This quick and easy homemade tomato soup is made with canned tomatoes and is ready in just 30 minutes! Try it served with delicious goat cheese toast.
Homemade tomato soup is one of my favourite soups, and this is my favourite quick and easy homemade tomato soup recipe. I love that this tomato soup is made with canned tomatoes, so it's easy to make up and enjoy any time of year. I use my best canned tomatoes for this one, since tomatoes are, of course, the star here.
How to make the goat cheese toasts
The warm, goat cheese toast is my side of choice with this soup. It dresses up a dinner soup, or makes it special for entertaining. I also love the way the flavours blend with the soup. Of course, you are free to omit the toasts if you like, but I would suggest substituting with just "toast" instead.
The idea with the toasts is not to dip them in the soup, but to make them part of the soup. By putting part of them in the soup, they work like a bit of a wick, soaking up the soup and softening. So when you grab a spoonful of soup, you can get a bit of bread and cheese with it. And as you eat some, more of the toast will soften and so on.
The goat cheese toasts are made simply with goat cheese, mixed with a bit of good olive oil, some thyme and a bit of freshly ground pepper. Mix it up and spoon on top of some nice crusty bread toasted under the broiler. Quick and easy. Cut your toasts on the diagonal and set on the side of the soup bowl.
Cook's Notes
Use the best canned tomatoes you can find for this one. It will make all the difference in the finished soup.
Be sure to use a non-reactive pan to cook your tomato soup. Non-reactive pans are made of is made of stainless steel, glass, or glazed ceramic. Avoid reactive pans, made of aluminum, cast-iron or copper.
Using heavy cream (aka whipping cream) in this soup adds a lovely richness, as well as thickness to this soup. Heavy cream is also less likely to split when it comes into contact with acidic tomatoes. If you prefer though, you can use a lighter cream, such as 18% table cream or 10% Half and Half Cream.
As with all soups, be sure to season this one well with salt and pepper.
Recipe
Quick and Easy Homemade Tomato Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 5 cups canned whole tomatoes, in juice
- 1 cup chicken broth, or water
- 2/3 cup heavy cream, can use lighter cream, but soup will be less thick
- 2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
- 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, omit if you don't want any heat
- 1/4 tsp. celery seed
- 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
Goat Cheese Toast (optional):
- 4 - 6 slices crusty bread
- 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
- 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. thyme
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- For the soup: In a large saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil and cook the onion and garlic until the the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water, cream, salt, red pepper flakes, celery seed, oregano, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and puree in using an immersion blender or in small batches in the container of a blender. Return the soup to the pot and reheat to a simmer, seasoning to taste with more salt and pepper.
- For the goat cheese toast: Preheat your oven to broil, with a rack about 4 inches below the heat. In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Place your bread slices onto a baking sheet and toast one side of the bread under the broiler until golden. Turn the bread over and toast the other side lightly. Remove from oven. Spoon some of the goat cheese mixture onto the bread (you can leave it is chunks or spread it smooth, as you like) and return to the broiler, watching closely so the bread doesn't burn. Once bread is toasted perfectly, move baking sheet to a lower rack and turn oven off to continue to warm cheese for a bit, without burning the toast. When the soup is ready, remove toast from oven and cut slices in half diagonally.
- To serve, spoon soup into bowl and place two slices of goat cheese toast onto the side of the bowl, with the ends sitting in the soup. Garnish with some freshly ground pepper and/or a bit of additional thyme.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided for general guidance only and should not be relied upon to make personal health decisions.
Hi! I'm Jennifer, a home-cook of many years and a lifelong seeker of delicious food! I'm an equal opportunity eater. I enjoy eating all the foods!
Julie says
What a delicious soup! I made half the recipe with one 28 oz can of good quality whole tomatoes from Italy and it made all the difference in taste. I didn't make the goat cheese toasts but did toast some baguette pieces in the oven and we enjoyed them in the soup. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sara says
Hi there - just made this soup - unfortunately it has a bitter aftertaste - maybe the canned tomatoes I used?? I looked online for ways to rectify bitterness and one suggestion was a 1/4 tsp baking soda. Thoughts? Soup already has butter and sugar so not sure about adding more. Thanks! Love your recipes!
Jennifer says
Hi Sara and yes, that sometimes can happen with canned tomatoes (from the seeds, I believe and some brands can be more so than others). It can also happen if the garlic gets over-cooked. Assuming that isn't the case, you could try a little finely grated carrot in the soup. I've also heard about dropping a half onion (skin removed) into the simmering soup, then removing before serving. I remember trying the baking soda trick at some point and wasn't particularly pleased with the results. Something about the mouth feel, if I recall correctly. If you try it, just a touch of soda. Hope that helps.
theresa madrak says
I've had a really good smokey tomato basil bisque that I think your recipe would be good for, adding liquid smoke and basil to it. I will definitely give it a try.
Jennifer says
Sounds delicious! Enjoy :)
Jessica says
Simply delicious! Made it a tad more spicy and will make it again! Found you on pinterest. Thanks!
Jennifer M says
More spicy is good :) Glad you enjoyed it, Jessica.
Lynda says
What a delicious quick meal.. glad I stumbled on this site!
Jennifer M says
Thanks so much, Lynda.
S says
I'm loving the celery seed, oregano and red pepper in this soup! Sounds like wonderful complex flavor with so little effort :) I wonder why I never make soup for entertaining? It's not usually on my radar, yet at a dinner party over the past weekend, I adored the soup our hostess served us. The toasts make this dish just a little bit fancier, sounds delicious!
Such pretty pictures -- I wish I had your skills!
Jennifer M says
Thanks! You're right, Sophie. It's a flavourful soup for 30 minutes! I love soup, so always tend to think of it for entertaining. It's easy to be creative with, but not so filling that it ruins the appetite for the main course.
Catherine says
This looks so wonderful! I do have a question though, I can't have heavy whipping cream ....do you have any suggestions on what to use instead?
Jennifer M says
Hi Catherine. If you're just trying to avoid high-fat cream, you can definitely use a lower fat milk product (10% half and half cream or even whole milk). If you need to avoid dairy altogether, I'd just skip the cream totally. (Obviously, won't be creamy soup, but will still be good).
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
This is pure comfort in a bowl!
Jennifer M says
It is, Chung-Ah!
LisaLou says
Hi there - looks delish!! Just a quick question: have you tried freezing it? And if so ... how did it fare?
Thanx
Jennifer M says
Hi LisaLou and thanks! This soup freezes beautifully.
Alexandra @ Confessions of a Bright-Eyed Baker says
Tomato soup is one of my favorites, and I've actually been looking for an easy recipe lately because I get random cravings for it all the time. Yours looks gorgeous and your photography presents it so perfectly! Keeping this one in mind to try soon for sure. :)
Jennifer M says
Thanks so much, Alexandra. This is the perfect soup for those cravings - quick, easy and tasty!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Nothing is more comforting than tomato soup and I love your warm toasts!
Jennifer M says
Thanks Laura. It really hit the spot!
Yelle says
Looks absolutely delicious. I would have loved this last night for dinner when it was cold! Also - celery seed, never used that before and I'm curious to see what kind of flavor that creates in a soup!
Jennifer M says
Thanks Yelle. Celery seed is much like a subtle version of celery itself. I often find cooked celery over-powers other flavours, so seed is a good choice to add a bit of flavour without being too assertive.
Kayla says
How many cans is 5 cups?
I have the large cans of San Marzano tomatoes. How many cans should I use? Or what kind of tomatoes do you use?
Jennifer says
Hi Kayla, it would be the better part of 2 (28oz) cans. And yes, use the San Marzano cans if you have them :)