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Outstanding! Followed exactly, just a little less salt, came out so beautifully. It’s so easy and delightful to cook, made the whole house smell good and I barely did any chopping. My husband and I devoured a bowl with some garlic toast. I almost halved the recipe but decided against it, so glad I have leftovers now!
Karolyn
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo.
This tomato soup is… honestly everything right now! It’s made with 5 ingredients – modeled after the iconic Marcella Hazan tomato sauce recipe!
I’ll never say no to a bowl of tomato soup with a hot and crusty, buttery, salty piece of garlic bread, or a grilled cheese, and this one is so simple that there is no good reason you shouldn’t make it for dinner immediately.
5 Ingredient Tomato Soup
- Take Me To The Recipe
- Lindsay’s Notes
- Ingredients for Tomato Soup
- How To Make Tomato Soup
- Video
- FAQs
- Reviews
Lindsay’s Notes
This was one of the happiest things I ate in October.
I made the Marcella Hazan style pasta sauce for a pasta recipe, but when we were all sampling it in the office, Jenna said: “this actually reminds me of tomato soup!” And that comment really started me down a path of obsession. I started eating this as tomato soup instead of tomato sauce, and I realized that this is a total game-changer.
There was one day in particular where I came back inside from a chilly day hiking around with the girls (and by “hiking around” I mean basically walking at a snail’s pace, getting in and out of the stroller, picking up 100 acorns and admiring the colorful trees within a 3 block stretch), and I popped this in the Instant Pot, whipped up a batch of garlic bread, and just devoured it. It was maybe one of my favorite meals of 2023 – just the right thing at just the right moment.
We have a really awesome tomato soup already on Pinch of Yum, so I debated the necessity of having a second recipe here. But ultimately I decided they really serve two different moments.
- Homemade Tomato Soup: This is the OG tomato soup on Pinch of Yum and if you’re looking for more of a showstopping tomato soup with complex layers of flavor, this is the one. This is like a fancy, ultimate, dress-to-impress type tomato soup.
- 5 Ingredient Tomato Soup: And now this is this one, the new addition to the family, is all about simplicity. It tastes like, honestly, just tomatoes. And butter. And a little onion, a little garlic, but mostly just tomatoes. It’s minimal, classic, extremely easy but also… rich, luscious, and lovely. No extra bells and whistles, just a simple buttery tomato flavor.
I know grilled cheese is the iconic pairing for tomato soup, and while we have done that several times this fall (waffled grilled cheese with squishy white bread, don’t @ me), the garlic bread + tomato soup combo is really underrated and absolutely worthy of consideration. More controversially: I’ve also been known to add some pasta to my tomato soup (yep!). And more recently, these homemade ranch crackers have adorned our bowls of soup.
Back to the garlic bread: that crusty golden texture, the crispity, buttery chew on the bread, the fresh garlic herb flavor, and the smooth tomato soup – it’s like they were made for each other.
How To Make This Easy Peasy Tomato Soup
Step 1: Add everything to a pot.
- Canned San Marzano tomatoes,
- onion chunks,
- and butter! THAT’S IT!
I use DeLallo San Marzano tomatoes – we love DeLallo and have been preaching this for years. They have the best products ranging from pastas to sauces to canned tomatoes, many of which are imported from Italy. They set such a high bar for quality.
In addition to the tomatoes and butter, a pinch of salt goes in there, too. And sometimes I add a few smashed garlic cloves. Hence the “5 ingredient” title.
(I’m showing this in the Instant Pot, but you can also do this in a large Dutch oven on the stovetop.)
Step 2: Cook it all up for a while; then remove onion chunks.
After cooking, pull those onion chunks out. We’re just infusing the flavor!
Step 3: Blend!
I use an immersion blender to blend directly in the pot. The butter gets emulsified, which makes it just a little creamy, and the whole thing is luscious, velvety, simple and delightful.
Can you believe it? That’s it. You’re done.
Enjoy, and I mean really, ENJOY this cozy moment. ♡
Watch How To Make This Tomato Soup
5 Ingredient Tomato Soup
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
Description
A simple 5 ingredient tomato soup made with butter, onion, and canned San Marzano tomatoes. Based on the Marcella Hazan tomato sauce recipe. This hits the cozy vibes just right.
Ingredients
5 Ingredient Tomato Soup:
- two 28-ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes (whole or crushed will work – I usually use whole tomatoes, and we use the DeLallo brand!)
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter
- 1 yellow onion, peel removed and cut into 4 chunks
- 3–4 cloves smashed garlic (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Make the Tomato Soup: Put the tomatoes, butter, and onion in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring it up to a low bubble, then turn the heat to medium low. Cover partially with a lid; let it simmer for 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes or so to prevent scorching on the bottom.
- Remove Onion Chunks: Remove the onion pieces using tongs. I leave the garlic in there, but that’s up to you!
- Blend the Tomato Soup: Using an immersion blender, blend up the soup until it’s a smooth as you want it. Taste and adjust; you can thin it out with milk, water, broth, cream, whatever you want; I just leave it as-is!
- Serve: Serve tomato soup with garlic bread, grilled cheese, croutons, crackers, pesto, whatever you like!
