Oh my, it’s that time of year when an unexpected visitor might just stop by, isn’t it? Last night my daughter asked if her friend could stay for dinner, and I was more than happy to oblige. I’d planned tacos for our family, but I knew her friend doesn’t eat red meat and had Mexican food the night before anyway. I had to think of something else. I’m in the midst of planning a Christmas dinner with friends, so my fridge was full of foods for another meal. I had to find something quick, without red meat, suitable for a chilly winter night. How I wished I could just open a can of tomato soup and serve it with salad and grilled cheese sandwiches! I have lots of canned tomatoes in my pantry, but none of the condensed tomato soup that I rely on. So I took a shot at making my own homemade tomato soup. It was a delicious surprise! I’ll never go back to condensed tomato soup again.
How to make Easy and Delicious Homemade Tomato Soup
I chopped half of a large sweet onion roughly. I heated a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, and added the onion. I cooked the onion until translucent, stirring occasionally. I seasoned the onions with a little salt and pepper to taste. While the onions cooked, I minced two cloves of garlic. I added the garlic to the pot and cooked 2 minutes more. Next I added two 28 oz. cans of San Marzano whole, peeled tomatoes. I turned up the heat a bit and broke up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Then I added about 2/3 cup chicken stock, though I think water would have been fine.
I brought the soup up to the boiling point, and then turned down the heat to let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so. When I was sure the onions were cooked completely, I turned off the heat and transferred the soup in 3 batches to my blender. I transferred each batch to another container until all of the soup was blended smooth, then added all of it back to the soup pot. I kept the soup warm on the stove while I made the salad and sandwiches. At the last minute, I added about ½ cup of heavy cream that I had leftover from another recipe and a little milk so that it was the creamy consistency I love.
As a finishing touch, I added a small spoon of basil pesto in the soup. The green swirl through the red soup added just the right holiday note to the meal. In the future, I may try this topped with cheese, sour cream, chopped basil, or garlic croutons also.
I am sure the tomatoes are the reason this soup was just so delicious, though the cream and the company added a lot to the recipe. I hope you try this Easy and Delicious Homemade Tomato Soup if you haven’t already, and please, share any quick-fix meals you may have that maximize taste and minimize fuss.
PattyPie says
December 20, 2012 at 8:31 amThis looks so good! I can’t wait to try it!
Sara says
January 19, 2017 at 9:04 amThis soup looks yummy I love tomato soup
Jennie says
December 20, 2012 at 10:28 amMy gosh, this soups delicious – I will have to try it. Thanks!
Pam@IW says
December 20, 2012 at 10:16 pmLooks beautiful. I can tell you love to cook, Ann. Very festive and sounds tasty.
Amy S. says
December 21, 2012 at 7:16 amWow, thanks for the delicious sounding recipe!
Desiree M says
December 21, 2012 at 8:32 amThat looks absolutely delicious and I -hate- tomato soup. I’m going to give this recipe a try. Thanks!
Jayme says
March 5, 2017 at 1:40 pmLove this, think am going to prepare this for my hubby, he loves tomato soup.
Kelly R says
December 21, 2012 at 8:36 amThis looks so yummy. Thank you for the post.
Susan Bewley says
December 21, 2012 at 10:13 amThanks for the awesome recipe!
@Mommy_Jennof3 says
December 21, 2012 at 11:36 amI love soup this time of year!! Warms the belly and heart!
CJ says
December 21, 2012 at 1:55 pmAnn, really like your idea of pesto. I generally add dried or frozen basil, but the pesto would add another dimension. You picture is so inviting…ready to get out a spooon.
Elizabeth says
December 21, 2012 at 8:15 pmSounds delicious, especially for the cold and windy day we’ve had here!
Casandra says
December 21, 2012 at 8:59 pmThanks for the yummy idea. Unfortunately I don’t have any tomatoes on hand, but I do have canned tomato soup. I’m off to go make that!
becca says
December 22, 2012 at 12:33 pmprinting this out for next weekend
MsGoody2Shoes says
December 22, 2012 at 8:42 pmAnn, your tomato soup sounds delicious. I think I’ll make that soup for dinner tomorrow with a chicken sandwich.
Josh says
January 10, 2013 at 2:38 pmCrock Pot Bean Soup 1 bag mixed beans, rinsed2 leeks, coheppd3 – 4 carrots, cut into coins4 – 5 stalks of celery, coheppdveggie broth or water and 2-3 bullion cubes1 tbsp Herbs de Provencegreens, coheppd. optionallemon, salt, and pepper to tasteHere’s how to make bean soup when you’re pressed for time. It takes about 15 – 20 minutes to prepare the night before, 5 minutes the morning of, and it’s pretty much ready to go when you’re back from work.The night before: To the crock pot, add the coheppd veggies and rinsed beans. Cover with water an inch over the veggies and beans. Store in the fridge.Morning of: Pour off the water from the beans and veggies. Fill with fresh water and bullion cubes or broth to bd inch over the beans. Add the Herbs de Provence. Plug in the crock pot and turn on low. Will need to cook for 10 hours on low. Less if you do a combination of low and high.
