Nostalgic tomato soup flavor made with fresh, juicy tomatoes and whole food ingredients for a comforting, healthy lunch the whole family will love!
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Summer classics!
A few weeks back we picked some Michigan strawberries, and that just always feels like the best start to summer. It can sometimes be a little chilly here and there in those early months of June too, so later that day, we decided on another summer classic in our house…tomato soup! This recipe using fresh, summer tomatoes has been in my girls’ cups and bowls since their toddlerhood, and their eyes still pop wide open with delight when they smell it simmering on the stove.
Is there anything more comforting than a bowl of tomato soup?!
I mean, it’s definitely in the top 3, I’d say! And it doesn’t get any easier than this simple soup methods. It is one of the first soups I made in my kitchen, and for this blog. Well over a decade later, it is still one of the most asked for soups in my house, and one of the most popular soups on the blog! I decided the tomato soup was well over-do for a photography make-over on the blog, so we grilled up some paninis and photographed this yummy, classic lunch.
The *simple* stars of the show!
When I say this tomato soup is just simple, whole food ingredients, I truly mean that. Just some aromatic veggies cooked down in a way that will add savory flavor and sweetness to the soup, delicious, nutrient loaded bone broth or meat stock, and, of course, the fresh tomatoes. I like to add basil to our soup as well, since tomatoes and basil are BFF’s.
The Method :: The base of the homemade tomato soup
The best part of a blended soup like this one is that the veggie prep is fast and simple. Just a coarse chop through some aromatics like onion, carrot, and garlic, and you’ll be ready to go. The whole soup gets pureed in the end, so you don’t have to worry about perfect chopping! Get all those tasty veggies into some melted butter and get some color on them. Don’t rush this part. This is where the flavor is built!
The Method :: Preparing the tomatoes
You can prepare the tomatoes while your veggies are cooking down in the pot. All you need to do is coarsely chop those tomatoes since everything gets blended in the end! I do like to get the seeds out of the tomatoes as much as I can since they can add bitter notes to the soup.
The Method :: Cooking the tomatoes into the tomato soup
Once your veggies are cooked down, you can add in some tomato paste for more rich, tomatoey depth of flavor, along with the fresh tomatoes. Simmer everything down for a good 20 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are breaking down.
The Method :: Finishing the Tomato Soup!
Once the soup is ready to puree, turn the heat off and add some raw honey. It is just a little bit, but it does make a big difference. It balances the acidy in the tomatoes, giving the soup that smooth, slightly sweet taste. Even if your tomatoes are garden fresh, I think you’ll still want to add this step! Then, you can use an immersion blender or regular blender to puree the soup completely until it is smooth.
Help! It’s winter and I *really* want to make this!
The best part about canned tomatoes is that they are typically canned at the peak of freshness! Grab up some canned tomatoes and make some tomato soup for some winter comfort! Try using 2- 32oz cans, or 4- 18oz cans of whole organic tomatoes , drained and seeded.
Let’s double and triple batch!
This is a fantastic recipe to double or triple batch toward the end of the summer as your tomatoes are coming off the vine left and right. Or, as they are deeply discounted at the farmer’s markets to unload the end of summer haul! You can use Souper Cubes to store the soup for easy thawing and use. Get the 1 cup serving size or 2 cup serving size tray for easy portioning. I usually thaw out two 2 cup serving sizes for my older kids/teens if we are eating all together.
The *best* school lunch!
In fact, my girls will fight over every last drop of tomato soup leftovers for lunchbox thermoses! It makes such a great meal to change things up. Imagine coming in from a cold, snowy recess to a thermos of tomato soup to warm you up for the last half of the school day! You can read more about how to pack thermoses, as well as our favorite thermos brands and sizes in this post.
Fresh Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter, ghee, or olive oil to cook in
- 2 medium onions sliced
- 2 large carrots coarsely chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
- 1 quart bone broth or meat stock
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp basil If you have fresh, use 1/4 cup chopped
- 5 large tomatoes See Notes for tips on using canned tomatoes in the winter.
- Sea salt/pepper to taste
- 2 tsp raw honey
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium high heat, and sauté the onions and carrots for about 10-15 minutes. Add a pinch of salt while they cook to bring the juices out and let them sweeten.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste, and cook for a minute.
- Add the tomatoes, basil, and broth, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer about 20-25 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, and add the raw honey to balance out the acid of the tomatoes.
- Puree with an immersion blender or regular blender, and season with salt and pepper to your taste.
Notes
- Don’t worry about chopping up the veggies perfectly – that is the beauty of pureed soups! It all gets blended up anyway!
- This is a fantastic recipe to double or triple batch toward the end of the summer as your tomatoes are coming off the vine left and right, or as they are deeply discounted at the farmer’s markets to unload the end of summer haul!
