Roasted Tomato Basil Blender Soup

A classic tomato basil soup that’s made without using canned ingredients. It features an irresistible smoky flavor, credits to the roasted tomatoes and garlic. Best of all, it’s super healthy and low in calories! A truly guilt-free dish that can be whipped up in a blender!

Course Soup

Cuisine American, Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 158kcal

Equipment

blender

Ingredients

5 pounds Roma tomatoes cut in half lengthwise
8 cloves garlic unpeeled
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion chopped
dash of red pepper flakes
1 ½ to 2 cups homemade, unsalted chicken broth
1 cup fresh basil chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Optional garnishes: Chopped basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Prepare a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the halved tomatoes and garlic cloves on the baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and sprinkle it with oregano, salt, and black pepper.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast for 45 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and juicy.
Remove the roasted garlic from the peels and roughly chop them. Set aside.
In a large stockpot, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, over medium heat, and sauté onions until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Add in roasted garlic, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, broth, basil, and thyme. Simmer on low for 30 minutes then remove from heat.
If you’re using a hot-liquid-friendly blender, you may pour the soup into the blender right away. Otherwise, cool down the mixture to room temperature before transferring it to the blender (see notes). Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Transfer the soup into bowls and garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese, if desired. Serve warm.

Notes

If you have access to a blender with heating capacity, you may simply mix roasted tomatoes and garlic, sautéed onions, and the rest of the ingredients (except garnishes) into that blender. Boil the mixture, pulsing at frequent intervals, until well-blended, about 10 to 20 minutes.
Otherwise, if you’re using a traditional blender, make sure that it doesn’t get filled more than halfway because it can make the mixture climb up thereby causing the blender’s lid to pop off. Thus, you may need to either do the puréeing in batches or cool down the mixture to room temperature before filling the blender completely, puréeing the soup, and warming it up once more.
Feel free to add more broth to thin out the soup. Contrastingly, simmer the soup more to thicken it up.
For the vegan and/or vegetarian version, replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth and don’t add Parmesan cheese.
The optional garnishes are not included in the nutritional information.

Nutrition