Just carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, broth, and bacon are all you need for homemade tomato soup. It’s deliciously rich in flavor and comes together in just under an hour.
Hallooooo, fall!
And hallo, soup weather. Right? RIGHT? Although, let’s be honest – I would not be sad if I ended up eating this for 12 out of 12 months of the year. This homemade tomato soup could love me all year long.
I based this recipe off of the cream of tomato soup recipe in The New Classics cookbook by Saveur (affiliate link) and yes I’ve essentially read this cookbook cover to cover. Reading a cookbook like this cover to cover essentially means cooking it cover to cover, which is possibly the best thing that ever did happen to me.
Why You’Ll Love This Simple Homemade Tomato Soup
Can I blow your mind for a second? This homemade tomato soup starts with bacon. B-a-c-o-n. Tomato soup // bacon // it just works. These are the delicious ways in which Saveur inspires.
Here’s what else we’re working with:
- Some fresh veggies and aromatics like carrots, onion, and garlic.
- Yummy herbs like thyme and bay leaf.
- Lots of tomato goodness thanks to a delicious can of (HAND-CRUSHED) San Marzano.
- Cream. Because, of course.
Ohhhmygosh, the smells that will happen. I am having a hard time imagining anything more comforting than being in my kitchen experiencing the simmer-smells of this simple homemade tomato soup in progress.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make Homemade Tomato Soup:
How To Make The Best Homemade Tomato Soup Every Time
- Add flavorful herbs and spices. Basil is often found in tomato soup, which, yes, is DELICIOUS. However, other spices and herbs can be added to some flavor. Rosemary and thyme, chives and parsley, even a zippy cheese such as feta can level up your tomato soup.
- Don’t forget the cream. Add in coconut milk, heavy cream, or butter to give your tomato soup a silky texture. We’re talking richness that tastes decadent without being overindulgent.
- Add a drizzle, fresh zest, or dollop right before serving. This is doing to take it riiiiiiight over the top. Some life-changing ideas: a spoonful of pesto, sour cream, fresh herbs, or lots of shredded cheese.
What To Serve With This Tomato Soup
I am going to have to ask you —> please make some extremely cheesy Provolone toasts or grilled cheese or grilled sourdough bread or something, because what is tomato soup without the cheesy bread for dunking?
But with that being said, ultimately what is going to warm you to your toes and make you feel like a long nap on the couch is this simple homemade tomato soup. WITH BACON, remember. With bacon.
And if absolutely necessary to round things out a bit, here are a few green things to join the party as well:
- Brussels and Kale Caesar with Cheesy Croutons (those croutons are basically a salad topper and soup dipper in one)
- Toasted Bread and Parmesan Kale Salad (simple, zippy, cheesy, YUM)
- Bacon and Brussels Sprout Salad (MORE BACON!)
Common Questions About This Tomato Soup
The main goal here is to use higher quality tomatoes, and usually whole canned tomatoes are higher quality whereas pre-crushed tomatoes are made from bits and pieces of lower quality tomatoes. That being said, I’ve made this without hand-crushing the tomatoes (either using crushed canned tomatoes, or breaking apart the tomatoes in the pan with a spoon) and it’s still delicious.
Skip the bacon, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and skip the cream at the end (or throw a handful of cashews into the blender with the soup to make it creamy).
Yes! It should keep in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Yes! Follow the recipe as-is using the sauté function on the Instant Pot, and then instead of simmering for 30 minutes, cook it on manual high pressure for 15 minutes with a quick release at the end. Blend, add your cream and serve!
Alright! Today is your day to make simple homemade tomato soup. I can just feeeeeeel it.
It’s smoky, a little bit sweet, and just as creamy or not-creamy as you want it to be. It’s simple – ready in just under an hour, with MOST of that time being the part where you just gaze lovingly at the pot of simmering tomatoes and let the smells of carrots and onions and garlic and bacon wrap you up in their loveliness.