- Pack up the soup in a good thermos for school or work!
- If you are in the midst of winter and can’t find good fresh tomatoes, try using 2- 32oz cans or 4- 18oz cans of whole organic tomatoes , drained and seeded.
Briliant tomato soup recipe. I never added honey to a tomato soup before, I bet it tastes yummy 🙂 The good thing is that people can choose to add the honey at the end if they wish to do so.
Thank you Anna!
How do you freeze it and do have a recipe for bone broth? Thank you so much for sharing,
Hi Desiree! I freeze the soup in Ball BPA free freezer containers in pint and quart portions. The recipe for the bone broth is linked above in the Tips section!
Made this soup today – it is seriously great soup!! I have an abundance of tomatoes and I’ll be making more for sure to freeze for the winter!! Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Angie!
Looks fantastic! Great use of bone broth and a wonderful simple, nourishing, alternative over the canned stuff! Yum!
Thank you Samantha!
I haven’t tried your soup yet but it sounds delicious. One question why do I have to remove the seeds and juices?
Hi Peter! When I first posted this soup, I didn’t have a high powered blender, and the seeds just never full blended. If you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec, they should take care of the seeds.
One other question how can you call Butter, coconut oil, and lard friendly??? The three that you mentioned are the worst oils to clog your arteries. My choice would be olive oil.
Hi Peter! Olive oil is a great oil as well. Butter, coconut oil, and lard are extremely healthy. I recommend some of the current research out there regarding this topic. I can provide a few of my favorite references here as well. Definitely give it a look!
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/saturated-fat-body-good/
https://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-cholesterol-and-saturated-fat-are-not-the-enemy/
http://drhyman.com/blog/2016/01/08/why-fat-doesnt-make-you-fat/
I have many more if you would like more as well!
Well I just made it and had it for lunch. I made a couple of small changes like using olive oil and adding a jalapeño pepper. It was delicious and thanks for sharing👍
I’m glad you enjoyed it Peter!
I tried Tomato Soup at Whole Foods recently and thought how fun it would be to make my own. Definitely using this recipe!
Great Andrea – let me know how you like it when you give it a try 🙂
It seems the tomatoes stay green forever and POP they’re red and with delight they multiply! Great recipe. =)
So true Jessica 🙂 Thanks!
Your pictures are gorgeous! …and the addition of honey is brilliant. I think the toddler might even go for this one. Great recipe. Thank you!!!
Oh yay! I love to hear that! Let me know if it passes the test!
This soup looks incredibly delicious. I plan on making it, so I’ll be sure to pin it so I don’t forget it.
Thanks!
Perfect Holly! Let me know how it turns out!
I love tomatoes! This looks so tasty!
Thanks Rachel!
I made tomato soup this weekend…I wish I had your recipe.
Next time 😉
This looks delicious! I’m going to have to keep it in mind when I’m knee-deep in tomatoes and wondering what to do with all of them.
Great Aubrey!
I love tomato soup! This one looks particularly good!
Thank you Linda!
This recipe looks wonderful! Do you keep the skin on the tomatoes? I have an overflow of tomatoes from our garden, so I’m trying to make this asap 🙂
Hi Melissa! Yep! They cook down so much and then once you blend it up you don’t have any skins – makes it go super fast and easy too 😉
Great, thank you!
Ps: love your site and all the wonderful information/recipes!
I am a vegetarian… I was thinking veggie broth instead of bone broth….should I cut back on honey if I go this route?
Hi Jennifer! Yes veggie broth would work 🙂 The honey is to cut the acid of the tomatoes so I think you would still want it in there – you could half it and always add more if you want! Great questions!
hi Renee, just wondering why take seeds and pulp out of recipe if it is blitzed at the end?
Hi Glenys! If you have a high powered blender than it would take care of the seeds. Otherwise, the immersion blender and the small blender I have do not. I hope that helps!
Great recipe! I am already up to 4 quarts in the freezer..and that’s after having plenty of it right out of the Vitamix. I do seed the tomatoes but the Vitamix will take care of them, the immersion blender, not so much. Thanks for sharing this, we are loving it!
Thank you Gayle! Glad you enjoyed it! I love stocking up my freezer with it too!
I made this last night with my home grown tomatoes and followed it to a T. It was fantastic! The bone broth adds a richness and I used fresh basil from the garden too. This will be one of my staple tomato recipes. Thank you!
Oh great Sarah! Love it! It is one of our family favorites – so happy to share it!
Hi Renne, this recipe sounds amazing and I’m looking forward to trying it this afternoon. My only question is can I can the soup? And if so would I just use a hot water canner?And would you have any idea how long it’s shelf life would be? I’m trying to stay away from putting it in the freezer just because our freezer is already very full!
