While this is not the Smitten Kitchen’s only tomato soup — there’s one with roasted summer tomatoes capped with an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich in the archives, and further back, a classic cream of tomato soup adapted from Cook’s Illustrated — neither are this: a seasonless tomato soup I can make on any rainy day, along with the nonnegotaible grilled cheese sandwiches, in under an hour. Both of the archived recipes have their charms; the first is great when tomatoes are at their peak. The second is excellent but fussy, more ideal for when you’ve got the time or patience to show off. But this has eclipsed both in the rotation for the last couple winters, and a few things make it perfect for us:
– Yes, grocery store tomatoes: If you, like me, buy cherry or grape tomatoes far more often than you use them up, this soup is for you. No, I don’t mean glorious, peak-season cherry tomatoes from a garden or farm stand on a hot summer day; save those for snacking or a salad. I truly mean even the highly mediocre ones you might find on sale at a chain store in the dead of winter. This soup makes the argument that even bland, off-season cherry and grape tomatoes will provide more flavor and nuance than canned tomatoes and the proof will be in the bowl. And sweetness! Cream of tomato soup recipes add a little sugar, but I find that storebought grape tomatoes provide enough without it.
– A simple base: Everything else is about simply layering in flavor — onions cooked in butter until sweet and lightly browned at the edges, garlic, pepper flakes to taste, a splash of sherry if that’s your thing, tomato paste, and any kind of broth you want to use, vegetable or chicken. It simmers for 15 minutes (this is when you make the grilled cheese sandwiches) and blends smooth.
– Cream-optional: This was intended to be a cream of tomato soup, and you can, if you’d like, add cream at the end to taste. But the texture is so velvety and smooth from the tomato and sweet onions, you might find you don’t need or want it at all.
– Riffable: This isn’t just my new weeknight tomato soup, it’s a foundation I’ve used for a lot of tweaked leftovers. Sometimes, I’ll add cooked lentils (Trader Joe’s remain my fridge staple), but even some tortellini, and a handful of spinach wilted in, plus a little parmesan on top work nicely too. And it works as well with the French onion soup-style grilled cheese on top as the roasted tomato soup does.
Podcast! My new podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, launched this past week and our first episode is all about Stovetop Mac-and-Cheese! You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a new podcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. We will have new episodes every two Mondays and this tomato soup will feature prominently in Episode 4! We’ve been working on this behind the scenes for the last year — I hope you enjoy listening along.
Previously
6 months ago: Raspberry Streusel Muffins
1 year ago: Easy Freezer Waffles
2 years ago: Castle Breakfast
3 year ago: Rigatoni alla Vodka
4 year ago: Perfect Vegetable Lasagna
5 year ago: Bodega-Style Egg and Cheese Sandwich and Chocolate Puddle Cakes
6 years ago: Slow-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Korean-Braised Short Ribs
7 years ago: Small-Batch Tiramisu
8 years ago: Miso Black Sesame Caramel Corn and Hot and Sour Soup
9 years ago: Oven-Braised Beef with Tomatoes and Garlic and Pecan Sticky Buns
10 years ago: Chocolate Hazelnut Linzer Hearts and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
11 years ago: Italian Stuffed Cabbage
12 years ago: Lasagna Bolognese
13 years ago: Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
14 years ago: Best Cocoa Brownies and Chana Masala
15 years ago: Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes and Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Slaw
16 years ago: Seven-Yolk Pasta Dough and Best Chocolate Pudding
17 years ago: For Beaming, Bewitching Breads
Weeknight Tomato Soup
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 medium white onions, diced (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) sherry (optional)
- 1 1/4 pounds (565 grams) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (from 2 10-oz packages)
- Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and red pepper flakes
- 3 cups (710 ml) vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 ml) sherry vinegar to finish (optional)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) heavy cream, or more to taste
Make the soup: In a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat, then add onions. Cook, stirring, until onions are tender and beginning to brown at edges, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add sherry, if using, and cook for 1 minute, then tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes, mashing them slightly with your spoon, for 3 minutes, then add broth and seasoning to taste — I usually start with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, many grinds of black pepper, and a couple pinches of pepper flakes. Bring mixture to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook at a simmer for 15 to 20 minutes; this is a great time to prepare grilled cheese sandwiches (see below) if you’re making them.
