The moment the thermometer drops below 50 degrees, I practically run to my recipe box and aim straight for the soups. On a cold day, there’s nothing better than filling your belly with some warm lovin’. Â My immediate favorite has to be this Cream of Tomato Basil soup. When a dear friend in Florida invited us over for “tomato soup” I almost graciously opted out due to visions of a red blob sliding from a can, whisked with some milk and served with stale saltine crackers.
Never in my wildest culinary dreams did I imagine a soup so ethereal and flavorful with a surprising crispness to it. I had to have the recipe and was prepared to pay handsomely for it. To my amazement, Heather handed it over…for free!
It would be too easy to selfishly hoard this recipe all to myself, but there’s so much love in it that just begs to be passed along and shared in your kitchen, around your dinner table, with your friends and loved ones.
Here is the recipe for the BEST Tomato Soup I’ve ever had:
(Forewarning: this soup is a little time-consuming, but oh-so-worth it!)
Cream of Tomato Basil Soup
2 (28 oz) cans of whole tomatoes (reserve juice)
2 TB brown sugar
4 TB butter
1 small onion chopped
2 TB tomato past
2-3 TB flour
2 (15 oz) cans or one carton of chicken stock/broth
2 fresh red peppers roasted*
1 cup prepared pesto
1 1/2 cups half and half (low fat or fat free substitutes fine)
*Note: to roast peppers, cut them in half, clean out the seeds, and place them skin side up on a broiler pan. Broil them for about 20-25 minutes or until you notice the majority of the skin turning black. Don’t be alarmed, they’re not burned! Remove from oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, peel off the black skins, and cut in large chunks. DO NOT skip the red peppers, they’re the secret ingredient!
Directions:
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil. Squeeze the seeds out of tomatoes and discard. Â Arrange the tomatoes on a baking sheet and sprinkle them with brown sugar. Bake until liquid is evaporated and tomatoes caramelize (about 30 min).
Heat butter, onion, and tomato paste in large pot. Saute until onions soften. Â Add flour and cook for 1 minute. Â Gradually add chicken stock and reserved tomato juice. Â Bring to a boil. Add tomatoes and peppers and puree until smooth with an immersion blender, or remove from pot in small batches and puree in a food processor or blender. Return to pot, simmer 15 minutes. Five minutes before serving, add pesto and half and half.
The roasted red peppers add a delicious crisp texture to the soup and will have people begging for the recipe. It’s pretty much a gimme you’ll never go back to canned tomato soup again!
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Ingredients
- Cream of Tomato Basil Soup:
- 2 (28 oz) cans of whole tomatoes (reserve juice)
- 2 TB brown sugar
- 4 TB butter
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 TB tomato past
- 2-3 TB flour
- 2 (15 oz) cans or one carton of chicken stock/broth
- 2 fresh red peppers roasted*
- 1 cup prepared pesto
- 1 1/2 cups half and half (low fat or fat free substitutes fine)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450 degrees.
- Line baking sheet with foil.
- Squeeze the seeds out of tomatoes and discard.
- Arrange the tomatoes on a baking sheet and sprinkle them with brown sugar.
- Bake until liquid is evaporated and tomatoes caramelize (about 30 min).
- Heat butter, onion, and tomato paste in large pot. Saute until onions soften.
- Add flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Gradually add chicken stock and reserved tomato juice. Bring to a boil.
- Add tomatoes and roasted peppers and puree until smooth with an immersion blender, or remove from pot in small batches and puree in a food processor or blender.
- Return to pot, simmer 15 minutes.
- Five minutes before serving, add pesto and half and half.
- *Note: to roast peppers, cut them in half, clean out the seeds, and place them skin side up on a broiler pan. Broil them for about 20-25 minutes or until you notice the majority of the skin turning black. Don’t be alarmed, they’re not burned! Remove from oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, peel off the black skins, and cut in large chunks. DO NOT skip the red peppers, they’re the secret ingredient!
[email protected] says
November 9, 2011 at 7:26 amThat looks so good. It’s 7:30 am and I am already wanting this for dinner. YUM!
Shelley says
November 9, 2011 at 8:09 amThis is honestly my favorite recipe ever. EVER. You will die. Hurry,… run and get the ingredients for dinner. You won’t regret it.
alysha says
November 9, 2011 at 10:06 amThis looks so delicious! I’ve been searching for good soup recipes. Thank you, THANK YOU for sharing.
Gina says
November 9, 2011 at 11:10 amHow well does this reheat? We are having a soup contest at work I would have to make it the night before then reheat in a crock-pot the next day
Nicolette says
November 9, 2011 at 3:51 pmIt’s just as good the next day. My dad came over the day after I made it and he polished it all off!
