Lest you think I spend any part of my days doing Important Things — preparing, and totally not at the last second or haphazardly, for my only child’s second birthday, or for his first week of pre-preschool; assembling warm, wholesome meals for his lunch each day; meeting my manuscript deadline; dealing with the shoe bomb that went off in my closet, etc. — it’s only fair and honest that I tell you that I’ve spent a significant portion of the last year considering ways to merge grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup in a single vessel.
In a way, though, it relates to all of those things (well, not the shoes). There’s something very back-to-school-ish about tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and because it’s still September, if you’re lucky, you can still get some tomatoes worth eating, and if not that, at least worth cooking down. In my imagined intersections of grilled cheese and tomato soup, I dreamed of grilled cheese croutons in one-inch rounds but rejected it for being overly precious. I considered grilled cheese bread bowls, but never worked out the logistics. But it was when I revisited the ne plus ultra combination of cheese and soup — French Onion Soup — this past spring that I knew unequivocally that the very best solution would be to simply broil an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich on top of a bowl of tomato soup. The only thing left to do was to wait (and wait, and wait) for the slim overlap of tomato season, soup season and a gloomy, rainy week. And that, my friends, brings us to today.
I remember not too long ago explaining all of the many reasons we believed we were not Soup People — the monotony of every spoonful tasting like the one before, the way so many of them carried this boiled limp vegetables smell to them and the fact that a good lot of them were oversalted to compensate for flavor shortages or veritable bombs of heavy cream to make up for lack of body — but the funniest thing happened right after that: we became them. Suddenly, we had the tiniest perspective shift and soup was not the enemy, it was our savior. It was something I could put up a big pot of a couple times a week and ensure us healthy meals that reheated perfectly. Nevertheless, I can’t say we’ve ever reviewed our dinner options recently and said, “Yay! Three day old split pea soup!” or “Sunday’s Tuscan white beans!” (We’re converted, but perhaps not reformed.) But day-old soup with a broiled cheddar cheese lid? I absolutely cannot wait until dinner tonight.
One year ago: Skirt Steak Salad with Blue Cheese and Monkey Cake
Two years ago: Grilled Lamb Kebabs and Tzatziki and Snickerdoodles
Three years ago: Spinach Quiche and Bread without a Timetable
Four years ago: Apple Yogurt Cake and Chocolate Babka
Five years ago: Summer Squash Soup and Giardinera
Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar
I loosely adapted the tomato soup part from an old Bon Appetit recipe, although more than quartering the oil, using less stock, no rosemary, roasting rather than sauteeing the garlic cloves and of course opening up a grilled cheese sandwich and broiling it on top. I think if the recipe could talk, it would forgive me.
Oh and by the way (new note, January 2018): Just wanted to note that in my second cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Every Day, I have an updated version of this soup with canned tomatoes, since we eat it so often in the winter, when the fresh tomatoes are underwhelming.
Serves 4 (though closer to 6 if served in mugs)
Soup
3 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large or 4 small cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon (or more to taste) dried crushed red pepper
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Lid
4 1-inch slices from a large loaf of rye bread, whole wheat sourdough or bread of your choice (or 16 1-inch slices from a baguette), toasted until hard and lightly buttered on one side
1 tablespoon grated raw onion
1 cup coarsely grated cheddar (or more to taste)
Make soup: Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap garlic cloves in a tight foil packet. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on large baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper (I used 1 full teaspoon of Kosher salt). Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil. Add foil packet of garlic to tray. Roast until tomatoes are brown and tender (garlic will be very tender), about 1 hour. Cool slightly.
Unwrap garlic packet and peel cloves. Transfer cloves, tomatoes and any accumulated juices to a blender or food processor and pulse machine on and off until tomatoes are a chunky puree. Transfer tomatoes to medium pot and add thyme, crushed red pepper and stock and bring to a boil Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasonings to taste.
Create cheddar lid: Preheat oven to 350. Arrange four ovenproof soup bowls, crocks or large mugs on a large, foil-lined baking sheet. Stir grated onion into the warm soup. (I love this last-minute suggestion of onion.) Float toast slice(s) in each bowl, buttered side up and divide grated cheese generously over top. (If you’re using a wide bowl, you might find that you want more cheese to create a thick, broiled lid.) Bake soups on tray for 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese on top is bubbling and brown at the edges. If you’d like it even more bronzed on top, preheat your broiler and finish soups for a minute or two under it. Serve immediately.
Do ahead: Soup can be prepared one day ahead, and kept covered in the fridge. Rewarm before serving, or before finishing with cheddar crouton.
That looks like the most unbelievable comfort food! Roasted tomatoes have such a wonderful flavor so I can only imagine how delicious this soup is.
This year with the blistering hot weather here in western Canada this summer I had a bumper crop of vine ripened tomatoes. Today I cut up the mast of the big ones and roasted them along with another 20 Tiny Tim Sweeties and made the soup. It was absolutely delicious. It’s a keeper for sure!
That sounds divine! The broiled cheddar cheese? Swoon!! That sounds amazing. Perfect rainy days in the forecast for this. Yum! :)
It’s so funny, I was just looking at another blog and ended up with a huge craving for tomato soup with grilled cheese. This looks like an amazing alternative! Thanks for the inspiration.
tonight. im making it! it’s on :) nomnom
Absolutely gorgeous. The first photo made me think French Onion Soup, but this seems so much heartier.
Oh… I’ve got cheddar in the fridge and garden-fresh tomatoes to use up. I think I’ve gonna have to stop for chicken stock on the way home. This is perfect timing. :)
This could not look or sound more comforting and delicious!
Oh.my.dear.Lord. This looks so good. I wonder if I can use the roasted tomatoes I froze earlier… hmmmm. Will give it a go.
I’m at the point in tomato season where I’m treating the last of the ruby jewels as though I’m guarding them on their journey to Mordor. Could my precious little ones be forged into this lusty-looking soup? Oh, I think so. Oh yes, I do.
I love that you served them in mugs! It makes it look that much more comforting and hearty!
Looks so good! I made your rye bread Sunday. Now I know what to do with some of it!
That cheddar looks unreal. It’s like an American version of french onion soup.
I’m heading to the green grocers tomorrow to see if there are any tomatoes! Looks so good. Cheese never fails, I made a French onion soup a few weeks ago.
I love this idea of preparing tomato soup like onion soup!
I’m about to have to send lunch to “school” (she’s only a year old, but I guess it’s school!) for my daughter, too. I’m at a loss for good ideas. I need you to make a post over in the baby section about what to send to school for a toddler lunch!
One of my all time favorite meals is grilled cheese sandwiches dipped in tomato soup. I love how you have combined both into one dish and I can’t wait to try it!
Oh my goodness. The broiled cheddar crouton brings this tomato soup to whole new level!
Question; do you think this soup will fare well in the freezer? I have pounds upon pounds of tomatoes that I need to use and would love to make a giant batch of this soup to freeze.
I’m still enjoying your Quick and Easy Mac & Cheese, but I jazzed it up with Ground Beef, Asparagus and mushrooms. Once I’m through the left-overs, I’m making this soup!
Uh, it’s official. Deb, you’re the queen of the foodgasms. The header picture got me ALL hot and bothered. Yum.
Holy hell, I just posted about something just like this today! This looks AWESOME!
This is truly brilliant, and now I am wondering what other soups I can top with bread and cheese. If I weren’t stuck at school all day, I would be making this right now and I’m not even a tomato soup person. I bet the cheese toast would be equally good on some broccoli soup.
The perfect soup for the season…our gardens are just beginning to produce giant bowlfuls of ripe tomatoes, and frost threatens. This would be a great way to concentrate that harvest! Do you think the soup would freeze well (without the topping of course)?
Yup, the intersection of tomato season and cold is slim and wonderful. I oven roasted 14 pounds of romas. I suspect they will not make it to the freezer.
I don’t like tomato soup. But I love roasted tomatoes, and this looks amazing!
Francheska, just don’t read the blog if it offends you. But if you haven’t tasted the difference between a summer tomato and a winter tomato, please go find yourself a summer tomato stat!
Oh my goodness..you just made my day, Deb. I am such a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup type of girl! I used to really dislike soups but when I moved to Europe and everyone here ate them, I totally changed my mind and now I could eat them all the time. Can’t wait to try this recipe…Yahoo!
Btw: I adore that photo of your little cutie…He is adorable:)
This looks delicious! I may have to cut corners to save time and use canned tomatoes instead though (wince).
I think I could actually live on this and this alone.
Actually, now that I’m looking, the finger foods post is a good start to lunch packing ideas!
I pressure canned a roasted tomato soup recently. The recipe I used said to add milk or cream when heating it after canning. So I really do not like dairy (and it doesn’t like me), I am going to try adding the cheddar cheese crouton to the top when I heat it. I can tolerate dairy when it is melted as cheese. Oh weather get cold again!
And I will have to see if I can get more tomatoes this weekend to make more of the soup to pressure can now.
wow. that looks amazing!
Whoa. These look so delicious and simple. Doin’ it!I’m mentally calculating if my mugs will fit under my broiler. They look SO cute.
Considering throwing away all of my cooking plans for the week to make this…but the most important question is: Where does one find good bread in NYC? I just moved from San Francisco, and I am yet to find adquate bread in Manhattan. What bread are you using here?
Grace — I should tell you that I bought it at the Union Square Greenmarket along with my tomatoes, but I forgot to pick up bread and grabbed it at Whole Foods across the street. It was from a local bakery, rye bread, seedless. You can get excellent bread from Sullivan Street Bakery, Balthazar, and a few other places but many of them also distribute to Whole Foods, if you’re shopping there anyway.
Carrot cake doughnut — Was excellent (I stole a bite! mean mama!) and from the Doughnut Plant. However, the very best doughnut from there has always been and will always be the creme brulee doughnut. It is tiny, filled with vanilla bean pastry cream and bruleed on top. Like, for real.
I only have one word to say about this: GENIUS.
LOVE
Also – where does one find Carrot Cake donuts?
Heh, I was slurping down some tomato soup when I came across this post. The onset of cooler weather is a bummer in some ways, but I just LOVE cold-weather food so that makes the transition easier! This looks divine. On the ‘to do’ list for this weekend for sure.
That sounds heavenly. Thanks for the idea.
I’m speechless. You’re a genius Deb! It’d be fun to play around with different types of Cheddar or cheese, something indulgent like brie would be so fun. Thanks!
YUM YUM YUM!! My stomach just audibly growled at my desk. I can’t wait to try this, so perfect for this cold, wet weather in the city. Do you use a blender, rather than an immersion blender, because it leaves it chunkier? To avoid tomato chunks, which I don’t care for, do you think blending it super well would alter anything? I shouldn’t think so. I’ll be sure to let you know if I try it this weekend!
One quick question- is there several different types of garlic???? iN your recipe it says garlic, UNREELED…..where can i find that type? Will regular garlic be ok?
Bonnie — It was supposed to say unpeeled. Just a typo. You leave your cloves unpeeled. You peel them after they roast.
This looks amazing! Your photography is fantastic. AND: I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks in advance!
I LOVE this idea…to be honest, I’m not sure I would make the tomato soup from scratch (unless I have loads of time & tomatos. But this idea would work with good-old Cambell’s just fine I think… (I like my Cambell’s Tomato Soup made with 1/2 milk/1/2 cream mixture instead of water) The bread topper with broiled cheese is brilliant!!!Thanks so much for sharing…
YEAHHH YEAHHHHH YEAH!!! I purchased tomatoes last week because i wanted to try out a recipe for tomato soup and now you’ve posted one! yeah!! yeah!! yeah!! oh, how I love you, smitten kitchen, I love you!!!
Amazing as always. I get so excited when I see you’ve posted something. I can almost smell this through your photos.
This looks absolutely wonderful! I love the bread and melted cheese on top, and that it’s all in a mug, so perfect and homey.
I am on a tomato soup kick. In fact, I’m eating it right now! I can’t tell you how excited I am about this recipe and look forward to trying it. I’m also glad you eschew heavily creamed soups as well.
I am so happy it’s soup season and veggies are prime for roasting. It’s a shame I don’t have 4 matching mugs…
So brilliant. Happy Birthday, Jacob!
I do remember when you weren’t soup people. I tried not to take it personally. :) But now, you’re talkin’ my language. Grilled cheese tomato soup? [Applause!] You’ll be completely reformed yet, you’ll see. ;)
Now THIS! THIS is a phenomenal idea!
mmmmmmmm….. my husband just bought me a beautiful, heavy set of “french onion soup bowls” as my sons’ like to call them. I am excited to give them a taste of something new!! Thanks!
I love this idea! I’m not much of a soup person either (although I’m trying to change that) and this might just be the dish that changes my mind
Looks unbelievable! Grilled cheese and tomato soup go together so perfectly, but it always felt a little childish to me (maybe because the last time I ate them together I was a child myself). Thanks for introducing a grown-up version!
This is awesome looking. I have ramekins that I could put to good use with this. It isn’t exactly a quick dinner, but it has the advantage of lots of down time.
Oh man–I need to cook some of this up RIGHT NOW! Looks amazing! Love that you served it in mugs–I always eat my soup out of a big mug. Perfection!
