The BEST comfort food!
Talk about the king of all comfort foods! This silky roasted tomato soup will have you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s a great lite meal and prefect for a cool, rainy fall day. I was never a huge tomato soup fan until I made this soup. It is super flavorful! Roasting the tomatoes and garlic play a huge role in how this soup taste. Not only is this a gluten free tomato soup, it is also a vegan tomato basil soup! What’s better then roasted tomato, basil and garlic? That’s right, nothing! There is no better thing to pair this soup with then a grilled cheese sandwich. Dunk it directly into your soup and let that bread soak up all those delicious fresh flavors!
Ingredients for roasted tomato soup.
What you will need:
- Tomatoes
- Whole garlic bulbs
- Sweet onion
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Basil
- Italian seasoning
- Tomato paste
- Olive oil
- Sugar
- Salt
- White pepper
What type of tomatoes do I use? You can use any tomatoes you would like. I personally love tomatoes and always have a ton of different kinds of tomatoes on hand. For this recipe, I did go all out and bought a few more types. Here is a list below.
Here we have:
Campari tomatoes
Kumato tomatoes
Sugar bombs
Honey bombs
Flavor bombs
Constellation (4 different colors of tomatoes)
Large on the vine
Why did I use so many different tomatoes? Each one has a different flavor, some are slightly tart, some are sweeter then others. You do NOT have to use the same tomatoes as I used here. It can get pricey. In the end, you will still have a stellar soup no matter what tomatoes you use (within reason). However, I will suggest sticking with no bigger then the large on the vine tomatoes. This is not the place for beefsteak tomatoes! The smaller the tomatoes, the more flavor they will have.
Important tip. Only use ripe tomatoes. The riper they are, the more flavor and the juicier they will be. Also, If you are using baby or cherry tomatoes, roast these tomatoes whole. If you are using anything larger then a cherry tomato, cut into four pieces or they will take longer to cook and break down.
Lets get to cooking!
First thing is first, pre heat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop off the tops of the garlic bulbs so the tops of the cloves are exposed.
Add all your tomatoes into a large baking dish. Make sure if you used larger then cherry size tomatoes, you cut them into four pieces! Cut the sweet onion into eight pieces and place around the tomatoes. Place the fresh basil, (stems do not need to be removed as everything will be blended) thyme, and garlic bulbs on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle the salt over the top and then slowly pour the oil over everything and try to coat everything evenly.
Place in the oven and roast for one hour, or until garlic bulbs are super tender like a soft paste. Use a toothpick to check the tenderness of the garlic. Remove from the oven and pull the garlic bulbs, fresh thyme and basil and set aside. If you left any vines on the tomatoes, obviously remove those too and toss the vines in the trash. If the thyme stems are firm, remove the leaves from them stem. Soft stems, you can blend them right in.
Using either a counter blender, food processor or immersion blender, blend the tomatoes and onion until completely smooth. You will have to do this in batches unless you are using an immersion blender. If using an immersion blender, add to a large pot before blending. Using a counter blender or food processor, add puree to a large pot after blending well.
Straining the seeds from the puree.
You can skip this next step, however it is very important if your have a condition such as diverticulosis and your doctor suggests staying away from small seeds, then you should probably not skip this step. Using a fine mesh strainer and a large bowl, in small portions at a time, strain out the tomato seeds. Use a spatula to force the tomato puree through the fine mesh strainer. Discard the seeds and rinse the seeds from the fine mesh strainer after each portion. Rinsing it after each portion will help speed the straining process up because the seeds won’t clog the strainer as much if you keep cleaning it. Again, if you don’t mind the seeds, you can skip this step. However, it won’t be as silky smooth if you do skip this step.
Finshing up the roasted tomato basil soup.
If using a counter blender or food processor.
Add one cup of tomato puree to your blender or food processor, along with the thyme, basil, garlic white pepper, sugar, oregano and Italian seasoning and blend until smooth, then add back to the pot. Poor in remaining tomato puree and stir until everything is well incorporated.
If using an immersion blender.
Pour remaining tomato puree back to the pot. Toss in garlic, thyme, basil, white pepper, sugar, oregano and Italian seasoning. Blend once again until completely smooth.
