This creamy tomato soup recipe is comfort food at its best! It tastes rich, but it's light and healthy, made with blended chickpeas instead of heavy cream.
I’d say yes to a bowl of this creamy tomato soup every day in the wintertime! It’s exactly the sort of comforting dish I crave on cold, gray days, because it’s wholesome, yet fun. The soup itself is pretty darn healthy, made without any heavy cream or butter. In fact, it’s totally vegan! Still, it has a satisfying creamy texture and rich taste. Wholesome: check.
The fun part of this creamy tomato soup is actually the topping. I load it up with toasty vegan grilled cheese croutons! They add a nice crunch to the creamy soup, and they let you enjoy the classic grilled cheese + tomato soup combo all in one. SO fun, right? Let’s cook!
Creamy Tomato Soup Recipe Ingredients
Because it’s winter, I intended to make this soup using only canned tomatoes, but at the store, I saw some organic fresh tomatoes that looked too good to pass up. I decided to roast them and toss them into the soup in addition to the canned tomatoes. Then, I rounded it out with these key ingredients:
- Roasted onion and garlic add an irresistible, caramelized depth of flavor.
- Chickpeas are the secret ingredient! They make this vegan tomato soup lusciously creamy without any dairy.
- Balsamic vinegar makes it deliciously tangy.
- Fresh thyme adds a lovely herbal note. A handful of fresh basil would be great here too!
- Maple syrup balances the acidic balsamic and tomatoes.
- Extra-virgin olive oil adds richness.
- And a dash of red pepper flakes spices it up.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Creamy Tomato Soup
I like to think of this homemade tomato soup recipe in two easy steps: 1. Roast and 2. Blend.
Here’s how it goes:
- Preheat the oven to 450° and roast the garlic, onion, and fresh tomatoes until tender and browned, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Transfer the roasted veggies to a blender and add the other ingredients.
- Blend to creamy perfection!
- Top with the grilled cheese croutons, if using, and enjoy!
Homemade Tomato Soup Serving Suggestions
This creamy tomato soup is delicious on its own, but the grilled cheese croutons really take it over the top. Of course, regular croutons would be a yummy topping too.
Not in the mood for croutons? That’s ok! Pair this soup with a regular grilled cheese sandwich, avocado toast, homemade focaccia, or crusty bread. I also like it with a salad on the side. This kale salad, this broccoli salad, a Caesar salad, or a chopped salad would all be good choices.
More Favorite Soup Recipes
If you love this creamy tomato soup, try one of these homemade soup recipes next:
- Many-Veggie Vegetable Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Best Lentil Soup
- Black Bean Soup
- Pumpkin Soup
- Vegan Broccoli Soup
- Or any of these 30 Best Soup Recipes!
For 85 more vegan recipes, check out this post!
Creamy Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 4 medium fresh tomatoes* (see note)
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced into quarters
- 1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1/3 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Heaping ½ teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
for the croutons: (optional)
- 8 slices SimplyNature 7 Grain Bread
- heaping ½ cup Earth Grown Vegan Mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Wrap the garlic cloves in a piece of foil and place it on the baking sheet along with the whole tomatoes and the onion wedges. Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes and onions are well browned. Peel the garlic and transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender.
- Reduce the oven heat to 400° F and line the baking sheet with a fresh sheet of parchment paper.
- To the blender, add the canned tomatoes, garbanzo beans, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, thyme leaves, 1 tablespoon olive oil, red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon sea salt, and freshly ground pepper and blend until creamy (a Vitamix is ideal here. If using a regular blender, just blend longer!). Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. At this stage, the soup should still be hot. If not, pour it into a pot to reheat it.
- Make the croutons: Sprinkle 4 slices of the bread with a thin layer of cheese. Top with the remaining bread slices to make sandwiches and drizzle the outsides of the bread with olive oil. Bake until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden brown, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing into croutons so that the cheese doesn’t ooze out when you cut it.
- Serve the soup with the croutons (some in the soup, some on the side) and additional fresh thyme, red pepper flakes, and chickpeas, if desired.
Notes
Special thanks to ALDI for partnering on this post. Click here to find a store near you!
