My fresh tomato and basil soup uses garden-ripe tomatoes and fresh ingredients (no cans or pastes here)! If you’ve got more juicy summer tomatoes than you know what to do with, make this soup.

A bowl of tomato soup topped with croutons, cream, and basil leaves sits on a blue surface next to a plate of croutons, a slice of bread, and a napkin.

There comes a point every summer when our garden is simply exploding with tomatoes.

By that point, I’ve usually made a hundred caprese salads and tomato sandwiches and just need to do something to use up all those dang tomatoes.

And when that time comes, we have two options: we marinara, or we soup.

Reader rating

★★★★★

“Love this recipe. Made the soup as written and added extra veggies at the end and cooked an additional 20 minutes. Probably the best veggie soup I have had in a long time.” —Lisa

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Ingredients for a recipe arranged on a blue surface: chopped tomatoes, broth, diced onion, basil, oil, minced garlic, and various seasonings.

Key Ingredients

Like most types of soup, the ingredients in this tomato basil soup recipe are customizable to whatever you have on hand!

Fresh Tomatoes: We’re celebrating the deliciousness of sweet, ripe tomatoes by using only fresh tomatoes in this soup! Any variety will do (read more about tomato varieties here).
Flavor Base: Onion and garlic are the flavor foundations of any good soup.
Basil: While we love this classic pairing, you could also throw in rosemary, thyme, or oregano!
Vegetable Broth: Use broth instead of water to infuse this tomato soup with even more flavor (p.s. it’s super easy to make your own veggie broth at home).

A bowl of tomato soup topped with cream, croutons, and fresh basil leaves, with a spoon resting inside the bowl.

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Easy Tomato Basil Soup (With Fresh Tomatoes)

4.81 from 26 ratings

By: Sarah Bond

Prep: 10

Cook: 30

Total: 40

Servings: servings

Fresh tomato and basil soup uses garden-ripe tomatoes and fresh ingredients (no cans or pastes here)! It's a quick and easy homemade tomato soup that's perfect for using up those juicy summer tomatoes.

Ingredients

▢ 2 Tbsp olive oil, 30 mL
▢ ½ cup diced yellow onion, about ½ onion
▢ 4 cloves garlic, minced
▢ 8 cups chopped tomatoes, about 1 kg
▢ 2 cups vegetable broth
▢ ½ cup loosely packed basil leaves
▢ ½ tsp each smoked paprika, salt, and pepper

Instructions

Cook Tomatoes: Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add ½ cup diced yellow onion, cooking until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in 4 cloves garlic (minced) and 8 cups chopped tomatoes. Continue cooking, uncovered, until tomatoes have mostly broken down and released their juices, about 10 minutes.
Blend: Stir in 2 cups vegetable broth, ½ cup loosely packed basil leaves, and ½ tsp each smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
Using either a handheld immersion blender (or by carefully transferring the mixture to a countertop blender in batches), blend soup until smooth.
Simmer: Return soup to the pot, cover, and let gently simmer for 20 minutes. This helps deepen flavor and slightly thicken the soup.
If you'd like the sup to be thicker, remove lid while simmering.
Serve: Serve warm, by itself or topped with croutons*, parmesan cheese, or crispy chickpeas.

Notes

* To make croutons: cut stale bread into small cubes. Liberally toss with oil and toast in a large saute pan over medium/high heat until golden brown.

Storage: This soup can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Or, you can freeze it for up to 3 months.

Pick the right pot: Avoid simmering the soup in non-enamel cast-iron, which can give your soup a metallic flavor.

Creamy tomato soup: After blending the soup, rather than adding more broth to reach your desired consistency, add a splash of cream. Alternatively, whisk a dollop of cream cheese into the soup at the very end, just before serving.

Tomato soup with carrots: Add the onion to the pot at the same time as the carrots, and then add a handful of chopped or shredded carrots.

Spicy tomato soup: At the same time as you add the onion to the pot, add 1/2 of a finely chopped jalapeno.

Nutrition

Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.

did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!

Tomato Basil Soup (With Fresh Tomatoes)

Reader rating

Key Ingredients