Two-in-One Tomato Soup Recipe
Tomato Soup today and bonus Oil for later
Is it the end of summer and you’re swimming in tomatoes? Want an easy way to use them all up? I’ve got an easy roasted tomato soup recipe with an extra bonus: flavored oil to use as a starter for any savory sautéing.
DISCLOSURES and THOUGHTS:
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Homemade Tomato Soup is ALWAYS better than canned
If you are in the habit of making food from scratch, especially with home-grown ingredients, you know that homemade is always better than canned. This holds true with tomato soup. The flavors of homemade roasted tomato soup are well worth the time and, truthfully, it hardly takes much hands-on time. In fact, I bet if I upgraded my immersion blender, this soup would be even quicker! Anyone have experience with a really good immersion blender they recommend? Let me know in the comments please!
First, Choose your Herbs and Spices
I love to throw in a quick mix of dehydrated flavors. My favorites include 1-2 Tbsp of these:
ginger, garlic, salt, and thyme
These get sprinkled over the each tomato-packed baking sheet. If you have any fresh from the garden, it’s great to use these as well.
Other flavors to consider include:
-Basil, your classic pairing with this soup
-Onion
-Rosemary, which I add to at least half of my meals each week. Next recipe I share will be my Upgraded Mac and Cheese recipe, which is the easiest way to get a fast and kid-friendly, yet elevated, dinner on the table.
-Black Pepper
-The herbs and spices you like!
Now all you need is a little extra oil and a rimmed baking sheet
The best part of my recipe, if you can call it a recipe since I never make it the same way twice, is that all you need is a little extra oil to get a flavor-packed meal starter for almost any food. To make roasted tomato soup and get your bonus oil, simply add your fresh tomatoes, throw in any herbs and spices you like, then add oil to heavily coat everything.
Important Note on Your Equipment: You need a rimmed baking sheet. My favorite is the silicone sheet because they're so easy to use, store, and clean. When I was first married, I got this DeMarle one from a house party and I've used it for over ten years now. You will need a metal pan underneath it.
Side Note: I also use silicone mats (I have the medium and large sizes) with the medium and large perforated metal liners for 99.9% of all my baking and roasting. Find one you like and you might never go back to the metal baking sheets. Follow me on IG and you'll see my sheets in action or look down at the next set of pictures to see how easy they are to use in this specific recipe.
Back to the oil, add as much or as little as you’d like. I fill up a quarter to half of my rimmed baking sheet.
Make sure to start with the silicone sheets on your metal/aluminum baking sheet because they’re flimsy all on their own. Ask me how I found out how important this is, or simply imagine this tricky, slightly messy situation for yourself. If you don’t have or like the silicone rimmed sheets, any metal baking sheet or I imagine even glass pyrex 9×13″ pans would work. Anything you can roast in that has an edge will work.
Main Tomato Soup Recipe Directions
Once you’ve harvested, washed, and cut (if using anything besides cherry tomatoes) the tomatoes and added spices and oil, you’re ready to roast your tomatoes and spices at 350F for 45 min or until the skins have cracked.
Using tongs, move the roasted tomatoes into your pot. Add your broth, then use an immersion blender to make a smooth soup. I like to remove most of the skins, around 3/4 of them, to make it more palatable. (Depending on the day and current mood in the house, my family doesn’t always enjoy the soup if it has skins.) Removing the skins also helps my immersion blender to continue to work as the skins stick in the sides and clog it up.
I’ve always used an immersion blender, but you can also move your tomatoes straight from the oven tray into the blender and then add all the ingredients into the blender. I cook in large quantities because I love leftovers to freeze and to eat later in the week. Using a blender would require moving multiple batches of hot liquids around so in my opinion it’s an extra step that takes more time. I find it’s easiest to have one pot, a quick rinse of the immersion blender, and a little extra nutrition.
Have you ever had tomato soup that wasn't smooth? When I was young I frequented my cousins house. One time my my aunt served tomato soup for lunch. I was shocked when I saw chunks of tomato in my soup. I'm sure I finished it, but I'm not sure I loved the new experience. I'd love to try it again now that I have a more open mind. Take this as your sign that if you like a little something to chew, you don't have to use the immersion blender until it's completely smooth.
Once you’ve blended the tomatoes, add cream or half-and-half until you achieve your desired consistency and creaminess. Serve your soup hot with a side of yummy garlic bread and a salad. Delicious, nutritious, and easy dinner is served.
Why do I keep the skins on my fruits and veggies if possible?
