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Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (30 Minutes, Vegetarian)

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Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup #vegetarian #soup | hurrythefoodup.com

When I told a friend recently that we were planning on making a tomato basil soup for our next recipe, she totally disagreed with it as an idea and claimed soup is only good for the winter.

This got me thinking on the subject, and I came to several conclusions.

Although I will agree that a tasty, hot soup is something special in the middle of a deep, cold winter – looking out at snow as you chow down for example – it’s also very much made for the summer.

Firstly, it’s an easy, light dish – so if you want something that fills you up without bloating then it’s perfect.

And as it’s quick to make it means you can spend more time enjoying yourself out of the kitchen and in the sun instead!

Secondly, if you’ve ever tried growing tomatoes or basil then you’ll know that summer is their ideal time!

The tomatoes are a deep, appealing red, bursting with flavour, and the basil leaves are thick and bushy, begging to be added to the pot.

The two even grow best when planted next to each other… so I think that says enough for the dish!

We found that you can alter this recipe in a variety of ways without compromising taste. First of all, a mix of tinned tomatoes with a few fresh tomatoes really saves time.

There’s less chopping to be done but you still get the flavour from the fresh tomatoes thrown in as well. You can even just use tinned tomatoes for really quick results.

Thirdly, Kat decided to try adding some Greek yogurt to make it more creamy – and this worked really well.

It makes it a little thicker and smoother (and also ups the protein content, something I’m very happy about).

To keep it vegan you could use almond milk instead, and swap the drop of honey for agave syrup.

If you have the time you can also make it purely with fresh tomatoes – this is great and a very useful way to use up a load of tomatoes if you have an abundance for any reason.

Also, from our own experience, when buying tomatoes look for a nice deep red colour with the tomatoes still attached to the vine for the freshest (and bestest) flavour!

And finally – a hand blender is an absolute beast in the prepping of soups. If you don’t have one yet, then you’ll find this one here will save you sooooo much time!

Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup #vegetarian #soup | hurrythefoodup.com

Health Benefits – Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Basil is a firm favourite in this house – and not just for it’s great taste. The more you can chuck into a dish, the better.

It’s an anti inflammatory, has great antibacterial effects and contains magnesium which relaxes the muscles and blood vessels, allowing blood flow to improve (1).

Tomatoes are also an extreme carer of the heart. The high count of antioxidant nutrients make sure oxygen is efficiently carried throughout the body, as well as cutting down on clots and blockages.

They’re also great for bone strength and growth, and even have proven anti cancer benefits (2)!

If you’re plumping for the yogurt version then the added protein really brings it’s own qualities.

If you’ve been working out then the protein is essential for repairing and building muscle, as well as making sure muscle mass doesn’t drop, and helps to keep your immune system nice and strong. What’s not to like (3)?

Enjoy!

We want your opinion!

  • Is soup only good in winter?
  • What’s your favourite soup?
  • Do you grow any veggies or herbs?
  • If so, have you found any super effective growing combos?
Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup #vegetarian #soup | hurrythefoodup.com
Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
4.63 from 8 votes
Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup. A simple, healthy and delicious recipe that’s ready in 30 minutes or less, perfect for a cool winter or hot summer.
Cuisine:Vegetarian
Diet: egg-free
Prep Time:5 minutes
Cook Time:25 minutes
Total Time:30 minutes
Servings:4 servings
Calories:274kcal

Ingredients

Optional

  • 1 cup cheddar cheese (or hard cheese of choice)
  • 1 tsp Tabasco sauce (or spicy sauce of choice)
  • 4 slices wholegrain bread

Instructions

  • Dice the onion and cook it on a medium heat in a big saucepan in olive oil for 5 minutes. Crush the garlic and add it to the onions and cook for 30 seconds.
  • Then add the diced tomatoes  and the broth and let it simmer.
  • After 20 minutes wash and cut the basil and add it to the soup.
  • Add the tomato paste, honey and Greek yogurt and blend it smoothly using a  (Blending the soup is not crucial, but makes it look nicer).
  • Add salt to taste and some optional grated hard cheese and extra basil leaves as garnish.
  • If you like yours with an extra punch then add some spicy sauce of your choice!
  • Optional: Serve with a slice of wholemeal toast.
  • Bon Appetite!!
    Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup #vegetarian #soup | hurrythefoodup.com