Penny says
November 9, 2011 at 11:29 amMmmmm…..that looks delicious! What a great recipe for dressing up tomato soup.
heather says
November 9, 2011 at 5:21 pmHelp! I’m in the middle of cooking the soup, but it doesn’t tell me when to use the flour and chicken broth! AAAhhh…it may be obvious…I’m thinking I needed to add them once the onions were soft…BUT when do those ingredients get included???Help, We are starving and need to finish the soup!
:)I can’t wait to eat it!
Shelley says
November 9, 2011 at 5:56 pmI just called Nicolette! She is coming to the rescue. Give her just a few minutes! 🙂
Nicolette says
November 9, 2011 at 5:59 pmAhh! So sorry! I am such a dummy and left that step out of the post. *After you heat the butter, onion, and tomato paste and saute the onions, ADD THE FLOUR AND COOK FOR 1 MINUTE. GRADUALLY ADD CHICKEN STOCK AND RESERVED TOMATO JUICE. BRING TO A BOIL. From there you should be good to add the tomatoes and peppers and blend. I will fix that right away! So sorry, thanks for pointing that out!
Nicolette says
November 9, 2011 at 6:04 pmOk, it’s all updated:)
Cynthia says
November 9, 2011 at 6:10 pmI totally made this for dinner tonight. It’s even more delicious than I imagined, especially paired with the accompanying grilled cheese sandwich! Definitely a keeper!
Nicolette says
November 9, 2011 at 6:34 pmOh good! Definitely keep and pass around this recipe!
Jessika says
November 9, 2011 at 6:33 pmDo I add the reserve juice from the whole tomatoes?
Jessika says
November 9, 2011 at 6:35 pmNever mind! Thanks!
Shelley says
November 9, 2011 at 9:06 pmyes 🙂
stacy says
November 9, 2011 at 8:20 pmThis looks delicious! I love new recipes! I can’t wait to try it! Thank you!
Randi says
November 10, 2011 at 12:24 amThanks for the recipe. I made this tonight but instead of pesto and basil i added some salsa roja and topped it with finely chopped cilantro and instead of eating it with a grilled cheese sandwich i paired it with a cheese quesadilla.
Arliss says
November 10, 2011 at 1:17 pmThis looks great….a warm comfort food. Now all we need is Shelley’s Awesome Chicken and Rice soup recipe and then we will be set for winter!!!! We’re waiting! 😉
Shelley says
November 10, 2011 at 2:30 pmHa! I’ll work on that. In the meantime,… this one is equally as good… if not better. 😉
Shelley says
November 10, 2011 at 2:30 pmPS. Watch your email Arliss. I’ll send it your way.
Malissa says
November 16, 2011 at 4:29 pmMmmm do share Shelley!
Rachel says
November 10, 2011 at 2:16 pmI’m making this immediately! Looks delicious.
Heather says
November 11, 2011 at 7:55 amI made this last night and my whole family loved it! Thanks for sharing this recipe…I have a new favorite soup!
Jennifer says
November 15, 2011 at 10:14 pmI love any tomato soup and this sounds divine!! Pinning it!!
Thanks for sharing at Show & Share!
Jo-Lynne {Musings of a Housewife} says
November 16, 2011 at 7:24 amI am SO making this!
Mela Kamin says
November 16, 2011 at 5:08 pmMade this today & it’s SO good – thank you for sharing. My kids loved it. I doubled it, so I have plenty to last me. YUM!
Brittany says
November 17, 2011 at 2:36 pmDoes anyone know about how many people this will feed?? THANKS!!
Elizabeth says
November 18, 2011 at 6:46 pmHi. Making the soup now. Is the reserved juice from both cans? I have almost a full 28oz can of juice left.
Shelley says
November 19, 2011 at 7:28 amyes 🙂 dump it in. 🙂
Stephanie says
November 28, 2011 at 9:51 amI have been thinking about this recipe non-stop! I better just go make some so I can start thinking about Christmas candy recipes!
lola says
November 28, 2011 at 9:51 amHoly Moly…this sounds like a winner!
Molly says
November 28, 2011 at 10:38 amI’ve been on a hunt for the perfect tomato soup recipe, and this definitely looks like a candidate! Thanks for posting! 🙂
nicole gilmore says
November 28, 2011 at 11:23 amI love tomato soup! Will be testing this one too!
nicole says
November 29, 2011 at 10:43 amthis looks so good! I love the added pesto to the recipe. Great idea!
cute bowl!
yens says
December 1, 2011 at 8:51 pmjust tried this recipe today, so yum. id like to mention that i thought the recipe called for just caramelizing the tomato seeds. I figured later on that i had to caramelize the tomatoes too
yens says
December 2, 2011 at 5:54 amI just tried his recipe – so yum! I will definitely be making this recipe again for the Christmas season. I thought the recipe called for just caramelizing the tomato seeds, it wasn’t till later I realized I probably should’ve caramelized the tomatoes too.
