This restaurant-style Tomato Soup is made with fresh tomatoes, onions, herbs and cream for a smooth texture. The flavor is mildly tangy with natural sweetness from ripe tomatoes. The soup is cooked from scratch using simple ingredients and aromatics. Serve hot as a starter or light meal with bread or croutons.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Soup, Starters
  • Cuisine: American, World

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter (or extra virgin olive oil)
  • 2 bay leaf (or tej patta (small to medium-sized) - fresh or dried. can reduce to 1 leaf if preferred)
  • ⅓ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic (- finely chopped)
  • 500 grams (6 to 7 medium to large) grams tomatoes
  • 1 cup water (or low-sodium vegetable broth)
  • salt (as required)
  • 1 teaspoon raw sugar (or white sugar, add according to taste)
  • freshly crushed black pepper (- as required)
  • ½ cup bread cubes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 light pinch salt
  • 1 to 2 pinches freshly crushed black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon parsley (- chopped or add coriander leaves (cilantro))
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream (- optional)

Method

Cooking Tomatoes

  1. Heat butter until it melts in a saucepan or a pot. Keep the heat to low or medium-low.
  2. Add bay leaves and sauté for a few seconds. Add chopped onions and garlic. Stir and sauté until onions soften for about 3 to 4 minutes.
  3. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Mix well.
  4. Cover pan and simmer on a low to medium-low heat until tomatoes soften or for about 8 to 10 minutes.
  5. There is no need to add water. But do keep an eye when the tomatoes are simmering. If the liquids dry up then add a splash of water and continue cooking.
  6. After the tomatoes have softened, remove from the heat and cool. Remember to pick out the bay leaves (or tej patta if you have used it) and discard.

Blending and Straining Pureed Tomatoes

  1. Once the tomato mixture has cooled to a point that’s safe to work with, add it to a blender jar. You can also use an immersion blender.
  2. Blend to a smooth consistency.
  3. You have the option of straining the puree through a strainer for an even smoother soup, but this step isn’t necessary.
  4. If you do choose to strain the puree, move a spoon through it so that everything is strained except the seeds.

Making Tomato Soup

  1. Pour the tomato puree back into the pot, and add water and sugar. Mix and stir well.
  2. Simmer on a low heat until the soup becomes hot but not boiling.
  3. Season with freshly crushed black pepper and stir.
  4. Turn off the heat. Remove the pan from the stovetop and place it on your kitchen countertop.
  5. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream depending on desired richness.
  6. Mix well evenly. Taste a bit of the soup, and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Making Croutons

  1. When the tomato mixture is cooling, you can make the bread croutons. Mix together the bread cubes, olive oil, salt and freshly crushed black pepper in a baking tray. Toss to coat.
  2. Bake in a preheated oven for about 3 to 5 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) until bread cubes are golden and crisp. Or, you can toast the bread cubes in a skillet until golden brown on all sides.
  3. Pour the hot tomato soup into bowls. Add the croutons directly on top of the soup, or serve on the side.
  4. You can also garnish the tomato soup with a bit of freshly chopped parsley or coriander leaves (cilantro) or basil sprigs or mint leaves.
  5. This soup is great served fresh, but also keeps well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 to 2 days.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.