I was trying to think of what would go well with your mushroom bourgignon recipe, I think this will be perfect! Making this on Thursday for sure! I can’t wait!! So. Much. Cheese! :D
This looks so comforting, I can’t wait to try it. I’m looking at the photos while at my office preparing for my tutorials tonight and it’s just torture. I’m a big tomato soup fan but haven’t mustered up the courage to make it from scratch…but this might change that.
I haven’t made many of your recipes (yet), but I always read them. Your writing is like warm blankets.
how did you know i wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup?! I’ve been looking for a roasty-good recipe for about a week now, and then this happened! It was fate. :) I have to try it ASAP!
I’ve made this before and I’ll make it again very, very soon. It’s easy and delicious.
This is so inventive yet cozy and familiar at the same time. Soup is one of my favorite things about fall — I am definitely looking forward to making this on a crisp, rainy night!
I’m a Dutch girl and I really, really like this recipe. It looks so comforting for a cold and rainy day, which is like every day in Holland. And what a perfect way to make a good soup better: add a lot of cheese! So thank you, I know what I’ll be eating this winter!
I can’t imagine anything better right now. My tomatoes are done – the excessive rain made sure of that. There are still some at the markets!
You had me at the idea of soup with cheesy stuff baked in a mug! And all those beautiful tomatoes mean it MUST be delicious.
I could cry myself to sleep looking at this.
BEAUTIFUL.
I’m absolutely making this this weekend! It’s brilliant! And living in North Carolina means we have plenty of tomatoes left. Thank you!
AAAH what a soup! Wish it were a bit colder today – and not so HUMID and yukky out. Looks like a dandy! Hope the wee 1 had a happy pappy birfday too!
With food as yummy as that …
bring on Autumn.
Oooh this looks so good. I have tomatoes, cheese and Gruyere sitting on the counter!
This looks amazing and totally scrumptious!
I do the open-faced-grilled-cheese-sandwich-topper out of the gruyere croutons from your winter squash soup post. Just made it yesterday in fact so your timing is impeccable! it has become a staple in my fall/winter arsenal. looking forward to roasting the tomatoes.
In one post, you have taken two amazing dishes (roasted tomato soup and grilled cheese) and made them into one awesome idea, especially as we head into the end of summer.
I have a very tiny kitchen and no real kitchen appliances beyond a toaster oven. Is there any cool trick to impart a “roasted” flavor into tomato puree (because I have neither a blender nor a food processor)?
What are your thoughts on some of the last of the season heirloom tomatoes that are all over the place now? Would those work? Or is plum really the way to go?
Making this tonight with organic tomatoes I picked up from the farmer’s market today. Had no idea what I was going to do with them when I bought them, so thanks for this great idea!
I literally gasped in delight when I saw this. There are no words to adequately describe how urgently I need to make this in my kitchen. Serious yum.
That looks simply amazing, Deb. I have some gorgeous tomatoes lying around in the crisper. Gotta’ make this recipe before fall comes in, full swing. Can’t believe the little one is already 2 years old. Time flies :)
I love roasted tomato soup. This is like roasted tomato soup and grilled cheese all in one bowl. Perfect. I just wish I had tomatoes instead of green beans hanging out in my fridge waiting to be turned into dinner…
Oh dear, I live in a country of no cheddar cheese. What can I substitute? (Seriously, none. Except in some hole in Jerusalem, very far away)
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I think you’ve accompished an Important Thing here!
That looks delicious! It looks cute in the mugs too! It’s a perfect way to start the fall, I think.
Now, if that’s not comfort food, I don’t know what is. Delicious!
Oh I LOVE this idea!
Love soup, it is my comfort food, well that and cookies. And tomato soup with grilled cheese is a classic, so brilliant idea combining the two. I like the idea of roasting the tomatoes first, I just canned 9 quarts of tomato soup, but no matter, I will now have to try your roasted tomato soup recipe.
~Brenda
I have been looking for a tomato soup recipe and this looks fantastic! thanks again Deb!
“An American in Paris” recipe variation…my very favorite! I can’t wait to try this, although I’m liable to add a Tbsp or two of good ale before simmering. Thanks for the unending stream of home runs. I so look forward to SK in my reader :-)
Rebecca — I was obsessed with using beer in this soup. It demanded it! I would have added it at the point where you sauteed some onion or whatnot, to deglaze the pan and then really cook it out, but the step wasn’t necessary. So no beer. But I agree with you that it would be a nice fit with rye bread, thyme and broiled cheddar.
The only think that could make this better is a bacon crumble topping. Too bad for the heat wave in SF or else this would be on the dinner table tonight. Can’t wait to try!
When this popped up on my screen, I literally went, “Oh my Lord…” out loud. Luckily, I’m at home, so it wasn’t embarrassing. Until I just told the internet about it. But I think you’ll understand. I will try this TOMORROW. Post-haste.
Deb this looks sooo good!
I love the 1st picture with the melty cheese on the side of the cups. So authentic and what a great shot. Makes me want to dive in!
Heavens to Betsy! What a beautiful recipe and set of pics. :)
I am definitely making this one! I am still pulling red, ripe tomatoes from my mom’s garden and was just contemplating what I should make with them. This looks absolutely divine. We want to be soup people, but it never happens. I think this may be a revolution.
That looks absolutely amazing. I wish there were still tomatoes around here so I could make this!
that…looks…amazing. The thing I love most about the cold weather is the tomato soup and adding cheese to that is definitely not a bad thing!
i HAVE to make this!! last fall i made your butternut squash soup and i’ve been waiting all year to make it again.. must add this to the list of soups
holyy sh*t this looks ABSOLUTELY incredible.
Now if we could just get cooler weather. Love tomato soup and grilled cheese and beats tearing up the grilled cheese to plunk into the soup.
Had to come back to tell you this was SO GOOD! Even the tomato soup haters in my family wanted some. I hate to say it, but Campbell’s Soup kind of ruined tomato soup for me. This is tomato soup. Sure doesn’t hurt that gorgeous plum tomatoes are 59 cents a pound this week. Would it freeze okay?
Deb, I really want to give this a try, but we don’t have anything oven-proof and cup-shaped around the house. :(
Do you think I could pull off the cheddar lid in a casserole pan?
Skye — You can do it in a large dish, yes, like a casserole, or even your soup pot (which is probably oven-proof, or at least, most are to a certain temperature). You can also make cheesy toasts on a baking sheet, and float them in the soup when you’re done.
Homemade Soup for one isn’t always best when the Fella isn’t a soup person. I love to let Whole Foods take over but results of late have been spotty at best and way too salty at their worst. So fast forward 7 years and I think I’ll give this a go. But I’m still on the lookout for good oven proof crocks/mugs/vessels that aren’t from China. Right or not, I’ve been told to steer clear of them. Where are yours from and is the China thing more bunk?
wow, this looks absolutely beautiful, very rustic and …. sorry, I’m speechless… i’m running to the kitchen to roast my tomatoes for tomorrow… :)
Glass of wine in hand (duh) I saw this, looked 12 inches to my left at the pile of tomatoes and said (to the tomatoes) “ha ha ha tomatoes you are mine!” I’ve always hated Campbell’s tomato soup *thanks Michele* (please don’t be mad at me everyone else in America). But grilled cheese in any form is welcome. Oh yes soup, you will be made. Part of you may be frozen for a brutal Illinois winter evening, but you will know that someday you will be loved! Can’t wait for the cookbook!
We had every intention of making your French onion soup tonight to warm our hearts on this rainy cold New England day. But then you had to go and post this recipe and throw us for a loop… We couldn’t resist! I’m glad we changed our mind. This soup is amazing. Thank you thank you thank you!!
oh yum. I love that its open faced, so much better with less bread.
This is perfect for a day at my desk tomorrow, especially with the last of the farm tomatoes we have. Thanks! (ps rye bread with celeriac-beer soup with cheese)
O.M.G. Here I am, lying in bed catching up on some blog reading. And now that I’ve seen the photos and read the recipe, I’m lying here thinking about how quickly I can find good roma tomatoes and cheddar (criminal, I know, that I have none in the fridge). I do believe a trip to Whole Foods is in order and a trip to the liquor store for some good ale (what a great suggestion!) as well. And, I’m thinking that a sausage might be nice with this as well…
Oh my gosh…this looks amazing! I can not wait to try this. I think you hit the nail on the head! Grilled cheese AND tomato soup, awesome!
Funny, when I was a child we would put a little handful of cubes of cheese in the bottom of our tomato soup mugs and then scoop up the dangling strands of tomato-ey melted cheese into our mouths, trying to keep from getting too much of it on our chins. I haven’t had that in a long time- might be time to revisit!
Yep, you are a genius.
Canned you used canned tomatoes? If so what kind would you recommend?
ooo its like an onion soup model but i think i will like this so much better than onion soup.
Oh. My. Goodness.
When I was growing up, Sunday was my family’s lazy day. This meant going to church, coming home and having a big lunch, and sleeping/watching tv/reading for the rest of the day. Somewhere along the line, our big lunch turned into a traditional Sunday lunch of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. (The only thing better? In the summer pairing your grilled cheese with fruit salad).
This blows my mind; it totally takes my family’s Sunday tradition to a whole new level. Might just have to try this one out for myself =)
Oh my god Deb you are KILLING me with this. I have been reading for a long time, but this is the first thing I have read which made me groan out loud. It’s still too hot for soup! I bow down to you, lady. BOMB DOT COM.
Deb! Am I reading this wrong or did you forget to say that the broth goes in the pot with the pulsed tomatoes?
My tomatoes are broiling right now, and I’m using my own chicken broth.
Mmmmm, soup : ) And that boy just keeps getting cuter!
Deb, I know this isn’t chocolate cake, but I think you’ve outdone yourself. This recipe looks killer. Thank you!
Can’t wait to make this. Already imagining how well it’ll go with bread soup bowls!!! Thanks Deb!!!!
my favourite part of this recipe is you just pureed the tomatoes skin on. I’ve got a ton of tomatoes now and am preparing to make sauce etc and the last thing I want to do is peel them. cheers deb! you are my hero!
it looks soo delicious!!
This sounds amazing, I just found your site today and am looking forward to making this soon. We have had a year of drought and my Italian tomato tree is finally starting to produce. The tomatoes are similar to San Marzano’s, do you think they would be okay for this?
This is what I have been waiting for all along. (Although I think that about most things that incorporate cheese). I am crossing my fingers for rain or some dreariness in my southern California life. Please.
Good gracious!! This thing looks insane! I “French Onion Soup-ed” a white bean soup a few months ago and decided it’s a super smart move on all sorts of soup.
There are few things better than roasted tomatoes. Yummy! THis soup looks delightful.
My mouth is watering! Who knew the idea of tomato soup could be so exciting.
i love it…especially the roasted tomato part. the soup must have incredible flavor! you’re amazing, because you’re actually making me crave tomato soup for the first time ever!
This is calling out to me on the next rainy Seattle day. Which will probably be tomorrow. I can almost smell this combo that was made for each other, through my screen.
The fabulous end of summer plum tomatoes from Sicily are just arriving here in northern Italy/south of France so I’m going to make your soup this weekend. I like how you roasted the garlic instead of adding it to the tomatoes. I think I’m going to plop some burrata on top of the toasted bread instead of the cheddar though – I’m not ready to give up summer quite yet!
Ha, funny ! I’m French and we don’t usually melt bread and soup like this, exept, as you said, in the onion soup, which I only ate once…but you make me want to try again !
Great way to revisit the onion soup concept!
FYI, I sometimes add freshly ground ginger in my tomato soup, it’s a nice combo.
You really have a talent for soup, especially since the ‘I’m not soup people’ claim!
I am dying for this presentation but I am not too sure my mugs will survive the oven. Did you buy special oven proof ones or just use regular ones?
Caffettiera — I think they should say whether they’re oven proof, or might have where you bought them. If you’re not sure, though, don’t wing it.
Kathy — No, for once, no typo. ;) It says to transfer tomatoes to the pot and add thyme, pepper and stock.
Yes…a good idea for the last hurrah of tomatoes from the garden. And I’m thinking of dragging out those big brown crocks I have (think, the 70s) with the little knubby handles for this. I like the cup idea, but I’m thinking the crocks will let me get away with more cheese per bite!
I had the same thought this past weekend, only without the cheddar crouton. Thankfully, there are left overs.
This is absolutely genius. I love French Onion Soup, and I’ve always loved roasted tomato soup (altho’ I have to include a drop of cream), I love grilled (we call them ‘toasted’) cheese sandwiches, but I’ve never thought of this combination. The best of all worlds, and then some…
Wow it is 6am and I just read this recipe. Breakfast today will be roasted tomatoe cheddercheese soup. Now I’m really hungry!
This makes me look forward to rainy, grey days!
This sounds absolutely scrumptious!
looks messy – but what amazing photos! Just looking into getting a slow cooker actually for soups and stews. Anyone got any suggestions? Should inject more flavor into my veggie creations and keep after-work prep down..
yum! i’m sick currently and this looks amazing!
You had me at PRESCHOOL. I’ve heard that parents have to get their newborns on waiting lists for schools, but do they really start to preschool before their 2nd birthdays?
I’ve had a learned taste aversion to tomato soup since I was about 7 years old, but this may make me get over it! I would far rather get the creaminess from a ‘lid’ of delicious melty cheddar than a heavy shot of cream directly in the soup.
