The easiest Tomato Basil Soup EVER and it's so fresh & vibrant. Made with just 4 ingredients (plus salt, pepper & optional olive oil) and it only takes 10 minutes to make!
This Easy Tomato Basil Soup is for those times when I am feeling virtuous and when I don't have much time. Just like my vegan vegetable soup, it is so incredibly easy to make and takes only about ten minutes from start to finish.
The flavours of this Tomato Basil Soup are fresh, vibrant and untainted. The only ingredients are tomatoes, onion, garlic and basil (plus a little oil and seasoning). It's so simple!
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I just love easy soup recipes. This and my Vegan Pea Soup are my go-to's when I need dinner or lunch on the table super quick.
Because it is cooked so quickly the amazing fresh flavour of the tomato is retained and the pungent flavour of the basil is conserved by adding it at the very last moment before serving.
The resulting soup is fresh, aromatic and incredibly healthy. The taste of the fresh basil is amazing! No stock, plant-milk or cashew cream is added to this soup. The liquid comes only from the tomatoes which makes the flavour so much better. Because of this, it isn't a rich, creamy tomato soup. It's a really vibrant and healthy one.
If you want a creamy more indulgent recipe try my Instant Pot Tomato Soup and don't worry if you don't have an Instant Pot you can make it on a stove top too.
Low fat & Slimming World friendly
There are only about 280 calories in the entire pan of this soup and it is very low in fat. It can even be made totally fat free by omitting the olive oil and sautéing the onions and garlic in a drop of water instead.
If you follow the Slimming World diet plan you will also be pleased to know that this soup is syn free (if you omit the oil).
Are tomatoes good for you?
Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene which protects us from destructive free radicals which can harm cells and damage DNA. Cooking your tomatoes in a little healthy fat such as olive oil helps carry the lycopene into the bloodstream so that our bodies can benefit from it so I do recommend using a little oil as stated in the recipe if you can.
As well as being a good source of lycopene, tomatoes are full of many other vitamins and minerals. They are known to protect against heart disease, prostate cancer and asthma and they also help to ensure our bones, teeth, skin and hair stay healthy.
So you get all of those benefits and it's so incredibly quick and easy to make. There really is no excuse not to eat a healthy meal when you can whip up something like this in such a short space of time.
How to make tomato soup
In just 10 minutes and a few simple steps you could be tucking into a bowl of this fresh and delicious Tomato Basil Soup. It's so quick and easy and can be super cheap to make too when tomatoes are in season, or if you have a greengrocer like mine who always has big packs of them on quick sale.
- Step 1 - Sauté the garlic and onion
- Step 2 - Add the tomatoes and cook until they start breaking down
- Step 3 - Add the basil and seasoning, transfer to a blender and blend until smooth or blend it right up in the pan with an immersion blender.
You'll notice that once the tomatoes, onion and garlic are cooked up together in a pan, they are all blended up with the fresh basil then served immediately. You can use a blender or an immersion blender. Either is fine.
The higher-powered your blender is, the smoother the result. When I took the photos for this recipe I was using a pretty low quality one so it wasn't perfectly smooth. Now I have a Blendtec it emerges like velvet. A good blender is such a great investment if you like soups and smoothies!
There is no need to cook the soup any longer once the basil is added. It keeps the flavours really fresh and delicious if you just blend and serve.
Serving suggestions
Serve this wonderful Easy Tomato Basil Soup with a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkle of cracked black pepper. It's also great with a scattering of vegan croutons and a dollop of vegan ricotta and plenty of fresh bread available for dipping.
It is wonderful with my Miracle No Knead Focaccia on the side.
If you prefer a more traditional bread recipe there is always my Light Whole Wheat Bread, which is the one you can see in the photographs of the soup (except that one has some seeds added as an extra).
Tomato Basil Soup is also fab with grilled cheese sandwiches. Comfort food at it's finest! It's great in a Thermos for winter packed lunches too!
Hungry for more?
For more great vegan soup recipes check out these great options:
- Vegan Potato Soup
- Vegan Leek and Potato Soup
- Vegan Tortilla Soup
- Vegan Italian Sausage Pasta Soup
- Vegan Pea Soup
- Creamy Vegan Carrot Soup
📖 Recipe
Easy Tomato Basil Soup
Author:
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil optional, you can use a drop of water to sauté instead to keep the recipe oil free
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 large cloves of garlic chopped very finely I like lots of garlic so used 4 but adjust to suit your tastes
- 7 cups / 1400 g of chopped fresh tomatoes see recipe notes
- 1 handful of basil leaves and stalks are fine
- 2 teaspoons salt adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper adjust to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat a pan over a medium heat and add the oil or a couple tablespons of water.
- When hot add the onions and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes until just starting to turn golden.
- Add the chopped tomatoes. Continue to cook over a medium heat, stirring every few minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and are soft.
- Remove from the heat and add basil and salt and pepper then blitz in a blender or with a stick immersion blender until smooth.
- Serve immediately.
NOTES
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Beverly A says
Oh my word this is good! I am 70 years old and have never had such good tomato basil soup. I followed the recipe to the letter and will definitely be making this again. Hubby says for him too - the best tomato basil soup he has ever had. I am gluten free, so no flours to hurt my tummy. I did not make it perfectly smooth, wanted the little "bits" in it and the basil is the cat's meow. Thank you for sharing!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you both enjoyed it Beverly. Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it!
