Easy Tomato Soup (no cream)
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This delicious easy tomato soup requires just a few inexpensive pantry staples and comes together in less than 30 minutes.
It’s tasty and genuinely silky (without using any dairy!), and it’s also vegan, low calorie, gluten free, low carb and packed with health benefits. Winning!
How great is to whip up a homemade tomato soup with a handful of cupboard essentials, rather than buying canned soups loaded with sodium and high fructose corn syrup? That’s definitely a no brainer, and perfect for tight budgets too.
And the natural flavour of good-quality canned tomatoes is delicious enough that you need very little to make a beautiful, healthy soup.
All you have to do is saute’ the onion slowly in olive oil until soft and sweet. That lends a natural sweetness and makes your flavor base with only two ingredients.
Add tomatoes, cook for 20 minutes, season to your taste, blend until lusciously smooth… and serve with these easy panini, soft olive focaccia, or croutons.
It’s that easy!
List of the ingredients
- Good-quality canned whole tomatoes (diced tomatoes are ok too)
- Olive oil or extra virgin olive oil
- Onion (any color)
- Vegetable broth or water
- Fresh basil (optional)
- Salt & pepper
- Pinch of sugar (optional)
How to make easy tomato soup
(Note: this is a quick description with step-by-step photos, the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)
- Add the sliced onion and olive oil to the pot.
- Season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft (about 8 mins).
- Add tomatoes, water or broth, salt, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning, add fresh basil leaves (optional), and blend until completely smooth. I used a Vitamix, but a powerful immersion hand blender is fine and allows you to puree the soup straight into the pot.
RECIPE NOTES & TIPS
Easy tomato soup ingredients
CANNED TOMATOES: I think the whole peeled tomatoes are the best canned tomatoes. They are less watery, fleshier and have a richer sauce than their diced counterparts. However, good-quality diced tomatoes are ok too.
ONION: any color is fine, and you can dice, slice, or chop it, the easier the better. Cooking the onion slowly in a small amount of fat adds extra flavor and sweetness. Make sure it’s soft, translucent and sweet, if it gets too brown it will lend a sharp aftertaste.
BROTH OR WATER: I used low-sodium vegetable broth, but you can use your favorite broth or even chicken stock if you don’t keep it vegan, just make sure to adjust the seasoning at the end. You can use simply water if you don’t have broth on hand.
SUGAR: although optional, a pinch of sugar helps to adjust the acidity from tomatoes which varies from brand to brand.
I like to keep it simple and for busy people, but if you happen to have some potatoes on hand, feel free to turn the recipe into a tomato soup with potatoes. It will be delicious either ways!
Can I freeze this easy tomato soup?
Yes, tomato soup leftovers freeze beautifully. Make sure to cool the soup completely in the refrigerator before transferring to the freezer.
Are canned tomatoes good for you?
The humble, underrated canned tomatoes actually provide an impressive amount of healthy benefits.
They’re low calories and packed with nutrients like vitamins, beta-carotene, fiber, and a powerful antioxidant called Lycopene, a cancer-fighting with heart, bone, and skin benefits.
On a label, you want to see the fewest ingredients possible: tomatoes, salt, and water or tomato juice. Big bonus if they’re organic too.
More recipes featuring canned tomatoes
It’s a good idea to stock on on budget-friendly, convenient canned tomatoes. Here are a few ideas of how to use this super versatile cupboard staple:
More vegan easy soups
Here are a few more favorites:
- Vegan broccoli soup
- 15 Healthy low-calorie soups
- Garlic vegan chickpea soup
- Swiss chard soup with lentils
- Green lentil soup
- Vegan black bean soup
If you make this easy tomato soup, or you have a question, let me know by leaving a comment. I would love to hear from you! x
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Easy Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium-sized onion (any color), peeled and sliced
- 1 pinch salt & pepper
- 2 cans (28oz in total) canned whole tomatoes (diced are ok too)
- ¾ cup (180 ml) vegetable broth or water
- ¼ tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- sugar, to taste (optional)
- 1 handful basil leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven, add the onion, a pinch of salt, some cracked black pepper, and saute' over medium-heat until the onion is soft and sweet (translucent, and not too brown). It takes about 7-8 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, broth, salt, and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid, cook for about 20 minutes, and stir occasionally.
- Turn the heat off, let it cool for a few minutes, taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. You might want to add a pinch of sugar at this point to balance the acidity of the tomatoes, that varies from brand to brand.
- Add a handful of basil leaves, and blend until smooth using an immersion blender or transferring the soup to a blender. Be careful, the steam is hot.
- Divide the soup into 3 bowls, add some freshly cracked pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and serve with crusty bread.
Notes
- Leftovers: it keeps well in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. It’s also freezable: place any leftover tomato soup in an airtight container (leaving 1-inch space at the top), and freeze up to 3 months.
- Seasoning: If you use a broth that tastes quite salty on its own, it’s important to adjust the seasoning at the end and not at the beginning as you never really know how strong the salt from the broth is. I used ¼ tsp of fine salt with low sodium vegetable broth.
- NOTE: Please note that the nutrition values are based on an online nutrition calculator. It’s an estimate only and it should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. The nutrition values are for one serving (a bit more than 1 cup), and the final drizzle of olive oil is not included.
Quick and easy to make. I used an emersion blender to make the soup smooth. Good vegan option.
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, Mary!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe : )
Could use this recipe where it calls for tomato soup in a recipe.? My mom use to make Sloppy Joe’s with tomato soup but since I have low cholesterol I’m trying to stay away from processed foods. I love the recipe because it doesn’t use butter and doesn’t have alot of ingredients.
Yes Tina, you can use this simple homemade tomato soup for other recipes if you wish. x