To finish: Either with an immersion blender or in a full-sized blender, blend the hot soup carefully until totally smooth — my immersion blender often misses some tomato skins, so go around the pot a few extra times. Taste, adjust seasoning as needed. If you’d like the soup to be creamy, add it a splash at a time, stirring, until you reach your desired level. Finally, you can add 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar for a little brightness at the end, and a second teaspoon if it needs more.
To serve: Ladle into bowls or mugs, finish with a little freshly ground black pepper, and surround with grilled cheese “fingers” (below) for dipping.
To make grilled cheese fingers: [For one sandwich] Spread the outside of two slices of sandwich bread with either softened butter or a thin (a little goes a long way) layer of mayonnaise. Fill with the cheese of your choice. I like to use one slice of American cheese (for meltiness) and some sharp grated cheddar (for flavor). Place in a cold heavy skillet and turn heat to a medium-low. Cook slowly until the underside is a deep even golden brown. Flip the sandwich over and cook on the second side until it matches the first side. Cut into strips.
I don’t know how you can make the whole thing in 45 minutes? It takes me a solid 30 just to chop that many onions and halve that many little tomatoes 😂 But it sounds divine and I’ll give it a go!!! Especially with the grilled cheese “fingers”! What a great idea!!
Do the tomato-slicing hack! (P.S. It never works for me though, but I don’t have those lids.)
Wait!!! What’s the “tomato slicing hack”??!! Clearly I’ve missed that tidbit!!
You take two plastic lids from yogurt containers or similar ones, line up the tomatoes between the lids like an oreo cookie filling. Then, holding down the top lid, you slice horizonally between the lids, halving the tomatoes with one stroke. Your knife needs to be pretty sharp for it to work, though.
I always slice the container
It’s linked in my comment above.
Two tips have worked for us:
(1) Make chopping onions part of your prep for the week’s meals. If you are planning three meals that need chopped onions (or chopped and sliced, or whatever), do it all at once. We store them in a glass dish with a tight lid to keep their… aroma… contained. A mason jar also would work.
(2) Chop these in your food processor/chopper/mini processor if you have one. They’re going to be sauteed then pureed, so you’ll be fine.
FWIW.
Brilliant!!
By the way, with some of those extra chopped onions or just a few slices you can preserve a cut avocado in a tightly sealed container in the fridge…does not turn brown even after several days!
Forgive me if this is way too obvious, but I always use a serrated knife for cutting tomatoes. I happen to have a small serrated knife (a serrated paring knife, I think) that makes it pretty easy to cut up these little ones. I have tried the lid trick but don’t really think it’s any faster.
I do the same! It’s pretty fast
it seems to me since they’re gonna get blended anyway, you could just kinda bash them a bit on the cutting board or while in the pot. I wouldn’t think you have to perfectly halve them.
I make a similar soup using canned tomatoes and would love to try this but – what happens to the tomato skins? Do you pull them out at some point?
Based on my reading, I think the skins are left in the soup — there is a note in the step about blending that you may have to “go around the pot a few extra times” if the blender misses some of the skins at first.
If you’re really bent on super smooth you can always run the pureed soup through a fine mesh strainer but it seems to me the skins have fiber and nutrients.
I see you astutely avoided more sandwich slicing controversy by cutting grilled cheese fingers. Touché 😉
I had the same thought! 😂
I looooove grilled cheese, but when I make it at home, I always find the outside gets too browned (burned) before the cheese inside is melty. Starting the sando in a cold pan sounds like a GAME CHANGER! So thanks for the tip. :)
Or starting with a hot pan, then turn it down and put a lid on. Works a charm.
This looks delish and you always seem to anticipate exactly what I’m craving, Deb!
+1 to question about skins and also, do we need to strain out the seeds?
No need to strain. Blend until smooth.
So funny, I made tomato soup last night! It was a Cook’s Illustrated recipe (not the one you mentioned) that is quite similar to this one but uses canned tomatoes and a bit of baking soda to neutralize the acid in the tomatoes and a teaspoon of brown sugar. No garlic or sherry, though, and because they used canned tomatoes, the juice is used for a lot of the cooking liquid. The cream at the end is an absolute must for us. It was the best tomato soup I’ve ever tasted and I go way back with tomato soup. C**pb***’s is what I grew up on and it is not even a close second. I am betting those people who have never had anything but canned tomato soup are going to have a very delicious surprise! Thanks!
What’s your opinion on adding sherry to this soup?
It’s in the ingredient list! I’d include it for sure.
I suggest it in the recipe.
I just made this for dinner! Sadly I didn’t have grilled cheese ingredients! In husband fashion, my husband topped it with shredded mozz and pepperoni. I loved it on its own with extra cracked pepper on top!
Any reason why we couldn’t throw all the uncut tomatoes in a blender with a little chicken broth and whiz ’em up? They’re headed that way anyway.
I can barely contain my excitement about your new podcast w/ Kenji! Deb you bring me & my family so much food joy with your yummy good dinners! Your cookbooks are sometimes cosy bedtime stories (for myself) & your blog is such a treat! Now I get to listen to you?!
Re: Tomato Soup recipe. The Belgians & the Dutch are noted for making friendly digs at one another. The Belgian kitchen is regarded as the superior one (by far). The best line I ever heard on this topic was from a Belgian man who asked me if I knew how the Dutch make tomato soup. Hitting both their reputed frugality & lack of cooking flare, he said ‘they put hot water in a red bowl’. Pretty good, eh?
As a grandchild of Dutch immigrants I snort laughed at this, it all rings true lol though Oma must have taken a Belgian tomato soup recipe among because its definitely better than hot water or Cambells
I love how you suggest cutting the sandwich into strips so as to avoid another round of Sandwichgate :). I’ve been making a virtually identical version of this soup, so I’m sure this is great. I’ll add that if you happen to have fresh rosemary, toasting a little of it up in olive oil and sprinkling on top is a nice addition.
That’s an awful lot of chopped onion. Looks like someone is cutting corners to add “flavor.” I use chopped celery and carrot and only about a half cup of chopped onion. And where’s the herbs? You at least need some fresh basil. I’ll stick to my recipe
Yes Bill please stick to your recipe, and thanks a bunch for your charming comment………
Oh Bill, sigh……🙄
Seriously Bill why the snarky comment? totally unnecessary and rude. Deb’s following is like Taylor Swift’s very protective of a person who brightens up our day with great writing and fabulous recipes. Constructive comments are welcome the sarcasm is not.
You know I was wondering the same thing about the onions. I made a soup recipe of Barbara Kafka and it had a lot of onions and I ate one bowl and threw it out. Thanks for your comment. I’m not a big fan of tomato soup with just onions. That being said I haven’t tasted a bad recipe from Deb. I should end here but want to comment on how snobby many of these comments are. I totally appreciate a different direction with cooking.
Bill–I am always surprised when someone makes a comment like this. If too many onions isn’t your thing, and you prefer celery, carrots, and herbs in your tomato soup–then by all means, make yours that way and enjoy. But why the need to be negative here? Just make your own recipe and we onion lovers will happily make this recipe without making you feel bad about yours.
thats nice but i really hope you don’t think we care enough to have to announce it
Wait wait wait…is Bill married to Sheryl?
One great way to add “cream” to tomato soup without actual cream is by throwing some high quality day old or toasted bread (sourdough, baguette, etc) in the blender.
Leftover white rice works as well. I have not tried it, but I would expect that brown would not puree well.
Oh, thank you! I was scanning comments on options for avoiding the cream. :)
Erika – if you have a good high speed blender, homemade cashew cream really is a game changer. Just buy raw cashews, soak them – I generally do so overnight – and blend in your blender. They add a rich unctuousness that is the best dairy replicant I’ve ever found. I generall make a batch and then freeze it flat in a stasher or other zip type bag; that way it’s available, doesn’t waste (expensive) cashers, and I can break off a chunk when I need it. Now that I think about it, I bet I could score it in tablespoon size sections so the breaking off of a chunk is easier and neater.
Kenji and Deb talk about bread for thickening in the tomato soup episode of the podcast!
Deb, just made this to go with your zuke grilled cheese (which, IMHO, should be in the related recipe list after the soup recipe) – a fantastic duo. That said, it’s bleeping 88 degrees in my armpit of the midwest, and the meal made me warm enough that I’ve closed the windows and turned on the air con. It’s too early in the year for that!
Perfect!
Only a few changes due to what i had around: red onion instead of white, lime juice instead of the sherry, sour cream instead of the heavy cream.
Tomato soup and grilled cheese is my favorite comfort food, so thanks for this! Good timing too because i just got a grill pan (one that closes to make panini) for my birthday from the family. This grilled cheese was the first thing i made on it.
Thanks!
I think this needs a lot more cook time. Tasted raw and I followed directions exactly, except instead of slicing the tomatoes, I chopped coarsely in the food processor. Can’t imagine that would make much difference in final result since all pulverized ultimately.
I’ve been making your classic recipe for years, but decided to give this one a try. I felt like it was lacking in tomato flavor. I added the rest of the can of tomato paste and a few pinches of sugar and that helped immensely, but I’ll probably stick to the old recipe.
Hi, would this work with those yellow cherry tomatoes (I think they are sometimes called Sun Golds) in place of part of the red cherry tomatoes?
Absolutely!
Deb, what do you think of using canned tomatoes for this? I really really want to make this tonight, but I don’t have the fresh tomatoes called for. Thanks!
Another grilled cheese alternative to swap for the butter or mayo is toum (garlic poached in olive oil and whipped to a smooth paste that I get at my local Armenian grocery store. I am not sure that it is made commercially.) It was either in WaPo or NYT, but you do not need a recipe. You have to be careful as the garlic will burn, so just a barely warm pan.
That being said, I am also a huge fan of the frico grilled cheese sandwich here.
Hi Colleen ! Where is this magical Armenian grocery? My sister lives in Brooklyn and usually goes to Zahadi’s for all “ Middle Eastern “ ingredients. I would love to tell her about it. Toum is often attributed to Lebanese cuisine ( we nomadic Armenians don’t seem to get credit for much 😕) It’s close enough to our food and as many other dishes around the world, can possibly be claimed by more than one region/country. In fact we have a lovely local spot in the Fillmore district called La Mediterrane’ and the owner is half Armenian and half Lebanese.
I think I saw it on NYT too (:
I made this for the first time and must say it was delicious- as it is getting towards the end of tomato season here, I was able to buy ripe tomatoes- not cherry tomatoes and the flavour was 😍
I’m having a really hard time with the idea of the tomato skins in this soup. I got a fancy blender two years ago so I could make gazpacho without peeling the tomatoes and I still hate it with the tomato peels in it. Will the skins really not be noticeable here? That’s my favorite thing about canned tomatoes — they are peeled. Also don’t cherry tomatoes break down really quickly when sauteed? It seems like slicing them at all would be superfluous if they just break down anyways.
If you blend it well, you won’t have any noticeable skins.
As an alternative to halving the tomatoes, could I let them cook whole for a bit, then squash them more aggressively? Perhaps with a potato masher? I don’t want to slice that many, and the lid trick seems destined to cut my thumb off.
Just a quick note to say that this passed the ultimate test for my family, the good old daily question of “will the picky seven year old eat it!?” Not only did he eat it all, he asked for more AND asked me to actually make more “if there’s no more left.” So, approved! (I used a few regular tomatoes because I didn’t have any cherry and skipped the sherry and sherry vinegar but did add a splash of whole milk instead of cream.) Husband also liked it.
And while I’m here… a quick plug for one of my all time fav Smitten Kitchen recipes, https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/01/sheet-pan-meatballs-with-crispy-turmeric-chickpeas/. I served the soup as a side with this as the main dish, and flatbreads and something like a Tatziki. Nice little dinner!
Why a white onion instead of a spanish/yellow onion? To me, the white onion is primarily for cuisine from the Mexican diaspora.
I’d guess it was chosen for flavor reasons.
This was so tasty. I left out the sherry, sherry vinegar, and cream. I was prepared to use white wine vinegar at the end but didn’t need it. Thank you for a delicious recipe, this will be my standard tomato soup!
Deb, you’ve done it again–this was easy to make and absolutely perfect as written. Incredible bright tomato flavor from just paste and pale off season tomatoes. You’re truly the queen!!
Made this for dinner tonight! Didn’t bother halving the tomatoes, just dumped them in whole at the same time as the broth, and it worked out just fine – they still burst nicely. I didn’t have any sherry, so I left it out, but I did go with the sherry vinegar at the end. Used chicken stock for the liquid and used two parts olive oil to one part butter for the fat. Really incredible depth of flavor, really easy to make. This is definitely a make-again!
This was divine! Thank you
I made this tonight and it is lovely, thank you! I was wondering if it will be ok to freeze it?
I’ve put tomato soup in the freezer and it thaws and reheats just fine, no issues. You could omit the cream for freezing and then add it in when reheating, but honestly it’s such a small amount that it’s not affected.
We got a “storage share” from our CSA last summer where we got larger quantities of various vegetables a few times during the summer to can or freeze, including cherry tomatoes. We’ve had several gallon bags of cherry tomatoes hanging out in our freezer since then. This was the perfect use for them! Fwiw, I did just quickly pour the soup through a strainer to strain out seeds and remaining skins after using an immersion blender – It wasn’t 100% necessary if you aren’t bothered by a little texture but it didn’t take long and didn’t reduce the volume of the soup, so I recommend for any skin and seed skeptics out there who want it extra smooth.
I have not made this yet (grape/cherry tomatoes are out of season and it would be more than $10 for this quantity). I look forward to trying this recipe when they are more affordable.
A tip I learned from King Arthur’s tomato soup recipe that has been a game changer for tomato soup and all tomato sauces I make is to add 1/4 tsp of baking soda at the end of cooking – let it cook a couple more minutes (until the foaming subsides) after adding. It does an amazing job of smoothing out the flavours.
This was a great weeknight dinner, with my husband on grilled cheese, me on soup, and my 15-month-old hanging onto us throughout.
We had garlic powder but no fresh garlic, didn’t have sherry or vinegar, and used a dash of whole milk instead of cream when it seemed like the soup was too tomato-y without it.
Will definitely make this again for summer camp vibes on a rainy thursday
Wonderful and tasty soup. Thank you
Made this tonight and it was fab! Timed myself, it was 41 min from start to finish. Perfect for a quick dinner between two different kid events today. Thanks!
I was skeptical about every step of this… grape tomatoes? Skins on? TWO onions? But I trust you with all my heart and I was not disappointed. It was delicious! (Also, we call sammies cut that way “soldiers”)
I made this and didn’t like the taste at first. It’s so different from what I’m used to with tomato soup – much less acidic. (I’m sure it would’ve benefited from sherry vinegar, which I didn’t have on hand.) But I had the leftover soup for lunch yesterday and today, and it’s growing on me!
This does seem very riff-able, so I will make it again with variations.
Deb, please know I love your site, your books (I have all three) and your recipes. I have been following you since the beginning. So this is not a slap at you. However, those big block ads on your site, the ones that say PRINT RECIPE in an orange background, from some company called SHIFT. are incredibly annoying. I know to bypass them but a newbie to your site might click on it and then get drawn down a rabbit hole.
Anyway, I had to speak out. Thanks for listening and keep on keeping on.