Seriously though, VERY yum.
Nicolette says
December 2, 2011 at 6:27 pmI see where you got that from the wording! I’ll fix that so it makes more sense;)
yens says
December 3, 2011 at 1:20 amI’ve made this soup twice this week, I’ve got to say again this is an amazing recipe! Thank you very much for sharing.
Jayanna says
December 10, 2011 at 5:23 pmI made this a few weeks ago. I served half at the time and froze the other half. When I served the reheated portion recently it was just as good as the first time. This is a really delicious soup. Next time, I’ll make a double batch so I have more to freeze and serve quickly.
Megan says
January 18, 2012 at 7:55 pmI made this tonight and have so much left (what was I thinking… it’s me, the hubster, and a 3 year old who only dips in her soup). How long did you freeze this for???
ellis says
January 2, 2012 at 10:58 amLove your site! Thanks for sharing so many neat things with us.
Nicolette, I have family living in Twin Falls, ID; brother taught at the University of Southern Idaho for years; I love that part of the country!
I digress…..I’ve made so many neat things over the years. Your site has inspired me and, perhaps, in 2012 I will finally create one of my own.
Thanks again,
ellis
Charity says
January 16, 2012 at 8:59 amHi! Making this tonight! How many servings does this recipe make?? Im feeding 7!
Shelley says
January 16, 2012 at 10:25 amYay!! You will love it. You should be fine feeding seven. I would guess it makes servings for 6-8. Make sure to have some bread, or a side as a filler item. 🙂 Let me know what you think. 🙂
Glo D says
February 15, 2012 at 9:45 amWill be trying this recipe! 🙂 Thank you for sharing it.
Marie says
February 21, 2012 at 4:33 pmMade this tonight. It was to die for. Thank for sharing!
Marcia says
February 21, 2012 at 6:18 pmFixed this for dinner tonight and my husband raved on and on about how good it was, he LOVED it!! This coming from a man who complains when I’ve fixed tomato soup and has asked me to never fix it for him again. Loved it so much I had to blog about how wonderful your recipe is. Thank you for a tremendously successful meal!! littlepinkrosequiltingandsewing.blogspot.com/2012/02/tomato-soup-so-good-youll-never-go-back
Love your website and all the creative ideas and wonderful recipes!
Camden says
March 4, 2012 at 3:12 pmJust made this soup today and you were right! It is definitely time-consuming, but oh so worth it! Unlike many tomato soups, the flavor is so rich and the soup is really creamy and not too chunky. I loved the flavor the pesto and roasted red peppers added, as well as the cream from the half-and-half. The whole process took me probably an hour, but it was worth it!
Shelley says
March 4, 2012 at 3:41 pmSo glad you loved it. I agree,…it is worth it. The second time is always faster. 🙂
Teri says
October 5, 2012 at 7:35 pmThis was very, very yummy. Even the little ones loved it. I think we will add some gnocchi next time.
Lauree Kramer says
October 25, 2012 at 4:23 pmMaking this for dinner tonight and it’s looking good. My question is do you add the pesto and half-and-half the last five minutes of simmering or after you take it off the stove?
Nicolette says
October 25, 2012 at 8:43 pmYou probably already figured it out, but yes, you do add the pesto and half in half after you remove the soup from the heat. It helps cool the soup down just a bit. Yum! This is my fav soup! With the first snowfall, I am so ready to make it!
Lauree Kramer says
February 2, 2013 at 5:34 pmNever realized I had a response until now and was showing my sister the recipe. 🙂 I think I did wait but can’t remember for sure. It is absolutely the best tomato soup ever! It freezes wonderfully too. For my husband and I, it makes three meals worth. One meal right away and two to enjoy at a later time. I’ve been playing with other soups and found a wonderful baked potato soup and am working on a roasted broccoli right now and have a recipe for cauliflower to try later.
Carly says
November 22, 2012 at 1:22 pmThis soup is amazing! And pretty easy to do!
I have a giant pot of it in my fridge and no one to help me eat it…shucks 🙂
Awesome reheated. Doesn’t really get any skin like regular tomato soup does.
I waited all morning just to have this for lunch!
Thanks!!!
Lauree says
February 11, 2013 at 10:49 amThis soup is so good! It comes out of the freezer just as good as it goes in and has made my ‘make in bulk’ list.
Mandy says
February 13, 2013 at 4:02 pmSounds great…planning on making it tomorrow night! One question: how many servings does this recipe make. We are a family of 6.
Shelley says
February 14, 2013 at 10:27 pmShould serve 6-8 🙂