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When the weather is cold outside, tomato soup and grilled cheese always hit the right spot. The flavors are located somewhere between our favorite childhood memory and the most comforting meal we crave as adults.
Growing up, tomato soup was often made from our home-canned concentrate. I still can the concentrate each year, but I also love to make a quick, fresh soup. The ingredients are simple and almost always what we have in the pantry.
To make this creamy without the heaviness of actual cream, I added white beans. Once the whole soup is blended, the beans become creamy and give just the right texture. It’s an easy swap-out that makes this a dairy-free recipe!
The ingredients that make up this tomato soup
- Butter is the fat used to sauté and is essential to a well-rounded tomato soup. The richness of the butter balances out the acidity of tomatoes.
- Celery, onion, and carrot are the unusual players in this soup. Instead of only tomatoes, these vegetables add an underlyingly full vegetal flavor to enhance the tomatoes. No one will guess they’re in the soup, but will love the flavor.
- Tomato paste is not often found in tomato soup. The paste is condensed tomato and has a concentrated flavor accompanied with some sweetness. This turns the tomato flavor up a notch without adding too much liquid.
- Canned diced tomatoes are tomatoes picked while ripe and instantly canned to retain all of their flavor and freshness. The fresh tomatoes at the grocery store in the off-season are tasteless. These canned tomatoes are always in season.
- White beans are the secret component that makes this a creamy but dairy-free soup. Everyone loves a creamy tomato soup, but the added fat and rich cream can drown out the other flavors. White beans are almost tasteless and provide the best texture.
Tomato soup is oftentimes an afterthought. This recipe brings it back to the forefront of your meal list! The best part is how easy and quick it is to make. While it’s cooking, you can get the grilled cheese ready and soon you’ll have a perfect comforting meal.
More soup recipes
Easy Gazpacho
Creamy Corn Chowder
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Watch how to make this creamy tomato soup
Creamy Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter (or oil to be dairy-free)
- ¾ cup diced celery
- ¾ cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 6-oz can tomato paste
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp celery seed
- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 15-oz can white beans drained
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water (as needed)
Instructions
- Melt butter (or oil) in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, salt, and pepper. Stir and cover to allow the vegetable to soften but not brown, 4-5 minutes.2 tbsp unsalted butter (or oil to be dairy-free), ¾ cup diced celery, ¾ cup diced carrot, 1 cup diced onion, 1 ½ tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Once the vegetables have softened and released some liquid, add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook the tomato paste until it has darkened and wants to coat the bottom of the saucepan, 2-3 minutes.2 cloves garlic, 1 6-oz can tomato paste
- Add the chili flakes and celery seed and stir. Pour in the tomatoes, white beans, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the carrots are fully soft, 15-20 minutes.½ tsp red pepper flakes, ½ tsp celery seed, 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, 1 15-oz can white beans, 1 cup water (as needed)
- Once the carrots are fully soft, remove the soup from the heat and add the apple cider vinegar. Pour the soup into a blender canister. Leave the vent on the lid open and cover with a dishcloth to allow the steam to escape. Blend until smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes. Return to the saucepan and keep warm until ready to serve.1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Wonderful soup!
Love tomato soup very eager to try your recipe. Recipe sounds very good.
I made this today and it is very tasty. I used some leftover cooked lentils in place of white beans and added a bit of white wine. I cut back on some of the chili flakes and it is still pretty spicy, but delicious! Thanks Kaleb.
I love the texture after I ran it through the Vitamix, The white beans does mute the flavor of the true tomato taste so if not for the tomato paste it wouldn’t work. The only real change I made was no celery seed (I don’t like the texture of it, especially in something that has no texture.) I added a big pinch of dried basil. I served with a good drizzle of tasting olive oil, freshly cracked pepper and a grating or two of parm. It was delicious with dad’s corny cornbread. I’d say this one is a keeper. I love the bean idea – I always forget about creamy white beans. I used cannelloni beans this time.
This recipe is tomato soup perfection. There is nothing I would change!
Celery seed adds to it and “disappears” completely except for flavor 😋
This soup was incredible! Very easy and cost effective! Full of flavor and super creamy! My teenager could stop saying how it was so much better than the can and was more filling and had more flavor. It took about the same amount of time that a can would without all that added stuff we don’t need! Can’t wait to make it again!
This soup is I N C R E D I B L E. Quite possibly the best soup I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. It was very easy to make and was so full of flavor. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. I will DEFINITELY be making it again!
Just made the dairy free tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches!!!! My family loved it!!! My son-in-law said: “Best tomato soup I ever had! Freakin Awesome Soup!”
Hi from Montréal, Quebec, cda.
Tried your soup and will certainly make it again. Very different from other tomato soups I have made. Thank you , love the bean addition.
Made the soup for dinner tonight and I tasted it made herself a tiny bowl just to see how it was an oh my gosh I love it gonna do with grilled cheese with it thank you Kakeb for always bringing fresh ideas with the healthy twist… to a classic recipe. I think I’ve made just about everything you’ve put out there I love it all looking forward to the next video
This was a big disappointment. Despite all the veggies & beans, vinegar & butter, it tasted overwhelmingly like canned tomatoes. Maybe we’ve gotten spoiled by the flavor & texture of Trader Joe’s tomato & red pepper soup, which we love & I usually doctor up with veggies. This was a lot of work for no improvement on a boxed store product.
