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
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.
Can this soup be frozen.
Soups and sauces thickened with a butter and flour mixture like this can sometimes separate upon freezing and thawing. I haven’t tried freezing this one, but that is the only issue that I can anticipate.
To keep milk from seizing up or curdling before adding milk put a 1/4 t of baking soda into your soup stir then add your milk also it helps if you heat up your milk before adding good luck
This soup is fantastic! I’m very much a beginner with cooking as baking is more of my forte, but this recipe was so easy to follow and buying the ingredients didn’t leave a hole in my wallet. I will definitely be making this soup again – so delicious!
Hi! Can I just blend this soup with my immersion blender in the pot? I don’t own a food processor or blender… I imagine this will be fine, but I just want to be sure. This recipe sounds so good and I can’t wait to give it a try!
You sure can. :)
Me and the hubs loved this! Made a grilled cheese with pesto to go with it, we’ll definitely be making again. Question though: when we added the milk it curdled. It wasn’t bad enough that it effected the taste or texture (just added little white flecks to the look of it) but not sure why that happened. Any suggestions?
Milk curdles from heat and/or acid, and even faster when both are present, so I’m thinking that either the soup was too hot when the milk was added OR perhaps the roasted red peppers you used were packed in a really acidic solution? I’ve noticed recently that some are just in a watery liquid, while some are in a more vinegar-like liquid. Tomatoes are acidic too, but it wasn’t enough to curdle my milk once diluted with the broth and everything else.
Could you do this recipe with fresh tomatoes?
You’d probably need to cook it a bit longer to break down the tomatoes to the point that canned crushed tomatoes are, and you may need extra salt as well.
This is a delicious recipe – The only thing I would do differently is add more garlic, but that’s just my personal preference.
I highly recommend adding a baguette to your shopping list, it’s a great addition.
I made this soup yesterday, but used 24 ounces of red peppers and chicken stock…I drizzled coconut milk in before serving…so good and easy to make! Always love everything you submit-thank you!!
My husband is on chemo and doing well, but his taste in food has changed. Certain herbs and spices hurt his mouth. This recipe was a hit and got some much-needed vegetables into him. Your Miracle Mac and Cheese is sitting beside it on the other front burner.
have you ever made this with the ‘cold’ ingredients and then let it sit in the slowcooker on low for a few hours? Give the flavours a chance to blend together.
I haven’t, but that’s a great idea. :)
I find blending a slice of white bread, crusts removed, adds a lovely creaminess, for those who don’t want to use dairy!
This is a FANTAAAASTIC recipe. I added some honey to it and used whipping cream since we didn’t have any milk. I also made grilled cheese sandwiches with rosemary sourdough, provolone and parmesan cheeses. My husband looked in the pot and gave me a long hug. After his 2nd bowl he told me he didn’t want it to end. Thank you Beth! Your recipes taste gourmet but are easy enough to follow with my 2 and 3 yr. old. I’m feeling brand new in the kitchen!
This is my very first comment, even though I have made multiple recipes from this site. It occurred to me that I always read the comments for tips and tricks and maybe it would be nice if I participated in helping other chefs. This recipe is amazing. I have made it twice and my family refers to it as “restaurant quality”. I highly recommend making the pesto toast points I really think they elevate the dish and provide a nice roundness of flavor.
This soup was amazing!! I used olive oil because I ran out of butter and I skipped the milk, but it was GREAT! I also made that bread and it is to die for and should never, ever be skipped!
It was a hit with my entire family including 2 skeptical toddlers!
This is a seriously quick and yummy soup! I love it with cheese on toast!