Cheers to your relaxing, comforting, hug-in-a-bowl tomato soup day!
Try Our Other Soup Recipes
- Basic + Awesome Broccoli Cheese Soup (creamy, cheesy, and soooo dreamy)
- Ang’s Creamy Tortellini Soup (will change your life!)
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings (classic made quick + easy)
- White Chicken Chili (bacon, cheese, chicken, beans – gang’s all here!)
Simple Homemade Tomato Soup
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Simple Homemade Tomato Soup with carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, broth, and bacon for deliciously rich flavor. Extremely easy to make!
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
- 2 carrots, chopped
- half of a yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 4 cups chicken broth (more to thin out the soup at the end as needed)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 28–ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes
- cream (optional – to add at the end as desired)
- kosher salt to taste (I like 1-2 teaspoons)
Instructions
- Fry the bacon in a large soup pot over medium low heat until bacon starts to get crispy and browned, about 5-8 minutes.
- Add the carrots, onion, and garlic to the bacon in the pan; sauté for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are very aromatic and tender.
- Add the tomato paste – stir for a few minutes until you can see/smell the tomato paste starting to brown and caramelize. Add the flour and stir for a minute or so.
- Pour the tomatoes and their juice into a bowl and crush them with your hands. Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, thyme, and bay leaf to the soup pot. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree in batches and return to the pot. Add cream if you want. Season with salt. Look at that homemade tomato soup, you champ.
Equipment
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- Category: Soups
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: homemade tomato soup, tomato soup recipe, tomato soup with bacon, tomato soup, grilled cheese
I love this soup! It’s a keeper for sure. Thank you!
This was delicious and really simple to prepare! I removed the crispy pieces of bacon before adding the vegetables and then topped the soup with the bacon before serving. So good!
This recipe is amazing, the soup is delicious, thank you! 😊
Glad to hear it, Dasa!
My husband had this ready for me when I got home from work a bit ago and it just happed it be raining. I WAS IN LOVE! He made grilled cheese on sour dough to go with it! Since it’s cold here in Cali right now, I will be making it for the family tonight!
Grilled cheese on sourdough sounds so amazing! Thanks for the comment, Dorian!
My husband can’t eat anything with seeds so could I use tomatoe sauce or puree instead?
Yes we think that will work just fine!
I am a new-ish cook, and I LOVE your website. Made this today for lunch, as is, and my hubby declared it the best soup he’s ever tasted. This is high praise as he comes from a long line of soup makers, himself included. I served it with sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches. Thank you Pinch of Yum team, you have turned me into an accomplished cook who looks forward to every recipe I try on your site!
We love hearing this, MariAnn!
What’s even better is we didn’t have enough left over for 2 bowls of soup at the end, so I threw in left over anytime chicken meatballs cut in half, and left over egg noodles! Ta-Da! Another delicious lunch! 🙂
Oh, yum! Thanks for this recipe …. 🙂
Pretty rustic tasting, if thats a thing. The perfect thickness for dipping a grilled cheese in on a cold day for lunch!
Glad you enjoyed it, Dustin!
Oops, forgot to give it a rating!
Can I omit the carrots? I want to make this for Valentine’s Day.
You can!
This soup is incredible. Even better the next day.
Definitely shell out for the certified San Marzano tomatoes. I always get Cento, probably $4 a can but worth it.
We didn’t do the bacon because were in the midst of plant based January along with our incomparable hosts here at Pinch Of Yum. Anyway, didn’t miss the bacon at all, if you’re thinking of cutting it.
We also did fresh thyme instead of dried and it worked great. Minced up plenty (probably 1.5 tbs after mincing) and added most at the beginning of cooking and the rest closer to the end. So that works if you prefer fresh or don’t have dried or whatever.
I do disagree with the recipe’s instructions to add the garlic and sauté it with the onion and carrot. It’s really easy to overcook/burn garlic. I recommend adding the garlic for 30 seconds before you add the tomatoes.
