Classic Tomato Soup

This classic tomato soup recipe is full of bold flavor: easy to make and perfectly seasoned! Serve with grilled cheese for a cozy meal.

An essential every home cook needs? This classic Tomato Soup recipe! There’s nothing more homey than a big pot bubbling on the stove with its bright garlicky aroma. Add to that a browned, gooey grilled cheese from the griddle and well: it’s basic in all the right ways. Just a like a classic Caesar salad or avocado toast: a great tomato soup is not rocket science but always, always satisfying. This recipe is beyond easy to make and will please everyone in the family (even the picky ones).

Want more soups? Go to Top Healthy Soup Recipes.

What’s in this tomato soup recipe?

Tomato soup is like a good potato salad: everyone has their own family recipe. Here’s our own family favorite: it’s so quick and easy! Here’s what you’ll need:

Olive oil
Garlic
Canned tomatoes: fire roasted if possible
Vegetable broth
Garlic powder and onion powder
Salt
Butter
Optional ingredients: basil, heavy cream

Flavor secret: fire roasted canned tomatoes

The key to the flavor in this tomato soup recipe? Fire roasted tomatoes. This type of tomatoes is roasted over a flame before canning, which makes the flavor sweet and developed right out of the can. You can absolutely taste the difference versus a plain canned tomato, which can taste bitter. Plus, you can cook fire roasted tomatoes for less time since the flavor is good right away (always a plus!).

Where to find fire roasted tomatoes? They should be available at your local grocery store, offered by several brands. If you can’t find them, simply substitute the best quality canned tomatoes you can find. It really makes a difference in this tomato soup!

How to make tomato soup: basic steps

There are lots of ways to make a great tomato soup recipe: here’s our magic formula! The only chopping required is you’ll have to mince some fresh garlic. Other than that, most of the cooking process is just waiting for it to simmer. Here are the basic steps:

Step 1, Chop & sauté: Mince the garlic, then sauté in olive oil for 30 seconds.
Step 2, Simmer: Add the canned tomatoes, broth onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 3, Blend: Immersion blend or carefully blend the soup (optional).
Step 4, Add butter: Add butter and salt to taste. Voila!

Add-ins: fresh basil or heavy cream

Want to spice up your tomato soup recipe? Here are two simple things you can do to add massive flavor to this simple soup:

Add ½ cup chopped basil while simmering. This adds the best tomato basil flavor!
Add a drizzle of heavy cream to finish. This incorporates a delightful lightly sweet richness and warmth to the texture.

Want more variations? Scroll down for a few more ideas.

Featured pairing: gourmet grilled cheese

This tomato soup recipe is fantastic paired with a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich! Here’s how to take a regular grilled cheese and make it gourmet:

Use sourdough bread or an other artisan loaf.
Spread mayo on the outside of the bread instead of butter. It adds great savory flavor!
Use a combo of shredded smoked gouda and cheddar cheese. The smoked gouda really takes it to gourmet status!
Add jam or a sliced apple inside. The sweet and savory combo makes it! Try it with tomato, fig or apricot jam, or a thinly slice apple or pear.

Sides to serve with tomato soup (grilled cheese and more!)

Of course, no tomato soup recipe is complete without a toasty grilled cheese on the side! But we’ve got a few more ideas to complete the meal as well. Here are a few of our top sides to serve with tomato soup:

Grilled cheese: Try an avocado grilled cheese or spinach artichoke grilled cheese.
Bread: Grab an artisan bread loaf.
Crackers & cheese: Opt for homemade crackers or almond crackers.
Salad: Try goat cheese apple salad, spinach salad, kale salad, or chopped salad.
Muffins: Try classic corn muffins.

Variations: more tomato soup recipes

Want more flavor variations? This one is our classic, but here are our top tomato soup recipes to make on a regular basis:

Try Tomato Basil Soup
Channel cozy with Tomato Artichoke Soup
Add gnocchi for Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup
Go vegan with Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

This tomato soup recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.