Amazing 6-Serving Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

When the weather gets a little grey or I just need a big hug in a bowl, nothing beats an amazing comfort food recipe. And trust me, this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is the absolute champion of cozy. Whenever I make this soup, I’m instantly transported back to slow Sunday afternoons when my whole family would gather in the kitchen, each of us taking turns stirring the pot. The yummy aroma of simmering tomatoes and fresh basil always felt like a warm embrace, and it’s still the first recipe I turn to when I need genuine comfort.

Why This Creamy Tomato Basil Soup Recipe Stands Out

Listen, there are a million tomato soup recipes out there, but this one is different. It hits that perfect spot where it tastes gourmet, but honestly, it’s so easy an absolute beginner could nail it. We’re not talking about dumping a can of something into a pot and calling it good. We’re building real flavor here, but we keep the hassle tucked away!

The final result is pure magic, and here’s what makes this recipe my go-to comfort food:

• The total time is right around an hour, meaning dinner is fast!
• That deep, satisfying flavor comes from a simple roux technique, which is a total game-changer.
• Finishing with a big handful of fresh basil right at the end just wakes up the whole bowl.

If you love easy one pot comfort food, you are going to adore this. Speaking of one pot wonders, if you want a pasta version, you should check out my trick for one-pot tomato basil pasta—it’s just as satisfying!

Quick Prep for Maximum Comfort

You only have 15 minutes of active prep time here, which is fantastic for a weeknight. Don’t let the vegetables scare you; chopping the onions, carrots, and celery is really straightforward. We just need them finely diced so they melt right into the soup when blended later. This is truly an easy one pot comfort food recipe!

Expert Tips for Deep Flavor in Your Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

The real secret sauce, pun intended, is the roux we make separately. It sounds fancy, but it’s just butter and flour cooked together right. You MUST give that mixture the full 10 minutes on medium-low heat to cook out that raw flour taste and get it to a nice golden color. That little bit of time you invest upfront is what gives you that velvety mouthfeel later on. Trust me on the roux; it’s the whole key to that wonderful home-cooked taste!

Gathering Ingredients for Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Okay, let’s get our supplies ready! Cooking is always smoother when everything is organized beforehand, right? For this recipe, we’ll break the ingredients into two groups: the stuff that builds the tomato base, and everything we need for that beautiful, rich, creamy finish. Don’t panic about the list; most of this is just standard pantry stock!

Soup Base Ingredients

This is the heart of the soup, where all our veggies and liquids come together. Remember we are using finely diced carrots, onions, and celery. They cook down and disappear thanks to blending, but they add such great depth!

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 (14.5 ounce cans) diced tomatoes, keeping all the juice!
• 2 carrots, finely diced (that comes out to about 1 cup)
• 1 small onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
• 3 celery ribs, finely diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste for tang
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
• 1.5 teaspoons dried basil leaves

Roux and Finishing Components for Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

This second set of ingredients is what takes us from a lovely vegetable soup to the absolute best Creamy Tomato Basil Soup you’ve ever had. Pay attention here, because if you plan on freezing leftovers, you’ll want to skip the Parmesan cheese and the half and half for now. We’ll add those back in later, as noted in our freezer tips section.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (for your roux)
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional if freezing)
• 1.5 cups half and half (or whole milk) (optional if freezing)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Step-by-Step Instructions for Perfect Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Now for the fun part—turning those lovely ingredients into dinner! This whole process moves pretty quickly once you get started. We’re going to keep everything moving smoothly so we can sit down with a warm bowl sooner rather than later. If you’ve got your Dutch oven ready, let’s jump in. For other fast ideas, check out my collection of sheet pan suppers!

Sautéing the Aromatics and Simmering

First things first, get that large soup pot over medium-high heat and drop in your tablespoon of olive oil. Once it shimmers, toss in the carrots, onions, and celery. We want to sauté these guys until they start to soften up—maybe about five minutes. Next, stir in the diced tomatoes (juice and all!), the tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and dried basil. Bring that whole mixture up to a gentle boil, then drop the heat just a touch and let everything simmer until those veggies feel tender. That usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes.

Achieving Smoothness: Blending the Soup

Time to get rid of the chunks! This is where the magic happens for that amazing texture. If you have an immersion blender, this is its moment to shine—just stick it right into the pot and blend until it’s perfectly smooth. If you’re using a regular blender, you have to be careful: only fill the blender halfway, remove the center cap from the lid, and cover that opening with a folded kitchen towel before blending. Pour the pureed soup right back into the pot.

Creating the Roux for Richness

While the soup simmers, we make the flavor booster! Get a separate small pot going over medium-low heat and let that half-cup of butter melt completely. Now, whisk in the flour. Keep whisking constantly! You need to cook this roux for a solid 10 minutes, watching it carefully until it turns a beautiful, light golden brown. That cooked flour is essential for richness and thickening, so don’t rush this crucial step.

