Creamy Basil Tomato Soup

Creamy basil tomato soup is the epitome of comfort food, especially when it is served with a grilled cheese sandwich.  My tomato soup is made with fresh tomatoes so you don’t get that canned tomato flavor.  It has a little celery, carrot, garlic and onion with red bell pepper and a hatch chili pepper all sauteed together before adding the tomatoes.  The veggies add just a little something extra to tomato soup.  The soup is simmered and then pureed and finished off with a little cream, butter and more fresh basil.  There is seriously nothing like the taste of fresh basil!  I serve my tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich that is cut into crouton size bites for dipping.  What could be better than homemade tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich!

What do I need to make creamy basil tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich crouton bites?

For the tomato soup:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium celery stalks, sliced into 1/2″ pieces
• 1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled, cut in half and sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut up into large pieces
• 1 Anaheim or Hatch chili pepper (or jalapeno if you like it spicy), sliced into large pieces (peppers are optional)
• 4 large garlic cloves, sliced into 1/4″ pieces
• 2 1/2 lbs Roma, Campari, or red vine tomatoes cut into halves or fourths, depending on size of tomato (I used a kitchen scale to measure the right amount)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper (to taste)
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, reduced salt
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter or plant based butter with olive oil
• 1/4 cup basil, cut chiffonade style or chopped (to chiffonade basil stack the leaves, roll them up and cut into thin strips or ribbons)
• More basil for garnish, whole or chiffonade
• Fresh cracked pepper (optional)

For the grilled cheese sandwich crouton bites:

• 12 slices of bread (your choice – I used whole wheat bread but I also like a thick granny bread type for grilled cheese sandwiches).
• 6 slices of your choice of cheese (I used a colby jack cheese with peppers).
• Butter

How to make creamy basil tomato soup:

• Cut up all of the vegetables and tomatoes (veggies can be quite chunky).
• Saute the celery, carrot, onion, red bell pepper and Hatch chili pepper (optional) in olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until vegetables start to become tender.  Add the sliced garlic and saute veggies for another 1 minute.  Stir vegetables frequently while cooking to avoid burning.
• Add the tomatoes to the vegetables and stir to combine everything.
• Add brown sugar, salt, pepper, tomato paste and chicken broth and stir.  Simmer on medium to medium low heat for about 20-30 minutes or until all vegetables and tomatoes are soft.

• Puree tomato soup by using an immersion blender (can puree in the dutch oven) or use a blender and puree in batches until mixture is the texture that you desire.  There may still be a few chunks of vegetables but it should be mostly smooth.
• Transfer the soup back to the Dutch oven if you used blender to puree it.  Add the heavy cream, butter and fresh basil.  Stir to combine and melt the butter.
• To serve add additional fresh basil and fresh cracked pepper if desired on top of soup in individual serving bowls.  Serve with grilled cheese sandwich crouton bites on the side or place a few croutons on top of the soup.

How to make grilled cheese sandwich crouton bites:

• Butter bottom slice of bread and place it butter side down. (Make sure you butter bread to the edges.)  I used a plant based butter with olive oil and it was delicious!
• Add slice of cheese to bread.
• Place top slice of bread on top of cheese and butter it generously to the edges.
• Grill bread in frying pan on medium to medium high heat taking care not to burn it.  Bread should be browned like picture above.
• Turn bread and grill other side.  Cheese should be melted.  Turn heat down after you brown the first side to medium low so it doesn’t burn.
• Cut the grilled cheese sandwich into thirds both ways so you have nine small crouton bites.  Serve alongside your soup or you can place some of them in the soup with the fresh basil.

Storage of creamy basil tomato soup:

• Cool soup and store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in a covered container.
• Only make enough grilled cheese sandwiches for how many servings you will use for one meal.  Make additional grilled cheese sandwiches to eat with leftovers so it is warm and fresh.
• This recipe makes 6 large servings of soup and 6 grilled cheese sandwiches.
• I would not recommend freezing this soup.

Other delicious soup recipes:

Turkey Meatball Tortellini Soup

Vegetable Minestrone Soup

Blended Creamy Vegetable Soup

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Creamy Basil Tomato Soup

LeAnn

Creamy basil tomato soup is the epitome of comfort food, especially when it is served with a grilled cheese sandwich. The perfect meal!!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Calories 210 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium celery stalks, sliced into 1/2" pieces
• 1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled, cut in half and sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, cut up into fairly large pieces
• 1 Anaheim or Hatch chili pepper, cut up into fairly large pieces. Can use jalapeno instead if you like heat. Pepper is optional.
• 4 large garlic cloves, sliced into 1/4" pieces
• 2 1/2 lbs Roma, Campari, or red vine tomatoes cut in halves or fourths depending on size of tomato so they are in chunks. I weighed mine on a food scale.
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, reduced sodium
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp butter or plant based butter with olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade or chop
• More fresh basil for garnish, whole or chiffonade
• Fresh cracked pepper if desired

For grilled cheese sandwich crouton bites:

• 12 slices bread of your choice. (I used whole wheat bread but I also like a thick granny bread type for grilled cheese sandwiches).
• 6 slices your choice of cheese (I used a colby jack cheese with peppers).
• Butter for bread

Instructions

 

• Cut up all of the vegetables and tomatoes (veggies can be quite chunky).
• Saute the celery, carrot, onion, red bell pepper and Hatch chili pepper (optional) in olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until vegetables start to become tender.  Add the sliced garlic and saute veggies for another 1 minute. Stir vegetables frequently while cooking to avoid burning.
• Add the tomatoes to the vegetables and stir to combine everything. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper, tomato paste and chicken broth and stir.  Simmer on medium to medium low heat for about 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables and tomatoes are soft.
• Puree tomato soup by using an immersion blender (can puree in the Dutch oven) or use a blender and puree in batches until mixture is the texture that you desire.  There may still be a few chunks of vegetables but it should be mostly smooth.
• Transfer the soup back to the Dutch oven if you used blender to puree it.  Add the heavy cream, butter and fresh basil.  Stir to combine and melt the butter.
• Add additional fresh basil and freshly cracked pepper to top of soup in individual serving bowls if desired. You may place a few grilled cheese sandwich bites on top of soup or serve on the side.
• Calories for 1 serving of soup is 210.

For grilled cheese sandwich crouton bites:

• Butter bottom slice of bread and place it butter side down. (Make sure you butter bread to the edges.)  I used a plant based butter with olive oil and it was delicious!
• Add slice of cheese to bread. Place top slice of bread on top of cheese and butter it generously to the edges.
• Grill bread in frying pan on medium to medium high heat taking care not to burn it.  Bread should be browned and cheese starting to melt. Turn bread and grill other side. Turn heat down after you brown the first side to medium low so it doesn't burn. When second side is brown and cheese melted, remove the sandwich from the frying pan.
• Cut the grilled cheese sandwich into thirds both ways so you have nine small crouton bites.  Serve alongside your soup or you can place some of them in the soup with the fresh basil.
• Calories for 1 grilled cheese sandwich is approximately 334 (made with whole wheat bread at 70 calories a slice). My cheese was 90 calories per slice.

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