Smoky Roasted Tomato Soup

It is Souptember, y’all!!! The great thing about September, at least here in Minnesota (this year…) is that it’s still nice and warm, and SUMMER TOMATOES ARE THRIVING!! I don’t know about you but I am very into delicious fresh summer tomatoes. What better way to marry summer toms + Souptember but with tomato soup?? But this isn’t any old tomato soup. This is a smoky roasted tomato soup, made with super tasty roasted in-season tomatoes, tons of garlic, and chipotle peppers. It’s flavorful, fresh, creamy, and smoky with a little kick. Be not afraid—it’s only spicy if you want it to be!

I have made this soup 4 or 5 times to get the recipe down pat. We’ve been eating a lot of tomato soup here. And I’m going to be honest… I don’t LOVE tomato soup, unless it’s REALLY good. It can sometimes taste like I’m either drinking tomato juice (if it’s too thin) or marinara sauce (if it’s too thick and tomato-y). I set out to avoid both of those results and make REALLY GOOD, different, summer tomato soup. It is so essential to use those flavorful, fresh, in-season summer tomatoes!! I wouldn’t make this recipe in the winter. It just won’t be as good.

This Smoky Tomato Soup recipe is pretty easy to make. Lots of inactive time but very little hands-on work. My recipe starts out with inspiration from the QUEEN Ina Garten’s Roasted Tomato Basil Soup. We roast 3 lbs of fresh tomatoes, 2 onions, and TWO HEADS of garlic. You might think that sounds like a lot of garlic but roasting it takes the bite out, I promise. Roasting these babies for 45 minutes concentrates that yummy tomato flavor, and did you know that cooking tomatoes actually makes them healthier??

Then we transfer the roasty goodness into a pot, add a chipotle pepper and a quart of your choice of stock. I like beef stock for this recipe because I think it adds a rich depth and goes well with the smokiness, but it’s totally up to you! Simmer for a half hour, then move it all to a blender to make it nice and smooth. Here we add a half cup of cream and a handful of cilantro. This is the part where you taste the soup and adjust per your preferences. Maybe you want more salt, more cream, more spice, more cilantro. Follow your heart! Then make a delicious grilled cheese sandwich and ENJOY the fruits of your labor! (Tomato is technically a fruit!) I’m so happy with this recipe! I hope you are too.

Smoky Roasted Tomato Soup

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Megan B-L
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Soup

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 lbs fresh tomatoes—a mix is great!
• 2 yellow onions
• 2 heads of garlic
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• lots of freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1–2 chipotles in adobo (see Note)
• 1 quart beef/chicken/veggie stock
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup loosely packed cilantro

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Cut larger tomatoes in half or quarters (leave cherry tomatoes whole) and cut onions into quarters, removing papery skin. Add tomatoes & onions to a baking sheet, separating some layers of the onions. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and several grinds of pepper. Toss gently.
3. Remove extra papery layers from garlic heads. Cut and discard about a half-inch off of the top of the garlic heads, then drizzle the exposed top of the head in olive oil. Wrap them individually in tinfoil and nestle onto the baking sheet. 
4. Roast tomatoes, onions, & garlic for 45 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and open garlic tinfoils to let cool. Carefully add tomatoes and onions to a pot on the stove (at least a 6-qt pot, see Note), along with chipotle pepper and 1 quart of stock. Squeeze garlic cloves into the pot when they are cool enough to touch.
6. Bring soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 30 minutes.
7. Let cool a bit, then transfer to a blender. (I would not recommend using an immersion blender for this. It won’t blend up all of the tomato skins so the texture isn’t great.)
8. Add cream and cilantro. Blend. Taste to see if it needs more salt, more chipotle, more cilantro, etc. 
9. Eat with buttered toast, or even better, GRILLED CHEEEEESE!

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Notes

• One chipotle pepper will give you smoky with a little kick, two will be spicy. I suggest starting with one, then tasting at the blender stage and adding more if you wish. 
• You don’t want to use an aluminum, cast iron, or copper pot. It will react with the tomatoes and make the soup taste metallic.
• My preference is beef stock with this soup. I think it gives it a richer flavor. But any type of stock will be delicious!
• Easily make this vegan by omitting the cream or using a dairy-free alternative. 

Keywords: spicy, roasted, chipotle, tomato, vegetarian

Soup! Soup! So comforting. Another smoky soup recipe for you: Pork Chili Verde. It can be made in the Instant Pot, slow-cooker, or on the stove!