Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

Who doesn’t love a grilled cheese dipped in creamy vegan tomato soup? It’s the perfect comfort food combo, and one that I’ve been craving lately on chilly evenings. As nostalgic as Campbell’s canned tomato soup makes me, this vegan tomato soup recipe blows the condensed stuff out of the water — and it’s so simple to make!

Ingredients for Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

• Fresh tomatoes. You can use a few cans of stewed tomatoes in a pinch, but I highly recommend roasting your own. I like to use 2-3 pounds of Roma tomatoes, but any variety will work fine as long as they’re ripe. You can even combine different varieties of tomatoes if you have them lying around. Really any combination of Roma, vine, cherry, grape, or heirloom tomatoes will yield you a great soup.
• Roasted garlic & onion. It’s easy to forget how much flavor you can get out of simple, pure ingredients. The roasted garlic and onion in this recipe are a good reminder of this. These just get roasted up with the tomatoes and add so much depth and goodness to this soup.
• Cashew cream (or a substitute). This soup has “creamy” in the name and cashew cream is my go-to method for adding creaminess to a dish. To make homemade cashew cream, simply soak raw cashews 4+ hours (or boil for 10 minutes) and puree with enough water to create a consistency that mimics heavy cream or half & half. If you don’t want to use cashew cream, I’ve listed some substitutes in the section below.
• Vegetable broth. This is going to be your liquid base for the soup. You can use regular veggie broth from a carton or chicken-style substitute bouillon. My favorite vegan chicken-style bouillon is from Edward & Sons.
• Fresh basil: This is what’s going to make your soup really pop with flavor. Fresh basil adds a delicious, fresh flavor to the soup, which balances perfectly with the hearty garlic and onion. If you don’t have fresh basil on hand, feel free to substitute in about 2 teaspoons dried basil.
• Dried oregano. This is optional, but adds some extra dimension to this soup. You can also feel free to add in any of your other favorite herbs, such as a sprig of thyme or rosemary.

Substitutes for Cashew Cream

• 1 (15 oz can) white beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed. These will help thicken the soup while also contributing extra protein and fiber. The soup will not have as rich of a texture with beans as with cashew cream.
• Unsweetened, plain plant milk. Cashew cream has a very thick and creamy texture and neutral flavor, but you can use a store-bought, unsweetened plain plant milk if you don’t mind a slightly thinner soup. You can reduce the amount of vegetable broth you add to achieve a thicker consistency if desired.
  • You can also use coconut milk if you don’t mind a slight hint of coconut flavor in your tomato soup.
• Store-bought cream substitute. The brands Ripple, Califia Farms, Country Crock and Silk all offer dairy-free cream OR half and half alternatives in the US. I haven’t tried any of them in this particular recipe so I can’t vouch for the flavor.
• Omit altogether. In a pinch, leave the heavy cream substitute out altogether. The soup will have less of a rich and creamy texture but the flavor will still be incredible.

How to Make Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

1. Roast up your tomatoes, garlic, and onion. Okay, I know making tomato soup totally from scratch with fresh roasted tomatoes sounds intimidating but it’s actually really easy! The hardest part is just waiting for everything to finish roasting.
   • To get started, preheat your oven to 425°. Cut your tomatoes into quarters and your onion into eighths. If you’re also using little tomatoes like cherry tomatoes, you can just keep them whole.
   • Throw your tomatoes, onion, and whole cloves of garlic into a big roasting pan, drizzle them with a little olive oil, hit them with some salt and pepper, and mix it all up. You can also add in some red pepper flakes at this stage if you like a little heat.
   • Pop your baking dish into the preheated oven and roast for about an hour. You’re looking for your tomatoes and onion to get very soft, so they can be blended later on. You also want them to pick up some golden brown caramelization in there.

2. Start building the soup. Transfer the tomatoes, garlic, and onion from your baking dish into a pot. Make sure not to leave behind the liquid in the bottom of the roasting pan! There’s a lot of delicious flavor in those juices.
   • Add in your vegetable broth, fresh basil, dried oregano, and cashew cream (or whichever creamy substitute you may be using).
   • Bring all of this to a boil and then reduce heat to low.

