Quick tomato soup has always been one of my favorite comfort foods, and this time I upped the game by adding a jar of smoky roasted red peppers and a butter-and-flour roux to give the soup extra body and richness. I just love the simplicity of this Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup. All you need is a loaf of crusty French bread for dipping and you’ve got a simple, yet luxurious meal. #treatyourself
Make it Creamy, or Not
The first time I made this roasted red pepper soup I finished it off with a cup of milk to make it creamy. But honestly, I tasted it before the milk and it was still a really bangin’ soup, so I decided to keep it simple. If you do want an extra creamy soup, simply add a cup of whole milk or a splash of heavy cream at the end. Do not let the soup boil after adding milk, as that can cause it to curdle.
What to Serve With Roasted Red Pepper Soup
You definitely want some sort of crusty bread, Homemade Croutons, Grilled Cheese, or Pesto Cheese Toast to dip into this awesome soup (pictured with plain pesto smeared toast). A really light and simple side salad would also be a nice way to round out this meal. If you want to get really fancy, you can drizzle a little bit of olive oil or pesto over each bowl of soup for extra color and flavor.
To make pesto toast, just mixed a little extra olive oil into the pesto to make it more spreadable, coated slices of my French bread, then baked at 400ºF for 7-8 minutes.
Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Servings 4 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 1 12oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained ($1.99)
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ($1.19)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 cups vegetable broth ($0.26)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion and garlic to a soup pot with the butter and sauté over medium heat until the onions have softened.
- Add the flour to the pot with the onions and garlic. Continue to sauté for about two minutes.
- Transfer the onion mixture to a blender and add the roasted red peppers (drained). Purée until smooth.
- Transfer the red pepper purée back to the soup pot. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, thyme, pepper, and vegetable broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any flour left on the bottom of the pot.
- Heat the soup over medium and allow it to come up to a simmer. Simmer the soup, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
- Taste the soup and add salt or other seasonings to your liking. The amount of salt needed will depend on the salt content of your broth. I did not add any additional salt. Serve and enjoy!
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Nutrition
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How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Soup – Step by Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and mince four cloves of garlic. Add the onion and garlic to a soup pot with 2 Tbsp butter and sauté over medium heat until the onions have softened.
Once the onions have softened, add 2 Tbs of all-purpose flour and continue to sauté for about two minutes.
Transfer the onion mixture to a blender and add one drained 12oz. jar of roasted red peppers.
Purée the peppers and onions together until smooth.
Transfer the roasted red pepper mixture back to the pot. Add one 28oz. can crushed tomatoes, 1/2 tsp dried basil, ¼ tsp dried thyme, ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper, and 2 cups vegetable broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any flour left on the bottom of the pot.
Heat the soup over medium, allowing it to come up to a simmer. Simmer the soup, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Finally, taste the soup and add salt or other seasonings to your liking (You may or may not need to add salt at the end depending on the salt content of your broth. I did not add any.)
Serve hot with bread for dipping! I garnished my bowl with a little drizzle of olive oil and some more freshly cracked pepper.
I made this soup for lunch with my family and we all loved it! I made a few changed to suit what I had on hand, first since my jar of roasted red peppers was nearly empty with one pepper left, I added a Tsp. Of smoked paprika to make up for it, I also added about 2 tsp. Of sugar because mine tasted a bit tart and at the end I stirred in some Boursin cheese spread, if you’ve never tried it tastes like cream cheese with garlic and herbs and it really pushed this soup over top, oh man so delicious!
Yum! I like to blend everything up first too – so much easier than dealing with hot soup in a blender!
We have two food processors and a blender. For recipes like this there is no substitute for an immersion blender. Better, faster, cleaner, and arguably safer.
Yumm! So making this recipe this weekend. I have a jar of roasted red peppers that I picked up on a whim that has been languishing in my cupboard. This is perfect!
Looks “soup-er” yummy!!! (Sorry about the pun :P)
What do you put on your pesto bread there? It looks delish!!