This soup is pretty close to perfection I’d say. It’s 8:30 a.m. and I want this now. For breakfast.
What a great idea! I never thought about topping anything but french onion soup with some crusty bread and cheese! And using the mugs was a great idea too! I am definitely going to try this!!
Yummy! Tomato soup is one of my all-time favorite foods…
Yum. Tomato soup and grilled cheese are one of my favorite combos. I cannot wait to make this.
Looks like fabulous comfort food!
This looks WONDERFUL. Made stuffed pepper soup last night. I used to be like you — not a soup person, but now I am all about easy, healthy, filling, soups every so often !
My son asked me to buy a can of condensed tomato soup while we were grocery shopping Sunday. He lamented on never having had tomato soup with grilled cheese. I told him that he wouldn’t like it (the canned soup). Now I can whip this up and let him know that THIS is the way to have GCand tomato soup.
where oh where did you get that ladel? i must have one!
Looks delicious, Deb. You omitted the basil from the Bon Appetit recipe. Was this intentional?
Matt — Yes. Among my soup gripes I that I spared you guys in the post (ha) was that I find that too many tomato soups taste like tomato sauce. I wanted this to be clearly differentiated — thyme, not basil, roasted garlic, no cooked onion, etc. I was hoping for a flavor that suggested great pub food, not just great Italian restaurant. Hope that clarifies (exactly how much I overthink stuff, heh).
Wendy — I got it just recently, actually, from Amazon.
Thanks for the great recipe. Grilled cheese with tomato soup is one of my top comfort foods.
Thank you. I have been really struggling with what to do with all the tomatoes I get from my CSA. A good problem to have. This is going on the menu for this weekend!
Absolutely amazing presentation. I really just want to wrap my hands around one of those mugs. Yum, thanks!
This is such fabulous comfort food, and simple to make, too! The only thing that would make it better is if it had some basil. Thanks for sharing!
Over think? No way…I wish I had your brain and some of that soup right now! xo, Nan
Oh my goodness that looks amazing!
I LOVE the play on grilled cheese and tomato soup. Gorgeous.
Yes, that ladle is very cool! And this soup sounds fantastic, what a great idea. Thanks, Deb!
Wow, this looks absolutely mouth watering! I gotta try this. The cheese on top reminds me of one of my favourites french onion soup:)
I can’t wait to try this- grilled cheese & tomato soup (& variations of) is still one of my favorites. Happy Fall to you..
Bravo, Deb. As if Fall hadn’t enough enticements–SOUP! Kind of missed you these last few days! What does the little boy say about school?
Here I am, in my kitchen, waiting for my Smitten Kitchen Cream of Tomato Soup to finish its final ten-minute simmer. While I was waiting, I decided to peruse the site to see what’s new and LO AND BEHOLD there was a new tomato soup recipe! Deb, what do you think about the older recipe versus this new one?
Hi Stacey — Still love the old one and it can be used year round because it uses canned tomatoes. This one is best with fresh ones. The other is more of a Campbells-style soup, for people who grew up on the canned stuff. It also has cream in it, it’s a cream of tomato soup. This is more rustic, fresh and chunky.
Dalnapen — He’s starting to warm up to it, but he’s already caught a cold and is home sick. Boo. Hopefully it will get easier going forward.
Sounds like a great idea, making a “French Onion Style Soup” with tomatos. I love tomato soups of any kind.
oh my goodness that looks delicious!
This recipe arrived on the heels of 20 lbs. of plum tomatoes, so thanks! Will be making extra to freeze for the winter.
I’m totally trying this, very soon! One note: America’s Test Kitchen advises sprinkling a tiny bit of brown sugar over tomatoes before roasting them, and I’ve found that this does indeed impart a fuller, richer flavor. Just a thought.
Weird bizarro-world moment. THIS is exactly what I made for dinner last night (minus lids. I made cheddar/monterry grilled cheese on sourdough instead)
I took a different recipe, and tweaked it up, including the little “foil packet of garlic” on the side. It was awesome. I also added a tbsp of brown sugar and 1.5 or so of balsamic during simmer time and let the whole thing reduce by almost half. I wish I had put in shallots at the beginning. I felt it was missing some oniony-goodness
I just made this soup and it was amazing! And the best thing, my mother who normally doesn’t like tomato soup loved this one. Thank you for this recipe.
Lea
How divine! This recipe reminds me of a baked cauliflower and tomato sauce dish that was smothered with cheese. You should try par-boiling some cauliflower, mixing it with your soup(not too much though!) and then baking with the cheese. Super-Fab!
Hi Deb,
Can this be made with round tomatoes? I have extra of a few round varieties from my garden, but not many plum tomatoes. I’d love to use them up. Have you tried freezing this soup?
Other varieties of tomatoes — I don’t see why not, but if they’re larger, they’d probably need a longer roasting time.
Beautiful soup! Also, no flickr account, so I just wanted to leave a comment here about how brilliantly adorable baby jacob is and the balloon…SO CUTEEEE!!! SQUEE! Thanks for sharing. I totes feel cheated we couldn’t hear the BLOON part. I want to hear his leetle voice! :D hahaha
omigoodness that looks delicious and so comforting. perfect for the current season.
i also saw an article in the nytimes where you talked about using scales in the kitchen. really cool!
love
kelly
I’m geeked about this post……….grilled cheese and tomato soup was already the world’s best combo, but grilled cheese IN tomato soup makes my head want to explode. Making it tonight(and sharing the link with my friends). I’ve been lurking but have tried several recipes with great success. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Hello, you are my hero!
I’m a rebel, I eat soup all year long and I live in a warm climate. There are so many good summer soups! Roasted Italian red pepper soup for one, among many others.
Will definitely try this before tomatoes disappear at the market in the next few weeks.
What a great serving idea. It looks amazing, perfect for the slightly cooler nights as autumn sets in.
Deb,
I saw this in my email this morning and knew what to do with the beautiful tomatoes my neighbor blessed me with. I roasted them this morning, took a quart of stock out of the freezer and can’t wait to throw it together for dinner. (Think I’ll invite the neighbors too).
Why wouldn’t this keep for a few days?
God, this is like having liquid pizza!
Just finished making this for my farmer husband and myself. Scrumptous. And so obvious that it is brilliant. I am sure I am not the first to wish for a Smitten Restaurant…I am dying for you to try: raw kale chopped in fine ribbons tossed with pine nuts, currants, parm, olive oil, lemon juice and honey. You might convert. To kale, that is.
Deb, this looks delicious and I am not usually a tomato soup fan. But, this has bite and sounds brilliant. However, those cups just don’t do it justice. They need to have a wider top and one or even two handles. Sorry the potter in me just couldn’t eat that beautiful dish out of those cups. Thanks for your wonderful blog. I have been a loyal fan for three years since i decided to make my nieces wedding cake. Your directions gave me the support that I needed.
oh my gosh, broiled cheese over anything would make gloomy fall days better.
Just in time! I have a bowl of vine ripened tomatoes and I’ve been looking for a good tomato soup recipe to make with grilled cheese and here it is in my email, thanks to you! Bless your heart, you’ve saved me! Now to see about getting to the store for some broth… I can’t believe I’m out.
Instead of processing the tomatoes before adding them to the stock, could I add them to the pot whole and then use an immersion blender to pulse for a few rounds? Or would I be missing out on something?
Suzy — Would probably work but it will take longer to cook them into a soup consistency, starting with big chunks like that.
Audrey — I was actually deferring to what the Bon Appetit recipe I riffed off of suggested. To be honest, I never understood “keep” suggestions, being the sort of person who sniffs something before I eat it rather than going by an arbitrary number of days. But, if I were to take a guess, it would probably be because the soup is so fresh. The tomatoes aren’t really fully cooked down and might be funky after a couple days. Not that ours stuck around long enough for us to find out. :)
I cannot get over how good this looks. I’m literally drooling right now.
That looks delicious. I will totally do this next time tomatoes are on sale at Meijers. (who knows when that will be.)
I think I’d just do a grilled cheese sandwich on the side, though, rather than on top. I am not sure how our mugs would handle being broiled, and the edges look like they’d be a pain to clean up! :-)
Why oh why oh WHY are you doing this to me? :( (I’m still at work and shouldn’t be surfing, so it is *actually* my fault. But hey, you really shouldn’t be coming up with recipes that make me go slack-jawed and drooly. It’s a crime!)
This looks so good…
Made this today and it was drop dead delicious! I didn’t have any dried pepper at home but i seasoned it with oregano instead and it worked wonderfully.
Superyummy soup, I must do it again!
Yes, please!!! Oh how this tugs at my little heart strings! My two favorite comfort foods in one warm mug :D !! You’re and inspiration!
Just pulled my mugs out of the oven with this delicious tomato soup. I am desperately waiting for it too cool a bit!
SO good! A great fall recipe for a cold night!
You know, I’ve never been much of a tomato soup fan, but I think this recipe may have just converted me.
Tomato soup is my favourite and when you add cheese to anything, it becomes fab :)
Deb–Unbeatable combination–tomatoes and cheese. I’ve had the same thing on my mind, different variation. You have to try the recipe my daughter-in-law gave me. It’s an heirloom tomato tart with a lot of parmesan cheese in the crust. http://donnaxander.blogspot.com/2011/09/womanhood-piecrust-and-rachels-tomato.html
This soup looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve never seen this made like this! I LOVE IT! I want some! :D I’m definitely sitting in my dorm in the late hours slowly becoming hungry. I just ate too. It’s great! xD
Just made this soup with your mustard roasted potatoes on the side for dinner. Looking forward to tomato soup leftovers at work. Also looking forward to having a poached egg on top of the leftover potatoes for breakfast tomorrow. Thanks to you I’m getting three meals out of one!
I made this for dinner and it was heavenly! Thank you for the great inspiration!!
Just made this for dinner, and it was a perfect late summer/early fall dish. That cheddar crouton was amazing! I added a little balsamic vinegar to the soup since my tomatoes weren’t looking like they would live up to the wonders of the crouton. Thanks for the recipe!
This sounds delicious. I can’t wait to try it this weekend!
I made this for dinner tonight with tomatoes, onions, and thyme from the garden. So delicious! However, I need to find a gluten-free substitute for the bread because I omitted that from mine and all my cheese sunk to the bottom (it still tasted fabulous). Everyone else’s looked great. Thanks Deb!
Tried it and LOVED it! But I left in all the olive oil and even added butter (gasp!) because, you know, I remembered your last post on tomato sauce and knew the butter would be wonderful! :)
Oh man, I die. This was insanely delicious!!! Deb, this recipe embodies everything I love about your blog. Thanks once again!!
I am currently resisting fall since we’re finally getting truly warm, sunny days in Berkeley. I’m pulling out shorts that haven’t been worn since my move from the East Coast midsummer. These soup cups may make me okay with the oncoming chilly days, though. I will miss tomatoes when they are through for the year.
One quick question- is there several different types of garlic???? iN your recipe it says garlic, UNREELED…..where can i find that type? Will regular garlic be ok?
Julie — Unreeled = unpeeled. I thought I’d fixed that typo!
Gorgeous! That bubbly, oozy cheese lid completely makes it! It looks like you blended a few cheddars together, what kind did you use? I imagine a sharp Vermont would be tasty.
Holy crap! Your photos are killing me…I just ate breakfast and am hungry again. Gorgeous!
I have been making tomato soup/grilled cheese like this for years! I just don’t have a blog to tell the world about it! Dag nabbit!
This soup looks amazing and so easy to make! I’m bookmarking it to try myself this weekend :)
Made it. Loved it. Now I’m going to write about it. It was a hit! Everybody was going on about it, even my 5 year old and 3 year old loved it. They were all trying to think of other things that flavor would be great with i.e. as salsa, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, chili, etc.
Thanks so much!
Great recipe! I made this last night, except I added a bunch of veggies and chicken to make a single-bowl dinner out of it. Delicious!
Made it last night, delicious! It reminded me of your baked potato soup (http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/01/baked-potato-soup/), which is also a family favorite! Capturing the essence of a comfort food in soup form is brilliant!
Hmmm.. this might be a good way to enjoy my canned tomato/zucchini puree-sauce (canned as in I canned it..lol.. not tinned). It is wonderfully chunky full of tomatos and squash with bits of fresh thyme all from my garden. It is so beautiful in the jars.. I almost hate to use it.. but if I pair it with a homeade bread toasted with a gooey cheese… I am sure it will be worth it!
We just pulled all of our tomatoes/plants from our garden plot; 95% were green. Do you think roasted green tomatoes could make for good soup or am I just living in a fantasy world?
This soup was great! Thank You!
I am obsessed with tomatoes! tomato soup especially…this is rustic and mouth watering!
Can I just say that I am so excited to see what cold-weather fare you come up with this year! This soup looks like a wonderful way to start the season.
I just discovered roasted tomatoes. This looks delicious!
Wow! I will never buy any other tomoato soup nor will I make any other recipe for it. I didn’t use the bread this time. This is the best! Thank you for sharing your recipe!!
this look divine! and perfect for chilly weather. thanks!
Delicious!
I made it with an actual grill cheese sandwich with a little caramelized shallot and some more fresh thyme that I sliced into strips and served alongside it as a starter.
Adding a bay leaf for the last 10 minutes of simmering really gives the flavours a boost. Any longer than that and it just takes over the dish though …
Wow, what a gorgeous presentation!
