Here's the simplest fresh tomato soup from scratch. A garden-fresh, naturally sweet, and thickened soup. Made using only fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, stock (optional) fresh basil and herbs.
This is a very basic tomato and basil soup recipe. All cooked in one pot on the stovetop.
Table Of Contents
To make this easy homemade tomato soup you don't need to skin or roast the tomatoes. You add them straight into the pot and pulse them once the soup is cooked.
As for the flavor, it's light and sweet. Because this soup is minimally cooked, it preserves all of the freshness from the tomatoes and basil.
Ingredients
- Tomatoes, see the text below for tomato variety suggestions.
- Onions
- Garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh Basil
- Thyme + Oregano (you can use either dry or fresh).
- Coarse sea salt. The quality of salt affects flavor, especially in dishes with very few ingredients like in this tomato soup.
- Sugar (optional). Use just a very small amount in case the tomatoes taste a bit sourish.
Additional Ingredients
You can add any vegetable you like to this soup. Like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, celery, spinach, kale, peppers etc.
To add cruciferous and root vegetables to this soup add them after the onion is cooked. And saute them for 2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes.
To add leafy greens, add them after pulsing the soup and cook for 5-10 minutes more.
Other ingredients you can add:
- Bacon or ham (finely diced). The all-time classic ingredients for tomato soup. You can add them together with the onion and pulse into the soup. Or saute and brown separately to garnish the soup when serving it. If you want something a bit more special try Guanciale or cured Pancetta.
- Seasonings: sweet paprika, smoked paprika, sweet red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, cumin, nutmeg (just a pinch), bay leaf, all go great here.
- To enhance the flavor of the tomatoes: in case they're not in season or they're just not as strong-flavored, add a small amount of tomato paste (1-2 teaspoons) once the onion is cooked and saute for a minute. Another option is to toss in some sun-dried tomatoes (5-6) or even use tomato powder (this you'll have to taste and see how much to add).
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How To Make
To make tomato soup from tomatoes, saute onion and garlic and then toss in the tomatoes cut into chunks. Cook until the tomatoes begin to get mushy. Then pour in some hot water or stock, the seasonings, and simmer for a while.
Finally, pulse using an immersion blender. Mix in some raw extra virgin olive oil at the end to boost its nutrition and earthy flavors.
Tomatoes To Use
You can use almost any red tomato variety you want for this soup. Each variety will give the soup a slightly different texture.
For example, if you use Pomodori tomatoes, they will make the texture of the soup thicker but not as smooth because they have thicker skins. The same goes for cherry tomatoes.
The most important thing to keep in mind when making tomato soup with fresh tomatoes is for the tomatoes to be nice and ripe and ideally in season. If the tomatoes aren't in season their flavor will be bland and the soup will be watery.
In that case, you will need some help to enhance the flavor of the tomatoes as mentioned above.
Storing
You can store this tomato soup in glass food containers or jars in the fridge for up to 6 days. Or freeze in a plastic food container for up to 4-5 months.
Other Uses
This easy tomato soup from fresh tomatoes serves well as a sauce also. I usually keep leftovers in the fridge to serve over pasta. Or saute some chicken and mushrooms and pour in some of the tomato soup for a quick chicken skillet dinner.
You can also use it as a pizza sauce by adding some extra oregano and basil.
Serve With
Serve this soup with some crumbled feta cheese on top, or a scoop of Whipped Goat Cheese. You can also serve with some Homemade Garlic Croutons or a Feta Grilled Cheese Sandwich. If you have the time then these Greek Cheesepie Rolls or Feta Cheese Bread are both great sides for this soup!
Recipe
Fresh Tomato Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + a little bit extra
- 2 kilograms (4 pounds) fresh ripe tomatoes the ripest the better!
- 350 grams (2 medium-sized) onions sliced
- 4-5 large garlic cloves peeled and smashed
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 6-8 fresh basil leaves (or a little bit extra if you like)
- coarse sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1½ cups hot water or vegetable or chicken stock
- OPTIONAL: ⅔ teaspoon sugar
- crumbled feta cheese to serve with
Instructions
- Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a cooking pot over moderate heat.
- Add the onions and garlic and saute over medium to low heat for about 20 minutes until almost caramelized. Meanwhile, prepare the tomatoes.
- Cut the fresh tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the tomatoes to the pot and raise the heat to high.
- Season with coarse sea salt and stir until tomatoes get mushy and soupy.
- Pour in the hot water or stock.
- Add the basil, oregano, and thyme. Season with extra coarse sea salt if needed. At this point taste to see if the tomatoes are sourish and if necessary add ⅔ teaspoon of sugar.
- Simmer covered over medium-low heat for 50 minutes.
- Add the 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with freshly ground pepper.
- Pulse the soup using an immersion blender. If you want the soup thicker put it on the stove again and simmer for a few more minutes over low heat, uncovered.
- Serve with crumbled feta cheese on top if you like and garnish with some fresh chopped basil.
This is the best fresh tomato soup recipe I've tried yet, after being disappointed with the blandness of some others. It's very flavorful and so savory!
My neighbor gave me lots of tomatoes (a combination of large and cherry) and they didn't seem quite ripe, so I added tomato paste to the onions & garlic after they'd caramelized, as described in the recipe. I added the oregano and thyme at the same time as the tomato paste, so the spices would get more flavorful as they sautéed. I added at least 10 basil leaves with the chicken stock, because I love the flavor of fresh basil. I used a full sized blender instead of an immersion blender, to disintegrate the seeds.
This recipe will be my standby from now on.