NOTES

IF YOU LIKED THIS RECIPE: and are in the mood for soup then this African Peanut Soup is hard to beat. See what you think. Jenny’s Red Lentil Soup is also a protein beast – and even has a great video from Howie to accompany it 🙂
 
Notes: the nutritional information includes all optional extras.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Easy and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
Amount per Serving
Calories
274
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
11
g
17
%
Saturated Fat
 
6
g
38
%
Trans Fat
 
0.003
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
2
g
Cholesterol
 
29
mg
10
%
Sodium
 
1105
mg
48
%
Potassium
 
621
mg
18
%
Carbohydrates
 
31
g
10
%
Fiber
 
5
g
21
%
Sugar
 
13
g
14
%
Protein
 
15
g
30
%
Vitamin A
 
1281
IU
26
%
Vitamin C
 
24
mg
29
%
Calcium
 
358
mg
36
%
Iron
 
3
mg
17
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Comments

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Recipe Rating




50 comments
  1. This looks so gorgeous and creamy! I’m in love with the color and I absolutely love tomato soup! Basil is probably my favorite herb too. Great recipe!

    1. Thanks Vegan 8 🙂 yepppp basil rocks! Love it!

  2. This looks so awesome..I don’t mind soup in summer as long as the AC is cranked up high 🙂

    1. hahahaha, well this soup would also work nicely served cold.

  3. I love Kat’s idea to add in Greek yogurt! I love tomato and basil soup year round, but never have I ever added Greek yogurt to it! I love soup year round – but, even though I say that, I don’t tend to make it as often in the summer! And yes – I have a veggie garden – and I have 3 varieties of tomatoes in it, among cucumbers, watermelon, squash, grapes, strawberries, sweet potatoes and peppers!

    1. Woah! That sounds like cool garden! Especially the watermelons. I was thinking if it was possible to add it to the soup actually! At some point I’ll get a garden as well 🙂

    2. That’s a great little selection you have there in your garden Shashi, I absolutely adore sweet potatoes they are one of my favourite veggies. I’m already thinking about a recipe for our website…
      Thank you for your compliment regarding the Greek yogurt, I wanted to give the soup a bit of creaminess but wanted to do it in the healthiest way so I thought that Greek yogurt would be perfect because its not as fatty as cream and also has a lot of protein, which is essential for my two fitness craving lads haha…. 😉

  4. 5 stars
    This looks sooo delicious! I love a tomato soup – especially a creamy one, so I will have to try this. Thank you for sharing!

    1. You’re welcome Harriet, definitely a great weeknight dish! 🙂

    2. Thank you so much for your comment Harriet, I really hope you will enjoy the soup!

  5. This looks amazing! I LOVE tomato soup – would never have thought to use Greek yogurt, but what an awesome way to make it creamy 🙂 I second the hand blender rec – I use mine all the time!

    1. Haha, I actually have the feeling that recipes including greek yogurts are starting to pop up quite often now.
      I think of using it all the time 😀

    2. Thank you Paige, I will definitely use Greek yogurt much more and substitute it for cream, it’s so much healthier and has a lot of protein which is really important for a healthy diet.

  6. I love Tomato Basil Soup – it screams summer to me!

    1. That is so true Kristi!! It’s like having summer in a bowl 😉

  7. Tomato basil soup is probably one of my favorite soups..ever!

    1. Mine as well Whitney, so it was about time to create one which is quick, healthy and most of all delicious, yay!!

  8. That looks so delicious and creamy. Interesting to use the greek yoghurt to make it creamy

    1. Yep, smart move by Kat that was 😉

  9. I never thought to use greek yogurt in tomato soup. What a healthy alternative to heavy cream. Looks delish!

    1. Thank you Rachel for your lovely comment. Yes you can swap the cream for Greek yogurt in almost every dish and make them like that – just a little healthier 😉

  10. 5 stars
    This soup looks so good. We are big fans of Tomato Basil soup and looking for ways to change it up here and the almond milk idea is a good one. Thanks!

    1. yes, right? I’ll deffo try it with almond milk next time!

  11. I am a soup-in-winter kinda person. Now, you have forced me to look at it differently.Your recipe sounds perfect for summers to use the tomatoes you harvest during summer. – Sreelatha

    1. Hi Sreelatha!
      Actually you should also try gazpacho at some point. It’s served cold as well and really great for summer! Quite similar to this one 🙂

    1. Soups are great!! All year around!! Hope you enjoyed the soup as much as we did!

  12. Tomato soup is 100% an all-year round soup! All those fresh and flavorful summer ingredients just can’t be beat! LOVE this soup, and I can’t wait to make it! Pinned!