This recipe was amazing and came out delicious! I’m in my late 20s and always have been scared to cook by myself. Last week I saw this recipe and since tomato soup is my favorite, I got the courage to get these very few ingredients and put it together. It came out great and I feel so accomplished. Thank YOU!
absolutely delicious! We will definitely be making this soup again!!!!
If I don’t have any fresh tomatoes, could I still make it? Maybe add some more canned tomatoes?
try this one that uses only canned tomatoes! https://www.loveandlemons.com/creamy-white-bean-tomato-soup/
yum! i love tomato soup but i don’t think i’ve seen a recipe that throws chickpeas in the mix. i’ll definitely have to try it!
Hi,
This recipe looks great. This year, I have been in such a Soup mood. I have yet to find a homemade tomato soup recipe that I want to make over and and over again. I’m hoping this will be that recipe!
I have a question about blending. How would you adapt the recipe if you used an immersion blender rather than blending the soup in a vitamix or other free standing blender? I prefer thick soups so I do not mind if it does not come out completely smooth like in the pictures. I appreciate any insight you may have!
Who knew…chickpeas. I’ve got all these things in my kitchen…no fresh tomatoes…so canned will have to do the trick. How quick and easy and I’m sure will be full of flavor. Since I’m trying to pump the brakes on my bread addiction I think I’ll add some pepitas to the top for a bit of crunch. Thanks for the post!
Do you think a food processer will work here?
it’ll be a chunky soup vs. a creamy soup – I bet it will still be delicious even though the texture will be pretty different. Hope that helps!
Thanks. I don’t have a VitaMix and was afraid my blender wouldn’t be able to handle it but it was fine in my blender. The soup was amazing!
Hi Jeanine
I just happen to come to your blog from pinterest. your images and recipes are so amazing, that I couldn’t help but write a comment. You are doing an amazing job. You just inspired me to cook more! I am definitely going to try this recipe!
Soooooh creamy and delicious on a rainy day – or any day! Didn’t have chickpeas to hand, which is unusual, so tried a couple of handfuls of cous cous instead. A bit wary putting it in blender, as don’t like to mess around with recipes too much. Seemed to work just as well. Your soups are just the best around. Thank You!
Terrrific recipe, thank you! And what a great way to use up the sprouted grain hamburger buns in the freezer. 😉
Yummy..looks delicious! I’ll try this recipe..thanks for sharing!
Looks good to me! 😉
The grilled cheese as crotons is genius!
Excited to cook this this week – have been looking for a tomato soup for awhile that had complex flavor but not a boatload of heavy cream (could’ve tried coconut milk but for some reason tomato soup with coconut milk felt wrong to me – I’m sure I’m off base about that since I love a curry…) and I bet the chickpeas are perfect, plus making it an actual meal with staying power. Looking forward to this.
Hi Addie, I hope you enjoy the soup! I have tried tomato soups with coconut milk and it’s really good too 🙂
GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS?!?! This recipe is pure genius!
Omgosh this looks amazing!! And VEGAN cheese at Aldi ??? #runstoaldirightaway I hope my local Aldi carries it!!
I think all of the stores just started carrying it this January – we really like it, I hope you do too!
Step 2 says to reduce the oven temperature to 400oF, but I can’t seem to see what the original temperature was when roasting the veggies in step 1. What am I missing?
Thanks for another delicious recipe.
fixed! thanks for pointing that out!
thanks for clarifying 🙂 Going to make some right now.
How would you adapt this to using canned tomatoes? Should they still be roasted in the oven?
Hi Ora, I’d make this recipe instead: https://www.loveandlemons.com/creamy-white-bean-tomato-soup/
If you have room in your freezer, you can freeze quartered roma-type tomatoes from the summer glut. I grow my own, but you can get them from a local farmers market when in season. I used to can them but it is a million times easier (and less hot) to just freeze them in bags.
I then use them all winter long for chili, sauce, soups – anything that calls for canned tomatoes, I throw them in. The best part, when defrosting, the skins will come right off. I am fine with the skins (think they add more tomato flavor) but to your taste.
thanks for the tip!
I see my old self in your description of your college self 🙂 Funny what we can live through, eh? Thanks for the super recipe! I look forward to trying it out!
ha yes, I love lemons but can’t recommend the lemon-only diet 🙂