Homestyle Cream of Tomato Soup
A family favourite, this gluten-free vegan soup is simple to prepare and uses everyday pantry ingredients.
Ahhh, the comfort of homestyle cream of tomato soup. It’s a classic, loved by all, whether you pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich or not.
Today I’m sharing a delicious soup for all seasons; a recipe you’ll be making for years to come. Why? Well for one thing, it comes together with minimal effort using simple pantry ingredients. The blender does most the work to create this luscious soup.
Another bonus? My homestyle cream of tomato soup is gluten-free and vegan so everyone can enjoy a bowl. It’s also freezer-friendly, suuuuper simple and satisfies your comfort food cravings, so let’s get cooking.
ALL photos by Kelly Neil
Three Reasons to Love this Soup Recipe
I know, I know, another tomato soup recipe! But trust me, you’re going to love it too. So many of you readers have been making my Hearty Sausage Vegetable Soup over the winter, and now that it is spring, this Garden Green Minestrone is in rotation. Todays cream of tomato soup recipe is perfect for any season, anytime, and here’s why.
1. It’s Pure Comfort in a Bowl
Comfort food has seldom been more needed. We’ve just spent ten days in the hospital with one of our kids, a stay which included multiple surgeries. It was a roller coaster of emotions and we are still dizzy.
I don’t think I sat at a table to eat in the whole 10-day stretch. Food was grabbed on the go, smoothies slurped in the car on the way to the hospital. Dinner was consumed in a chair, bed-side, with a plastic fork.
Our Mateo is now recovering from his pneumothorax at home, and I’m ready to move on. We’re all healing, body, soul and spirit, and in our home, comfort food is part of the healing.
Sitting down together to enjoy a bowl of homestyle cream of tomato soup is an immense pleasure. Much like Kelly’s mum’s Dutch Oven Beef Stew, it’s a big bowl full of love and nostalgia.
My family, together around a table, is a gift I’ll never take for granted.
2. It’s an Allergy-Friendly Soup Recipe
A nourishing soup recipe is always good to have in your back pocket. But when it also meets specific dietary requirements, and everyone can enjoy the soup? Even better. My Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup fits the bill, but my kiddos have always preferred tomato soup!
I developed this gluten-free vegan soup recipe during our ‘Food Adventure’, as I wrote about in January ‘New Year, New Journey‘. Cream of tomato soup is one of Clara’s favourite lunches – and I’m pleased to say, this recipe passed the taste test with flying colours. That maple syrup probably helps a lot.
Sidebar Elimination Diet update: overall, Clara didn’t feel any different while avoiding gluten and dairy during an 8-week ‘Food Adventure’. However, that journey into GF/DF foods did teach me to be even more aware of people with special diets.
Moving forward, I’m going to try and give more suggestions for gluten free and dairy-free substitutions for my recipes. It won’t be every recipe, but when it is something I have tested and can approve, I’ll be sure to share the variations so even more people can enjoy them.
3. Cream of Tomato Soup uses Pantry Staples
Today’s homestyle cream of tomato soup was one of the first meals I prepared when we arrived home from the hospital. I already had all of the ingredients in the pantry and the act of chopping vegetables and seasoning soup was intrinsically cathartic.
Side note: I’ve also been craving my friend Kelly’s incredible Nova Scotia Seafood Chowder. Maybe that will be a weekend project in the Simple Bites kitchen!
I love that you can build this tomato soup recipe with ingredients you most likely already have on hand. Canned tomatoes, dried herbs, coconut cream, a few carrots and onions….let’s take a closer look at those ingredients.
Cream of Tomato Soup Ingredients
The ingredient list may be lengthy, but this soup is not complicated to prepare. Each ingredient plays an important roll in a flavourful, well-balanced and nourishing tomato soup with a great texture.
Onions & Carrots – both sweeten the soup
Herbs & Seasoning – Basil is the tomato’s best friend, so if you have it fresh, definitely add a handful. However I developed this recipe to be made with dried herbs, so it can be an any-season soup.
Stock/Broth – I’ve use both vegetable stock or chicken stock, depending on what I have available. it obviously needs to be vegetable stock for the soup to be vegan.
Tomatoes – Canned tomatoes are so delicious for soups because of their lightly sweet, concentrated flavour. I’m never without Mutti’s ‘Polpa’, fresh-tasting chopped tomatoes in a can. But any canned San Marzano tomatoes will do.
Cooked Rice – The chef’s secret: rice helps to naturally thicken the soup, and adds to the creamy texture once it is all pureed. You can make the soup without the rice, if you don’t have any on hand, it will just be slightly more thin.
Pure Maple Syrup – Call it the Canadian way, but I’ve been adding a splash of maple syrup to tomato based soups and stews for forever, like my Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili. The delicate sweetness helps balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and just rounds out the whole flavour of the soup.
Coconut Cream – Or coconut milk, use what you have. here’s the essential ‘cream’ element to our homestyle cream of tomato soup. The recipe only calls for half of a cup, any more and you risk the bold flavour taking over.
One more thing: this cream of tomato soup also freezes very well, so go ahead and make a big batch. Then serve it with my Extra Crunchy Kale Chips. Delish!
ALL photos by Kelly Neil
Homestyle Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion peeled, roughly chopped
- 1 medium carrot peeled, grated
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried Mediterranean herbs such as oregano, thyme, basil
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock (broth)
- 1 cup cooked rice optional
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or balsamic
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste, divided
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic, pepper, dried herbs and paprika to the pot. Sprinkle everything with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook for an additional minute.
- With a wooden spoon, push the veggies to the side and add the tomato paste to the bottom of the pot. Let it cook for a minute or two, then stir to incorporate the vegetables.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes and vegetable stock. Stir and partially cover the pot with a lid. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the rice (this helps thicken the soup and makes it a little more filling) and the maple syrup. Cook for 10 more minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and cool slightly. Purée until smooth with an immersion blender, OR transfer to a high speed blender and puree until smooth.
- To finish the soup, stir in the coconut cream, apple cider vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Stir and taste. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding more cream or more salt, depending on your preference.
- Serve hot with crusty bread, croutons or crackers.
Notes
More Recipes at KellyNeil.Com
My gratitude goes to my friend, and fellow food creative, Kelly Neil, who photographed this recipe in her studio while I was in the hospital. It was a wonderful gift, and allowed me to deliver this recipe to you all. Thank you, Kelly!
lovely, and with coconut cream, I’m sticking to my diet by skipping dairy, and really like that there’s no skimping on flavor, thank you
Mmmm! We are trying this tonight, Aimée! Can’t wait!
Im so glad that Mateo is doing so much better!!