The Secret for the Best, Easiest Homemade Tomato Soup? Oven-Roasted Tomatoes!
I’m SO excited to ring in soup season with my all-time favorite Roasted Tomato Soup. Over the years I’ve tweaked my favorite tomato soup recipe to streamline the process and create the boldest possible flavor with the least possible effort. The result? The most fabulously hands-off roasted tomato soup.
The secret lies in roasting the tomatoes with loads of fragrant aromatics like shallot, garlic, and herbs. Roasting concentrates the tomatoes’ natural sweetness and infuses them with garlicky and herbaceous flavor. The oven does all of the work, and it’s the kind of thing that makes your kitchen smell like absolute heaven!
After roasting, simply transfer the tomatoes to a blender with a few other tomato soup staples, like vegetable broth, a touch of cream and fresh basil. The result is the easiest creamy roasted tomato basil soup you’ll ever make!
Pair it with a classic grilled cheese sandwich or a slice of crusty bread for soup season perfection. You’ll be enjoying it all fall and winter long!
While the first thing that comes to mind when you think of it is likely a sophisticated gin martini, dry vermouth is a fantastic staple ingredient to keep stocked in your kitchen for cooking. You can use it whenever a recipe calls for white wine, and since dry vermouth is more boldly flavored than the average cooking wine, it adds an extra punch of aromatic goodness to whatever you’re cooking.
All the Recipes You Need for Soup Season!
14 warm and cozy recipes for soup lovers (plus bonus soup sides!)
How to Make Roasted Tomato Soup
The secret for the best tomato soup is roasting the tomatoes. The roasting process concentrates their beautiful flavor, coaxing out their natural sweetness. As a major bonus, it’s an easy and entirely hands-off operation – the oven and the blender do all of the work!
Why deglaze? ⇢ The vermouth creates steam as it hits the pan, releasing the browned bits (i.e. fond) that developed on the bottom. This is where the flavor is, so you want to scrape it up to incorporate it into your soup!
Blending tip! ⇢ We’re blending hot ingredients here, so proceed with caution! To avoid the blender jar lid popping off as it blends, be sure to remove its cap, and securely hold a thick kitchen towel against the lid as you blend the soup.
Storage, Freezing and Reheating
Roasted tomato soup stores so well and it’s one of those things that gets even better as it sits and its flavors meld together! Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days. It’s also very freezer-friendly. Check the Recipe Notes, below, for instructions.
Serving Suggestions
Because the soup is so flavorful from the roasted tomatoes, you can keep serving as simple as you’d like. I like finishing it off with some cracked black pepper and basil leaves for extra freshness. For a really pretty presentation, add some heavy cream or extra virgin olive oil to a spoon and lightly drizzle it over the top of your soup bowls.
Feel free to serve alongside a small side salad or (of course!) a grilled cheese sandwich, but since your oven will already be hot from roasting the tomatoes, a simple crostini is a flavorful add-on.
Easy Add-On – Fresh Mozzarella Crostini! ⇢ Lightly brush sourdough (or any other hearty bread you love) with olive oil. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes per side, adding a little fresh mozzarella in the last 5 minutes. The bread becomes perfectly golden brown and the cheese melts beautifully – the perfect dunker for roasted tomato basil soup!
I can’t wait for you to make this Homemade Oven-Roasted Tomato Soup! It’s been my favorite for over a decade for a reason – you’re going to love it!
If you do give it a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo and tag @playswellwithbutter on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about and seeing your PWWB creations! Happy cooking! ♡
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Easiest Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup with Basil
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Soups, Stews, & Chili Recipes
- Method: Roasted
- Cuisine: Italian, American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Seriously the easiest Oven-Roasted Tomato Soup you’ll ever make! Juicy Roma tomatoes roast with loads of shallot, garlic, and herbs, drawing out their natural sweetness and perfuming them with aromatic flavor. From there, simply blend them into the creamiest roasted tomato basil soup. A totally hands-off recipe – the oven does all of the work – and it couldn’t be easier to make!
Naturally vegetarian, easily dairy-free and vegan.
