A velvety, delicious Vegan Tomato Soup that you can make with canned tomatoes or with the bounty of tomatoes and herbs from your summer garden. A soy-free recipe, can be nut-free and gluten-free.
This creamy Vegan Tomato Soup is what I make when my son, Jay, gets the sniffles and it hits the spot every time, summer, winter, spring or fall.
Let me start out by telling you that Jay used to hate soup. Any soup. In fact, the word "soup" would send him into a tizzy, as it did when I told him I was making this tomato soup. He literally looked mad as he sat down at the kitchen table, as only a pre-teen who's still a child at heart could look when he thinks he's going to have to eat something he doesn't want to.
When he saw me pour in the tomatoes, his eyes brightened up for a few seconds because he thought I was making marinara, his favorite pasta sauce. When I told him I wasn't, the scowl came right back.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I did make Jay take a sip of this soup and the next thing that came out of his suddenly-grinning mouth was, "Mom, this tastes like pizza!"
There you go.
You can't do much better with tomato soup than make it taste like pizza, can you?
Seriously, this soup really is quite amazing. And delicious. It's creamy and smooth and it's also quite easy to make.
My favorite way to serve it is with a drizzle of cashew cream and a handful of croutons. It makes a wonderful light meal by itself, or it complements any main course perfectly.
Since tomatoes are king here, use great tomatoes. Canned plum tomatoes are ideal, I love using San Marzano. But since it's also summer and you probably have a surplus of tomatoes from your garden on hand if you're a grower, use those instead. Blanch the tomatoes first, peel them, and then puree them.
You can look into your summer herb garden for flavoring your soup. Fresh basil and thyme make this soup extra delicious. But if dry is all you have, that works too.
You can add vegetable stock to your recipe, but I actually prefer using just water to keep the soup as tomatoey as possible. There's lots of flavor here with the onions and the garlic and the herbs.
Some tomato soup recipes puree just the tomatoes before adding them to the pot, some don't puree at all, but I like to puree everything toward the end before reheating through and stirring in the cashew cream. I love how smooth and velvety the texture is, and so does Jay.
Extra virgin olive oil
Garlic
Onion
Red pepper flakes
All purpose flour (use gluten-free all purpose flour for a gf version of the soup)
Plum tomatoes like San Marzano (or freshly pureed tomatoes. Blanch and peel if using fresh tomatoes)
Fresh thyme (can use dry)
Fresh basil (can use dry)
Raw cashews
Salt and ground black pepper
Vegan Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 large onion (finely diced)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 tablespoon all purpose flour (use gluten-free all purpose flour for a gf version of the soup)
- 28 oz plum tomatoes like San Marzano (or freshly pureed tomatoes. If using canned, place the tomatoes and their juices in a bowl and squish with your fingers to break the tomatoes down.)
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 3-4 leaves basil
- 4 tablespoon cashew cream (made by blending two tablespoons of cashews with two tablespoons of water into a very smooth pate. You can make more to sprinkle on the soup before serving. Leave out if nut-free, or use a cream made by blending an equal amount of pumpkin seeds with water).
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the garlic and oil in a large pot and heat over medium. Stir the garlic until it starts to turn a light blonde.
- Add the onions and some salt and ground black pepper. Saute, stirring frequently, until the onions soften but do not brown, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the red pepper flakes all purpose flour and saute until it starts to change color and smells fragrant. Now add in the tomatoes along with two cups of water, the thyme and basil. Stir well, then bring to a boil, cover, lower heat to a point where it just simmers, and cook for 30-40 minutes.
- After the soup is cooked, you can eat as is, but I really like a smooth texture, so I puree it further in a blender or with a hand blender. Be very careful when working with hot liquids, following blender manufacturer instructions, and cool the soup first if necessary.
- Place the blended soup back in the pot, add water if it's too thick, and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper as needed, then stir in the cashew cream.
- Serve hot with crusty bread or croutons.
Nutrition
Wanda
By far the best tomato soup I’ve tried, and I’ve tried many.