Finishing Touches: Cream, Cheese, and Seasoning

This part is critical! Scoop out one big ladle of the hot, pureed soup and slowly whisk it into the warm roux in your separate pot. It’ll seize up into a thick paste—that’s normal! Keep adding big scoops of the hot soup and stirring until it’s all smooth, then pour that entire roux mixture back into the main soup pot. Stir well to combine everything. Finally, pull the pot off the heat and stir in your Parmesan cheese, half and half, salt, pepper, and that glorious fresh basil. Taste it here, and add more oregano or basil if you think it needs it!

Tips for Making the Best Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

You’ve made the soup, but a few little tricks will make sure it’s professional-level delicious every time. These small adjustments are what separate a good soup from one that people rave about. I learned these tricks over years of tasting and tweaking, especially when I was trying to serve restaurant-quality food on a weeknight!

The biggest thing to remember is timing your basil. We use dried basil earlier when we’re simmering everything because it hydrates and releases deep, earthy flavor over time. But that fresh basil? You absolutely have to save that for the very end. Toss it in right before serving, or just after you kill the heat. Fresh basil loses its amazing bright, almost peppery aroma if you cook it too long. That pop of fresh green flavor is what elevates this soup!

If you want to explore other flavor boosters, sometimes I’ll quickly brown some bacon before adding the oil—don’t discard the drippings! Speaking of quick meals, if you ever need something speedy that isn’t soup, you have to try my garlic butter steak bites; they are ready in minutes!

Ingredient Selection for Quality Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Seriously, don’t skip the fresh basil at the end. It brings this whole dish to life! You noticed we used dried herbs earlier and heaps of fresh ones at the finish. That’s intentional to layer the flavor profile. The dried basil gives us that deep, savory baseline, and the fresh stuff gives us that bright, aromatic finish that makes you go, ‘Wow, that tastes like sunshine!’

Make-Ahead, Storage, and Freezer Friendly Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

I am *all* about making things ahead of time because who has the energy to cook every single night? The great news is that this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is incredibly freezer friendly! This makes it perfect for quick weeknight meals later on. If you’re planning ahead, make sure you check out my guide on meal prep for busy weeks—it has saved my sanity more times than I can count.

When storing this soup in the fridge, just cover it up tightly. It stays great for about one week, tasting even better the second day!

Freezing Instructions for Later Enjoyment

If you want to freeze this masterpiece, you have to leave out the dairy components—that’s the half and half and the Parmesan cheese. If you skip this step, the cream might curdle weirdly when you reheat it, and we certainly don’t want that chunky texture when you’re craving smooth comfort!

Just freeze the soup base, which includes the roux mixture. When you’re ready to eat it, thaw it overnight in the fridge. Then, reheat it slowly on the stovetop, and stir in your fresh cream and grated cheese right at the end once it’s hot. It’s like getting a second fresh batch without any extra work. Easy peasy!

Variations on Classic Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

One of the best things about having a rock-solid base recipe like this is how easily you can tweak it! Maybe you’re out of chicken broth, or maybe you just felt like letting the slow cooker do the heavy lifting that day. Don’t stress! This Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is super flexible. I am constantly making small changes based on what I have in the fridge, and it always turns out great. It’s so adaptable; sometimes I even swap out the carrots for sweet potato if I want an extra seasonal touch!

If you’re looking for other quick-fix recipes, I’ve got a whole load of speedy meals ready for you, like my 5-ingredient dinners that solve weeknight dinners in a flash.

Stovetop vs. Slow Cooker Preparation

While I love the ease of the stovetop so I can watch my roux brown, the slow cooker version is fantastic for hands-off cooking. If you’re using your Crockpot or Instant Pot—yes, you can use that too!—the method is slightly different.

Just toss your diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and dried basil right into the slow cooker. Let it cook on low heat for about 5 to 6 hours until everything is totally soft and the flavors have really melded together. Then, you’ll blend it smooth just like the main recipe directs. After blending, you still need to make that roux separately for the creaminess, then blend the roux mixture back in, and finish with the dairy and fresh basil off the heat!

Making This Soup Vegetarian or Vegan

It’s honestly so simple to adjust this recipe if you’re avoiding meat or dairy, and you don’t lose any of that cozy tomato flavor, I promise. For a vegetarian version, just swap out that low-sodium chicken broth for a good quality vegetable broth. That’s it for the base!

If you need to go fully vegan, stick with the vegetable broth, and when you get to the finishing touches, you’ll need to replace the butter, Parmesan, and half and half. You can make the roux using vegan butter or a nice olive oil blend. Replace the Parmesan with nutritional yeast for that cheesy umami kick, and use plain, unsweetened soy or oat milk instead of the half and half for your creaminess. It works like a charm!

Serving Suggestions for Your Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

So, you’ve got this gorgeous, velvety pot of Creamy Tomato Basil Soup steaming away on the stove. Fantastic! But what do you serve *with* it? Because let’s be honest, a bowl of the best soup ever deserves an equally amazing sidekick, right? This isn’t the time to skimp on the cozy factor!