3. Blend. There are two different ways you can blend up this soup. It all depends on what texture you prefer and what equipment you have available to you.
   • Option 1 is to use an immersion blender. These are extremely handy and easy to use. You just have to plug it in, stick it in the pot, and blend everything up to your desired consistency and texture. The one downside is that an immersion blender can only make your soup so smooth. It does a pretty solid job but it won’t make your soup as silky smooth as a traditional blender.
   • Option 2 is to use a traditional blender. Using a normal blender, you’ll end up with a smoother final product. You just have to be cautious when blending hot soup in a blender. First of all, make sure that the pitcher you’re using is heat-safe. Check with the manufacturer of your blender to see if your pitcher can handle hot liquids. See the recipe card for more information about safety while blending hot soup. Please be careful!
4. That’s it! Once your soup is blended to your liking, it’s ready to eat.

Serving Suggestions

This Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup is the perfect accompaniment to vegan grilled cheese sandwiches (pro-tip: Field Roast Chao slices and Follow Your Heart slices are my fave options for out-of-this-world, melty goodness). I love to garnish it with more fresh basil, pepper flakes and a drizzle of olive oil (or cashew cream, if I happen to have some handy). Crispy roasted chickpeas or croutons make great toppers as well. Bon appétit!

Storing & Reheating

This soup will stay good in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. To reheat, you can either use the microwave or do it on the stovetop.

If microwaving, make sure to heat it incrementally, stirring in between. If reheating on the stove, place in a pot and set over medium heat. Stir often until soup is heated evenly throughout.

More Comfy Vegan Soups

• Roasted Garlic Noodle Soup
• Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup

Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

Creamy, comforting soup bursting with the flavor of fresh basil, roasted tomatoes and garlic.

4.9 from 7 votes

Print Pin Rate

0.51x2x

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Sarah Sullivan

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 lbs roma tomatoes about 7-8
• ▢ 6-8 cloves garlic left whole
• ▢ 1 large onion roughly chopped
• ▢ 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ salt and pepper
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
• ▢ 1/2 cup fresh basil chopped
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dried oregano optional
• ▢ 1 cup cashew cream or nondairy half & half see notes for substitutions
• ▢ 2 cups vegetable broth

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425°. Cut tomatoes in quarters, removing the tough piece where the stem attaches.
• Add tomatoes to a large baking dish, along with chopped onion and whole garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. (Optionally, add red pepper flakes.) Toss to coat, then place in the oven and roast for about 1 hour, or until tomatoes and onions are very soft and have picked up some golden brown color. If needed, add additional cook time 10 minutes at a time.
• Transfer roasted tomatoes, onion, and garlic to a pot, along with the juices at the bottom of the pan. Add vegetable broth, fresh basil, optional oregano, and cashew cream (or cream substitute of choice).
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low. Use an immersion blender to purée the soup to your preference. (For a perfectly smooth soup, a traditional blender will work best.)
• Safety tip. If using a blender, make sure the pitcher is heat-safe. Exercise caution while blending hot ingredients. Do not fill the blender up up all the way, as pressure can build rapidly. Leave the chute on the lid open, and hold a clean kitchen towel over it while pulsing. Increase speed very gradually. This will allow some of the steam to escape to keep the pressure from building up or your lid from flying off.
• Soup is ready to enjoy once blended to your preference.

Video

Notes

Veggie broth: If you can get your hands on a faux chicken broth, or vegan chicken-style bouillon cubes or paste, it will taste great in this soup! Regular vegetable broths can oftentimes be quite sweet, and a more savory broth will balance the sweetness of the roasted tomatoes.

Cashew cream substitutions

• 1 (15 oz can) white beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed. These will help thicken the soup while also contributing extra protein and fiber. The soup will not have as rich of a texture with beans as with cashew cream.
• Unsweetened, plain plant milk. Cashew cream has a very thick and creamy texture and neutral flavor, but you can use a store-bought, unsweetened plain plant milk if you don’t mind a slightly thinner soup. You can reduce the amount of vegetable broth you add to achieve a thicker consistency if desired.
• Store-bought cream substitute. The brands Ripple, Califia Farms, Country Crock and Silk all offer nondairy cream OR half and half alternatives in the US. I haven’t tried any of them in this particular recipe so I can’t vouch for the flavor.
• Omit altogether. In a pinch, leave the heavy cream substitute out altogether. The soup will have less of a rich and creamy texture but the flavor will still be incredible.

 

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