Tomato soup
See this recipe step by step

Tomato soup

To make the tastiest tomato soup you’ll ever experience wait until the tomatoes are at their most ripe and juicy, around September

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4 for lunch or 6 as a starter

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian, Vegan, Low-fat

Method

  1. Firstly, prepare your vegetables. You need 1-1.25kg/2lb 4oz-2lb 12oz ripe tomatoes. If the tomatoes are on their vines, pull them off. The green stalky bits should come off at the same time, but if they don't, just pull or twist them off afterwards. Throw the vines and green bits away and wash the tomatoes. Now cut each tomato into quarters and slice off any hard cores (they don't soften during cooking and you'd get hard bits in the soup at the end). Peel 1 medium onion and 1 small carrot and chop them into small pieces. Chop 1 celery stick roughly the same size.
  2. Spoon 2 tbsp olive oil into a large heavy-based pan and heat it over a low heat. Hold your hand over the pan until you can feel the heat rising from the oil, then tip in the onion, carrot and celery and mix them together with a wooden spoon. Still with the heat low, cook the vegetables until they're soft and faintly coloured. This should take about 10 minutes and you should stir them two or three times so they cook evenly and don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
  3. Holding the tube over the pan, squirt in about 2 tsp of tomato purée, then stir it around so it turns the vegetables red. Shoot the tomatoes in off the chopping board, sprinkle in a good pinch of sugar and grind in a little black pepper. Tear 2 bay leaves into a few pieces and throw them into the pan. Stir to mix everything together, put the lid on the pan and let the tomatoes stew over a low heat for 10 minutes until they shrink down in the pan and their juices flow nicely. From time to time, give the pan a good shake - this will keep everything well mixed.
  4. Slowly pour in the 1.2 litres/ 2 pints of hot stock (made with boiling water and 4 rounded tsp bouillon powder or 2 stock cubes), stirring at the same time to mix it with the vegetables. Turn up the heat as high as it will go and wait until everything is bubbling, then turn the heat down to low again and put the lid back on the pan. Cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times. At the end of cooking the tomatoes will have broken down and be very slushy looking.
  5. Remove the pan from the heat, take the lid off and stand back for a few seconds or so while the steam escapes, then fish out the pieces of bay leaf and throw them away. Ladle the soup into your blender until it's about three-quarters full, fit the lid on tightly and turn the machine on full. Blitz until the soup's smooth (stop the machine and lift the lid to check after about 30 seconds), then pour the puréed soup into a large bowl. Repeat with the soup that's left in the pan. (The soup may now be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost before reheating.)
  6. Pour the puréed soup back into the pan and reheat it over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until you can see bubbles breaking gently on the surface. Taste a spoonful and add a pinch or two of salt if you think the soup needs it, plus more pepper and sugar if you like. If the colour's not a deep enough red for you, plop in another teaspoon of tomato purée and stir until it dissolves. Ladle into bowls and serve. Or sieve and serve chilled with some cream swirled in. For other serving suggestions, see opposite.
Try

Choosing the best tomatoes

The best British tomatoes for making soup are Elegance, a deep-red classic tomato (often sold on the vine) with a thin skin and sweet, juicy flesh. Aranca are good on-the-vine cocktail tomatoes with a superb flavour and aroma, but if you prefer the larger beefsteak variety, go for Jack Hawkins. Plum tomatoes to watch out for include Santa, Jester, Mona Lisa and Baby Sweetheart.

Nutrition per serving for four

123 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 13g, fat 7 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 4g, sugar 1g, salt 1.08 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 141-160

  • Binder photo London

    08 September 2011

    London commented on this recipe

    I would love to try the tomato soup, But can I freeze any I do not use?

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  • Binder photo Burn1e

    11 September 2011

    Burn1e commented on this recipe

    First year weve grew tomatoes 1st time ive tried tomato soup so so easy to make and defo so easy to eat, this soup wont be gettin frozen, a big hit.

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  • Binder photo mandy

    16 September 2011

    mandy commented on this recipe

    Have made this soup twice now and it was totally yummy both times. All my family really enjoyed it - and said they even preferred it to that well known tinned brand of tomato soup. Am just about to pass it on to my neighbour, who is wondering what to do with her current glug of tomatoes!

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  • Binder photo Marie

    17 September 2011

    Marie commented on this recipe

    Well ,I thought that this was a lovely soup. I used 3 dessert spoons of sugar and 3 heaped tsps of puree, I also took lid of for last 12 minutes to allow flavours to condense.

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  • Binder photo Marie

    17 September 2011

    Marie rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo nhogarth

    18 September 2011

    nhogarth rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I definitely wont be buying tinned tomato soup again! I added a splash of balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper to taste. I used just under a litre of stock and found this to be plenty. Also I didnt bother taking the cores out the tomatos and they blended no bother in my food processor.