Notes
To make this in the Instant Pot: Everything goes in the pot, cook for 20 minutes, and release pressure. Remove onion chunks and blend! The advantage of this method is that you don’t have to babysit it – you can just leave it alone and it won’t burn. Very hands-off. That said, I feel like the flavor of the stovetop version is just slightly sweeter and richer because you get a bit more caramelization, but both methods are amazing.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: tomato soup, easy tomato soup, instant pot tomato soup, san marzano tomatoes
Frequently Asked Questions For Tomato Soup
Whole peeled canned tomatoes would also work! The benefit of San Marzano tomatoes is that they’re considered the highest quality and are prized for their thick flesh, sweet flavor, and lower seeds and lower water content.
I keep this in the fridge for as long as a week, and it also freezes really well, so you can save this for a long time.
I would make a grilled cheese with some protein on there to go with the soup – like a chicken or turkey panini.
This tomato soup can easily be dairy free if you use dairy free butter! There are many great dairy free butters out there – I like Miyokos brand! You could also use olive oil (1/2 cup) in place of the butter.
Yes, I think it would work great in the slow cooker. I would cook it on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Follow all the other same instructions.
Three Of My Favorite Cold-Weather Soups
Thanks to DeLallo for sponsoring this recipe!
How can something so easy taste so incredibly great? I’ve made it several times now and especially when I have no time or I’m not really into cooking that day and craving comfort food, this always saves the day. I usually do it in my instant pot, cutting the cooking time in half. Of course, combined with a grilled cheese, especially with a loaf of homemade sourdough bread is the icing on the cake. 🥰
I made 1/4 the recipe as I had 12 oz of san marzano leftover. Added a bay leaf and some carrot sticks I had that needed to be used, added some chicken stock. Using the immersion blender didn’t remove onions, carrots etc. after simmering for 45+ mins….yum!
This tomato soup recipe is amazing! I love how simple it is with just five ingredients, and it tastes so fresh. Perfect for a quick dinner! Thank you for sharing!
I just made this tomato soup, and it was incredible! So easy and full of flavor. I love how you kept it to just five ingredients—definitely a recipe I’ll keep on rotation! Thank you for sharing!
Love this recipe! But- did I miss something? It says to put the tomatoes, butter and onion in the pot and then simmer. Then take out the onions and could leave the garlic in. It never said to add the garlic so I didn’t put the garlic in. Did I miss something in the instructions?
Thanks for pointing this out! Sorry for the confusion. We will update the recipe. The garlic should go in with the tomatoes, butter, and onion in Step 1.
Thanks for pointing this out! You’re right. The garlic should go in with the tomatoes, butter, and onion in Step 1.
This soup was so delicious, and so so easy to make! Made it with grilled cheese, and excited to eat the leftovers again later this week!
This was SO good! I can’t get over how easy it was and how flavorful. My picky daughter had two huge bowls. Next time I will be doubling the recipe!
Husband declared it the best tomato soup he’s ever had! I’m not the best at letting our kids help in the kitchen, but this was something they could totally help with. So simple and perfect with grilled cheese sandwiches.
Wow, one of the best tomato soups I’ve made! And truly simple and easy. I blended all the garlic and most of the onion and I think it added so much flavor. We ate it for lunch alongside some sourdough grilled cheese — I’ll definitely make again!
Best tomato soup ever! Pick kids loved it too. This is exactly what I have been searching for for years after having a delicious tomato soup at a party.
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Thanks for this comment. I want to leave in the oninon. I will start with half.
May I blend the onions in too without to strong of an onion flavor? We love onions! Thanks.
curious if one wanted to make this a more creamy tomato soup what would you think the measurement of a heavy cream would be or would that even work in this recipe?
That would work great! I’d say about 1/4 cup would be a good place to start.
There’s nothing more perfect than this wonderful dish!!
This is fantastic! I went with the olive oil substitution and I highly recommend. So much flavor for such a simple soup.
When we got married, my husband said he hated tomato soup. This soup and the Pappa Al Pomodoro recipe, also on Pinch of Yum, have made him a fan! The Five Ingredient Tomato Soup even passed our one-year-old’s taste test.
We used the Crock Pot option to make this and cooked for 7 hours on low. It then sat on keep warm until we got home two hours later. The flavors were outstanding, and the soup was none the worse for wear for having to wait for us. We thinned it with maybe 1/4 cup of skim milk for just the right consistency. So good with a gouda and muenster grilled cheese on sourdough!
This recipe is to digestive. and healthy and lightly food for eat night diner.
I’m fully on the same page as the author.
This tomato soup recipe was so simple to make and absolutely delicious. I loved how few ingredients it required and how quick it was to whip up. I’ll definitely be adding this to my regular meal rotation. Thanks for sharing!
This recipe was so easy and SO GOOD. Will be making this at least twice a month all winter long.
That is a lot of sodium in the tomato soup recipe!
Can u post the recipe for the bread in the picture that’s accompanying it please? Looks delicious!!
Here’s the recipe for the garlic bread! 🙂
LOVE this sos soup! 5 ingredients, so quick, simple, but filling! I typically leave 1/2 the onion in for extra flavor boost (I recommend taking it out as the recipe says, blend and see if you like it without… then you can add it back in if you prefer- thats how I started and landed on 1/2 the onion). Ive made this 3 times since its debut. We love it so much! *pairs well with (store bought) cheesy garlic bread* chef’s kiss