Roasted Tomato Soup (Fresh Tomatoes)
To make roasted tomato soup from fresh tomatoes, halve about 1.5 kg of ripe tomatoes and roast them with onion, garlic, and olive oil at 200 °C for 35–40 minutes until soft and caramelized — roasting is what gives the soup its deep, sweet flavour. Scrape everything into a pot with a little stock, simmer briefly, and blend until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh basil. It freezes well, so roast a big tray when tomatoes are cheap.
When the tomato plants are giving you more than you can eat and half of them are a little too soft to slice, roasted tomato soup is the answer. Roasting turns even ordinary tomatoes into something rich, sweet, and deeply savoury — miles from anything in a can, and it uses up a whole tray at once.
Roasting is the whole trick
Simmered fresh tomatoes make thin, watery, sharp soup. Roasted tomatoes make soup with real depth, because the oven drives off water, caramelizes the sugars, and mellows the acidity. Halve the tomatoes, add onion and whole garlic cloves, toss with oil, and roast until everything is soft and browning at the edges. Don’t rush it — the colour is the flavour.
No peeling, no seeding
Blending means you can skip all the fussy prep. Roast the tomatoes skin and all, then blend everything smooth — skins and seeds vanish into the soup and add body. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its papery skins first (it’ll be sweet and soft). Want it silky-smooth? Pass it through a sieve, but you really don’t have to.
Season at the end
Taste before serving. A pinch of sugar balances tart tomatoes; salt and pepper wake it up; fresh basil stirred in at the end keeps it bright. A swirl of cream makes it lush, but it’s excellent without.
Make it yours
- Creamy: a splash of cream or a spoon of mascarpone.
- Smoky: roast a red pepper alongside, or add smoked paprika.
- Herby: thyme in the oven, basil after.
- Classic pairing: serve with a grilled cheese for the ultimate cozy lunch.
Roast a big tray whenever tomatoes are cheap and plentiful, and freeze what you don’t eat — a jar of this is summer sunshine on a grey day.
Frequently asked questions
Why roast the tomatoes instead of just simmering them?
Roasting drives off water and caramelizes the tomatoes' sugars, so the soup tastes deep, sweet, and concentrated rather than thin and watery. It also mellows the acidity. The 35–40 minutes in the oven are hands-off and make all the difference — it's the step that turns ordinary tomatoes into a soup worth making.
Do I need to peel or seed the tomatoes?
No — that's the beauty of blending. Roast them halved, skin and all, then blend everything smooth; the skins and seeds disappear into the soup and add flavour and body. If you want an ultra-silky texture, pass the blended soup through a sieve, but it's not necessary.
Can I freeze tomato soup?
Yes, beautifully — it's one of the best things to freeze from a tomato glut. Cool it completely and freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Freeze it before adding any cream, and stir the cream in fresh when you reheat.