We’ll try to salvage this by using it as marinara. Hopefully, a whole wheat pasta with some sautéed spinach & mushrooms will cut the flavor of canned tomatoes.
Hello! I’m glad you tried the tomato soup recipe and it is too bad it was not to your liking. I understand when we have something we love already love it is hard to live up to that. There are so many people that enjoy this recipe but I know not everyone will. Hope you can salvage it as you mentioned.
This soup is excellent! Also made the sourdough grilled cheese, with a smoked Gouda and triple cream Brie with wild mushrooms in it (Trader Joe’s). Put a slice of red roasted pepper in the sandwich.
Will be making this again.
Thank you Kaleb
Something is wrong, it tastes any too peppery to eat. I think there is a typo.
I’d love more information on your canning of this home base concentrate. Tomato soup . I love canning . This soup is delicious. Thank you
This soup turned out delicious! I cut down the amount of chili flakes because of picky eaters and it had just the right amount of heat. I also used canned fire roasted tomatoes with garlic that I thought gave it a great smoky flavor. I will totally be adding this to my collection of soup recipes. Also loved the fact that this was dairy free and healthy! Thanks Wyseguide!
OMGEEEEE KALEB!!
Made this tonight just as written, after studying your video & reading instructions a couple of times! Then SHOWTIME 😁 This IS the BEST homemade tomato soup ever! You hit it out of the park!! My husband can’t stop, ooooh, mmmmm, yummm, oh honey, this is THE BOMB!! We can’t thank you enough for making our mealtimes SO delicious & special! Cheers!!
I loved this creamy soup. I cut down the pepper flakes for the first try, but it still had a slight kick. Full of flavor and loved that it doesn’t have higher calorie dairy.
Thanks so much for sharing. It’s now a favorite.
KALEB!! My husband won’t stop ooooh-ing & ahhh-ing over this recipe!! Made it just as a written, watched the video and OMG this is a huge hit!! Honestly, I had no idea that you could make homemade tomato soup! I just can’t believe how this recipe is so over the top with flavor!!
Thank you for making our meals so happy and delicious!!
Great recipe!
Subtle spice, great texture, simple ingredients & cost friendly!
XOXO
This soup isn’t dairy free because of the butter. Can you substitute plant butter. We have dairy/ lactose intolerant folks in the family.
Substitute the butter with oil. Very tasty. 8/10
Love making your receipts! Thankyou for sharing, and by the way, I love your Kitchen!😄👍
Fantastic recipe! I made it today. The soup is really delicious with a great texture and good tomato flavor. I used cayenne pepper instead of chili flakes and added some smoked paprika. Thanks!
I liked the sound of the soup and tried to follow the recipe. Im in Scotland, we dont use cup measures so it was difficult. No celery seed locally and dont know what your white beans are-i used butter beans first time, cannelloni beans second time. Have to say i really really liked it! Will be a very regular soup and i actually think it tastes better without cream 🙂. Thanks for a great recipe.
This was fantastic! I think it tasted better than dairy based ones. Thank you!
I’m making this for a large group. I added some sugar and ketchup because it was a little to acidic. It tastes great.
Love your cooking videos those I’ve watched so far, the ingredients are usually pretty basic other than having to pick up fresh herbs etc. and straight forward. I’m trying the ham and potato chowder today.
This soup is so good . I will definitely be making it again.
Made this today for dinner, YUM! 2 Points on WW!
Love this soup. So creamy. Since there’s no cream, can this soup be frozen?
I love watching your show and have learned a lot from it. I have severe arthritis and have not cooked much for a few years, but you do have some recipes that are not too complicated, like this tomato soup, and I have started cooking again some times.
Kaleb, I can’t wait to make this. Do you know, is there any reason why I couldn’t use an immersion blender right in the pan? I love that bad boy and try to use it when I can! Thanks!
Kaleb this is another winner! I love tomato soup, and this recipe was absolutely delicious! Super easy to make too!
This sounds like am excellent recipe and ways to get more vegetables in your diet. And it is perfect in a cold wintry day. Thank you. I’m hungry for this now!
Hi, Kaleb-
Here’s an easy question, I hope. I’m a novice cook and tend to follow recipes as written. I’m not brave enough yet to improvise!
Your ingredients list includes 2 cloves of garlic. At what point in the process are the cloves added? After peeling them and cutting off the root area, can I assume it’s chopped? I viewed the associated video for this recipe and after you “smash” the garlic, it’s never mentioned or shown again.
Thank you!
Made this for lunch today! I love that it’s easy to make for a novice cook like me, and that it’s heart healthy with the bean substituting for dairy. Also a win that I can use the leftovers as a pasta sauce probably! Only change I made was adding a pack of sazon, because I put sazon in everything. 😂😂😂 Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Kaleb
In your video, you mentioned that you have canned this soup. Are you willing to provide the detais of how to do this?
Many thanks.
This soup was delicious!! I made it last winter and could not get enough! Now we are in canning season and I wonder, have you ever canned this? I think I’m going to try today!
This recipe is tomato soup perfection. There is nothing I would change!
I’ve tried numerous tomato soup recipes (inc. Martha Stewart’s) and this is the best and very healthy. Kaleb, your videos are so informative and you have such a fun, positive personality. Thank u for your hard work!
So amazingly pleased with your dairy free tomato soup. My husband was smitten and commented numerous times about it. Very good. Can’t wait to make it for my healthy friends! And can’t wait to make more of your recipes. I imagine you have a list of your person faves or top ten. Surfing now … thank you , Kaleb.