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.
Nancy says
Delicious recipe, turns out good how much is one serving, is it 1 cup, 8 oz of soup? Thanks
A Virtual Vegan says
1 serving is 1 sixth of the total recipe. I haven't measured it to know how many ozs.
Sarah says
My house is overflowing with tomatoes and this recipe is so good. I was wondering if you have frozen the soup and if it is still good after freezing? I want to make a huge batch and store it.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. It freezes really well!
Renee says
I just made this soup, I would definitely skin the tomatoes.
I had pieces of skin even after blending. I ended up straining the skins out . I also must like it creamier, so I added a bit if skim milk to my bowl. I will make again with those changes. I'm on weight watchers and this still is a great w/w friendly recipe❤️
A Virtual Vegan says
With a high powered blender like a Blendtec or Vitamix you can't detect the skin at all.
Pat M says
Hi - we made the easy tomato basil soup and loved it but why is the sodium content so high in the nutrition list?
A Virtual Vegan says
The nutritional information is there just as a guide and isn't guaranteed to be totally accurate. The fresh tomatoes contain about 80 mg of sodium but 1 teaspoon of table salt has about 2300 mg of sodium and there are two in the recipe so the majority of it comes from that. It is still only 27% of your recommended daily allowance though.
Maggie says
Delicious and so easy. This is a keeper recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Maggie! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it!
Susan Lamb says
Oh my goodness, this soup is SO easy and SO delicious!! I didn't change a thing from the original recipe and it turned out absolutely perfect!!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it Susan and thanks so much for coming back to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!
Anne-Lise says
Hey!!! I never write comments on recipes but just have to say thank you SO much! This recipe was absolutely delicious,healthy, and stupidly easy. I made it with farm fresh tomatoes from a local farmers market. If you have an immersion blender it would be even less cleanup. Can’t wait to explore this blog more. Thank you AGAIN for a delicious lunch on a busy day!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Anne-Lise! I'm really pleased you enjoyed it.
Tina says
Oh my god!! I tried this recipe and it was AMAZING!! I totally came into this with low expectations but WOW!! Thank you so much! I’ll be revisiting this recipe many times
A Virtual Vegan says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Tina!
Stephanie says
I am in weight watchers (again lol) and I made this for lunch today after I had gotten to work large boxers of fresh tomatoes from a local grower! This soup was very yummy!!!! Now I will portion out the rest and use for lunch this week!! Thank you!!
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you enjoyed it Stephanie! It is perfect for filling up with minimal calories. Good luck with Weight Watchers!
Marge dyck says
Can you freeze this soup?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never frozen it but I'm sure it would be fine.
Dan Perdios says
Yum Thanks
Jane says
I JUST made this and I am so impressed!! Will definitely become a staple for me. Thank you so much for sharing.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me know Jane!
Ethan Thomas says
Tomato soup is always my one of the favorite evening snacks, I never knew that with you can add BASIL leaves also to make more healthy and tasty. Looking very delicious
Sharon says
Do you leave the skins on the tomatoes?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes. It's all blended up at the end so you don't know they are there.
Lauren Leger says
I made this soup exactly the way it says to and my soup came out very thick and not creamy at all . What could i have done to make it soupier
A Virtual Vegan says
This isn't supposed to be a creamy soup. There isn't anything in it to make it creamy. It's a really clean, low calorie, low-fat recipe which allows the tomatoes and basil flavours to shine with no distractions. It is supposed to be pretty thick but if blended up properly it should be nice and smooth. If it wasn't then perhaps you didn't blend it for long enough. If you prefer a thinner soup you could add a little hot water or broth to thin it out.