Thanks a bunch
Hi Shelby! Yes the soup can be canned! Canning with broth needs to be pressure canned and NOT water bath canned, however to be safe. I hope that helps!
I made this today and absolutely loved it! Thanks for posting a great recipe.
Great Lana! Thanks for letting me know!
Would this recipe work with cherry tomatoes?????? (Also, why do you remove the seeds & juice from the tomatoes??
Hi Dorothy! I think that would work! I take the seeds out because the immersion blender doesn’t take care of them completely and you don’t want seeds in your soup! If you have a high powered blender like a BlendTec or Vitamix that should do the trick and you don’t have to worry about getting the seeds out.
Confused as to why I can’t just cut up the Whole Tomatoes? It’s a lot of work to take out the insides prior, plus a lot of waste? I know I’m lazy 😏 But really want to make this soup with the tons of tomatoes I have!
Hi Rhonda! I get that! If you have a high powered blender to blend the soup up then you can leave it all in there. An immersion blender won’t take care of those seeds so it is just a smoother texture to scoop them out. I hope that helps 🙂
Hello. Have you tried this with beef bone broth? That’s what I have at my home right now and I have lots of tomatoes too.
Hi Stacey! Yes I have! Go for it! If your broth is really rich you can water it down a bit to back off the real beefy flavor 🙂
Thank you for this recipe. I love it and have made it about a dozen times. The last few times I experimented a bit.
I was using fresh tomatoes so I just threw all of the veggies including the cored and seeded tomatoes onto a roasting pan, drizzled it with butter and salt. I let it roast at 350 for 1.5 hours. It gives the veggies an enormous flavor boost. The only other thing I have done so far is add a can of diced tomatoes for some chunkiness. So yummy. Thank you again.
Great Christy 🙂 That sounds good!
Thanks!! Made a little changes to this but loved the honey idea. Tastes great 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Claudia!
Hi! I have made this twice and i love it! I actually left the peeling and seeds etc in for the extra nutrients, and with a Dash blender on Soup for 2 solid minutes, I cant tell there was anything in there at all besides tomatoes!
Always wanted to know what things were like homemade, and this soup is more what I would consider, gourmet, so creamy but not fattening or extra sugar etc.
Dont know if you check comments on old things, but, well done!
Hi Jeremy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup! It is definitely a blog favorite and a household fav here!
I have a little one at home. Do you think it would taste okay to use maple syrup instead of honey?
Hi Amanda! Yes that should be fine!
I have made this several times now. This is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had! My 2 yeasr old loves it too. Thank you!
Hi Kelly! I’m so glad you enjoyed! And that sweet babe of yours too! That’s great!
Thank you this was awesome followed every step just like you said yum yum what a good way to use all those tomatoes that seem to ripen all at once
So glad you enjoyed it Maggie!
Just made a batch…SO DELICIOUS! Tastes almost decadent, but I know it’s fresh and healthy.
Used up all of my current tomato crop, but this is so good I’m going to a farm stand for more fresh tomatoes!
MUST have this in the freezer for a taste of Summer when it’s cold and snowy. Thanks for sharing.
(Note: I didn’t have bone broth, so added Knox unflavored gelatin to chicken broth. Yum!)
Hi Leona! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It is SO nice in the middle of winter!
Awesome recipe – thank you! I made it in the InstantPot! I did not add any sweetener and it was still fantastic!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Amy! I IP’d it once this summer too and it was so good!
This looks fantastic and I can’t wait to try it! I just want to make sure as I’ll be canning this- do you leave the skin on the tomatoes?
Hi Rebecca! I am not sure how that works with canning! I do know that when canning with bone broth you need to pressure can for safety – I am not sure about those tomato skins though!
Hi I cannot see the Bone Broth recipe in the Tips section. Then again my eyes are not what they use to be.
I have small round tomatoes growing in my garden so I will be using them even if I have to use a bucket full. Will make a plan to get the Immersion Blender.
Recipe looks and sounds great so I will give it a go as I have NEVER made tomato soup thinking it would taste too much like drinking tomato puré or tomato sauce.
Regards Frances from a Hot South Africa
Hi Frances! Here you go :: https://www.raisinggenerationnourished.com/2014/01/nourishing-chicken-bone-broth/
I made this today with some fresh produce I had. It could not have come out any better. So easy and quick. Now we have dinner and some to freeze!
Hi Jannina! That is wonderful! Thanks for the feedback!
I dislike canned tomato soup, so I was looking forward to a homemade version. I’m knee-deep in tomatoes and this gloomy day called for something comforting! Thanks for the recipe! My Ninja puréed it wonderfully. Now I just need a grilled cheese to go with it! Fingers crossed my 4-year-old approves 😉 Thanks!
