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This Tomato Basil Soup with Parmesan Crusted Croutons is a creamy and delicious, easy fall dinner. It can be quickly for a weeknight dinner, or it can be made ahead of time and then warmed and put in a thermos for a warm meal at a chilly fall picnic. Put some croutons in a separate container and add them right before you are ready to enjoy your soup!
The O.G. Tomato Soup inspiration….
My brother Hana recently sent me a picture of his, “blog worthy lunch” which was a bowl of Campbells Tomato Soup and Ritz crackers. A true blast from the past of our youth! This was definitely one of our favorites growing up. I remember crumbling practically a whole sleeve of Ritz crackers into my soup! I am pretty sure he still does. Ha!
So it is Hana who inspired me to do a grown up version of this favorite classic. It is one of those super easy, and super fulfilling meals that is so easy to recreate a healthier version than the canned. It has the same sweet and creamy tomato flavor…but it is just so much better!
Roasting your own tomatoes is super easy and making it yourself allows you to control exactly what is in your soup. It cuts down on the sodium and sugar and is instead enriched by the natural nutrition of the herbs, garlic and tomatoes. Instead of Ritz crackers, this recipe creates buttery parmesan crusted french bread croutons. You get the same salty crunch, but so much more flavor. In this case, it’s way more fun to do it the grown up way!
Ingredients
- Tomatoes- Use whichever tomatoes look best to you! If your fresh Romas look good, use them. I used these gorgeous medium sized beefsteak tomatoes. The bottom line is, fresher the better!
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Beef Bouillon Base
- Sugar- Just a little to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Chicken Stock- you can also use veggie stock if you prefer.
- Fresh Basil Leaves
- Heavy Cream
- French Baguette
- Butter
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
The Parmesan Crusted Croutons
The Parmesan Crusted Croutons are a bit of a riff on the Grilled Cheese Sandwich that always accompanied our Tomato Soup. Use a nice crusty french baguette. The soft center of the bread will soak up the butter and olive oil and the outside will be nice and crispy from the toasted cheese.
You may need to cook the croutons in two batches depending on the size of your skillet. You can also put them on a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil and salt and pepper and brown them in the oven on 375°. Bake them for 10 minutes and then pull them out and flip them over and sprinkle the cheese on and then place them back in the oven for 10 more minutes or until the cheese is toasty brown.
Trust me, you won’t miss having the whole sandwich. This deconstructed version is every bit as good. If you have any croutons left over, check out this Greek Panzanella for a delicious way to use them up!
How to Make Tomato Basil Soup
This section is going to be really short, because there really isn’t much to it! Short and sweet, and so good to eat!
Roast the Tomatoes
Start by halving, or quartering your tomatoes, depending on the the size. The most important thing is that you cut all of the pieces roughly the same size so that they will roast evenly.
Add your tomatoes and fresh garlic cloves to a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle everything with a good glug or 2 of olive oil, and sprinkle it all with salt and pepper.
Roast the tomatoes and garlic in a 425°F oven for about 40 minutes. Check them after 30 minutes. They will be done when the tomatoes are wrinkled and soft.
Remove the tomatoes and garlic from the oven and place them in a large stock pot. Turn the heat to medium and add the Beef Bouillon and Chicken stock.
Blend
If you have an immersion blender, use that to blend everything into a smooth liquid. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can either use a high powered blender like this Vitamix, a potato masher and do it by hand, or you can place the tomatoes and garlic in a blender and blend them up before you add them to the stock pot.
Add in the salt and sugar and continue to heat on medium to medium high heat until it comes to a simmer.
Once it begins to simmer, remove it from the heat and add the heavy cream. Make sure it is not boiling, or even still simmering when you add the cream, as this will cause it to curdle instead of creating a creamy, velvety texture.
Once the cream is incorporated, place the soup back on the burner on low heat. Or, if you are meal prepping for later, let it cool completely and then transfer it to an airtight storage container.
If you are ready to serve it, simply top it with some delicious parmesan croutons and a sprig of basil and enjoy!
How to Make Parmesan Croutons
Start with your fresh, crusty french bread. Cut this into about 1-2 inch chunks. Drizzle it with a couple tablespoons of good olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Heat a nice heavy skillet on medium high heat. Once it has gotten warm, add a couple tablespoons of butter as well as your bread. You may have to make this in two batches, depending on the size of your skillet.
