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This Homemade Tomato Soup calls for just 5 ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen! So simple, but the flavor is amazing and our whole family loves this recipe. Serve with grilled cheese, croutons, or crackers!
If you’ve read my blog for long you probably know that my husband travels quite a bit for work.
He ends up eating out quite a bit and often asks what we’re having for dinner with a hint of sadness in his voice.
He’s not usually much of a soup fan (unless it’s our crockpot chicken and dumplings or hearty cabbage roll soup), so when I told him I was making tomato soup and grilled cheese awhile back I was really surprised to hear him tell me how good that sounded.
I thought maybe it was just a bit homesickness talking, but I served it to him when he was home that weekend and he has been asking for it ever since.
Tomato soup + grilled cheese is basically comfort food at it’s best and you guys are going to LOVE my homemade tomato soup recipe. It’s literally the best and it could not be easier.
Expert Tips:
Tomatoes: We’re starting with canned whole tomatoes. We buy the best we’re able to find for this recipe, since the tomatoes are the star of the show. I’ll often buy generic canned goods, but in this recipe I look for the best product I can find at my local store, which is usually Cento or Red Gold.
Blender: I use and love an immersion blender for making this soup. Keeps clean up extra easy and is just a simple process. You can also make this with a regular blender, but be careful to vent the lid so that the hot steam can release.
Seasoning: We keep it very simple with onion, garlic, and salt in this recipe for that classic flavor. But you can easily stir in fresh herbs, cracked pepper, and even other veggies (try roasted red peppers)!
Toppings: Dressing up tomato soup a bit with your favorite toppings really makes it special. We love homemade croutons or crumbled crackers and a drizzle of heavy cream. A sprinkle of Parmesan and fresh basil is always a nice touch as well.
What Readers are Saying!
“My favorite tomato soup. I’ve been making this for years. At the end, I add 1/4 cup of half and half and top with thinly sliced fresh basil. Thank you for a simple, comforting, and delicious recipe!” – Kim P.
Homemade Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 large sweet onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces canned whole tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Add the butter to a deep pot and melt over medium heat. Once melted add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes (with juice) and chicken stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
- Transfer soup to a blender and carefully puree soup. Alternately, use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
- Taste and season with salt, as desired.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Ingredient Notes:
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Tomatoes – I’m using canned whole tomatoes in this recipe. They are already peeled and they’re great for blending. Use a good quality canned product here since this will be the star of the show.
Garlic & Onion – You’ll heat some melted butter along with the garlic and onion on the stove for a minute or two to bring out the flavors. They’ll get mixed in with the tomatoes and chicken stock.
Chicken Broth – Use a good quality chicken broth or stock when making this soup as it will definitely add a lot of flavor!
What We Love About This Recipe:
- Flavor: The tomatoes in this recipe might come from a can but this soup beats out the premade cans of tomato soup every single time.
- Comforting: It’s hard to beat a big bowl of tomato soup for comfort food! This recipe is a classic and perfect for cold fall and winter nights too. Serve it with some homemade croutons and grilled cheese!
- Pantry Staple: With just 5 ingredients that we always keep on hand, this soup can be made anytime the craving hits.
How To Make Tomato Soup:
Saute: Add some butter, half of an onion, and some garlic to your soup pot and cook until the butter melts and the garlic is fragrant.
Simmer: Add the whole peeled tomatoes and chicken broth and bring that to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Give it a stir every now and then to keep the bottom from burning.
Blend: I use an immersion blender for this and that’s definitely the easiest method. But, if you don’t have one, you can also transfer the hot soup to a traditional blender. Just be careful when working with hot liquids in your blender and always read your manual. We don’t want anyone getting hurt!
Serve: I’m topping my soup off with some homemade croutons and a little freshly grated Parmesan. See below for more on the croutons!
And don’t forget the grilled cheese! Check out this easy air fryer grilled cheese recipe. It’s perfectly crisp with lots of melty cheese and it could definitely use some homemade tomato soup to go with it!
How To Make Homemade Croutons:
The homemade croutons are OH MY GOODNESS SO GOOD in this easy tomato soup.
I just chop up a nice crusty bread into small pieces and add it to a hot pan with melted butter and garlic salt. Stir them around to toast and then pop ’em right in your soup.
The croutons soak up the soup like crackers do, but they’re oh so much better than a cracker could ever dream of being.
Some good choices for bread include French or Italian such as baguettes or ciabatta, sourdough bread, and pretty much any other crusty type of bread.
Storage & Freezing:
Your leftover tomato soup will last for about 4 days in the refrigerator in a covered bowl. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
To freeze tomato soup, let it cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe dish. Freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
FAQ’s:
You can keep any leftover tomato soup stored in a covered container in your fridge for about 3 to 4 days.