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  • Binder photo Paul

    18 September 2011

    Paul rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Tasted great and so easy to make.

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  • Binder photo Frenchie

    20 September 2011

    Frenchie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this soup, as I had a glut of tomatoes and it was excellent. Very tasty and what was left went in the freezer and came out last night, as a last minute supper.

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  • Binder photo voteforpedro

    20 September 2011

    voteforpedro rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious soup, left out the celery as I didn't have any. This is the best tomato soup I have had, better than any bought or any in a restaurant! Would definitely recommend.

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  • Binder photo Lynn D-T

    25 September 2011

    Lynn D-T commented on this recipe

    This has got to be the best tomato soup recipe I have ever tried to make. Simple ingredients with outstanding results. I would agree with other people that not all of the stock is needed. I ended up using 800ml of stock and it has turned out a lovely consistancy, not too thin and not too thick. An alternative would be to add a little instant potato to the soup if it does turn out thinner than you would like, I have done this with other soups I have made and the results are lovely. About as close to Heinz as you can get, but much, much, much cheaper and more satisfying. I now have a freezer full of soup, yummy!!

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  • Binder photo Lynn D-T

    25 September 2011

    Lynn D-T rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This has got to be the best tomato soup recipe I have ever tried to make. Simple ingredients with outstanding results. I would agree with other people that not all of the stock is needed. I ended up using 800ml of stock and it has turned out a lovely consistancy, not too thin and not too thick. An alternative would be to add a little instant potato to the soup if it does turn out thinner than you would like, I have done this with other soups I have made and the results are lovely. About as close to Heinz as you can get, but much, much, much cheaper and more satisfying. I now have a freezer full of soup, yummy!!

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  • Binder photo nelliebligh

    25 September 2011

    nelliebligh rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a great way to use up a glut of tomatoes out of your garden as, unlike other recipes using fresh tomatoes, you don't have to skin them first! The soup came out lovely and creamy but I made sure I blended it on the highest setting to get rid of any bits. I have frozen quantities of the soup and it still tastes great after defrosting and heating.

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  • Binder photo Lisa Jayne Burchell

    25 September 2011

    Lisa Jayne Burchell commented on this recipe

    This is a really tasty receipe, really easy to make although it was a bit runny i just added some more tomatos. even my 4 and 6 yr old ate it, good way of getting carrot,onion and tomato into them without them realising too xx did miss out celery as i dont like it lol

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  • Binder photo moff

    28 September 2011

    moff commented on this recipe

    Made this soup for the first time, it was delicious and just hit the spot after a swim in the sea. going to make another batch with the glut in the garden and try freezing

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  • Binder photo kpnuts

    28 September 2011

    kpnuts rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious! Lots of tomatoes left in the greenhouse so decided to make this and glad I did! Don't think the leftover will make it to the freezer!

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  • Binder photo cinemike

    29 September 2011

    cinemike rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Mmmmm yummy. Usually I am not that taken with tomato soup but, in spite of having a flavour note totally unlikethe tinned variety, it is subtler and gives the impression of being really substantial. Only four stars as the uniformity of the flavour can become a bit tiresome. But if it's tomato soup you want... let it be this one!!

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  • Binder photo thynk2much

    30 September 2011

    thynk2much rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    So easy and so truly gorgeous. With a cheese toastie it's perfection :)

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  • Binder photo AliQ

    01 October 2011

    AliQ commented on this recipe

    Terrific recipe. I changed a few things to suit what I had in the cupboard. Dropped the celery and used about 900ml of stock. Added some garlic and a couple of teaspoons of sundried tomato pesto. Really tastey and so thrilled to finally find a tomato soup recipe that uses fresh whole tomatoes. Will definitely be making this again, and again!

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  • Binder photo Belinda

    05 October 2011

    Belinda rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really great easy recipe. I added some chilli jam to the recipe instead of the sugar and reduced the amount of stock to make a thicker more intense tasting soup. Will certainly be making this again.

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  • Binder photo Sue

    11 October 2011

    Sue commented on this recipe

    Just about to make this for the second year, a brilliant way of dealing with the remains of the tomato crop. Freezes well and brings the taste of the summer into cold winter days when you defrost it.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4 for lunch or 6 as a starter

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian, Vegan, Low-fat

Ingredients

  • 1-1.25kg/2lb 4oz-2lb 12oz ripe tomatoes
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1 celery stick
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 squirts of tomato purée (about 2 tsp)
  • a good pinch of sugar
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1.2 litres/ 2 pints hot vegetable stock (made with boiling water and 4 rounded tsp bouillon powder or 2 stock cubes)
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Nutrition per serving for four

123 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 13g, fat 7 g, saturated fat 1g, fibre 4g, sugar 1g, salt 1.08 g

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