Wanted to let you know: I read an old O-magazine on my Ipad and heard your interview. I loved it!
Oh wow! This looks fantastic. Thank you, thank you, thank you, I’ll definitely be making this over the weekend.
Thanks for the post…we love soup we are soup people!!! I have teens so we need something that will stay in a crockpot and still taste good whenever someone gets home to eat it. I used your recipe as a jumping off point. Sunday I made a bunch of sauce from two huge boxes of tomateos someone gave me. So I went down grabbed a bag and dumped the chicken stock into it. It’s simmering now. That’s for saving me. I’m currently teaching and in graduate school. It’s homemade, but it almost felt like cheating, :).
Great post, looks delicious! I have a question though — I’ve heard that blending tomatoes with seeds in a food processor can create a bitter taste. Did you experience that at all with this soup?
Wow, I love tomato soup and this looks amazing!
There is nothing I could add that has not been said – this looks amazing. Every once an a while I see a receipe for something that just blows my mind and this is one of them!
WOW. I just roasted some tomatoes last week for the first time and was completely blind sighted as to how good they would be. This is WHATS FOR DINNER :)
This looks so amazing, and is perhaps the only reason I’m finding it convenient that another rainy spell is coming up for NYC :-). Deb, if you’re feeling not quite dazzled enough by soups and looking for more exciting ones, might I recommend the Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter from Super Natural Every Day? Curried. Brown. Butter. My fiance’s family and I all devoured it.
I made this last night from our own tomatoes. It was AMAZING!! Thank you, my husband also thanks you.
I cannot WAIT to make this. Yeeha!
Holy mother of god.
Gooooood stuff. Made it the day before because soups are always better the next day. Used a generous 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper, and it was SPICY! Added a spot of cream to the finish product to temper the heat. Served with trad grilled cheese sandwiches (instead of the topping you suggested) to make a dinner of it. Good. So very good. Sooooooo veeeeeeerrrrrrry goooooood.
I’m going to try this with a couple cans of san marzano tomatoes. My tomato garden, sadly, is done and I can’t wait until next summer to try this!
I have my soup simmering on the stove at this very minute and the kitchen smells AH-mazing! I added a bay leaf for a little added flavor. I’m not sure what it’ll do to the dish, but I can’t wait to find out! My boyfriend and I are going to have it tomorrow night, and I assure you it’s all I’m going to be thinking about all day tomorrow! Great recipe!
I had grilled cheese for dinner and was craving tomato soup to go with it. Never did I think I could have been craving it to go under it. Mind = blown!
I’ll be saving this recipe for those cold winter days, roasted tomatoes are always such a treat :)
Happy Belated Birthday! My humble apologies for missing the pre Happy Birthday greeting, as I was ill, and couldn’t do anything at all.
Perhaps this soup would have helped me to be well much quicker, other than chicken soup.
I am looking forward to preparing this wonderful soup.
Many blessins!
Bravo…
…enough said.
The oven roasted romas are soooo good. Did you know that you can slow-roast them with diced garlic and shallots, and then rough-chop and can that goodness with a covering of olive oil, so that you have the world’s perfect pizza sauce ready anytime? It’s to die for, and always reminds me of summer. Love the soup, love the sauce!
I’ve been on the hunt for some yummy soup recipes and this one seems just perfect. I’m looking forward to testing it out!
for reasons i can’t fathom, none of the photos will load, but no matter: i can taste this dish, sight unseen. and what’s weirder yet? i was dreaming of EXACTLY THIS SAME mash-up, just last night. saved me a heap of work here, you did.
thanks, and happy soup season!
Da/Ba in Hudson does tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons!
Addded heavy whipping cream to make it a little creamier…….delicious!
This is a recipe that is screaming and pleading to be taken to the snow. I think I might give in as soon as winter comes around. Gorgeous- just gorgeous.
This looks so…stinking…good!
gorgeous!!!!!
I made this last night, and am currently prepping a batch for myself for lunch. YUM. Thanks so much, Deb – this is fantastic. You described it perfectly: Grilled cheese and tomato soup all in one bowl!
You are so brilliant…. tomato soup cooked like a classic french onion soup, but with cheddar cheese??? Perfect! I’m going to make lots of people happy with this!
I have been staring at these pictures everyday since you posted. I cant wait to make ti and ti makes me want to dive in and eat.
Oh yea … this is what I’m talking about. Looks amazing!! Must have!
Every single picture in this post is eminently drool-worthy…and a perfect use of the counter full of tomatoes and block of cheddar in my fridge!! Hmmm…day old chicken white bean stew for dinner or roasted tomato, broiled cheddar soup?? :)
oh my god. i love you.
Oh yes please! This looks so warm and comforting and delicious.
Made this today to keep us warm on a rainy night. We are chowing down and could not be happier with the way it turned out. Thanks for another great recipe that will definitely become a staple!
How cute, in the big coffee mugs! If fall ever actually makes it to Texas, I’m gonna try that. :)
Oh my yes! This looks like tomato soup at it’s finest!
On this rainy, first day of autumn, we made this delicious sop and it was a big hit! We added 1/2 tsp. crushed red peppers my husband likes it a bit spicy! The recipe is a keeper!
I am a big fan of yours and have made many of your recipes. Even my kids now know Smitten Kitchen! Your photographs are always fantastic but this was the first time ever that I found a photograph of yours unappetizing.
We had this for dinner last night and it was truly delish. We let the cheddar sink in a bit and get all gooey in the middle. Next time in the winter when I need something a little heartier I want to try this again but add some cream to thicken it up (and less red pepper flakes, I went tad over board.. oopsies)
so, if i don’t have a food processor, and do have in immersion blender, it’s be about the same to blend at the end, no?
sorry that’s “it’d” …..:)
Yes, that’s something I gotta make!
thank you! going to go order one asap! can’t wait to get to the farmers market for some maters to make this spoup!
Another winner! I made this last night and it was wonderful. Thanks!
oh wow, i think i need to make this tonight. i have been craving tomato soup and i think making it from scratch with my own tomatoes is just the ticket. it’s the perfect way to ring in fall!
Mmm, I never thought to make my own tomato soup, but I am in love with this, and it would probably taste incredible with an aged Australian cheddar.
My all time favorite food site… Again a wonderful dish!!
Ooh. Nice action shot, pouring the soup into the mugs. I am really salivating over this. Nice one.
Made this tonight after non-stop drooling thinking about it since it was posted. SOOOOO DELICIOUS!!!! I just wish that it had made more so I can eat it all week. I’d double the recipe next time! Such a genius idea!
This recipe is wonderful – I prepared the soup yesterday lunch time and then finished it off (the cheddar and bread lid) just when I was ready for a lazy, comforting saturday night supper. Super-duper recipe, probably one of my favourites yet. Thank you so much for sharing, really helpful and inspiring once again for vegetarians like me! x
As I sit here on this rainy sunday trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight – this is oh-so tempting! Plus, I have a countertop full of garden tomatoes that are just begging to be used – perfect.
Genius! I love the French onion soup approach to roasted tomato soup. I like to sprinkle my tomatoes with Parmesan when roasting them for even more cheesy flavor, and can’t wait to try it with you lid on to boot.
Wow! I can’t even explain the amount of salivating that just went on over my computer screen. I’m a culinary student and have been trying to use up all this bread I bring home and this beyond perfect; especially on those crispy fall nights! Plus, I might just be a real sucker for anything related to grilled cheese!
Love your blog so so much!
This is a great idea for all of the tomatoes that I’m getting from my CSA. I may even get my kids to eat the soup if I sell them on the Grilled Cheese topping.
Brilliant!
Every summer I roast my garden tomatoes with lots of garlic and herbs and freeze them in meal-sized packages. They add that home-grown taste to lots of different meals, all year long. Tomato soup is a favorite — we’re soup people. Grilled cheese toppers: inspired. Can’t wait to try it.
Wow.
This one is going on the list for a couple of months from now – when tomatoes are back in season in New Zealand! Thanks!
Made this! Perfect for our first rainy cool evening/night of the season. We really enjoyed this,… the soup consistency was thinner than I was expecting/wanting, but still so tasty! The look on my boyfriends face when this came out of the oven was priceless… I cook a lot for us, but he thought he were expecting company because it just looked… well, you saw the picture :) Amazing! Thanks Deb.
*we were* (sorry!)
These looks delicious; I’m a sucker for grilled cheese sandwiches. I love how you served this in mugs–great presentation.
This sounds like EXACTLY what I’ve been craving the past couple of gloomy days. I’ll be making it soon. Thank you!
It never fails to impress. Not because of only its taste but ingredients it have, the way of making. as it looks like an indian food,if you have time to travel across India, you can find this kind of soup stalls. Had the same one at Grace.Enjoyed.
Its was a cool and rainy Sunday in Sydney yesterday and after deciding I would NOT be leaving the house come hell or high water, I decided to make your Rustic White Loaf bread recipe and this soup to keep for a week night dinner. We just had it tonight (how could we possibly wait any long?!) with the bread as the cheese croutons and it was delicious!
I’ve never made fresh tomato soup before because I’ve always been too scared of it being an acidic assault on my tongue and my stomach, but this soup is amazingly smooth with just the right amount of tomato-y tang.
Nice one, Deb. You’ve not led me wrong yet!
Made this yesterday and it was AWESOME! Thanks
A super cold bug is waging its attack right now and this is going to help fight it off. It doesn’t get more authentically comfort food than tomatoes, cheese and bread in one.
made this yesterday, sooo good. it looked like each step along the way which was part of the so good! very pretty and extra yummy!
This looks absolutely amazing. Can’t wait to try!
Made this over the weekend as a post long training run food (did the work saturday, the reheating and eating on Sunday). Excellent and added one twist to my carb starved body, some cooked elbow macaroni in the soup and under the cheese… so it was grilled cheese, mac n cheese, tomato soup.
I have never commented here but have been a fan for quite some time.
I love the cheese toping for the soup. I have never tried to add cheese into tomato soup but I am going to try that. Nice idea and great pictures.
We just made your version of this one after our own unsuccessful attempt last week. And, um, WOW! Quite possibly the finest tomato soup recipe I’ve ever had. Thank you for posting!
What a wonderful idea – I’m always looking for the perfect tomato soup recipe that is decidedly un-sauce-like. Roasting solved the problem – i used beefsteaks from the farmers market, skipped the oil completely, roasted at 450 for 1 hour, doubled the garlic, and pureed in a blender until super smooth, skipped the stock, added a cup of hot water and 1 cup of whole milk. So yummy.
Brilliant construction project! I wonder what else we should have been melting cheese over, all this time. I made soup this weekend myself (http://bit.ly/ppHoed)
oh.my. gosh. You just revolutionized my world. This sounds so awesome I can’t wait, CAN’T WAIT to try it!
I have barely cooked since we adopted our baby 10 months ago. Read this and went to Whole Foods within an hour:) My soup turned out very thin but was still tasty. As for the grilled cheese tops– brilliant!
This has to be one of the best looking things I have ever seen! Grilled cheese and tomato soup is the perfect fall meal, and man have you nailed it! Going to try it out this weekend!
This looks sooo good, and I totally support your statement that this has everything to do with the school year, as I have such fond memories of tomato soup and grilled cheese from my COLLEGE days. I wish I could say grade school, and pre-school even better, but alas I didn’t start paying attention to this treat until I was old and wise. Your 2 year old is a lucky one! :D
mm i love that you made them in cups
I made this tonight after a long rainy day. . .it completely hits the spot!!! It is delicious and warms you from the inside. I sauteed some onion and added it to the food processor along with the tomatoes and garlic. I also added a roux to thicken it a bit right before serving. This recipe is easy and great for a week night dinner! I have made several Smitten Kitchen recipes and, once again, I am not disappointed!!!
thoroughly enjoyed this instant classic. definitely want to also try the beer idea next time in place of a bit of the stock [maybe bell’s best brown ale?]. had some caramelized onions lying around [because really, what don’t they make better?] so put a few on top of the toasted rosemary bread that i used and under the cheddar. really liked the combination.
i’m always inspired by smitten kitchen!
thanks for another delicious meal!
Wow!!! This looks so amazing. I love any type of roasted tomato and this just sounds heavenly. I will definitely be trying this soon.
This was SO good! The tomato soup is simple but has a nice depth. I didn’t do the cheese lids – not enough time. We had grilled cheese instead and the pairing was delicious. Even my 14-month-old tyrant approved!
I’m with other posters – a bit of beer might be a great addition, though it really needs no improvement. Thanks Deb!
Thank you! This was AMAZING. A new fall staple in my house… and already planned for next Sunday’s football game watching. Perfect way to feed a crowd, use lots of local tomatoes (I used 2 dif. kinds) and provide a use for all of the “free” coffee mugs that collect in the back of my cupboard. :)
P.S. I used giant ripe homegrown beefsteak quartered, mixed with firm romas, roasted the onion with the tomatoes (don’t like even close to raw) and forgot to toast the bread… still a huge hit.
Made it! AMAZING! Thanks!
I was just thinking of a roasted tomato soup before coming to your blog and finding this! What a nice surprise. On another note, why was there a shoe bomb in your closet??? sounds terrible!
You are a GENIUS! I’m trying it this week…
i mean seriously, this looks absolutely delicious. i’m not a fan of tomato soup, but i would SO eat this. thanks for sharing!
