you roast yourself. Freshly roasted red peppers can go straight into the soup pot, but canned ones have been immersed in brine that should be drained away. Use one of these four easy methods to roast peppers at home.
Can you use an immersion blender to puree roasted red pepper soup?
Yes! An immersion blender smooths out an entire pot of soup in one go, minimizing mess and cleanup. For best results, use a pot that holds at least twice the volume of the soup, remove it from the heat before blending and start the blender on low speed to avoid splashes. The best immersion blender has enough speed settings and power to puree a whole batch of soup in under a minute.
What can you serve with roasted red pepper soup?
When you want just a cup of soup to warm your belly, pair it with a sandwich or wrap. Go classic with one of these grilled cheese recipes or cut down on the carbs with a wrap recipe. For a less filling option, throw together a quesadilla or green salad to serve alongside the soup.
For a larger meal, make red roasted pepper soup the starter, follow it with a light main like chicken with peach-avocado salsa and end with an elegant yet simple dessert like caramel custard.