Made it last night! Have you ever tried freezing it? I ended up doubling it and didn’t add cream so thought that it would be okay due to that?
The soup should freeze just fine! Good call on leaving the cream out!
Also what do you use to puree the soup?
We use an immersion blender, but you could also use a blender.
Hi there,
Can I omit the bacon or does it taste good with the bacon?
Hi Renee! You can certainly omit, but we think the bacon gives the soup a wonderfully rich and smoky flavor.
I love this soup!
It is so yummy, one of my favorites!!
This is my go to tomato soup and I really want to make it again. I’m currently living in a hotel right now though and don’t really want to buy a bag of flour. Would I be ok to skip that step, or is there something similar that I can use (that maybe comes in a smaller size)?
Yep, that’d be fine to omit it.
Can you use beef stock or water instead of chicken stock?
Yes you can!
Hello from a fellow Minnesotan! I love, love this tomato soup recipe. It’s simple, full of flavor and the bacon is such a great addition to classic tomato soup. I’m serving it tonight with toasted Everything bagel slices topped with melted cheddar cheese!
So glad you love the soup, Tara! We are loving the cheesey everything bagel slices idea!
What kind of cream? Dumb question I know but I’m new to making soup.
Heavy cream is our go-to!
Absolutely outstanding soup! Full of flavour, easy to make, simple, good for you ingredients. Just what was needed on a dark, grey, English November day. This one’s going in my favourites folder.
Has anyone tried this with almond flour or arrowroot instead of regular flour? Do you think I could sub one to one?
So glad to hear that, Bev! Thanks for the comment!
I am not a very good cook but making this soup made me appear to be a culinary genius in the eyes and tastebuds of my family. I forgot to buy fresh basil so I opted for dried. It was fine, but you know there is nothing better than fresh basil. The slightly smokey bacon flavor is the signature flavor in this soup…LOVED IT!!! I was fortunate to have a killer immersion blender and it earned it’s money. Blending the soup with the immersion blender in the pot without having to pour batches into a processor was a super time and mess saver for an amateur like me.
I agree that a pinch of basil along with the thyme adds a certain sweetness without adding sugar. Excellent recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the soup, Craig! Totally agreed on the immersion blender!
This is the best tomato soup that I have tasted! And this says a lot because I love tomato soup. I used real tomatoes from the farmers market (trust me, they are so much better than grocery store tomatoes) by blanching them first (which removes the skins), chopping them into cubes and then cooking the whole soup on medium heat for 25 minutes. I also added turkey stock instead of broth and 3 tablespoons of butter. Will absolutely be making again and would suggest real tomatoes. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the comment, Leah! So glad you enjoyed the soup!
I made this without the bacon and cream and it was still 10/10 delicious. My picky boyfriend even loved it. I will be making this again many times over winter in Michigan. Thank you!!
So happy to hear this, Racquel!
Hello I would love to know if I can use fresh tomatos and how to use them if possible??
Hey Ana! Yes, you can use fresh tomatoes by grating or grinding in a blender and using the fresh puree. I love making veg soups using fresh ingredients and they taste better and have better storage life.
I’ve made it with fresh tomatoes! It’s delicious. I quarter tomatoes on a pan covered in foil. Drizzle olive oil over them. Back for 35-40 mins at 375 degrees or until the tomatoes start to blister. I’ve used all different types of tomatoes and it seems to work fine. I find this recipe pretty forgiving. 🙂
We haven’t tested this recipe, using fresh tomatoes. We think you could roast them and then use in the soup. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear back!
And suggestions on the amount of cream to use at the end? Otherwise, it’s delicious!
We’d suggest 1/4 to 1/2 cup!
I’m not much of a cook but I’m trying and this recipe sounded great. As I was reading it I thought it said I needed a 128 oz can of tomatoes! Thank goodness I puzzled it out and didn’t open 8-9 cans of 14.5 oz tomatoes.😂🤣 I’d need a bigger pot!
Happy to hear it all worked out!