This may be a perfect recipe to try out my new Cuisinart.
I’ve made this twice since you posted it. Even toasted, the bread got soggy for me and sucked up a bunch of the soup before I could get to it. The second time I made it, I left out the bread and sprinkled the shredded cheddar over the soup before I served it. It got rave reviews! My new favorite soup recipe. Thanks!
I made this for a friend with a cold and it is DIVINE!
I too am not a soup person. Or so I claim until french onion soup (read: anything with cheese lid) crosses my path. How would you feel about adopting 27 year old daughter and feeding me hearty soupy goodness? yes? excellent!
Soups gift us with warmth when sun disappears.
This looks ridiculously good. Why didn’t I think of that???!!! Brilliant! Thanks for the inspiration.
I made this Sunday and let me say it was “fantabulous” or rather that is what my fifteen year old son said. I did add a parmesan rind to the soup. I keep them in the freezer and usually add to vegetable soup when I make it, but it seemed like a good idea to try it here too. Left it in for the twenty minutes and then removed. Yummy. I do believe that next time I will peel the tomatoes though. Not every bit , but just the big pieces. It was still delicious..
HUGE HIT! My husband called it “liquid pizza.” I like to think of it as more refined than that. We dug the cheddar lids but I toasted a few more pieces of bread and topped them with butter and cheese and baked them along with the soup with lids because I knew my family would DEMAND more than just their lids, and I was right! FABULOUS! Who could call those pics unappetizing? That’s crazy talk!
This recipe looks unbeatable. I love tomato soup, and the cheese is icing on the cake. thanks for sharing. I cannot think of a better lunch on a cold winter day. Perhaps a loaf of french bread might adorn?
I successfully made this soup without a food processor, just used my stick blender instead. It was probably less chunky, but that is okay by me. I also had no bread in the house, so settled for making the cheddar biscuits (the ones from the chili recipe, minus the jalapenos), and they were quite delicious with this soup
.
Yum! My boyfriend worships french onion soup, and I think if I make tomato soup with the cheese on top, he’ll be sold on this as well. I’ll save it for a chilly night at home :)
This sounds delicious – I’m always looking for new soup recipes as they make such brilliant lunches. Reading your post has made me hungry, even though I’ve just had a huge plate of mushroom risotto!
Made this last week, Amazing!
Did you know you were linked on a Yahoo Finance/US News & World Report article today?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-Eat-for-7-or-Less-a-usnews-4077705804.html?x=0
Congratulations on having such a wonderful site and thank you for providing such yummy recipes and photos of your gorgeous little boy. My little girl just turned 2 as well – it’s fun to compare notes. :)
Genius! And from all your readers’ comments, I must. make. this. now.
I read about your blog recently, everyday food perhaps? Just picked a LARGE box of green tomatoes for fear of freeze! This looks soo good coming from a couple who is not really into tomatoes. Could I can this, pre-crouton top? Am a novice canner!
i will be making this on friday with my friends! How is the texture in this soup? it looks pretty thing and chunky in the picture… true or false?
Sophie — It’s as chunky or smooth as you want it to be as it will be determined by how much or little you puree the roasted tomatoes.
Omggzz. This looks ridiculous – can’t wait to try out. Love your blog, I’m a longtime follower but don’t think I’ve ever commented :)
Upon seeing this amazing recipe, I was faced with quite a dilemma. I live in Phoenix, and today it was nearly 100 degrees outside… not exactly soup weather. But I love tomato soup and grilled cheese more than I should probably admit. Despite the sweltering outdoor temperatures, I heated up my oven for almost two hours– and it was SO worth it. Best tomato soup of my life. Seriously. So glad I didn’t wait for the rare 60 degree day in December for this soup.
This looks stinkin’ delicious.
four thumbs up from me & my man. As delicious as it looks – thanks for another great recipe!
I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious!
This looks absolutely delicious. I am thinking about bringing this to a potluck maybe with some smoked paprika and goat cheese!
Yum! Can’t wait to make this when it cools down. What a great idea for any soup- like I say, always err on the side of cheese.
you just made my “wanting” to invest in a good food processor to “I will” be getting a processor…Thank you! Ilove love love tomato soup!!! and this looks divine!
As somebody who was turned off tomato soup as a boy by the famous canned variety which shall remain nameless, I can only guess how tasty this is and how remote the comparison would be. Great recipe!
Great job yet again!I made this last night and it was tremendous. Today, I can’t stop running through all the different possibilities of what I can top with a cheese and onion crouton.
AND-when the puree and spices are diluted with a smidgen of milk it makes a tasty red sauce for pasta.
Just a follow-up: I made this the same day it was posted last week (happened to be making tomato soup anyway, so I just switched to this recipe). Really lovely – amazing comfort food.
A real success ! Thanks a lot !
Do you think it would taste as good if you used veggie broth instead of chicken broth? Would any adjustments be needed? I am having some vegetarian friends over for dinner and this looks perfect!
Sally — The recipe calls for either chicken or vegetable stock. Both work.
great site. it’s my goto site for new wonderful intriguing off the beaten path recipes. but alas, no pumpkin recipes. how about something?
Hi Kika — Pumpkin and winter squash recipes right here: http://smittenkitchen.com/recipes/#WinterSquash You should try the black bean pumpkin soup!
For anyone in a hot climate who loves soup but can’t fathom turning on the oven for a full hour, I made this with Nigella’s roasted cherry tomatoes, which require me to not be home at all when the roasting is taking place, and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY.
This looks absolutely delicious! I was directed to your blog by a friend, and I can see why. I am a chef, and have never even considered making this, and it is sooo down my alley!!
Delicious!
Martin
These look amazing, and perfect. I’ll tell myself I’m making them for the children, but they know who the grilled-cheese-with-tomato-soup addict really is!
That head of yours is a fascinating place.
I made this last night for book club with my girls! WE ALL LOVED IT! And so easy to make! I roasted the tomatoes the night before and pureed them so all I had to do was heat and add the stock before they came! I used a chibatta loaf as the bread toppers and it had the best chewy texture with all that melty cheese! I will make this again and again! Thanks for the great recipes and the constant inspirations! Love. Them!
Wonderful recipe! A couple of alternatives to consider (just in case you want to try something a little different)
We tried it with a whole head of roasted garlic, and it was great.
Also, gruyere is a terrific option for a change from cheddar.
I’m trying to figure out how many recipes of this I can fit into my freezer this weekend. Thanks.
Trying this now. I only have 2 lbs of really-old-starting-to-rot tomatoes and no chicken stock so it will not be the same. I am roasting the tomatoes and garlic now and the kitchen smells phenomenal.
I am so hungry!! This looks insanely amazing!!
xoxo
Alexandra
Just finished devouring this. It was incredible. My husband ate two bowls, moaning “this is amazing”, “this is phenomenal” between slurps, and he doesn’t usually like tomato soup. Thank you.
OMG! Absolutely gorgeous soup!
This is absolutely the best thing I have ever made from your blog! I am slurping a bowl in my office for lunch . . . . .I toted it here wrapped tightly in plastic and reheated. It just makes me happy. I have decided to roast and freeze all the tomatoes from my garden rather than can them – I can buy canned ones . . . . .
I have just made it yesterday to impress a date…
It just rocks!!
I made this for dinner tonight and I’m still dreaming about it! I can’t decide if I love it because it has a giant cheese-covered crouton, it’s reminiscent of pizza, or it’s grilled cheese with tomato soup all rolled up into one yummy bowl of goodness. Thanks for the recipe!
Not sure how I feel about this recipe… why does homemade tomato soup always taste like I’m eating a bowl of tomato sauce without the pasta? I’m also not getting much of a roasted flavor from the tomatoes, even though I baked them longer than you suggested. The soup was too watery (maybe because I used water instead of broth) so I added a can of tomato paste and simmered it longer.
Made this last night and my husband deemed it “Pizza soup.” We’re from Chicago, so are used to a heartier pizza. Absolutley delicious.
As I scrolled down your posted the first words out of my mouth: Oh. My. God!
This looks absolutely wonderful! I’m def going to have to try this.
Thanks for the post!
aladywholunches.blogspot.com
I’m hungry just looking at this! Must try!
I made this last night. It was delicious. Then, since I had leftovers, decided to add a sunny-side up egg (running when you pierce it) on top of the cheddar lid…to change it up a bit. It was fantastic. Sort of like shakshukah (without the peppers and with bread and cheese). Nice post. Shana Tova!
Oh man!! Can’t wait to try it! I love the presentation and the take on french onion soup :)
I made this soup and it was absolutely delicious! I used regular field tomatoes since that is what my market had available. I found that the croutons soaked up a lot of the soup. Next time I would cut the croutons extremely thin…as thin as possible…to avoid the soaking up issue. I also left out the onion, and it was great.
Great flavour!
I normally am not a tomato soup person, but I had exactly 3 pounds of tomatoes from our CSA and your photos looked so great that I had to try it. And I’m so glad that I did! It was absolutely delicious. I didn’t have any nice artisan bread on hand, so I skipped the bread and cheese part, but added wild rice to the soup and an extra kick of crushed red pepper. We will definitely be making this again next summer when the tomatoes come in again :)
This soup looks delicious! Your blog is a regular conversation piece during my dietetic internship… who has tried what, what someone is going to try, and on and on…. thank you!
Made this last night with cans of peeled whole tomatoes and it was fabulous. Thanks Deb, I don’t think I’ll be looking at tomato soup the same way ever again.
Thank you for this recipe. I ended up making it pretty much exactly like your recipe except that I used basil instead thyme. Since we liked it, I decided to make it up to the point of adding the chicken broth and then canning the tomato mixture. I did roast some onion to add to the mixture to make it simpler when we need a fast dinner. We can just heat it up, add 4 cups of chicken broth and the cheese topper or we can use it as a base and add rice, cabbage, hamburger, green pepper, barley or any other favorite ingredients.
hi deb – you are a genius! I just made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! I followed your recipe almost exactly but decided to add 4 jalapeños because we have 5 plants growing and peppers are coming out our ears!
I’m not usually a fan of tomato soup, but the photo made my mouth water. I am so glad I tried this! I’m going to roast & freeze some tomatoes so I can have this soup during the cold winter months!
We loved this soup! I carmelized some shallots and stirred that in. It added a nice savory something…
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this recipe since you posted it. I finally tried it last night and it was SO GOOD. I LOVE YOUR BLOG! I also had apple cheddar scones this morning thanks to you, and they were amazing. Thank you so much!
Loved the recipe. We didn’t have any leftover tomatoes (our tomato season quits about mid July in Texas) so I used store-bought roma tomatoes. The recipe was perfect. I will tell you I was a little concerned when I noticed how thin the soup was (I even added a full hour of simmering in the saucepan reduce the soup further), but that all changed when the fully assembled soup came out of the oven! The bread slices really soaked up a ton of the soup and in return, added so much body to the soup! And caution on the bread slices. I started to eyeball the one inch slices but I decided to do a quick measure before I made the first cut. Well, I was about a half an inch off in my estimates. This soup really does benefit from thick, chunky slices of bread.
Thanks so much for your recipe – it’s all that you hoped it would be IMHO.
I made this soup this afternoon, while canning 25 lbs of tomato sauce – I was totally lazy and just threw the cheddar cheese into the bottom of the bowl and poured the hot soup over and tossed in some croutons – so very yummy!!!
We had so much fun making this recipe. Family is arrving for a visit, picking them up from the airport and home for this fabulous soup! Cibatta croutons and broiled cheddar cheese is the plan. Thank you for providing fabulous recipes and all the chatter that goes with each one!
This reminds me so much of French Onion Soup which I do love. Can’t wait to try this out! Think I will pick up some tomatoes tomorrow and make this!
I don’t think I could possibly get this in my face fast enough. My CSA is having a bulk tomato order and I think I’m going to roast a boatload of them.
I am quite sure that the old bon appetite recipe will forgive you! With the weather suddenly changing from summery breezes to cool and grey skies, tomato soup is most certainly on my menu! I love the simplicity of roasting tomatoes, they become so sweet!
Thanks so much!
-Joanne
Made this last week and it turned out amazingly well. I’d never made tomato soup from scratch before but it was easy and oh so tasty! My boyfriend said it was hands down the best tomato soup he ever had! I didn’t have any onions on hand…I know, who doesn’t have onions?!…but apart from that I followed the recipe to a t. This ones a keeper for sure…recipe printed and in my recipe box! Thanks so much!
Hey Deb
I have a non-recipe related question; one of my favourite things to do in past used to be flicking through your amazing blog, previous entries upon previous entries.
I have recently noticed that you no longer have that link at the bottom of your page ; am i missing some app that is required to see that link or is it gone for good?
Thank you
SS
Hi Shreya — I still see it, at the bottom of Index pages (“Previous page” and “Next page”) and at the top of individual entry pages (“Previous post title” “Next post title”) etc. It’s actually one of my favorite features in blogs, and a bummer for me on ones that don’t have it, so I hope to always have it.
i can’t wait to try this recipe out! :) looks fabulous.
thanks for sharing!
-madison
Oh my heavens! I will be making this soup immediately! With the bounty of fresh tomatoes available right now, this will surely be made this weekend!