I mixed a little olive oil into the last of my jar of pesto (just to make it more spreadable), then just spread it on the slices of bread and baked at 400 till golden brown and crispy. :)
Roughly how many bell peppers would you recommend using if roasting the bell peppers yourself? Not sure how much weight the liquid accounts for in the 12oz jar.
1 big or 2 med
I also don’t have an immersion blender and I’m scared to blend hot liquids! I really like the “blend first, then cook!” method you’ve presented here.
Instead of replacing the butter with olive oil, I will probably replace it with Earth Balance (a vegan buttery spread) or some other dairy-free margarine. When I’m making corn I also use this, because olive oil just isn’t the same as a pat of “butter” melting over a hot corn cob.
I assume the whole milk was added to make the soup creamier? I could experiment with adding some canned coconut milk, but as you suggested I think it might be better to just leave the milk out. One less step for me. ;)
Thank you for the recipe! When I make this, I’m definitely doing the pesto-bread to go with it!
Is there a vegan pesto you recommend?
This looks good! Will have to give it a try.
So I recently found out how to roast my own peppers and I think it’s a good money-saving tip! You can either put them right on your gas range and char them if you have a gas stove. Or if you have an electric stove (like me), you can roast them in the oven. I put them on a cookie sheet with foil on it, roast it at 425 until the skin starts turning black. I usually turn in a few times to get it even. Then I take it out of the oven (or off the range) and wrap each pepper in foil until it cools. Then just peel off the skin, scoop out the seeds (a lot of liquid will come out, too, so be near a sink) and voila! Roasted red peppers.
I’ve also had good luck putting the peppers in a lidded bowl (or even just a bowl with a plate over it). It’s not quite as tight a seal as foil, but still enough to steam the skins loose!
Yes! I actually prefer to char them at home. It’s really too easy. When charred, I just put them on the cutting board and put a bowl over them to steam. The skins scrape right off with the blunt edge of a chef’s knife, spoon, anything, really. Red pepper and tomato are my favorite combo! This looks so good,
This looks amazing. I love roasted red peppers.
Put an immersion blender on your Christmas/birthday list! I absolutely LOVE mine. I make a lot of soups, and it is a game changer. I also don’t have a food processor (only a blender) and the immersion blender is so easy to blend up awesome soups, especially my favorite fall soup, butternut squash.
yum!! My favorite of all soups, tomato! Quick question–when you add the milk, doesn’t it cause foaming?
No, the heat was off at that point, so there was no simmering action to make it foam up. :)
Whatttt!?! I got a free jar of roasted red peppers from the grocery store last week. I’ve been wondering how I would use it, since it’s not a regular ingredient for me. You read my mind & I have everything else on hand. Awesome! Thanks!!
So excited to try this! Just returned from the store with all the makings for your burritos blancos, black bean quesadillas, and and sloppy joes (and my beans are almost ready from the slow cooker) This is how I’m spending spring break – to make sure I eat somewhat healthy and cheaply next quarter!
I eat tomato soup all the time and really should think about making my own. Would this recipe freeze well or do you recommend against that?
Hmmm, it seems like it would freeze well, but there’s a chance that it might separate a bit because of the flour and butter roux. Sometimes when that’s used as a thickening agent the liquid tends to separate out when it freezes.
Yes! Can’t wait to try this. I usually buy the roasted pepper and tomato soup from Trader Joe’s at $1.99/carton and I’m really excited to try this and compare. If it’s anything like TJs, I can absolutely say it’s DELICIOUS with grilled cheese – I particularly like it with bacon, gouda, roasted peppers, and sometimes avocado – a little extra veggies and BACON never hurt anyone :-D. Thanks, Beth!
Your recipes never fail to wow me…..and this one is no exception! Simply fabulous – thanks for yet another keeper 😋
I LOVE a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. I’m looking forward to making this recipe!!! :-)