How To Make Creamy Tomato Soup (2024)

Meghan Splawn

Meghan Splawn

Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.

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updated Feb 3, 2020

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How To Make Creamy Tomato Soup (1)

Serves4 to 6

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Cool weather brings on the craving for cozy comfort foods like steaming bowls of soups, stews, chiles, and chowders. Creamy tomato soup is the perfect seasonal soup to transition from the bright tomato flavors of late summer into the crisp evenings of October. The secret to creamy tomato soup isn’t in the preparations, but in the ingredients.

What Makes This Creamy

Heavy cream is the best way to get that classic creamy flavor we know and love. In its place I have tried, to no avail, every other dairy for creamy tomato soup: half-and-half works in a pinch, milk makes the soup too thin, and yogurt is too acidic. Once I even tried almond milk (too sweet). Coconut milk will produce a creamy soup, but it will strongly alter the flavor as well; start with half the amount if you’re using it in place of the cream.

Choose Canned Tomatoes

Decent fresh tomatoes are hard to find after September, so a reliable tomato soup (one that can be enjoyed year-round) starts with canned tomatoes. This recipe calls for crushed tomatoes, which may seem unusual for a soup headed to the blender anyway, but whole tomatoes require more blending and diced tomatoes often contain additives that keep their shape. Up the tomato flavor ante by adding just a tablespoon of tomato paste to the pot of soup, too.

Thickening the Soup

Tomato soup can be a bit thin, especially with the addition of cream at the end of cooking, so flour is added to the sautéing aromatics to thicken the soup. If wheat is an issue for you or your fellow diners, feel free to skip it.

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Saute aromatics: Melt the butter in large pot or dutch oven. Add the onions, carrot, celery and garlic and cook stirring frequently until the onions and carrots have softened, about 8 minutes. (Image credit: Christine Han)

Comments

Serves 4 to 6

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons

    unsalted butter

  • 1

    large yellow onion, diced

  • 1

    medium carrot, peeled and diced

  • 1

    medium celery stalk, diced

  • 2 cloves

    garlic

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    kosher salt

  • 1/4 cup

    all-purpose flour

  • 1

    (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

  • 1 tablespoon

    tomato paste

  • 2 cups

    chicken or vegetable broth

  • 1 cup

    heavy cream

Equipment

  • Large pot

  • Blender

  • Whisk

Instructions

  1. Sauté the aromatics: Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes.

  2. Add the flour: Add the flour and cook until the mixture no longer appears dry. Remove from the heat.

  3. Purée: Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, and sautéed aromatics into a blender and purée until smooth. Return the purée to the pot.

  4. Cook: Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the soup comes to a simmer and thickens slightly, about 20 minutes.

  5. Serve: Remove the soup from the heat and whisk in the heavy cream. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Leftover soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

Reheating: Reheat leftovers over low heat to avoid separating the cream.

How To Make Creamy Tomato Soup (2024)

FAQs

How do you make soup more creamy? ›

Milk or Half-and-Half: This is the other magical ingredient that turns your homemade chicken noodle soup into the creamiest soup ever. Use 1 cup of whole milk or 1 cup of half-and-half. If you want to make regular (non-creamy) chicken noodle soup, replace the milk with more chicken broth.

What do you put in tomato soup to make it thicker? ›

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

How do you make canned soup more creamy? ›

For virtually anything but the brothy bois, like chicken noodle soup or Italian minestrone, you could also stir in some coconut milk, warmed cream, or crème fraîche to add body and richness.

How to get tomato soup smooth? ›

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 ...

Does adding milk to soup make it creamy? ›

Yes, you can definitely add cream to your soup. Whether you use a few tablespoons or a few cups, cream gives soup a silky mouthfeel and rich flavor. You can definitely add milk or other dairy as well, though it will taste gradually less creamy as you go down in percent.

How do you make creamy soup without curdling? ›

Stabilize with a Starch

Starches like flour or cornstarch help stabilize the milk emulsion. This will prevent it from separating. A common technique is to thicken your sauce or soup with roux before adding the milk. This changes the makeup of the liquid and prevents curdling.

Why do people add milk to tomato soup? ›

This addition helps make the soup feel more comforting. Adding milk or cream to a soup can balance contrasting tastes and help ingredients that don't typically mesh blend seamlessly. Plus, the extra calories in milk or cream can make for a more filling soup served solo and without any accompanying sides.

Does milk thicken tomato soup? ›

Heavy cream is the best way to get that classic creamy flavor we know and love. In its place I have tried, to no avail, every other dairy for creamy tomato soup: half-and-half works in a pinch, milk makes the soup too thin, and yogurt is too acidic.

Which food would be best to thicken a cream soup? ›

Cornstarch, or corn flour, can be used to thicken soup through its high starch content. Cornstarch is a great thickener for soup because only a little bit is needed to significantly thicken a soup, and it will not affect the flavor profile of the soup.

Does adding heavy cream to soup make it thicker? ›

Heavy cream

Use heavy cream as a keto-friendly thickening option for your soups and broths. Heavy cream has more fat than regular whole milk, so you can add it to your soup recipes without worrying about it curdling.

Which cream is best for soups? ›

There's classic heavy cream, of course, which makes soups like our creamy tomato Parm soup and our cream of broccoli soup extra delicious. Another great (and non-dairy) option is coconut milk.

Does cream of tomato soup have cream in it? ›

Ingredients. Tomato Puree (77%), Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Modified Maize Starch, Water, Double Cream (Milk), Milk Proteins, Salt, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Flavourings (Celery).

How do you make tomato soup not curdle cream? ›

Cv came to the rescue, citing the Fannie Farmer Cookbook: Baking soda prevents the milk from curdling in the acidic tomatoes. Tomatoes are naturally acidic, falling at about 4.6 on the pH scale. Baking soda, on the other hand, is naturally basic (or "alkaline"), about 9 on the pH scale.

Why do you put baking soda in tomato soup? ›

- Adding baking soda to tomato soup and tomato sauces helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Tomato flavors really shine, and your sauce or soup will not curdle if you add milk. - Adding ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to 1 cup of tomato sauce or soup will make flavors sparkle and become less acidic.

Does sour cream make soup creamier? ›

Yogurt, Sour Cream, and Crème Fraîche – Dairy like yogurt, sour cream, and crème fraîche can add a creamy acidity to soups, but can curdle and be unpleasant if cooked over heat for too long, so swirl these in last.

What do restaurants use to thicken soup? ›

List of Thickening Agents
  • Corn Starch. The most common of all the starches, corn starch is derived from corn, making it vegan and gluten-free, as well as transparent and relatively flavorless. ...
  • Xanthan Gum. ...
  • Gelatin. ...
  • Pectin. ...
  • Potato Starch. ...
  • Tapioca Starch. ...
  • Arrowroot. ...
  • Agar-Agar.

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