The number one absolute classic, the pairing that brings me right back to childhood lunchboxes, has to be grilled cheese. But we can’t just use any old sandwich cream! I highly recommend making a gourmet version—think sourdough bread smeared with garlic butter and using sharp cheddar and maybe a little Gruyère for that perfect pull. Melted, golden, crusty, and dipped right into that warm soup? Perfection!

If grilled cheese isn’t your scene, tearing off chunks of crusty bread is a mandatory second choice. You need something sturdy to sop up every last drop of that creamy sauce left in the bottom of the bowl. A baguette that you’ve run under the broiler with a little olive oil and salt works wonders.

For something a little bit heartier that still keeps the meal comforting, sometimes I skip the bread and serve it alongside lighter protein options. Though it’s a bit different from soup, if you want a truly crispy element for dinner, my recipe for crispy chicken cutlets is surprisingly good on the side when you need more substance!

Frequently Asked Questions About This Soup Recipe

I totally get it—sometimes you have questions pop up when you’re in the middle of cooking, or maybe you’re trying to adapt an easy one pot comfort food recipe to your own pantry. We’ve all been there! Here are some of the most common things folks ask about making this hearty soup.

Can I make this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup without a roux?

Yes, you absolutely can! The roux gives you that specific, rich mouthfeel that I love, but there are other ways to get creamy soups if you don’t want to melt that extra butter. My favorite alternative is adding richness through soaked raw cashews. Just soak about a half cup of cashews in hot water for 30 minutes, then blend them right into the soup with your immersion blender. That totally fools people into thinking you used cream! Or, if you just want a simple thickener, you can mix one tablespoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of cold water until smooth, and whisk that slurry into the simmering soup.

How do I adjust the thickness of the soup?

Thickness is all about preference, isn’t it? If you find your soup cooked down too much and it’s suddenly too thick—maybe you simmered it longer than intended—don’t panic! Just thin it out with some extra broth, either chicken or vegetable, until you hit the consistency you like. If it’s too thin, say you added too much broth initially, the easiest fix is to let it simmer uncovered for a little longer, allowing some of that liquid to evaporate. For quick thickening, remember that small cornstarch slurry I mentioned earlier? A tiny bit of that whisked in and simmered for two minutes will help immensely!

Is this soup freezer friendly?

Yes, definitely! This soup freezes beautifully, which is why I always recommend making a double batch. The important thing to remember, and this is worth repeating because it saves a lot of grief later, is that you MUST leave out the dairy components before bagging it up. That means no half and half and no Parmesan cheese going into the container. Once you reheat the base soup, then you stir those creamy elements back in fresh. This keeps everything smooth and prevents any weird separation or curdling!

If you’re looking for other ideas for prepping meals ahead of time that aren’t soup, have a look at my tips for protein-packed meals that are great for meal prepping throughout the week!

Nutritional Snapshot of Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Now, I always tell my friends that while this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup tastes rich and decadent thanks to the butter and cream, it’s actually pretty balanced! It feels like a splurge, but it’s not knocking your whole day’s eating plan off track. Of course, whenever we talk about recipes this good, people always want to know the numbers, which leads to questions like, ‘What are the calories in Creamy Tomato Basil Soup?’

Here is the breakdown based on this recipe making 6 generous bowls. Keep in mind, every measurement we use—like how much cheese you sprinkle on top—will shift these numbers a little bit. Also, if you stick to the lower-fat half and half we suggested, you’ll be slightly lower in fat than if you use heavy cream!

• Calories: Around 264 per serving
• Total Fat: About 20 grams
• Protein: A solid 7 grams
• Carbohydrates: Roughly 13 grams

It’s certainly a satisfying dish that warms you up from the inside out! We also get a nice boost of Vitamin A and C from all those lovely tomatoes and carrots we packed in there. So go ahead, enjoy that second bowl; it’s comfort food that also packs a little nutritional punch!

Share Your Homemade Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Okay, now that you’ve made this beautiful, velvety Creamy Tomato Basil Soup, I desperately want to hear about it! Honestly, seeing what you all create in your kitchens is my favorite part of sharing these family recipes online. When you make something this comforting, you just have to spread the word!

If you followed along and it turned out just right—that perfect texture, that punch of basil—please don’t keep that wonderful news to yourself! Head right down to the comments section and leave a star rating. Tell me what you paired with your soup. Did you go for the classic grilled cheese, or did you try something completely new?

And if you snapped a picture of your beautiful bowl, please tag me on social media! I love seeing my recipes find new homes. Knowing that this soup continues that cozy Sunday tradition in another family’s kitchen means the world to me.

Thanks so much for cooking with me today. I’m Yam Scott, and I really pour my heart into making sure these recipes are approachable and delicious for you. If you want to know more about my kitchen philosophy, you can always check out my About Me page!