Recipes Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Homemade Garlic Croutons
If you’ve got some spare ripe tomatoes from the garden lying around or extra tomatoes you have leftover from another recipe, those would be perfect for making my tomato basil soup. Here’s how to make it.
How to Make Tomato Basil Soup
- Prep the ingredients. Chop up the tomatoes and onion. Mince the garlic cloves.
- Saute the onion and garlic.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Add in the tomato, water, dried basil, ground coriander, crushed red pepper, and heavy cream.
- Simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and leave it to simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Puree with an immersion blender. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it’s nice and smooth.
- Season. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately. Serve the soup in bowls topped with garlic croutons, a drizzle of heavy cream, and some fresh basil leaves on top.
How to Make Garlic Croutons
One of the best ways to make a good soup into a great soup is to pair it with the right side. In this case, that’s none other than some garlic croutons.
- Get the bread ready. Use rustic bread that’s at least a day old and with the crust removed. Cut it into cubes.
- Heat the olive oil. Add the olive oil into a pan and heat it over medium heat.
- Saute the garlic. Start by adding the garlic and cooking for 30 seconds. Then add the bread cubes and cook until golden brown.
Dried vs. Fresh Basil – Which is Better?
If you were to check the ingredient list for this recipe, you’ll notice that it calls for the use of ½ teaspoon of dried basil. This is mainly recommended out of pure convenience since anybody can go to the local supermarket and pick some up.
If you happen to grow your own basil on the other hand, you’ll be happy to know that you can definitely use fresh basil instead. As a matter of fact, I usually use my own fresh basil from my garden (along with my own tomatoes of course) whenever I make this recipe.
Can You Freeze This Tomato Basil Soup?
Yes, you can freeze this tomato basil soup. That’s exactly what I do every time I make this recipe: Make enough to enjoy for dinner one night and then freeze the rest to enjoy for leftovers later.
Allow the soup to cool completely before you freeze it. Then once you’re ready to bring it out, let the soup thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat in a small saucepan for 3 to 5 minutes.
Tip: Don’t add any heavy cream to the soup before freezing to avoid curdling once reheated.
(You may also like: Thick Cut Oven Baked Fried Green Tomatoes with Avocado Garlic Aioli)
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Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Homemade Garlic Croutons
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 pounds ripe tomato, chopped
- 1 cup water
- 2/3 cup heavy cream plus extra for serving
- 1 tbsp honey
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- fresh basil leaves, for serving
- salt and black pepper to taste
For the garlic croutons:
- ½ pound day-old rustic bread, crust removed and cubed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
Instructions
- To make the garlic croutons, in a pan heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the bread cubes and cook until golden.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- To make the soup, in a pot heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato, water, dried basil, ground coriander, crushed red pepper and heavy cream and cover with a lid.
- Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Puree the soup using an immersion blender.
- Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Ladle the soup into serving bowls.
- Top with garlic croutons.
- Drizzle with extra heavy cream and decorate with fresh basil leaves.
- Serve immediately.
More Good Tomato Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Tomato Soup (Peas and Crayons)
- Herby Tomato Soup with Melted Brie Crostini (Half Baked Harvest)
- Vegan Tomato Soup (Blissful Basil)
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