I just tried the tomato soup and it was so delicious, my kids even liked it. I didn’t have that many tomatoes so I added a can of crushed tomatoes and a little half and half and it was yummy. Thanks for the recipe.
I am a soup person and LOVED the idea of this the first time I read through… this soup was fantastic, bread and cheese additions were brilliant. Next time I will add some additional roasted garlic, I was in love with the bits included in the soup. Thanks!!
I made this soup this week and it was rad–even without the cheese toasts on top :) I actually roasted off a tray of tomatoes and the garlic on Sunday, scraped it all into a Tupperware container and let it cool it’s heels in the fridge until I was pressed for a quick dinner on Tuesday night. At that point I just pureed the veg, whisked it with the fresh thyme, some salt and black pepper, 2 cups stock and 1.5 cups whole milk (I love creamy tomato soup and I figured since I was skipping the cheese it was reasonable :) and it was .amazing. Thank you so much for this easy recipe. I am never going the Campbell’s route again ;)
I just ate this soup for dinner, and it is possibly the best thing I’ve ever eaten. I sliced up a couple of sourdough rolls that were in the freezer and used lemon thyme, because it was what was in the garden. Yum!
Also, I used the immersion blender instead of the food processor, for easier cleanup, and it worked really well.
There’s a trick to cleaning an immersion blender, for anyone who doesn’t know it; you just immerse the business end in the hot soapy dishwater and turn it on for a few seconds. Just make sure not to get the end with the button in the water.
Yum. I don’t quite know how I ever made it without you, Deb.
Another winner. Thank you so much!
Reading this recipe sort of makes me want to cry. I’m living in Japan right now and I don’t event think I’ve seen a plum tomato. I guess I could try it with the little cherry type tomatoes they have here. I’m not sure I could get the cheese lid exactly right either. My oven doesn’t have a broiler function. How do I live in a developed country without a proper oven? I think I’ll to give it a go anyway!
Wow, this looks breathtakingly delicious! Im going to head to the grocery store pronto to grab tomatoes while theyre still sinfully juicy. Thanks for the GREAT idea!
Just made this and the smells in my kitchen are AMAZING.. can’t wait for dinner! Thanks!
Prepping this tonight to finish off tomorrow before a football game. I’ve opened my windows to share the smell because I feel guilty keeping it all to myself. So excited.
You are a genius! I seriously cannot wait to try this grilled cheese tomato soup combo. They are both on my favorite list and combining the two sound utterly tasty!
There is something undeniably comforting about the American classic combination of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Your idea of combining the two into one dish is ingenious! Move over French Onion Soup! This time of year there is nothing like a hot bowl of homemade soup to warm you up. I’ll be trying this dish out tonight! Do you have any recipes for butternut squash soup? I’ve been on the hunt for a good one and as of right now my search has been somewhat disappointing. Looking forward to see what yummy fall recipes you post next!
I’ve been dreaming of this soup all week! Stocked up on the last decent tomatoes of the season, and I’m ready to roast… I’m totally loving this season change :)
I followed your recipe using the last of the farm tomatoes, only skinning them before mixing, as the skins are pretty tough this itme of year. The result is marvelous. I’m going to freeze it, as it will be a joy to use on pasta in the dead of winter. Thank you!
I’m relatively new to your blog (and cooking blogs in general), but you’ve quickly become my go-to source for new recipes and inspiration. Last night I had a dinner party and served this as the first course (made with a mix of end-of-summer heirloom tomatoes). I didn’t have any oven safe mugs, so I broiled the cheddar toasts and floated them on top, as you suggested – it turned out beautifully. Second course was your spinach quiche with a salad of greens, fresh basil, pear, and apple. Dessert was your chocolate peanut butter cake, which everyone LOVED.
Made this tonight for dinner – mighty tastey!!
we have tomatoes roasting in the oven right now for this recipe & i’m already in the love… the house smells all kinds of AMAZING!! :) thank you thank you!
amazing……so simple and cheap, why have I never thought of this??
after reading this blog for months, i finally made something and it was amazing! however, i burned pretty much every part of my mouth and hands in the process even after letting the soup cool for a very long time and blowing on it profusely (i even considered putting my mugs in the fridge but this seemed counterintuitive). any suggestions on how/ how long to let the mugs cool for?
Yum! Love the twist on the tried-and-true combination! Can’t wait to try it. Watch out chicken soup… grilled cheese + tomato soup might be the new cold remedy.
Eating this now and it’s unbelievably delicious! I added a little bit of cream to the soup since it was a little tangy…and a dash of chipotle powder because I live on the stuff. But seriously, one of the best dinners ever. Thank you!
I made this and it was great. I was floored when I first tasted how intense the tamato flavor was.
One question: I made this soup and I ended up with little tomato shard things that I believe are parts of the skin of the tomatos. Should I have peeled the tomatos before putting them in the food processor? They are difficult to chew and I don’t see any of them in your pictures. I could have kept processing the tomato puree to help alleviate the issue but it would have lost its chunky goodness.
Susan — I forgot about this when I was writing the recipe, but late season tomatoes tend to have thicker skins and that’s probably why yours are so annoying in the soup. You can absolutely scrape them out of their skins after roasting them next time you make them. (Personally, I always prefer my tomatoes peeled but didn’t find the skins annoying in this recipe. But mine were thin and not noticeable.)
Deb: this did not suck. Seriously tasty. Plus: melty cheese melts my heart.
Tomato soup + grilled cheese is my ultimate comfort food, and combining them is a noble pursuit!! I’m making this as soon as possible (weekend lunch). I did once serve a quick & dirty combo for a comfort themed pot-luck at work: grilled cheese using sourdough, cheddar+asiago mix and a spread made of mayo, sun-dried tomato paste and a pinch of sugar.
my sourdough, cheddar+asiago mix and a spread made of mayo, sun-dried tomato paste and a pinch of sugar.
This looks so delicious! With the weather starting to get colder this is such a great comfort food recipe and I love that it is served in a mug. I am excited to try it sometime soon!
Amazing and making it again while tomatoes still taste like tomatoes! Reposted the recipe on my blog for others to enjoy. Thank you for sharing.
Tried this last night. I used some kind of heirloom round tomato from my local farmers market. Probably the last of the year. It was wonderful, TYVM, for sharing your ideas!
This was insanely good. The fresh roasted tomoatoes and cheddar lid sent it over the top. People would pay good money in a restaurant for this dish. I will be making this as often as possible! I was too tired to add the onion, and it was still so delish.
i made a huge batch of this and then preserved 3 quarts for future use! following basic disinfecting canning rules, make the soup as instructed, fill jars and process for 35 minutes.
I just got back from a trip to the great white north, aka, my parent’s house in ND. My dad has an ingeneous way of growing fabulous tomatoes in their uber-short growing season up there…suffice it to say I got a big bag of tomatoes that are wonderful, but on their very last leg. Thyme is still in the pot outside. Stale sourdough is in the freezer. I have a trifecta of ingredients; soup will be made!
I have a slightly off-topic question. Deb (and other people), what are your thoughts on homemade versus store bought stock? I usually just buy the low-sodium organic boxes at Whole Foods, and I’ve always thought they’ve tasted pretty good. My aunt and uncle make thier own stock. I recently had both soup and risotto from their homemade stuff, and it was amazing. Deb, do you make your own, or use the boxed stuff (or both)? If you make it, any recommendations on a recipe? I just reviewed several (Alice Waters, Judy Rodgers, Ina Garten, Alton Brown, plus some random others) and it was amazing the variation in ratio of chicken/vegetables/water between them, as well as what’s called for in regards to the chicken (carcass versus necks and wings versus whole chicken).
I use a mix of homemade and storebought, ideally homemade for places where the flavor will really show up — chicken noodle soup — or becomes very concentrated — risotto, etc. and storebought for places where so many other flavors are going in, the delicacy of homemade won’t show up. This soup, for me, would fall in the middle. My current favorite chicken stock is actually very, very plain. It’s from Cook’s Illustrated and it’s made in a slow-cooker using a few pounds of chicken wings (that’s right, just wings; they insist that it had the clearest and least “livery” chicken flavor in their testing), a single onion, one or two cloves of garlic and water. That’s it. It’s amazing and they’re right, the chicken flavor is buttery clear when uncluttered by sweet vegetables and herbs. However, I fall so totally in love with it when I make it that I have trouble using it for anything. I become like Elaine from Seinfeld with her Today’s Sponge where no recipe seems good enough to spend it on.
I tried this recipe but replaced the cheddar with a dubliner cheese and it was sublime! Thanks for the share.
There is nothing better than tomato soup and grilled cheese. Thanks for the tip for chicken broth. I read about it in Cook’s , but have never tried it. I will now after your OK. It would be great to share with my high schoolers ,also!
Deb! I’ve been following your blog for a while, but today I feel extra brave and I wanted to tell you two things:
1) I watched Kings of Pastry (http://kingsofpastry.com/) last night and it was a really fun “cooking” movie to watch. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but I thought you might enjoy it.
2) I saw you in my dream last night, but you were with your family and I didn’t want to interrupt. But I really wanted to tell you about all the recipes that you had introduced me to (roasted tomato soup being one of them) and how tasty they turned out. Thank you!
Hi Olga — Aw, thank you.
made this yesterday, perfect! added fresh cut chili, roasted shallot and a bit of adobo sauce from a tin of chiptolte peppers for a bit of a different kick.. came out lovely.
I made this last night. It was outstanding. This is probably the best thing I’ve made in a long time and certainly in a top spot of things I’ve made from your blog (and I’ve made a lot).
I was just thinking how you could do this for a smallish party with the mugs.. I wonder if you sliced the bread thinner if you could have them in cappuccino or espresso cups! That would be so cute!
Absolutely amazing!! I cut down the recipe the first time in case I didn’t love it. My only regret is that i DID cut down the recipe. I could eat my weight in this wonderful soup.
Nothing beats the classic overhead shot of a newly-filled food processor. One of my favorites! And this recipe looks like a lot of fun to create. Thanks! Gary
first of all, i am still laughing that in your above comment you compare chicken stock to a sponge….just further proves why, with so many cooking blogs, yours is the one that i obsessively follow. that and the fact that EVERYTHING i cook per your recipes is delicious! i’ve made this soup twice in the past week now and still don’t have the heart to tell my mother, who will spend an entire day making her grandmother’s recipe, that this one blows it’s doors off! thanks!!
That looks very yummy!
MMMMMMM! This was so good! We got three meals out of the soup, and the flavor just intensified over two or three days or so. Thank you for sharing your great recipes!
Everytime I see these pictures I’m just in awe – I have to surprise my husband with this soup this weekend !
Made this tonight using some farmer’s market tomatoes. It was delicious!! Instead of the topping I made a grilled cheese to go along with it. Already wishing I had made more!!
Wooow!!! I love this idea, and it is sooo simple! I think I’ll do it for lunch tomorrow, I can’t wait :)
Congrats on the blog, it’s amazing.
Greetings from Spain!!
This looks fantastic. I’m saving this recipe for a chilly night when I need a nice pick me up. I can’t wait to try!
Love the roasted tomato soup recipe – it’s simple and looks so tasty.
What a great recipe! I altered it a bit to fit our tastes (more red pepper and added basil). I am reposting your recipe and my alterations on my blog next Monday 10/31. My next recipe is your chocolate red wine cake! Thanks for always having such enjoyable and delicious recipes!
I’m sure I’m alone here, but 90% of the comments are in regard to how good the food looks vs. actually trying the recipe. I wish the comments were from actual recipe testers. It’s hard to want to make these recipes otherwise.
Looks good! But why ruin a perfect vegetable soup by making it taste like chicken?
A light homemade veg broth would be perfect here. I’ll let you know what happens!
Jane, I just made it tonight and it was great! I used Swanson’s new Flavor Boost packs (chicken of course). Four packets plus four cups of water = four cups of stock. I used roasted garlic ecce panis bread sliced about 1/2 inch thick or so. I served it for dinner with a tossed salad and my three kids scarfed down every single bite! I should mention that the kids are 1, 3 and 5. :)
I love the recipe and will try to make it.Lets just hope I do not set the kitchen on fire.Casey Mahoney Brad P
Absolutely delicious and easy to make! I added chives and minced onions! I’d recommend a little more broth added since the bread soaks up a lot of it. :) definitely on my to make again list!
This looks absolutely delicious. I love the idea of melting the cheddar on top- I’ve never seen that done before on a tomato soup. What kind of bowl would I able to use that’s safe for the oven?
Making this tonight… just looks too good.
Oms! looks delicious, & love the presentation! I have to try this!
Anyone else have a problem with the olive oil getting extremely smoky in the oven??? What did I do wrong? Drizzled two tbsp over the tomatoes like the recipe calls for.
Loved this recipe! I made it last night and it was absolutely delicious.. perfect for a rainy night. Instead of cheddar I used smoked gouda because I already had it in the fridge. My boyfriend was speechless at how tasty everything was!! Can’t wait to try your other recipes!!
This recipe was good, but not mind-blowing like I expected given how much I love tomato soup and grilled cheese. The soup was a little on the bland side for me. I was expecting something super tomato-y and bold. I am willing to try again using your slow roasted tomatoes (which are amazing on margherita pizzas) instead of the above roasting method.
This tomato soup has been called THE best by the pickiest of picky palates: my mother-in-law.
Thank you for the victory.
Is there a way to strain the seeds? Or will the soup be too thick for that?