Amanda says
This recipe was so easy and so delicious. It took me about ten minutes to make and then I had dinner prepped for the next few days. It was a little bit watery, but it's possible the tomatoes I got just weren't the best.
Katelyn says
Hi, could you make a big batch and freeze this?
A Virtual Vegan says
You could yes. It freezes really well.
Dawn says
I have just made this soup and it is so good. Thank you for the recipe
Beth says
When you cut up the tomatoes, do you take the skin off or the seeds out or just put the whole shabang in?
A Virtual Vegan says
It's designed to be a super quick, fuss free recipe so you just throw them all in as is. By the time you blend it all up you won't notice the skins etc anyway. You could skin them if you wanted to but for me life's too short for skinning tomatoes! ;O)
April says
This recipe was delicious! I loved the simplicity of it, but it offered so much flavor. Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it April!
Angie says
Could you substitute canned tomatoes?
A Virtual Vegan says
It would be nowhere near as good. There are so few ingredients and it relies on the flavour from nice, fresh tomatoes. If you want a recipe designed around canned tomatoes try this one https://avirtualvegan.com/instant-pot-tomato-soup/ .
Lauren says
This recipe was perfect! I added two heaping tablespoons of coconut milk to the soup to make it a bit creamier, but I was shocked at how great this tasted. And so healthy! Loved that it was quick, easy, and inexpensive. Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
You're welcome Lauren. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Autumn Price says
This sounds wonderful. Can I be made into bisque by adding vegan butter, flour and full fat coconut milk? Aslo, where can I find the recipe for your delicious bread that is a suggested pairing with the soup? Thank you in advance!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. If you want a creamier soup this one is lovely. It says Instant Pot but I have included stove top instructions too. It's different in that it uses canned tomatoes and cashews for creaminess and it's really good https://avirtualvegan.com/instant-pot-tomato-soup/. You could by all means adapt the other one though. I tend to be more of a fan of light canned coconut milk in soups because it doesn't taste so coconutty. I would add the flour once the onions and garlic have sautéed, cook it out a bit the add the tomatoes and coconut milk. And you can find the bread recipe here https://avirtualvegan.com/miracle-no-knead-focaccia-with-rosemary-sea-salt/ .
Autumn Price says
My apologies, I just read some of the other Q&A and found the answer. Thanks!
Toni says
This is really tomato soup. Delicious! No broths chicken, or vegetable. I used the last of my homegrown grape tomatoes, I couln’t be more pleased. I will use over and over next year when I can enjoy fresh tomatoes again. Thank you
A Virtual Vegan says
That's so good to hear Toni. Thank you for taking the time to come back to leave feedback. I really appreciate it!
Meghan says
Have you tried this with canned tomatoes in place of fresh?
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven't, but I do have another tomato soup recipe that uses canned tomatoes. Although it says it's for Instant Pot it does include stove top instructions too. https://avirtualvegan.com/instant-pot-tomato-soup/
donna says
Made this for the first time and both my husband and I LOVED it! Super easy and flavorful. We had it for dinner with chunky wheat bread, hummus, and cured olives.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome and your dinner sounds perfect! Thank you for stopping by to leave feedback. I really appreciate it!
Jessica says
*Disclaimer: I used this recipe as a guideline and kind of went from there with what I know I liked/wanted in a tomato soup :).*
That out of the way...I doubled the recipe, used fresh vine & roma tomatoes along with some canned whole tomatoes, used a combination of olive oil spray + Smart Balance Light -w/ Flaxseed oil (vegan/no freaky hydrogenated oils but adds a slight buttery taste), chopped up 4 large cloves of garlic and also dumped in some pre-minced garlic because I wasn't going to mince 9 garlics, added an entire can of Goya coconut milk for some creaminess, and at the very end when immersion blending I dumped in 4tbsp of nutritional yeast for some cheesiness. I also added fresh basil, dried basil, and a bit of some Italian herb blend for good measure. Oh! Also I accidentally/slightly over-salted my soup because a slip of my hand and thankfully found out I could fix it by adding some sugar...turns out adding 1tbsp of sugar to the soup was an amazing idea and even just a tsp of sugar really makes this soup even better ^^.
The result of this soup was a full-bodied, super creamy, and rich tomato soup that was AMAZING. I'm preparing it the night before but I'm sure it'll get even better overnight. I'm going to serve it alongside a low-calorie bread+Follow Your Heart American grilled cheese sandwich and top the soup with some Go Veggie vegan Mexican cheese blend since that's what I have on hand from a taco soup the other night. I also added in 2cups of veggie broth to cook the tomatoes down in...and figure the soup I have - which I doubled the recipe for - comes at around 10cups- so 5 2-cup servings for me at around 312cal a 2cup serving or something. The higher cal is because of the 2cup serving vs. 1cup serving and because of the added full-fat coconut milk and nooch :). Anyhow, super excited for tomorrow and I'm 100% sure this will be one of those low-calorie meals that don't taste low-calorie! Overall, lovely base recipe that can standalone or be fiddled with to make the ultimate tomato soup ^^.
Note: Also just remembered I simmered my soup for 25mins vs. the 10 to make sure the flavors really melded and left it to cool for an hour before blending and it's currently sitting outside to cool before I put it in the fridge :).
Debbie says
Can this receipe be canned?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have no experience of canning so I don't know. Sorry.
Lindsay says
SO simple and perfectly paired w vegan grilled cheese :) Thanks!