Toss the bread around so that everything is evenly coated with butter. Then let the croutons sit for a minute or so and then toss again. Add the grated parmesan and continue to toss until the croutons are lightly golden brown and crisp on the outside but still soft on the inside. Perfect for topping this delicious soup!
The Tools that will help you…
For this recipe, you will need a way to blend the tomatoes into creamy oblivion. I have gushed about it before and I will gush about it again. My immersion blender. I can’t tell you how much I love this thing. It is relatively inexpensive, it doesn’t take up much space, it is easy to clean, and I use it for SO MANY different things. If you don’t have one, really, look into getting one. I truly think you will love it.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a high powered blender like, this Vitamix. I love this guy and use him for everything. In fact, here is my recipe for Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Hazelnut Gremolata, which is another delicious veggie soup that is also gluten and almost completely dairy free! Anyway, I use my Vitamix for this.
Otherwise, the most important tools that you will need are a large Stock Pot, and a good bread knife.
Actually, another thing I should mention is parchment paper. If you are still using aluminum foil, or silicone mats, I highly recommend you try parchment paper. Especially when you are roasting tomatoes. There is definitely a time and place for foil (on the grill, etc…) but to me, parchment paper is a game changer. Nothing sticks to it, it is super easy clean up, it is cheap and easy to use. Just a thought!
More Super Yummy Recipes
Vegetarian options
- Vegetable Couscous with Mint Pesto
- Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Hazelnut Gremolata
- Veggie Wraps with Honey Mustard Sauce
- Thai Fresh Rolls with Peanut Sauce
- Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Toasted Sesame Aioli
- Blistered Shishito Peppers
Comfort Food
Sweet Treats
Party Foods
I hope you enjoy this Tomato Basil Soup! I would love to hear from you in the comments below! Thank you and Thank you for visiting Mollie in Montana~*! ♥️
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Parmesan Crusted Croutons
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Tomatoes
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Olive OIl
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Beef Bouillon Base You can substitute Vegetable Base if you prefer.
- 5 Tbsp Sugar
- 1 Quart Chicken Stock You may substitute Vegetable Stock if you prefer.
- 10 Basil Leaves Plus more for garnish
- 2 cups Heavy Cream You may substitute with half and half
Parmesan Crusted Croutons
- 1 loaf French bread or baguette
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Quarter tomatoes and place on lined baking sheet
- Add halved garlic cloves
- Drizzle with 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil and Season with Salt and Pepper
- Roast in 425° oven for 40 minutes.
- Remove from oven and place tomatoes, garlic and Basil leaves in large stock pot.
- Turn heat to medium high and add Beef Bouillon Base.
- Add Chicken Stock to pot.
- Use immersion blender to mash tomatoes. If you do not have an immersion blender, you may mash by hand, or put tomatoes and garlic in blender in batches and then return to pot and then add Chicken Stock.
- Add Salt and Sugar and continue to heat.
- Once Soup starts simmering, remove from heat and add cream.
- Once cream is incorporated, soup may sit on burner on low heat.
- Top Soup with Parmesan Crusted Croutons and a sprig of Basil
- Enjoy!
Parmesan Crusted Croutons
- Cut French Bread into 1"-2" squares
- Drizzle with Olive oil and season with salt and pepper
- Heat skillet over medium high heat.
- Add butter and let it melt
- Add bread to skillet, stir occasionally until lightly browned. You may need to do 2 batches depending on the size of your skillet.
- Add grated Parmesan to skillet to coat croutons.
- stir croutons while they cook for 2 minutes or until cheese is crisp and lightly browned.
- Remove from heat.
Notes
Notes
- If you would rather make the croutons in the oven, you can drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper and then place them in a 400°F oven for about 8 minutes and then flip them and cook for another 8 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Feel free to use vegetable stock, and bouillon in place of the chicken and beef stock if you would like. In this case you may want to add a little extra salt, but salt it according to taste!
- These croutons freeze beautifully in a zip lock! Just make sure there is as little air in the bag as possible to avoid freezer burn.
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