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Last Updated on September 24, 2023 by Jess
I’ve always enjoyed a grilled cheese and some tomato soup. It wasn’t on my top list of favorites, but it definitely provides a source of comfort. Then I started baking sourdough bread and let me tell you, homemade sourdough quite possibly makes the best grilled cheese you’ll ever have. It’s been my “easy lunch” on the weekend countless times because it makes me so happy. Wait, you don’t bake sourdough…yet? What are you waiting for? Check it out here!
Okay, I digress. Sourdough grilled cheese is incredible, but tomato soup makes it so much better. And alas, we don’t generally have it on hand anymore since I make my own soups from scratch (I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to soup…it’s a bit of an obsession). But recently it was chilly out and I just needed tomato soup. I looked around my fridge and pantry and put this together in flash…along with a grilled cheese of course.
A few notes from me: Most tomato soups (and creamy soups in general) call for heavy cream. I never have that on hand, and I like to make soups with things that I have on hand. I find that milk works just fine and makes for a slightly lighter soup without compromising too much. If you dig a creamier soup, feel free to use heavy cream rather than milk. If you haven’t noticed yet, I like to sneak all the veggies I can into a meal. It’s how I roll. This soup isn’t any different. Finally, this soup makes use of an immersion blender/stick blender (click here to see which one I have). If you don’t have one, it’s a pretty sweet kitchen gadget that has tons of uses and doesn’t take up too much space. I recommend it 🙂
Okay, let’s get cooking!
Your ingredients:
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced zucchini (about 1 small)
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes (I used one salt free and one garlic seasoned), NOT drained
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 cups chicken stock/broth
- 1 cup milk (I used 1%)
- 1/2 tablespoon honey (to taste)
Directions:
Heat oil over medium heat in a large kettle. Once hot, add carrot, onion salt, pepper, and basil. Sauté for 8-10 minutes, until soft. Add minced garlic, zucchini, cooking for an addition 5-8 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and allow to just caramelize. (If you are worried about burning it, you can skip the caramelize). Stir in diced tomatoes and chicken stock. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes, making sure your vegetables are nice and soft. Hit all your soup goodness with the immersion blender and blend until smooth (a shorter time if you want texture, a longer time if you want a more commercial tomato soup). Slowly stir in milk and honey. Leave over the heat until warm.
If you want a thicker soup, feel free to allow it to cook down a little bit. But if you’re like me at all, you’ll just be itching to get that warm goodness in your belly and you’ll eat it right away, complete with a grilled cheese. Yum!
So Simple Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced zucchini about 1 small
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes NOT drained
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 cups chicken stock/broth
- 1 cup milk I used 1%
- 1/2 tablespoon honey to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large kettle. Once hot, add carrot, onion salt, pepper, and basil. Sauté for 8-10 minutes, until soft.
- Add minced garlic, zucchini, cooking for an addition 5-8 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste and allow to just caramelize. (If you are worried about burning it, you can skip the caramelize).
- Stir in diced tomatoes and chicken stock. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes, making sure your vegetables are nice and soft.
- Blend until smooth using an immersion blender and blend. (a shorter time if you want texture, a longer time if you want a more commercial tomato soup).
- Slowly stir in milk and honey. Leave over the heat until warm.
- If you want a thicker soup, feel free to allow it to cook down a little bit.
Looking for other soup recipes?
Check out some of the recipes below!
Hi Jess,
I have frozen whole tomatoes from last year’s bounty with this year’s waiting to ripen on the kitchen table. My summer squash is finally gone. Gratefully!
How can I use my frozen tomatoes instead of canned. Can I used an Idaho Russet baker potato for zucchini replacement?
ID Spud, formerly of Mauston, WI
You can totally use frozen tomatoes! I would thaw them and allow the extra liquid to be drained. As for the potato, I am so curious how that would turn out. If I were going to skip the zucchini, I would replace it with more tomato and onion, but man, potato may be interesting. My concern is the water content and texture. Let me know what you decide!