If you’d like it to not have tomato seeds, I’d sweep them out before roasting the tomatoes to make it easiest.
Such a simple recipe and so delicious! I have made lots of your recipes, but this may be my new favorite. I used lots of red pepper flakes for my taste!
i am finally FINALLY delurking to tell you that I’ve been reading (stalking?) your blog for about 3 years but this is the first time i’ve actually dared to make something from it. i have been looking at this recipe for like a week now! Being from Malaysia, it’s kinda hard to find really good fresh ingredients for western food, so mine didnt come out exactly as yours did (tomatoes lost all color in oven, cheese didn’t coagulate into a joyful, oozing mess) but it was still SO GOOD. like your blog. so Thank You Deb!
I haven’t tried any recipe like this before. Would you say that I’m missing something really good? Alright I got to make up for this by including more of this tomato and broiled cheddar soup in my meals :)
I made this with our frozen roasted tomatoes. It did taste a bit like sauce, but sauce of the best kind, with a kiss of summer. I broiled the toasts separately with our pesto and then brie, then floated them in the soup. They were heavy though and sunk, but it was a shallow soup bowl so it worked fine. The picky 4 year old even ate some!
I am a college student and have just created a blog for my online art class. I am a food lover from California and the assignment was to comment on any blog on our own site and I must say yours was the first blog that came to mind. I had to let you know that you are awesome and your recipes are amazing! This one particularity just made my chilly winter afternoon one to remember :)
Great idea to roast the tomatoes with flavoring before making the soup! I can’t wait to try it in a toasted bread bowl! I’m thinking it would make a great base for tomato pasta sauces too!
I made this last night, instead of putting a bread lid, I sliced the baguette, buttering it and put the cheddar on top- placing it back into the oven. I served it on the side and it was perfect dipping size. The soup came out awesome! It was hearty, thick and soooo great for a cold winter night. Thank you!
Sounds delicious can’t wait to try it!!!!
can I use grape tomatoes instead?
This is a fabulous recipe, thank you. I also was concerned about making something that tasted like spaghetti sauce. This doesn’t! It was a hit at my Super Bowl get together, and I will be making it again soon.
Finally tried this out last night with a baked brie & apricot bread – it was a huge hit! Great recipe!
OMG – Deb F’s creative touches sound deevine!!! I have the soup simmering on the stove now and from the licks I have taken it is delish. For the fresh herbs, I added ones from my CSA share this week: rosemary, marjoram, basil, oregeno. Very subtle notes and brings out the tomato flavor actually quite nicely. Using asagio cheese bread from whole foods for the croutons with raw milk organic white cheddar cheese MMMM. Deb, another hit!
I hope you all can answer this question that has been nagging me forever. This recipe looks so PERFECT that I really do not want to screw it up. Can I use chicken broth in this recipe, instead of stock? What is the difference?
You can absolutely use chicken broth instead. Stock tends to be more robust, but really, for a high-flavored soup like this, it will not matter.
Hi Deb,
your soup was such a hit at our house this summer and a welcome recipe for putting up The Bounty That Was Tomatoes. I made the full recipe and froze a fair amount, which has since reheated beautifully. Once the freezer started filling up, I put the roasted tomatoes and garlic in a zippy and froze just that. Well, last night I thawed things out, added the broth and spices and it worked great. Thanks for our go-to soup recipe!
Katie
Thanks to our recent holiday in Scotland, where the food was superb, husband has only JUST opened up to the idea of soup as a delicious meal item, not just a horrid watery thing.
I can’t wait to make this for him. However I don’t know when the good tomato season is here in England- I’m very new to cooking, especially seasonally. Any ideas?
Rambant — It’s probably not very different from the East Coast, where peak tomato season runs from August through September.
Question: If I prepare this ahead of time, can I stop at the point after pureeing, but before heating the soup on the stove? Or is it best to cook through to the end and then reheat later?
Love this recipe (and many others on your site). I have been a fan for years!
Thanks!
I’m a huge soup person but have gotten tired of cream-heavy, oversalted soups at restaurants and the like. I love the idea of roasting the tomatoes, it gives it that wonderful added flavor. Another great recipe and one bound for repeat performances!
Note: I added a teaspoon of sun-dried tomato while simmering to give it a little kick, and my soup came out fabulously. I also substituted basil in place of thyme.
Yum!!! Oh so good… I added a bit more garlic(love it), splash of balsamic and a great aged cheddar. My husband and I really enjoyed this with a glass of wine and a small salad for dinner. Thanks for the great recipe!
Just made this recipe 20 minutes ago and each mouthful was just as good as the last. I’ve never tasted a tomato soup so almost… “full bodied” in a way. Definitely roasting my tomatoes every time from now on. I found that it’s best not to fully puree all the tomatoes, a few little bits of tomato taste beautiful too.
Is there a reason you use a reduced quantity of thyme compared to the original recipe? Thanks.
I wanted a different flavor. I also used much less oil, less stock, no rosemary and decided to roast instead of saute the garlic cloves. I was just using the tomato soup recipe as a roadmap to get where I wanted to go with this dish.
This was my first time making tomato soup from scratch and it was delicious. The only change I made is that really don’t like tomato seeds, so I scooped those out before the roasting. This was wonderfully simple but still rich in flavor. I’ll be making it again.
The dreary day that was yesterday had me thinking about this recipe from 9am onward and it turned out delicious! Also my 1st time with homemade tomato soup, so easy and healthy!
When we finally sat down to dinner (at 9:45pm, oops) the following conversation ensued…
boyfriend (with gooey cheese dripping down his chin): this is good! where did you get the recipe?
me: my favorite food blog
boyfriend: smuffin muffin?
me: yea, that one
So, I’m thinking this would probably freeze well. I currently have a few tomato plants in the garden that will have more tomatoes than we can eat or give away in a few weeks. I will have to make this, jar it and stash it away.
I’m a five year old at heart, I used to adore Campbell’s and tomato cup-a-soup, other flavours were too bland and mushy, tomato totally had some life to it. I love the other tomato soup recipe on this site but I gave this one a go this evening. I skipped the herbs since I was using homemade stock with a healthy dose of dill and bay leaves, added super hot chilli powder and sweet paprika, and like others, I sprinkled some brown sugar over the tomatoes as well. It was a hit, and so ridiculously easy, I don’t think this counts as cooking.
Deb, I’ve looked up this recipe so many times that as soon as I type “ro…” into google, it knows what I’m headed towards. I love this soup, and have poached eggs in the leftovers, which is ah-may-zing. You are the best.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.
This morning I was wondering what to do with my bumper crop of fresh CSA tomatoes (yes, in November! South Carolina for the win) and decided to roast these bad boys for some tomato soup later because while it’s toasty during the day, we are having cold spells at night. I can’t think of anything better than fresh tomaters in an amazing soup when it’s cool out.
Even my die hard Campbell’s loving husband will come running for a bowl of this (it’s so good I also made some on a 100 degree August day too… oops).
wind chill factor 5 degree’s-that calls for trying the recipe out today…which i did.
super easy! very delicious. i must say though-i was hoping for a little more of a tomato taste. must have been the lack of nice looking plum tomatoes in my neck of the woods?! idk, any suggestions for a little stronger taste if tomatoes are not in season? will be my go to soup recipe. thank you!
This recipe is so going to save cold, wintery dinner with my parents! My mother can’t eat protein (so creamy tomato soups would be out), and my father refuses most vegetables. And this manages to be healthy, vegan, and comforting to them both!
I see the person right above me complaining about winter tomatoes even though there’s the roasting step I was hoping would counteract the problem. So I’ll try also putting in some of the tomatoes I dried from garden last summer.
Okay, so I ended up tinkering with the recipe a fair bit (to make up for the winter tomatoes and because I had reasons not to use the gorgeous broiled cheese topper). I won’t pain you with the list of tweaks, but the end result was still simple, bright, and yummy.
But what I really want to tell you about are my leftovers! This morning I grilled down some onions and jalapeno pepper, toasted some cumin seeds, and poured over a cup of this soup. And then I poached an egg in it. One of the tastiest variations on that theme I’ve made so far.
Hi,
Does it affect the taste of this recipe in any way if:
1) I puree the tomatoes before I add them to the stock
2) Puree the tomatoes after I add them to the stock
3) Puree everything after I cook the tomatoes together with the stock
The reason I am asking this is because I doubled this soup recipe and the tomatoes will never fit in my tiny food processor all at once.
Hi Anna — Soups are flexible and any of those options should work. I would, in general, prefer to puree tomatoes after cooking just so they puree the smoothest. If they’re not as cooked when they go in, you won’t have as smooth of a puree.
I made this tomato soup (with a few tweaks, based on ingredients on hand) yesterday and it was so good! Thank you!
Hmmm…so I maybe ate this for breakfast this morning…I roasted the tomatoes last night, then finished pulling it together when I was up early with a fussy baby…thought I would just “try it out” with the cheddar lid to make sure it was “OK”. Oh wow…it’s been too long since I’ve tried one of your recipes. They are awesome every time. Looking forward to round 2 at lunch!
This soup is so wonderful–in anticipation of making it again this summer, my sons required we plant an extra three tomato plants. Fortunately, the plants are going bonkers, and we’ve got the second batch of tomatoes and garlic in the oven (last summer I started freezing them roasted, then we finished them off in the dead of winter.) Thank you for this tasty soup!
WOW! I made this with our own homegrown tomatoes and it was out of this world delicious. I used half each of Lemon Boy and Early Girl just removing the seeds to reduce the “juice” before roasting. Definately a recipe that’s getting saved and put in the regular rotation for the season.
Just thought I would chime in much later than the original posting to say that I made this again tonight, and it is awesome. I had a random mix of tomatoes, only a few plums, and it was perfectly fine. I also toast the bread in the oven, then just make the cheese toasts separately before floating them on our bowls, as I am not sure my bowls are oven proof, and don’t want to find out the hard way that they are not.
my brother in law made this and it was delicious!!!!!( it looked much better in the square neat soup bowls he used)
Wow! You just never disappoint with your recipes! The soup couldn’t be easier to make, and utterly delicious! Thank you!!!!
I have been craving tomato soup for days so naturally i came to check your site. This was delicious! I didn’t do the cheese on top, we ate it with grilled cheese sandwiches and my husband loved it (and he hates tomatoes!). Thanks Deb!
I love this recipe, and makes following this blog so worth it! I have made this twice. The second time, I did not add the cracked red pepper, it is just too hot and spicy for my “Hot and Spicy Wife”. The second batch I added cumin, smoked paprika, and our favorite a small squeeze of agave nectar. This one is going into my hard copy recipe collection. Thank you.
One of my most favorite comfort foods is a rich, tomato-y, slightly tart tomato soup, and this looks like the ULTIMATE. I’m making this no later than TODAY. Thanks for the recipe.
Deb, as long as I can remember, I’ve HATED tomato soup. Until today. Thank you.
This is one of my favorite recipes. I made it for my mother when she was visiting once and she said, “why spend so much time on this when you can buy tomato soup from a can?” A week later, she called me to ask for the recipe.
Due to the ‘cream of’ part that so frequently accompanies tomato soup (I’m lactose intolerant) I shy away from tomato soup. However, I’m finally going off to Study in September, so trying to pick out all the budget-friendly meal-for-one type recipes I can. I don’t want to see myself getting frustrated by my change in diet- I’m used to cooking for the family and have never thought twice about choosing steak, posh spices or exotic (and expensive) vegetables.
Like the other above I can wait to try another creation from Smitten Kitchen.
Oh muhhh god, Deb. This looks epic. I will be inheriting like 10 lbs of tomatoes from my family this weekend, and this soup is definitely on my to-make list. I was debating making some sauce, but this looks so much easier- with no peeling or straining or any of that junk. Woo-hoo- thanks for yet another awesome recipe.
Um. I clicked “Surprise Me” looking for fall inspiration. I found this. There is almost nothing more I like than grilled cheese and tomato soup. This appears to be the perfect marriage, and all in one cup to boot. Sigh. Thank you. :)
I just picked the last tomatoes, about 3Lb from my green house. I made roasted tomato bisque by using your this recipe. No broth and just heavy cream was added. The bisque turned out very rich and tasty:-))
Thank you
Made this tonight…delish! Instead of the lid, I just made the bread toasts with the cheddar cheese broiled into croutons to throw in the soup. Came out fantastic! Thanks for another great recipe.
Thoughts on making this with canned tomatoes? It’s January, and Maine – I have jars and jars of tomatoes I canned in Agugust, but not a fresh tomato in sight.
With respect to making multiple meals out of one batch of soup, the freezer is your best friend. So much more fun to go soup shopping in your freezer some lazy 6pm and be delighted by an old friend waiting there for you
You read my mind.
I have been buying Yorkshire Provenders red pepper, tomato and Wensleydale soup and have also been feeling guilty about it when it is so easy to make.
Tomorrow I WILL get off my arse and make this.
I make a soup similar to this in late summer when my garden is overflowing with tomatoes, but never word have thought to broil cheese and bread on top…brilliant! Love your blog and cookbook! Every recipe I’ve tried as worked out great.