Heat over medium low heat and cover for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. I did not use any flour to thicken up this soup, because I wanted to keep it a gluten free tomato soup. To be honest, after letting it simmer, it did not need to be any thicker then it was. The consistency of this roasted tomato basil soup was perfect on its on.
Serving the roasted tomato basil soup gluten free and vegan.
So I really wanted to do a vegan tomato basil soup but obviously did not want to make different varieties of this recipe. So I decided to do just one, and what you garnish this soup with, will determine what type of tomato soup it really is.
Garnish (optional)
- Heavy whipping cream or coconut milk
- olive oil
- Fresh basil
- Croutons
Vegan – Want your soup super creamy? You can add coconut cream instead of heavy whipping cream. You can also add the fresh basil, croutons and olive oil.
Guten free – You can add obviously everything but the croutons. Or, you can find gluten free croutons!
Regular – Load it up! Toppings or no toppings, it’s still delicious, make sure you try dipping a grilled cheese sandwich in this soup for the best experience!
Roasted tomato soup FAQ
It helps cut the acid in the soup.
This merely depends on the tomatoes you use and how ripe they are. The more ripe the better color you will get.
A delicious grilled cheese sandwich of course!
Dunking slices of a warm French Baggett would be delicious with this soup!
A gluten free grilled cheese sandwich or celery sticks would be delicious with this soup!
Other things to serve with roasted tomato soup.
Other than grilled cheese sandwiches, what else would go perfect with tomato soup? Mozzarella sticks! Do you like Mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce? Then you will love it with this soup as well! Cheesy garlic bread would be so amazing pared with this soup! Without a doubt, a BLT would be absolutely amazing dunked in this soup! Finally, gluten free fried cauliflower bites would pair nicely with the gluten free, vegan roasted tomato soup! So did you enjoy this gluten free and vegan tomato basil soup recipe and want more soup recipes? Try out my savory cabbage soup recipe!
Roasted tomato soup
Equipment
- immersion blender, food processor or regular blender
Ingredients
- 6 pounds tomatoes
- 2 garlic bulbs skin on
- 1 large sweet onion quartered
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 cup basil fresh
- 3 tbsp thyme fresh
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
Garnish (optional)
- Heavy whipping cream or coconut milk
- olive oil
- Fresh basil
- Croutons
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the top of the garlic off bulbs off so the cloves are exposed and discard.
- If using large tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces. If using cherry tomatoes, leave them whole. Place all tomatoes in a baking dish.
- Cut the sweet onion into 8 pieces and add into baking dish.
- Add basil and thyme on top of the tomatoes. If using thyme that has soft stems, todd the stems in the baking dish as well. If the stems are hard, remove the leaves from the stems and toss into the baking dish.
- Sprinkle salt over the top of the tomatoes. Slowly poor the olive oil over everything in the baking dish.
- Roast the tomato mixture for 1 hour or until garlic is soft like a paste. Use a toothpick to check the texture of the garlic.
- After the tomatoes are done cooking, remove the garlic, basil and thyme and set aside.
- Blend the tomatoes and onion in a blender and add to a large pot. If using an immersion blender, pour the tomatoes in a large pot. Blend with your immersion blender until the tomatos are completely smooth.
- Using a fine mesh strainer and a large bowl, strain the tomato mix until all the seeds are removed. Use a spatula to help push the sauce through the strainer. Do this in small batches and clean the seeds from the strainer after every batch. Return to pot. Squish the soft garlic from the garlic bulb skins. Get out as much as you can.
- Add 1 cup of tomato puree and tomato paste into the pot and heat on medium low stirring often until paste has dissolved.
If using a blender
- Add one cup of tomato puree to your blender. Add in the thyme, basil, garlic white pepper, oregano and Italian seasoning and blend until smooth, then add back to the pot. Poor in remaining tomato puree and stir.
If using immersion blender
- Add remaining tomato puree back to the pot. Toss in garlic, thyme, basil, white pepper, oregano and Italian seasoning. Blend once again until completely smooth.
- Add desired garnish to soup and serve! This recipe goes great with a grilled cheese sandwich! (Obviously) Enjoy!
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