Great Brittany!
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but why leave the juice and seeds from the tomatoes out of a tomatoes soup recipe?
Hi Mark! I have found that the seeds don’t blend up as good as you would want for a smooth soup – they kind of change the texture.
I just made this!!! So tasty 🙂 I love the honey additive! I used fresh basil and a Vitamix – great recipe!
Great! I’m glad you enjoyed it Mackenzie!
How long will this soup last in the freezer?
Hi April! 3 months in a regular freezer or 6 – 9 months in a deep freezer.
Do I need to skin the tomatoes first?
Hi Eissa! No, the cooking really breaks it down and the blender takes care of them!
Instead of freezing, could the soup be canned in mason jars? Would love to try this recipe!
Hi Evelyn! You could can this if you pressure can the soup since there is bone broth involved. Anytime you use animal/meat or broth made from animal, you need to pressure can versus water bath. You can read more here :: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2012/12/how-to-can-homemade-stock-or-broth.html
I just made this and it is delicious, glad I found this page. 5* from me
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Michelle!
So many tomatoes recipes but none for home made sweet and sour sauce. When I look it up it is all Chinese style with ketchup tomato paste. Isn’t there any real sweet and sour recipes out there. Hope you can help me thanks
Delicious recipe! I just used regular chicken broth and added some red pepper flakes. I might add just a touch of cream for my kids, but I don’t really feel like this healthy soup is lacking anything!
Awesome!
Found your recipe when searching for what to do with an overabundance of garden tomatoes. Soup was delicious, and also froze well. Thank you!
Hi Julie! Great! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Making your tomato soup. Would you know the calories by chance?
I don’t – I’m sorry! I’m sure you could plug the ingredients into a calorie counter on Google 🙂
I enjoy tomato juice so perhaps I will enjoy this fresh tomato soup as well. I think the touch of cream is a good suggestion.
Planning to use today to use up my extra garden tomatoes!!! Thanks!!
I hope you enjoyed it Steph!
thank you for sharing Continuously needed to recognize what things resembled natively constructed, and this soup is more what I would consider, gourmet, so smooth yet not stuffing or additional sugar and so on. Dont know whether you check remarks on old things, at the same time, all around done!
Thank you for your kind words! I am so glad you enjoyed the soup – it is one of our favorites too!
I don’t normally comment, but wow, this soup is delicious! Topped it with homemade croutons, yum!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Lila!
If I only have tomato sauce instead of paste, could I just lessen the broth to even it out?
Hi Esther – I think it will be a bit acidic with all tomato paste, which is very concentrated – I’m not sure how much of that I would use!
Rating would only let me do 3 stars but this is a 5 star dish. I used home made chicken broth. Fresh tomatoes(way too many to eat) from my garden and extra extra basil. Cam out a little thin but the taste is off the chart!!!! Froze some and will make more!!! The Hot Wife loved it too!
So glad to hear that Mike!
Made this recipie again today after a year or so, its still awesome!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jeremy!
Great soup on a drizzly night.
I was looking for something interesting to do with tons of tomatoes from my garden, so was very glad I found this good recipe. I altered it in a few ways for the fun of it and the results were quite good. I used a vegetarian broth, I did not use tomoato paste (simply didn’t have any), and I added about a tsp each of garam masala and indian curry powder, as well as about 3/4 cup coconut milk. One of the best soups I have ever made!
I’m so glad you have enjoyed the soup! Your variations sound delicious!
I found your recipe tonight and as soon as I finished reading it I ran to my kitchen to make it, literally! I used fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden. I’m keto and this really fit in to my foods and was so comforting and delicious and nourishing. Thank you for sharing your talent! So grateful.
So glad you enjoyed it Brenda!
Thanks Renee for a great easy recipe–I made it with a few modifications based on what I had on had–garlic and onion powder, lots of fresh heirloom tomatoes, 6 T (whole can) of tomato paste. I left out the honey this time. Soup was fantastic–both hot and cold as a gazpacho. Super easy and delish! Froze some for later and am recommending this recipe to my Mom (who I gave some of our abundant tomato harvest)!
Thank you for sharing Lesli! I’m so glad you enjoyed one of our household favorites too!
Do you use bags or glass
Do u you use bags or canning jars for freezing this soup?
Hi Debbie! I freeze in quart freezer containers that are BPA free plastic.
Hi do you just use the 🍅 innards and discard skins?
I discard the seeds/juices from the tomatoes!
Thank you for the recipe. Just made it and tastes really good.
So glad you enjoyed it Cecilia!
Can I please leave the carrots out? Is there something to alternate the carrots?
Hi Laura! The carrots help with the creaminess and sweetness – you could do parsnips, or even sweet potato.