I have a few friends who are as obsessed with soup as I am. Recently, we had a “soup party” where we each made a soup and watched The Holiday. It was the best.
I made a version of this tomato soup, and after tweaking it a bit more, I decided I loved this easy cafe-style tomato soup recipe so much I wanted to share it with you.
This tomato soup is made with tomato juice, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. I do like to use a few fresh ingredients as well, but mostly this recipe is made from shelf stable ingredients. I feel like you need a few of those (or at least I do since I usually only grocery shop once a week) or slightly less.
This tomato soup is simple, very quick to make, and super flavorful. I decided to call it cafe-style because it’s a very classic, thin soup. It’s not a hearty, chunky stew style.
This is the perfect soup for a thermos, to add crackers to, or dip toasted bread in.
You can see the printable recipe card below for more notes, but you could leave the soup more on the textured side by blending less. However, I like to blend up the soup well before stirring in the cream.
I love how this chops up the fresh herbs so they are tiny little flecks throughout the soup—so good!
I love saltine or oyster crackers with this, but here are some other things you could serve this soup with:
If you are looking for a classic tomato soup you can throw together quickly, this is the recipe!
But if you want more ideas, what about this 20-minute tomato tortellini soup, or 10-minute creamy tomato soup (dairy-free), or this roasted red pepper and tomato soup? Let’s all be soup-obsessed together! xo. Emma
Cafe-Style Tomato Soup
simple tomato soup made from tomato sauce and tomato juice
1
onion
yellow
4
cloves
garlic
3
tablespoons
butter
64
ounces
tomato juice
15
ounces
tomato sauce
14 ½
ounces
diced tomatoes
drained
2
cubes
boullion
chicken
2
tablespoons
white sugar
granulated
6
basil leaves
fresh
2
tablespoons
cilantro
fresh
¼
teaspoon
cayenne
1
cup
whipping cream
heavy
salt and pepper
to taste
Chop the onion and garlic.
In a large saucepan or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes.
Add the tomato juice, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes (juices drained from the can).
Add the chicken bouillon cubes, sugar, and cayenne. Stir together.
Add the herbs and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Then use an immersion blender to puree the soup.
Stir in the cream. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.
If you want your final soup to have more texture you don’t have to puree it. But if you go this route, remember to finely chop the onion, garlic, and fresh herbs since they will not get more chopped at the puree stage.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can do this in batches in a food processor or blender. But an immersion blender is the best/easiest option for homemade soup and in my opinion worth the investment.
This recipe is adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s tomato soup.
Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman.