Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

This creamy tomato and basil soup is one of the best homecooked comfort foods, and it’s also one of the easiest soups you’ll ever make (promise!)

Tomato soup is such a staple, especially in the cold winter months, but this recipe takes your standard tomato soup and ups the creaminess and the flavor so you don’t feel like you’re eating bland and boring tomato soup but a turbo-charged version that you’ll look forward to.

The combination of the garlic, basil, and tomatoes gives this soup a flavor that is truly wonderful, and if we’re being honest here, part of the joy is that it is super easy.

This is No Fuss Kitchen, after all, and there’s nothing better than just dumping some stuff in a pot and having it be a soup, wallah.

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There’s nothing that needs to be “cooked,” like in the potato and carrot soup where you need to wait 30+ minutes for the potatoes to cook, so really once you get past the couple of minutes it takes to brown the garlic, the rest is smooth sailing and it can be on the table as soon as the actual liquids heat up enough for your liking.

We’ve got some fun pairings below (mostly carbs because that’s the best thing to eat in general and also to pair with tomato soup), as well as some tips if you don’t have the one piece of kitchen equipment that the recipe calls for.

This recipe was adapted from Joanna Gaines’ Tomato Soup recipe in her Magnolia Table cookbook.

Ingredients

To make this rich tomato basil soup, you’ll need:

• extra virgin olive oil – this helps give our soup flavor and give it a smoothness that goes down wonderfully (this is a great brand of EVOO)

• garlic cloves – for flavor

• diced tomatoes – the star of the show. Go fire-roasted for a deeper taste, but normal ones are fine

• chicken broth – this can either be homemade or use chicken broth cubes

• salt – to flavor

• black pepper – to flavor

• heavy cream – to add creaminess

• basil leaves – to add an earthy and natural flavor

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What You’ll Love About It

• Creaminess that’ll make you feel like you’re indulging even though it’s relatively light on the calories

• Super fast to come together – there’s not much waiting around, so it’s a zippy and quick soup recipe

• Rich colors that look amazing on any dinner table

• Good way to get vegetables into kiddie appetites if you give them something to dunk in it!

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How to Make Creamy Tomato Soup

Start off with a large pot, where you’re going to put the olive oil and garlic together over medium heat.

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Heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic starts to brown (about 3 minutes).

Add in all of the cans of tomatoes (not drained), and 2 cups of chicken broth.

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Bring the soup to a gentle boil.

Reduce the heat to low.

Add in salt, pepper, and cream and give it a good stir.

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Drop in the basil leaves.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until you have a smooth consistency (this is a great immersion blender!)

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Enjoy!

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Tips for Cooking

• If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can either leave the soup how it is and let it be a chunky tomato soup, or you can let it cool and then blend it in an actual blender in batches.
• This soup doesn’t take long to make. Nothing needs to cook, besides the garlic being browned, so most is just heating it up. This gives you flexibility on when you think it is done (have a taste with a spoon and decide if it’s hot enough!)

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Substitution Options

If you would like to make this creamy tomato soup vegetarian, simply change the chicken broth to veggie broth.

To go fully vegan, you can replace the heavy cream with a vegan cream alternate.

If you’re trying to save on calories, you can leave out the cream, knowing that it will still be delicious but won’t have as rich of a flavor as with the cream.

Storage Tips

Store this tomato basil soup in an airtight container in the fridge (keeps out bacteria) for up to 5 days.

Always reheat in the microwave or on medium on the stove until it’s piping hot.

If you want to save batches for later, freeze in freezer safe glass containers like these ones for up to 6 months.

Technically, you could freeze for longer than this, but the flavor might start to deteriorate.

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What to Serve with Creamy Tomato Soup

Nothing goes better with tomato soup than grilled cheese!

It’s the ultimate comfort food and one of the most classic pairings.

You could also do a soup and salad combo and pair it with a fresh salad so you have the creamy soup and light salad.

Also, a nice plate of breadsticks goes excellent with tomato soup and are great for dunking if you want a kid-friendly way to serve it (or adults, let’s face it, who doesn’t love a breadstick).

This soup isn’t too heavy or robust, but could act as a meal on it’s own if you’re looking for something small/not too filling.