Lenora D says
March 15, 2013 at 4:43 amThis looks wonderful. Can’t wait to try it.
Karen D says
September 16, 2013 at 5:50 amSounds and looks delicious! Like the swirl of pesto as a finishing touch!
Christina K. says
October 1, 2013 at 9:13 pmI want soup every day in autumn and winter and canned soups always taste horrible. I’ll keep this in mind.
Shannon says
December 31, 2013 at 11:26 amSounds delicious and simple to make…A perfect combination in my book.
Cathy French says
January 18, 2017 at 7:29 amMy boyfriend hates tomatoes but like plain tomato soup with a grilled cheese. Weird right?
lace ruffles says
January 18, 2017 at 9:54 amLooks so good! I love tomato sauce, soup anything except raw tomatoes themselves lol
Kelly says
January 18, 2017 at 5:06 pmThis looks delicious. I love tomato soup. Especially with grilled cheese dunked in it 🙂 I was just ordering my garden seeds today and I am getting San Marzano tomato seeds. One of the best tomatos on the market.
Rosie says
January 19, 2017 at 11:12 amI’ve never made my own tomato soup. This sounds soo good, and I’d love to try it with San Marzano, too!
Zoey says
January 29, 2017 at 11:08 pmSounds like a great pairing for a grilled cheese sandwich!
Jerry Marquardt says
January 30, 2017 at 7:35 pmThe Quick and Easy Homemade Tomato Soup recipe looks astounding. I cannot wait to taste your special recipe. I thank you so much for the directions on this delicious treat.
lisagee1234 says
January 31, 2017 at 3:44 pmI’ll never forget being in cooking class many moons ago. The teacher said “Tomorrow we are making tomato soup.”
I was excited to learn how to make it. The next day in class…what happens?
She opens a can of tomato soup and heats it up and that was our lesson. I was shocked. That aint cooking!
Renee Rousseau says
January 31, 2017 at 5:11 pmI just discovered the joy of making soup in the last year or so and I love trying new recipes as well as making “Stone Soup” from leftovers. Thanks for the recipe!
Sarah L says
January 31, 2017 at 6:20 pmThis would be much better than canned soup. You know what ingredients are in it.
Agness of Run Agness Run says
February 11, 2017 at 2:14 pmI love when my home smells of soup! Homemade food is the best and this tomato soup is delicious, Pam!
BARRIE says
February 14, 2017 at 3:48 pmI love a good, homemade soup in the colder months. I love how easy this is and can’t wait to make it!
Michelle Bartley says
February 28, 2017 at 10:41 amThanks for the recipe,tomato soup is great with grilled Cheese!
Ann says
March 13, 2017 at 7:59 pmWhat a fantastic idea! My father eats soup pretty often, and tomato soup (good ol’ Campbell’s is his go-to) is one of his favorites. I recently found a homemade ketchup recipe, and to make this recipe for him would make perfect sense. Thank you so much!
Edye says
March 14, 2017 at 9:18 amI love soup! This recipes looks super yummy and cozy 🙂
Shari Flores says
March 18, 2017 at 11:28 amThat looks so good
Sharon Harding says
April 5, 2017 at 8:05 pmAlways wanted to learn how to make homemade tomato soup! Thanks for the inspiration!
lisa says
April 6, 2017 at 2:37 pmI’ve never had home made tomato soup. I imagine it’s delicious.
Elena says
October 11, 2017 at 10:59 amLooks delicious! Thank you for the recipe
Katie Bellamy says
November 4, 2017 at 3:51 pmThis looks so good and so easy to make!
Deena Resnickoff says
December 2, 2017 at 6:00 amThanks so much. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’m ready to graduate from canned tomato Soup. Merry Christmas.
Cheryl says
December 8, 2017 at 5:24 amI love tomato soup, but I usually just eat Campbell’s out of a can.
Calvin says
December 12, 2017 at 11:41 amSimple and delicious!
Mary Gardner says
December 17, 2017 at 3:40 amThat looks and sounds really great. I imagine the basil pesto at the end just topped the whole thing off making it delicious!
Greg says
December 17, 2017 at 6:34 pmNext Time, Add a 1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese.
Delicious and a close copy of Panera Bread’s basil cheese tomato soup.
Vegetable Stock is good too.