Hi Deb. I know I’m a little late to the party on this one, but question- Harvey, our Amish Dude Farmer’s Market Connection, offered me “some” tomatoes at end of season last fall. For the record, “some” to Amish Farmers and “some” to city dwellers is a different unit of measure. Suffice it to say, I still have countless quarts of canned tomatoes and about 8 lbs of frozen roasted tomatoes in bags. Do you think the frozen ones will make a good soup, or make it too….goopy?
LOVE the book, thanks as usual for being my go to recipe guru (bow)
Thanks!
Late response, apologies — I definitely think you could make this with canned or frozen tomatoes. You can give them a little roast (draining but setting aside the liquid first so it doesn’t go to waste) to increase their depth of flavor. Definitely don’t skip out on roasting the garlic cloves, but on a different tray since canned/frozen tomatoes will be much more wet and may inhibit the dried cloves roasting well. You can add the canned tomato liquid back at the blender step. Hope that helps.
Did it :)
I drained the jar of tomatoes and roasted them with a little oil and salt and good balsamic, then added the reserved liquid back to the soup. And I roasted the garlic as a whole head, and then just squeezed the cloves into the blender. Really, really wonderful.
Made this last night with sub par supermarket romas and it was still amazing. I actually didn’t do the topping, but served it with your fabulous zucchini galette recipe and there wasn’t a drop of the soup or a crumb of the galette left at the end of the night! Thanks again. Your recipes have never failed me!
I just made this recipe with a variety of tomatoes from my garden and it was crazy good! Also added a shot of cream at the end. I’ll make this recipe for the rest of my life. :D D
I am SO hoping to get some this weekend to try this.
This soup is hands down my favourite, ever. Deb, I love both the warmth and wit of your writing and the fact that I can be assured that whatever I make from your book or blog (and I have made SO MUCH) is going to be amazing. Just thought you should know that you rock!
I wanted to make tomato soup tonight, so I came straight here and looked for Deb’s recipe. It was fabulous. The bread and melted cheese really makes it. Thanks for another great dinner!
Awesomeness in a bowl. Simply wow.
I thought there was I tiny little thing missing, so I added a pinch on sugar. Now, paradise exists. Thanks again Deb, you’re as perfect as this soup.
Make this every late summer/early autumn when tomatoes are the best. Love it!
So I made this today. What a disaster. The skins and seeds made it difficult to eat. Also I should have known better than to put red pepper flakes into it. Ended up straining it and adding some chopped tomatoes with basil. Hoping it’s ok — will know tomorrow once I let it sit for a day. Also I added tomato paste and a tsp of sugar. It helps cut the acidity from the tomatoes.
You should try to the other tomato soup on this website: https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/cream-of-tomato-soup-classic-grilled-cheese/. It’s pretty much exactly what you described doing.
Actually, I “combine” the 2 recipes to make soup, omitting just the cream (mostly because I’m trying to watch out for cholesterol and because cream doesn’t freeze well). I absolutely love it. Just finished making a batch for freezer; perfect for the freezing January days.
Verdict: this would be even more awesome if a) I hadn’t oversalted it; and b) with some leftover stale whole wheat sourdough. It really does want a robust bread; I wish I’d toasted it harder. But it will be awesome in, say, February with all the plum tomatoes that I oven-dried and packed in olive oil in Ziploc baggies in the freezer!
I love the idea of roasting the garlic with the tomatoes. Plus, I can totally see this soup in my lunchbox, perhaps without the cheesy crouton (because how would I accomplish that at work?) but with a comfortably large spoonful of delicious brown rice.
Hmm. Tomato soup with cheesy crouton for dinner tonight. tomato soup with rice for lunch tomorrow. Yes, that’s a plan.
With the start of Fall, I was all set to make a butternut squash soup over the weekend, but the tomatoes and garlic at the farmer’s market made me change my mind at the last minute. Instead of using the food processor on the roasted tomatoes, I put them in the saucepan and ran the immersion blender over them to save some messiness. I also added some dried basil to the soup. It turned out to be the best tomato soup I’ve ever made – it has that cozy comfort food feel!
If I halve the recipe, do I have to halve the cooking in the pot or roasting time? Thank you!
No, it usually needs the same amount of time. But you should make all and freeze half — you won’t regret it. :)
My husband and I both liked this recipe, and we’re not that big into tomato soup in general. I wanted to try out a new soup recipe, and this one looked good. We really enjoyed the bread and cheese top — who wouldn’t? I did end up straining some of the bigger pieces of tomato skin out after I made the soup. I used an immersion blender because I didn’t have a blender, and it worked fine. I also made the soup during the day, let it sit for a few hours, then finished it with the toppings in the oven right before dinner. Less of a rush pre-dinner that way. Thanks for all the great recipes over the many years!
I made this soup last fall, and altho’ for a Saturday lunch it seemed like a lot of work it was totally worth it! I was in the mood to knock the socks off the men in my house and it worked!! There was quiet during lunch. Would def do again, no changes, just like it is.
Hello!
This recipe looks great and I look forward to trying it.
Has anyone tried using gluten free bread, and if so, any tips (for example adjusting time or certain brands)?
Thanks!
This soup is absolutely amazing!
The perfect comfort food to bring warmth to cool nights! Thank you Deb
This is a great! I made it and served it with grilled cheese instead of making the lid and it was savory and warming on a cold rainy day. I will definitely repeat this soup
This was a big hit with the family and a great way to use the end-of-season tomatoes piled in my kitchen. I added half-and-half to the toddler’s portion since I was a little heavy-handed with the crushed red pepper.
This is one of my favorite soup recipes. I make it with all rosemary, no thyme and usually double the batch so I have more to freeze.
Love your blog! I am a gardener, and throw all my extra tomatoes in the freezer for future reference. I was so happy to discover that you can roast frozen tomatoes, just roll them in olive oil and stick them in the oven. They take a bit longer but are delicious I will try your recipe today; thanks so much for all your inspiration and keep up the good work cheers Christina
I’ve made this several times now but without the bread and cheese topping since we have dairy and gluten allergies (so just the actual tomato soup part). It’s my go-to for tomato soup and the kids LOVE it. I’ve found that we really prefer to have it completely blended in our Vitamix so that there’s no bits of tomato skin.
I could tell mine was going to be a little thin so I added 3 C of broth. Still soooo delicious and perfect for the end of summer!! Instead of the bread/cheese on top, I made garlic parmesan croutons out of leftover challah and sprinkled them over a bowl of the soup. Would absolutely make again!
So, this question seem late in the game…but how much ahead can you safely make this yummy soup? My very pregnant daughter-in-law is craving it. I would like to make it and then bring it over after baby (#3) arrives…which could be any time now between 6 hours and 6 days…yikes! I’m a big fan and it’s nice to know she is too <3
It’s a cool rainy Saturday the weekend after our thanksgiving and I’m making this again. I just want to say that I adore you and every recipe you put on here except for the ones involving filo because. Mac tac. But back to this soup. My fella who cooks over half the food around here said it was the best soup ever . And he makes a fish soup that people cross provincial borders to eat. Also … all we want to eat is tomatoes. Thank you.
This soup has become a yearly tradition, right around now—it’s my favorite use for the summer garden tomatoes that were picked green at the first frost and allowed to ripen indoors for 6+ weeks. The very last of those tomatoes ripen around the beginning of December.
This time I added some basil instead of thyme to keep it summer-themed. I use homemade sourdough english muffins for the bread. Otherwise all is kept the same. Thanks so much for a recipe that’s now a beloved tradition!
Do not discount the roasted tomato soup with small square grilled cheese croutons. I did cut the crusts off. The bowl was shallow as I do not enjoy soggy anything. It was a big hit as an appetizer course at a dinner party. We enjoy it for lunch, adding croutons as desired.
But… I cannot wait to make this next year when the plum tomatoes are in. I’m thinking make a big ol’ batch and freeze it for the dead of winter. YUM!
I made this soup this weekend. It was the first time I made tomato soup, and it was delicious. I used substandard tomatoes, being that it;s January, but the roasting helped tremendously. I had bought a jar of dried thyme, but I accidentally knocked it on the floor before I used any of it and the jar broke, so I used Italian seasoning instead and diced half of a large red onion that I had and put it in when the soup had started simmering. I also decided to make whole grilled cheese sandwiches instead of the broiled cheese and crouton on top. We loved it and I will definitely make it again. I love your recipes. Keep up the great work!!
This was a very nice soup. Wish I had used foil instead of silicone mat because clean up of my roasting pan was a bit of a bear. Used vine-ripened tomatoes because that is what I had. Skipped the grated onions because of my husband’s preference, but next time I’ll try it on my toast because I bet it’s a delicious addition.
Simple, healthy comfort food. Thanks for the great recipe!
Well oh boy, it is ton o’tomato time of year and I am making this for about the 8th time. I do it the way you suggest but today I had no stock. We’re awaiting hurricane Dorian so don’t care to venture out. Roasted some chicken for our inevitable power shortage so deglazed the pan with wine and used that. Just two of us. It’s bubbling now. Bye…
Well, not to be a dissenter, but perhaps to leaven the adoring, fawning, sugary replies with a hint of salt? First, I don’t quite see the urgent need to conflate two perfectly delicious things, each a thing of beauty and a joy forever on its own. A bowl of that soup, yes, indeedy. A toasty cheese sandwich, with good bread and quality cheese, oh, certainly! But glooped up together? *Non, merci*! Works for *soupe a’ l’oignon* for many reasons, but not for this combo. If for no other reason, because it is Hell for a young schoolchild to eat neatly? *Je ne sais pas*…
Turned out good, but a big lesson learned for next time. I immediately regretted dumping in all four cups of stock. I would pour in slowly so you can gauge soup thickness. Even after cooking longer than 25 minutes, my batch ended up thinner than I would have hoped. The pureed roasted tomatoes were amazing!
Hey Deb! Would you recommend throwing in red bell peppers to roast along with the tomatoes? Wondering if that would improve the flavor profile at all. Thanks!
I love a red pepper soup so I wouldn’t mind at all.
I was disappointed with this one. More my lack of discernment than the recipe I think. I suspected the tomatoes might stick and burn at such a high temp on a metal baking sheet but was being lazy and didn’t see any mention in the instructions. I did drizzle olive oil under the tomatoes but that didn’t help. They burned and stuck to the pan terribly, such that I lost a significant amount of volume for the soup. I didn’t think to adjust the red pepper to the loss of tomatoes so it was way too spicy. 1/4 teaspoon might be too much even with the correct amount of tomatoes. I’m not sensitive to spice it just overwhelmed the other flavors. I used chicken broth and the richness wasn’t what i was going for so I would use vegetable broth next time. I misread the recipe and took the skins off the garlic so they predictably burned. Tomorrow I am going to roast more tomatoes on a glass pan (and the garlic, correctly) on the upper middle rack with more oil on the bottom and keep a close eye on them and add those to the batch i made tonight. After that i think it should be pretty good :)
I suggest tossing the tomatoes with oil and spices/seasonings then placing them on a layer of non stick foil placed over the pan. I find this leaves to no sticking and burning, and I can fold the foil a bit, lengthwise, to get the remaining oil and spices into the pot/blender.
Very good. I used the last of the tomatoes from the garden, and ‘days old’ sourdough. Only change I would make is less crushed red pepper. I plan to make this again.
Very tasty, but the bread soaked up 75% of the soup and it turned into a sloppy mess (maybe I shouldn’t have used stale bread?) Next time, I will reduce the amount of bread in half and broil or bake at higher heat for just 3-5 minutes. Also, I think croutons would work well.
Made this while in quarantine and it was so delicious! Used big boy tomatoes from my garden sliced thin and replaced thyme with a little parsley. So good thank you!
Hi! I’m hoping to take advantage of bulk tomato orders now and love this soup- do you think it would freeze well?
I’m planning to do the same thing! I’m hoping that since there isn’t any dairy in it that it should be ok. And then we’ll have tasty tomato soup all winter long.
I just made this, the flavor is great, the only thing I did is I strained the soup. My significant other didn’t care for the tomato skin pieces in the soup. I personally was ok with it but I do prefer it strained.
Perfect for a winter supper. Don’t skip roasting the tomatoes; the flavor is so great!
It is soup season but sadly no longer tomato season! Any ideas on substituting fresh tomatoes for canned ones? I’m thinking maybe two cans of San Marzano, but not sure how to replicate the flavour you get from roasting the fresh tomates!
I’m personally combining these two recipes. The roasting of two large cans’ tomato from https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/cream-of-tomato-soup-classic-grilled-cheese/ with the cheese toast here. Unsure if I’ll just make the cream of tomato soup from that other one as well, and then add grated onions and the toasts here, but we’ll see. This tomato soup seems like it would have a lot of broth and less body than a cream style soup.
Oh! This was the most sublime lunch of my childhood! But you forgot the chocolate milk and dill pickle spear. And of course the soup was Campbell’s back then. Thanks for a fresh look at an old friend! ☺️
Can you buy plum tomatoes in the can? As it’s winter and no fresh plum tomatoes available.
I think it should be fine! You can check out her Creamy Tomato Soup recipe which specifically uses canned tomatoes.
I roasted the tomatoes, garlic and herbs in a hectic end-of-fall harvest and pulled it from the freezer this week, adding the stock and pureeing it before topping with the cheese and bread and serving to great acclaim. This is a keeper! Do not skip the grated fresh onion at serving time.
you are the best !!!
If i wanted to substitute canned tomatoes, how many would i use?