Nothing is better during any season than homemade tomato soup; it’s fast, easy, creamy, and delicious warm or cold. Packed with flavor, this homemade tomato basil soup recipe is made even better with the addition of grilled cheese croutons.
How I created this homemade Tomato Soup recipe with Grilled Cheese Croutons.
Kay I am obsessed with Tomato soup and grilled cheese – it was a favorite meal growing up. My dad made us grilled cheese and tomato soup ever week – but of course his version was with a canned soup. As I’ve gotten older I’ve of course elevated the meal a bit with this thick and creamy tomato soup!
Every time I go to a restaurant with soup as an option I always check for tomato basil soup – if they have it I always try it. I’d say 90% of the time I’m disappointed.
One of the exceptions was this amazing tomato soup at this place in Dallas – I used to go all the time and they even sold jars in the grocery store. But when I left Texas I left my favorite soup.
So the answer was I needed to create a soup that was similar I could easily make at home. And that’s when this soup was born! But while I loved it my kids still seemed to prefer the thin canned tomato soup so I put this recipe aside and kinda forgot about it!
Then last year when we were at Disneyland we spend the week trying all the food (and going on all the rides too) and at the end of the week I asked my kids what their favorite Disney treat had been.
4 of the kids picked some kind of dessert/treat of course, but my 2nd child said “the tomato soup”… Then he asked if we could make tomato soup from scratch instead of from the can…
Boy after my own heart! I told him I had a from scratch tomato soup I just hadn’t made it in like 10 years! The very first meal we made when we came home from our trip was this soup!
I will admit he was a little dissapointed that I still used canned tomatoes instead of straight from the vine but he got over it when he tasted it! In fact it’s become the new meal he makes every week (love having older kids to help).
This is a quick and easy last min dinner because I always have the ingredients around, so great for those busy week night meals. And easy enough that a 16 yo can make it too! You can serve it with these easy grilled cheese croutons or of course with full grilled cheese sandwiches.
Just take me to the Tomato Soup Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for tomato basil soup, along with links to other homemade recipes for soup and get straight to this delicious creamy tomato soup – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
How long does tomato soup last in the fridge?
Officially the answer is 3-4 days. But Personally since it doesn’t contain any meat I reheat and enjoy this soup for a full week. I’m not sure why all soups have a 3-4 day rule – I use that when I chicken or beef in the soup but not for meatless dishes.
How to make tomato soup creamy?
I tried a few different ingredients when playing around with soup recipes and both cream and milk actually didn’t do much IMO, I felt they actually “watered” this soup down a bit.
So when my sister suggested cream cheese I was wary but it was the perfect addition IMO! But feel free to play around and find that ingredient you want, some people think this soup is too thick!
Can this tomato soup be frozen?
So because of the cream cheese in the soup it will be trickier to freeze, mostly because freezing anything with dairy causes some issues when reheating.
If you want to make a large batch of this soup and reheat smaller portions of later I’d divide the soup into the size you want for reheating BEFORE adding that cream cheese at the end.- then when you reheat the soup blend in the cream cheese fresh.
To make this easy Tomato Basil Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons you’ll need
- pot with lid
- wooden spatula
- hand blender
- pan for the grilled cheese croutons
- serrated knife
Homemade Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons Recipe and Video Tutorial
If you love this tomato soup as much as I do, I’d love a 5 star review. Be sure to share on social media and tag me if you make it @ashleemariecakes! If you want to stay updated on new recipes sign up for my newsletter and join my Facebook Group!
If you love this thick and creamy tomato soup you’ll love these other creamy soups recipes too!
Creamy Mushroom Soup | Coconut Pumpkin Soup | Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
If you are after more great sides for this tomato basil soup, try these!
Mediterranean Grilled cheese | Monte Cristo Sandwiches | Homemade Cornbread
Connect with Ashlee Marie Online!
To watch me make this homemade tomato basil soup with grilled cheese croutons play the video in the recipe card (if you’re on desktop, it should be auto playing for you).
You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
Ingredients
Tomato Soup
- 1 Tbsp reserved oil from sun-dried tomatoes or olive oil
- 1 chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 Tbsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2/3 C sliced sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
- 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 14 oz chicken broth
- 4 oz full fat cream cheese
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Grilled Cheese Croutons
- 4 slices bread
- 4 Tbsp Butter softened
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
Instructions
Tomato Soup
- Place oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring often.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes.
- Bring soup to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.
- Cover pan and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Use a hand blender and blend smooth
- Add cream cheese and stir until melted
- Add additional salt and pepper to taste and serve
Grilled Cheese Croutons
- place the cheese between the bread and butter the outsides
- Put the bread butter-side down on pre-heated pan
- Grill until golden, flip and grill the other side
- let cool slightly then cut into cubes with a serrated knife
Martie
Baie lekker ek nie iemandvir tamatiesop nie maar dit was heerlik
Ashlee Marie
I’m so glad you liked it! thank you so much.
Joan Stults
So, so delicious! I made this recipe with oven roasted tomatoes and oh my! Thank you so much for this recipe which will now become a regular go to recipe of mine.
Ashlee Marie
You are so welcome! it’s for sure one of my all time favorite soups!
Katie Carrick
I tried this last night and it is great! This will be my new go-to tomato soup recipe 🙂
Ashlee Marie
I’m so glad to hear that. I adore this soup and so do my kiddos