I’m so sorry — we keep trying to block them and then they appear again. Just let me know when you see them and we’ll keep battling them off.
Deb, thank you for creating a recipe that rivals that more fussy one you mentioned. Although I love the taste of the fussy one (and have gotten many compliments on it) I do not like its fussiness and therefore don’t make it very often. This weeknight version will be my new go-to. I followed the recipe almost exactly but I used cognac instead of sherry vinegar. It was fantastic!
Made this for dinner tonight. I used about 3 tablespoons of cream, and finished it with the sherry vinegar. Very easy and very tasty. Loved it with the grilled cheese. Thank you!
We have our first baby who is now six months old and have been living off Trader Joe’s cartons of tomato soup with my husband‘s homemade bread. Now that things are a little more under control, this was a perfect recipe for getting back to homemade soups! I seasoned with oregano as it’s going wild in the garden this springtime. Thanks as always Deb!
This was so good and so easy! The work to reward ratio for this soup could not be better. The only substitution I made was to use xiao xing cooking wine instead of sherry. (You know how Chinese recipes written for Americans say you can substitute sherry for the xiao xing wine? Well, it turns out the converse is also true!) In conclusion, excellent soup!
No way! I have lots of shaoxing wine for making three cup chicken or tofu and didn’t know this swap! Thank you.
Grape tomatoes (my preference) are not cheap down here in Mexico but I do think that they make all the difference. The flavor profile is so much sweeter, less acidic. This was so much tastier than the soup I make with regular “roma” tomatoes that are common in the grocery stores here. I’ll make this again!
5 stars. Everyone in my family loved this. I drizzled the HWC in each bowl right before serving – it looks neat, and any leftovers are more easily frozen or reheated without the cream mixed in.
Do you think this would work with Roma tomatoes? I have a *ton* we need to use up, and this recipe seems perfect!
Yes, although it will be a little less sweet/tart from them.
Did this and wanted to report it worked great! Thank you!
This was delicious. No cream needed. I doubled the batch and froze half. Excellent again when reheated. I added one red bell pepper along with the tomatoes and it tasted wonderful. My only tomato soup recipe from now on!
Hi Deb!
This soup tastes devine! Today at Aldi there were grape tomatoes at sale so your soup came to my mind and I bought 1 kg (approx. 2 pounds). However, removing the tiny green spot (I don’t know the English name for that – and I grew up being told that anything green in tomatoes is unhealthy… No idea if that’s true.) and halving the tiny tomatoes took quite some time. The result is worth it. I prepared this soup to freeze in portions and enjoy for lunch at work – as a starter before some salad.
Thanks for another brilliant recipe! Some of your food ideas have become a staple in my family. Now also colleagues have started following your wonderful blog.
Kind regards from rainy northern Germany
Claudia
This is all so lovely. I love it when fellow SK cooks & bakers say hello from their corner of the world.
This was very yummy! I didn’t have sherry around, so I used a splash of port, which amazingly worked as well. As one family member pointed out: “This is a great recipe for tomato soup, because it doesn’t just taste like thinned down spaghetti sauce.” What she said.
This was fantastic and really did take just 30 minutes once everything was in the pot. It’s sweet (but not sugary like Campbell’s), tart, tomatoey and thick, and I totally forgot the cream at the end. I finished it with a pinch of smoked sea salt. Enough for 3 generous servings for me. Awesomesauce!
I’ve made this three times now, and it’s always quick and excellent. Twice I didn’t cut the tomatoes in half with absolutely no effect so go ahead and be lazy like me. Today I didn’t quite have enough tomatoes so I supplemented them with a can of Mutti baby Roma tomatoes and it is still great.
Made this last night. Husband and daughter loved it! Easy and tasty!. There were a few skins that escaped the immersion blender, but they didn’t bother me.
This soup was delicious… but definitely had to add a dash of sugar twice to round out the taste. The acidic tomato taste is otherwise overpowering. Also cream is a must. Thank you for your podcast, it is delightful.
Made it with Flavorbomb tomatoes from Costco – it was great!