There are higher concentrations of phytochemicals, which are the nutritious compounds our body uses to stay healthy and function well, in the skins and peels of plants. This is why I hardly ever peel my potatoes before mashing or my carrots before cutting and eating them.1
Also, fiber. Skins provide a little extra fiber, which the average American lacks. This is one easy hack to get a little more fiber in your meal.
Reserve the Oil until after the Meal
Leave all the juicy, oily goodness on the tray until you’ve taken care of your soup. I prefer to leave mine until after dinner when I’m cleaning up because it’s had a chance to cool down. Grab yourself an ice cube tray. Pour the oil from the silicone tray into your trays. To save on messes, just commit to the process and pour out all the oil into the trays in one go.
Put the ice cube tray into the freezer and let the oil solidify. I check on mine the next morning. Because my ice cube trays are old school with no lids, I like to pop the oil cubes out of the tray and store them in a bag in the freezer until I’m ready to use them.
If you’ve only ever used your refrigerator ice maker and don’t have any ice cube trays, then do yourself a favor and get ones with silicone bottoms to help the oil cubes pop out easily.
How to Use Flavored Oil for Cooking
The possibilities are endless for using these perfect oil cubes. Depending on your ice cube trays, they should hold 1-2 Tbsp of oil so you’re getting the perfect amount tostart to any recipe. They’re an easy way to add flavor without having to open the spice drawer each time. You also get the added bonus of all the phytonutrients and vegetable broth from the tomatoes, ginger, garlic, etc that you added to your tomato soup.
My flavored oil cubes usually have more of the red-orange broth on the bottom and a small layer of the oil on the top. This will happen naturally as the tomatoes crack and the juices come out as they roast. It’s part of what gives such a good flavor.
Some ways I’ve used the oil include:
-Scrambled Eggs. Add the frozen flavored oil cube(s)into my pan to heat up. If I’m cooking for my whole family, and I’m planning on 7+ eggs, I use at least two cubes. Add whisked mixture of eggs and milk. When eggs are still slightly moist, add mozzarella (or your favorite) cheese. This is probably my favorite way to use them because it’s so quick for such a delicious breakfast.
-Sautéing any green vegetable. Think Kale, Swiss Chard, Spinach, etc.
-Replacing the butter with the flavored oil in mashed potatoes.
-Replace olive oil at the beginning of any savory recipe.
Two-in-One Tomato Soup
Equipment
- Rimmed Silicone or Metal Baking Sheet
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 7-9 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Colander Fresh Tomatoes, washed can be cherry or cubed big tomatoes
- 1-2 Tbsp Ginger, powdered Use fresh if you have it as well
- 2-3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 1-2 tsp Salt
- 1-2 Tbsp garlic, powdered Use fresh if you have it as well
- 4-5 cups broth veggie, chicken, or whatever you prefer
- 1-2 cups cream half and half can be substituted with less broth and more half and half
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Wash tomatoes. If using cherry tomatoes, place on rimmed baking sheet. If using bigfer varieties, cut into smaller pieces and then place on rimmed baking sheet.
- Add oil to cover tomatoes. Any extra will be the flavorful oil you freeze for quick and flavorful meal starters.
- Add any spices you like – I like ginger, thyme, salt, and garlic. I use 1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme, and a fine dusting of garlic, a little bit of powdered ginger and salt.
- Roast in oven for 45 minutes or until you see the tomato skins cracking and the oil bubbling and smell the tomatoes and spices.
- Remove from oven and use tongs to move tomatoes from the tray into pot. Save oil on tray for later.
- Add broth (or water and add your own spices to taste).
- Use immersion blender to make a smooth soup. If you don't mind the tomato skins, feel free to leave them in. I find it's difficult to use the immersion blender with all the skins still in the soup, so I take out 3/4 of the skins. If you like a completely smooth soup feel free to remove them all.
- Add cream or half and half to desired creaminess.
- Leave the oil on the tray to cool while eating dinner. Then, before the oil starts solidifying, pick up the tray and pour it into the ice cube trays.
- Place oil in freezer for a couple hours (or overnight) and then remove from the ice cube tray and store in plastic baggies.
Notes
I love making a big batch of this in the summer and freezing some for when the days get a little shorter and the temperature drops a few degrees. I hope it makes it onto your seasonal menu too.
Want a garnish that’s as fancy as it is healthy, try your hand at growing your own sprouts.
If you’re ready to grow flowers along with tomatoes, read about a few of my favorites in this journal entry.