    1. Thanks! For me it’s also all year round, because it’s so easy to make 🙂

  13. Looks sooo good. My partner loves tomato soup with basil, but I prefer to leave it out. Either way, I want a bowl of this soup and a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it. 🙂

    1. Yummy!! I love grilled cheese sandwiches and it would go really well with this soup!! Great idea Thomas!! 😀

  14. Soup is perfect for the Winter here in Australia now so this recipe will definitely come in handy. Thanks!

    1. Awww I love Australia!! Did Dave mention that we all met each other in this beautiful country around nine years ago?
      I heard that in some parts of Australia you recently had blizzards for the first time in ages 😮 , is that anywhere near you Thalia?

  15. Tomato and basil is such a delicious combination, and I love that you’ve added Greek yogurt to this soup!

    1. Thank you Kristine. They are indeed a delicious team and as Dave mentioned in the blog they grow well together and apparently the basil also keeps insects away from the tomatoes if you plant them next to each other 😉

  16. That looks so light and creamy, yum.

    1. Thank you Sara, you definitely need to give this soup a try!

  17. What a great recipe!!! Love that it is not from a can!!! All you need know is a grilled cheese sandwich and a rainy day 🙂

    1. Very true! Thanks Heather 🙂

  18. I made this soup yesterday. My wife and I really enjoyed; my 18 year old son, not so much. We will definitely make it again. Serving it over cornbread gave it a little extra weight and texture. I noticed that cooking the onions in olive oil is mentioned in the directions, but the olive oil is not mentioned in the ingredients list. I just made a eyeball call for about 1 tbl. I also assumed that 2 tins of chopped tomatoes is about 400g; seemed to work. And I added some extra yogurt to thicken it up just a bit.

    1. Ah, that’s great to hear! Yep, we also used 400g tins, will add it to the recipe. I tried quite a few variations of the soup, but until now this one is my favourite. Will try some roasted tomato soups in the future, but unfortunately the take more than 30 minutes to make.

  19. My husband and I have this same argument…he says soups and stews are for winter time only. He says “It’s too hot for soup.”
    I think he’s FULL of it!!! Virtually every meal we eat is served hot!!! IMO soups are perfect for summer!!! My #1 argument is that they are stove top or crock pot, and therefore don’t require heating up the oven. (and house!!!!) Pretty sure I’m right!!!

    1. I’d have to agree with you Mandy! Any time of year 🙂

    2. hahahhaha, well I think your right too! I have to admit though lately I started cooking up more soups again 😉
      (which doesn’t mean I don’t have soups during summer)

  20. Mate, you’ve made some egregious and exaggerated health claims here while citing some super-questionable sources. The recipe looks delicious but maybe you should stick to the cooking or perhaps research a little more. “whfoods.com” is not a reputable source, even though whoever runs that site cites research studies it takes their statements and conclusions grossly out of context and makes big exaggerations about the health benefits of these foods. Do you actually know what antioxidants are or do? They simply prevent oxidation by way of removing free radicals and the health benefits of high doses of antioxidants has been overstated (your immune system actually makes use of free radicals to fight pathogens). They do not aid oxygen’s passage around the body. Furthermore, the fact of the matter is a bowl of tomato soup isn’t going to do all that much for your health on its own when it’s not a part of a constant healthy diet, no matter how much basil and tomatoes you pack into it, lol.

    1. Hey! Thanks for helping us out on the antioxidant thing and doubting the sources. We’ll deffo look into it. Unfortunately you also sound like a right tosser.

  21. This sounds awesome and as I’m on a weight-loss journey I’m making batches of soup on a Sunday and taking them to work for lunch in the week so I’m always looking for different soups to make, this is definitely on my list to make. Cant wait til I try it.
    Thank-you for the recipe xx

    1. You’re very welcome. Enjoy, Julie, and good luck on the weight loss journey!

  22. This soup is delicious – hot or cold (for summer). I will be making it often. I added about 15 San Marzano tomatoes because I like their flavour.

    1. So happy it turned out well, Karen! Ooh nice, I don’t think I’ve tried San Marzano before but I’ll keep my eyes peeled!