Tomato Cream Soup with Basil and Parmesan

Our go-to creamy tomato soup recipe. Adding Parmesan and heavy cream makes it so satisfying and balances the acidity. It’s also a quick and easy 30-minute soup that keeps well in the fridge.

4 Tbsp. butter (56 g)
3 cups yellow onions, finely chopped (~2 onions)
3 cloves garlic or 1 Tbsp. minced
2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes with their juice, preferably San Marzano (2x820 mL)
2 cups chicken stock (475 mL)
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped or 1 Tbsp. dried (6 g)
1 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
½ cup heavy cream (118 mL)
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (34 g)

Garnish:
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
chopped fresh basil

Heat a nonreactive pot or enameled dutch oven over medium heat. Add butter then add chopped onions. Sauté 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden. Add minced garlic and sauté 1 minute more until fragrant.

Add crushed tomatoes with their juices, chicken stock, chopped basil, sugar and black pepper. Stir together and bring to a boil then reduce heat, partially cover with lid and simmer for 10 minutes.

You can leave your soup with a chunky consistency, but if you like a blended/creamy soup, use an immersion blender to blend the soup in the pot to desired consistency or transfer to a blender in batches and blend until smooth (being careful not to over-fill the blender with hot liquid and pulse a few times initially to get it started), then return blended soup to the pot over medium heat.

Add heavy cream, freshly grated Parmesan cheese and return to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed and turn off the heat.

Ladle into warm bowls and top with more Parmesan and chopped fresh basil.

Makes 8 (1 cup) servings.

Cook's Notes:

• Use a Non-Reactive Pot: Since this soup is tomato-based it is important to use a non-reactive pot. Avoid aluminum, cast iron, and copper which are all made of metals that can react with tomatoes and make the soup taste metallic. Non-reactive pots that work well include: Stainless steel, enamel-coated cast iron, ceramic, and glass. We used our 5½ qt enamel-coated dutch oven pot.
• Can I substitute canned whole tomatoes? You can use canned whole peeled tomatoes, but crush them by pulsing in a food processor before adding to the pot. Be sure to season to taste if substituting.
• Can I use dried basil? You can substitute the fresh basil with about 1 Tbsp. of dried basil for the soup. I suggest adding dried basil when you add the crushed tomatoes to give them a chance to soften. Dried herbs work great in soups, but should not be used for garnish.
• Can I use fresh tomatoes? You’ll need to make your own crushed tomatoes which can be a time-consuming process. We find it is much simpler to buy crushed tomatoes.
• What stock do you use for tomato soup? We love chicken bone broth because it has a great depth of flavour, but you can substitute it with vegetable broth to keep this a vegetarian soup, if you prefer.
• What if my soup is too sour or acidic? Make sure you aren’t using a reactive pot and add more sugar and cream to taste to balance the acidity.