BEST TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Tomato Basil Soup made with ripe tomatoes & pesto sauce blended until smooth & creamy & served topped with cheese & croutons! It’s just like the Tomato Basil Soup recipe served at Cafe Zupas!

This easy tomato basil soup recipe is one you’re going to want over and over again (I know I do!) Making the tomato basil soup with canned tomatoes also helps to cut down on a lot of effort while not taking away any of the great taste.

What is Cafe Zupas Tomato Basil Soup?

If you haven’t ordered the Tomato Basil Soup from Cafe Zupas, you’re seriously missing out! It’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s rich, smooth and flavorful. I love the combination of tomatoes and pesto sauce- I would have never thought to make soup, but it works beautifully.

Homemade Tomato Basil Soup Ingredients

-Diced or stewed tomatoes: Use fresh or canned tomatoes for this recipe. You’ll need about 5 1/2 cups, roughly 43 oz.

-Pesto sauce: a homemade pesto sauce is fabulous and included on the recipe card, but you can also buy it premade from the store, Costco’s is delish!

-Butter: adding a smooth and delicious flour to the soup and used to help cook the veggies down before placing in the crockpot.

-Onion: dice the onion into small pieces so that it can give us the best flavor.

-Celery: this aromatic works great for adding to soups and is used as a base in many soup recipes.

-Dried oregano: this seasoning helps to give that Italian flavoring that we want in our tomato soup.

-Sugar: I know it sounds weird, but sugar actually helps to cut down on the acidity and makes the soup more palatable.

-Evaporated milk or cream: Cream added amps up the richness of the soup and helps give it a smooth texture.

How to Make Easy Tomato Basil Soup

Set your crockpot to high heat so that it can warm up while you assemble the soup ingredients. You can also use a pot on the stove if you don’t want to slow cook this soup.

Wash and slice your veggies in preparation.

In a frying pan on the stove, melt your butter and add the onion and celery.

Cook for about 5-8 minutes until they are softened.

Transfer the cooked veggies to the crockpot and then add in all of the other remaining ingredients except for the cream. Don’t worry about the soup looking pretty, that happens later.

If using a crockpot cook on high for 6-7 hours. If using a pot on the stove bring the soup to a boil and then turn it down to low and let it simmer for about 2 hours total. We want to get those flavors to meld!

An hour before serving, use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth.

After the soup is smooth, let cook for another hour and then add the cream just before serving.

Top with parmesan cheese and croutons.

Tomato Basil Soup in the Instant Pot

This recipe can very easily be made in the instant pot! Just add the butter & saute the onion and celery in your pot. Add the tomatoes (no need to drain the canned tomatoes!), pesto, Oregano & sugar. If using fresh tomatoes, add 1 cup water. Place the lid and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Natural pressure release, then blend with an immersion blender. Add evaporated milk, stir and then serve!

If you’re pressed for time, here are some ideas to make this recipe faster:

Yes, my garden is exploding with tomatoes, so I used fresh. This is not a fast way to make this soup, however! If you do want to use fresh, you’ll need to peel and slice the tomatoes first. I show you how to do this step-by-step here, when I give my fresh tomato marinara sauce recipe.

What if I don’t have an immersion blender?

If you don’t have one, don’t worry. You can transfer the soup in batches to a blender or food processor and blend it until smooth and return the soup to the pot when you’re done.