Ingredients
- 10 Roma tomatoes (roughly 2.5 pounds), halved lengthwise
- 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
- 12 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- optional: up to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup dry vermouth
- ½ cup vegetable stock or broth
- 1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
- 1 (one) 14-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2.5 ounces fresh basil leaves and tender stems
- optional: ¼ cup heavy cream
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F, ensuring an oven rack is positioned in the upper third of the oven. Prep the veggies, slicing the tomatoes and shallot. Gather and measure remaining ingredients according to Ingredients List, above, for a smooth cooking process.
- Roast the tomatoes: To an 8×12 baking dish, add the tomatoes, shallot, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, dried basil, and crushed red pepper flakes (if using). Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and ground black pepper, as desired. Toss to combine, evenly coating the tomatoes with the herbs and seasonings. Nestle the tomatoes, cut side facing up, in the baking sheet (they might be a little snug – that’s totally fine!). Transfer the tomatoes to the oven. Roast 40-45 minutes, until softened and fragrant.
- Build the roasted tomato soup: Working quickly, carefully transfer the roasted tomatoes and shallots to the jar of a high-speed blender. Deglaze the hot baking dish by pouring the vermouth into it, using a spoon to scrape up any browned bits off of the bottom. Carefully transfer the vermouth to the blender with the roasted tomatoes. Add the vegetable stock, balsamic vinegar, diced tomatoes, fresh basil, and heavy cream (if using) to the blender jar. Cover and blend until smooth and creamy, 30 seconds – 1 minute. Blending tip!: When it comes to blending hot ingredients, blend with caution! The heat in the jar creates pressure as it blends, which can cause the jar lid to pop off and create a big, hot mess! To avoid this, be sure to remove the cap from the center of the blender jar lid. Place a thick kitchen towel over the hole and securely hold it in place as you blend the soup.
- Serve the roasted tomato soup immediately, topped with freshly cracked black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh basil leaves as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Fresh mozzarella crostini: Tomato soup needs a cheesy dipper, and fresh mozzarella crostini are seriously simple to throw together since the oven is already preheated to a high, roasting temperature. Here’s what you’ll do: Lightly brush ½-inch thick slices of sourdough (or another hearty bread you love) with olive oil. Arrange on a small baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and toast for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, flipping the bread and topping with a little fresh mozzarella. Return to the oven to toast for 5 more minutes. If desired, finish under the broiler for 1-2 minutes more.
- Storage and Reheating: Roasted tomato soup is incredibly make-ahead friendly – it stores so well and it’s one of those things that gets even better as it sits and its flavors meld together. Transfer the cooled soup to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat the soup on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through.
- Freezer instructions: This easy roasted tomato soup is also incredibly freezer-friendly. Transfer the cooled soup to a freezer container or divide between multiple freezer containers for smaller portions. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen tomato soup in the refrigerator overnight or submerge the freezer container in room temperature water for a quicker thaw. Easily reheat on the stovetop.
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Made this to go with the Ooey Gooey herbed mozzarella grilled cheese. What a duo. Of course, soup is great on its own too.
Easy to put together and great use of basil. While roasting, the house filled with a wonderful aroma.
I made recipe as listed but I did add fat free cream which gave it a nice smoothness. Definately a keeper, especially if you need to use up tomatoes and basil.
Adding some cream is a great call, Jeanne! So happy you were able to put your basil and tomatoes to good use, this soup is one of our favorites, too!
Why is it necessary to add a can of fire roasted tomatoes when I’m using my own garden grown heirloom tomatoes?
You can definitely swap out the canned tomatoes for fresh if you prefer, Janice!! Garden tomatoes will be absolutely delicious!
Thanks for sharing this! All the best!
You are SO welcome Evelyn! We are glad you enjoyed!!
This soup is so quick, simple and impressive! I made a few batches with a bumper crop of tomatoes and basil from my garden so I was able to freeze one batch to enjoy later.
Thanks Kelsey! We LOVE how quickly this soup comes together – so glad you enjoyed & were able to use up all of the goodies from your garden!
Visions of tomato soup splattered all over my kitchen ceiling almost scared me away from this one, but so glad I tried it. Two thumbs up! Incredibly easy to make and so dang flavorful. Also, how beautiful is that pan of tomatoes coming out of the oven?! Thank you! Homemade tomato soup has been on my radar for a while and this recipe was fantastic!