We nearly always pair our tomato soup with a grilled cheese. The sandwich is delicious dunked right in the soup. Other options include crushed crackers, peanut butter sandwiches (try it!), or a green salad.
Whole peeled canned tomatoes are the perfect option for tomato soup all year long. Tomatoes are peeled and canned within hours of harvesting, which makes for a fresh flavor and high quality that can be hard to find in fresh tomatoes during the winter months.
MORE HOMEMADE SOUP RECIPES!
- Cheeseburger Soup Recipe: All the classic cheeseburger flavors in a soup!
- Crockpot Potato Soup: Another classic recipe that’s a hit with my whole family!
- Ham and Bean Soup: I make this one in my Instant Pot!
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup: Just like the one you get from the Italian joint!
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup: Healthy and loaded with lots of veggies!
- Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup: Creamy, cheesy, and low carb!
This recipe was originally published in 2019. It was updated in 2024 with new photos. Original photo below.
Kim Porter says
My favorite tomato soup. I’ve been making this for years. At the end, I add 1/4 cup of half and half and top with thinly sliced fresh basil. Thank you for a simple, comforting, and delicious recipe!
Karly says
I’m so glad you enjoy it! Thanks, Kim!
Stacey S. says
Can you make this in the Instant Pot too?
Karly says
I’m sure you could! I’d try 5 minutes with a natural release. 🙂
Stacy Smith says
Thanks!
Marie says
I always wanted to try to make homemade tomato soup, I will get ingredients, make it and will rate it then. It looks amazing (has everything in it that is great)
Karly says
Hope you love it!
Josette says
My kids are OBSESSED with tomato soup & grilled cheese. 🙂 Yours looks amazing!
Sabrina says
love homemade simple recipes since they’re always or almost always better than anything canned or other store brand and you get to control the ingredients, thank you!
Dahn says
Oh, the memories!! Tomato soup with grilled cheese always reminds me of my childhood. It is true comfort food. Canned tomatoes actually make some pretty amazing soup because the tomatoes are canned when they are fully ripe. Perfect!
Kitty says
What can I substitute for garlic and onion due to allergies.
Karly says
I assume you’d also be allergic to shallots? I’m not sure what else would make a good substitute, unfortunately.
Maggie Martin says
One of the bestest comfort food meals ever!
Tomato soup and grilled cheese! breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack, good stuff
Karly says
Agree!! Such a classic! 🙂
Carla and Robert Skidmore says
This recipe is wondful for those who are not gluten sensitive, or have severe diverticulosis, and therefore cannot tolerate seeds of any kind, even tomato seeds. The canned tomato soup by Campbell contain wheat, but Progresso has a tomato soup, free of seeds and made with corn starch, thus can be consumed by those of us who are gluten intolerant as well as having severe diverticulosis.
Liz says
I sympathize with your conditions and I’m sure finding recipes is difficult. But, I would suggest that it might be best not to rate a recipe with one star when it may work for others – just nor for you. Especially since based on your comments I assume you didn’t make the recipe for others so you could get their comments.
Carla and Robert says
Liz, I was asked to rate the recipe, therefore I rated it as it applied to my husband and myself. I was not asked to rate the recipe for other people. I am sorry that you were offended at my One Star Rating, but if you ask people to rate your recipes, they will rate them as they apply to them and their dietary restrictions. Many people have a gluten intolerance and many others have diverticulosis, as well as other food allergies or food intolerances or restrictions. If you take offense at people not giving you a five-star rating, you are in the wrong business. If you do not know, now, you soon will that some recipes cannot be tolerated by all your readers. Chill out, my dear.
marie says
you should not rate something you have not eaten. stick to what you can eat or adapt it for yourself.
Carla and Robert says
Oh, good grief, it is not that I did not eat it, get a grip and be willing to take a small criticism. It is that we CANNOT eat it and I commented so that other people with the same condition or conditions and CANNOT eat it and thus should be forewarned. The soup may well be very good. However, don’t you want folks with either gluten intolerance, or diverticulosis to know that they should not try to consume food items that may harm them? Most of your recipes are great. However, do not lash out at a reply that does not give you that precious FIVE STARS.
Karly says
Hi Carla,
I’m the blogger here who created the recipe (not Liz!). Just to be clear, the rating system is there for people who have tried the recipe…I welcome all ratings and always want to know if a reader tried something and it didn’t turn out for them. I certainly don’t want to put bad recipes out there for people. That said, I did remove your 1 star rating as you hadn’t actually tried the dish. I do so appreciate you taking the time to comment though – I had no idea that tomato seeds might be an issue for people allergies. You learn something new every day! That must be a struggle for you.
Hope you have a great day!
Deleana Badger says
Good response.
Karly says
Thanks, Liz! 🙂
Becky Turner says
Gotta love tomato soup and grilled cheese .
How about some grilled cheese croutons?
My hubby really liked them.
Karly says
That would be delicious!