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Creamy vegan tomato soup instantly takes me back to my childhood. A big bowl with a grilled cheese sandwich was my ideal lunch on a rainy day. My friend Lindsey told me she sneaks in fresh zucchini and carrots to hers and I had to give it a shot. It was phenomenal with the additional vegetables, which is why I’m sharing it with you.
Vegan Tomato Soup Ingredients
Wondering how this vegan tomato soup version compares to traditional heavy cream-based tomato soups? Let’s take a look at the vegan-friendly ingredients I’m using in this recipe:
- Avocado Oil: A heart-healthy fat perfect for sautéing, avocado oil adds smooth richness while keeping the soup dairy-free. You can swap for olive oil or coconut oil, if you prefer.
- Yellow Onion: Packed with antioxidants, onions not only bring a savory foundation to the soup but also offer numerous health benefits, like supporting heart health and fighting inflammation.
- Carrots: Add natural sweetness and a vibrant color to the soup while loaded with beta-carotene.
- Celery: This versatile veggie adds a hint of earthiness and a satisfying crunch, balancing out the flavors of the tomato and other ingredients.
- Garlic: Rich in antioxidants, garlic not only adds a robust, aromatic flavor but also supports immune function and heart health.
- Zucchini: With a mild flavor and creamy texture, zucchini blends seamlessly into the soup, providing nutrients like fiber that help thicken the soup.
- Vegetable Stock: Opt for low-sodium vegetable stock or vegetable broth for the best flavor. It forms the base of the soup, adding richness and depth to every spoonful. I can even show you how to make vegetable stock.
- Diced Tomatoes: The key ingredient, diced tomatoes bring a burst of tangy, bold flavor. Tomatoes are also packed with vitamins and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that supports skin and heart health. You can also use fire-roasted tomatoes, which I did in my Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup recipe or roast cherry tomatoes in the oven to make from scratch.
- Italian Seasoning: A blend of classic herbs like oregano and basil, Italian seasoning enhances the soup’s flavors with fragrant, earthy notes. Add in red pepper flakes and black pepper if you like spiciness.
- Cashew Cream: A vegan-friendly alternative to heavy cream, cashew cream provides a luscious, creamy texture and additional protein without any added dairy.
- Fresh Basil Leaves: A vibrant and aromatic finishing touch, fresh basil complements the tomatoes and enhances the overall flavor of the dish.
How to Make Vegan Tomato Soup
This one-pot vegan soup recipe can be made in 45 minutes with a few basic steps. To speed up the process, you can buy onions, carrots and celery pre-diced. Follow along for step by step instructions to make this:
- Heat some avocado oil over medium heat in a stock pot. Mix in some diced onion and add a touch of salt for flavor.
- Stir frequently while cooking for 7 minutes, or until the onions show signs of softening.
- Add in sliced carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
- Mix in chopped zucchini and cook until it starts to become tender. Since you are going to puree your tomato soup, no need to peel the zucchini.
- Stir in the vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, and your Italian herbs.
- Bring just to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables become very soft and tender.
- Puree the soup using an immersion blender. If you’ve got a regular blender with a heat-safe container, you can puree the soup with that, just make sure you work in batches to avoid a soup explosion in your kitchen!
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with your choice of toppings (I like to add in cashew cream, fresh basil or vegan parmesan cheese sprinkle).
How to Store Vegan Tomato Soup
After cooling the soup fully, pour into 2-cup Souper Cubes or your fav freezer safe containers (leaving room for expansion) and freeze. When ready to enjoy, reheat the cubes in microwave or stove top.
What to Serve with Vegan Tomato Soup
The right side dish can turn a soup into a truly satisfying meal. The follow ideas pair beautiful with my vegan tomato soup:
- Crusty Bread or Garlic Toast: Great for soaking up the soup’s flavors.
- Green Salad: Adds freshness and a crispy texture. Try my lemon arugula salad for a tasty crunch.
- Avocado Toast or Croutons: Adds creamy or crunchy toppings for extra texture.
- Vegan Quesadilla or Vegan Grilled Cheese: A satisfying, hearty option for the cheese lovers.
- Stuffed Sweet Potato: A comforting side with natural sweetness. My Loaded Sweet Potato is always a winner.
Common Questions
Traditional tomato soup contains dairy in the form of cream or milk. A vegan tomato soup recipe swaps dairy for coconut milk or cashews to create a super creamy soup. I like to puree once everything is cooked through, then add a dollop of cashew cream (or vegan sour cream) to bump up the cream factor.
It can be! If you’re choosing a canned soup, read the ingredients… canned soup companies love sneaking in additives, preservatives and dyes to their soups. If you want to control what goes into your soup, then make it at home. My tomato soup recipe is loaded with a variety of vegetables yet is still super creamy and flavored like the tomato soup of my childhood.
I use Muir Glen brand diced tomatoes. They are organic and taste great! If you use fresh tomatoes I recommend using brandywine. They’ve got the best flavor for tomato soup.
More Vegan Soup Recipe Ideas
These vegan soup recipes are high in flavor and veggies, making them extra filling. Grab an insulated water bottle or thermos to enjoy any of these on the go:
- Gazpacho Soup: A tomato-based soup that’s best enjoyed cold.
- Vegan Pumpkin Soup: A creamy delight perfect for Autumn gatherings.
- Carrot Ginger Soup: Insanely flavorful, this soup is a great lunch option.
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup: The roasted peppers are an extra step but totally worth the flavor.
- Blended Vegetable Soup: Perfect for sick days, busy days or days where you just need some nourishing comfort.
Let me know in the comments how this vegan tomato soup turned out for you. It’s a Hansard family favorite recipe— I hope it can be on regular rotation for you, too!
Vegan Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- 2 carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 ribs celery chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 zucchini sliced
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Toppings
- ½ cup Cashew Cream
- fresh basil
Instructions
- Warm oil over medium-high heat in stock pot. Add onion and season with a little salt. Cook, stirring often, for 7 minutes or until the onion starts to soften.
- Add carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the zucchini and cook for a few minutes, until it starts to soften.
- Stir in vegetable stock, tomatoes, and Italian herbs. Bring just to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft and tender.
- Remove soup from heat then blend using an immersion blender to puree soup. If you prefer it chunky, blend less.
- Season to taste with more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve with your choice of toppings.
Equipment
Notes
- Fire-roasted tomatoes (canned) gives this dish a rich, robust flavor that I am obsessed with.
- Feel free to spice this soup up with red pepper flakes, paprika, or fresh chopped chili peppers.
- You can use olive oil or coconut oil in place of avocado oil.
- If you have a blender that is heat-safe, then you can use a regular blender over an immersion blender. If your blender container is not heat safe, then allow your cooked soup to cool down before adding to the blender in batches to blend. If you want to serve after blending, reheat to eating temp after pureed.
- To keep this soup nut-free swap out the cashew cream topping for a dairy-free sour cream of your choice.
So far I think all of the recipes have too much seasoning. I prefer a more natural and real taste. This one is simple though, and easily adapted.
My sister shared this soup with me and we think it’s fabulous! We left it chunky and it was perfect.
Ran out of zucchini used a bit of butternut squash
Much better than the canned stuff used to get as a kid. I like Cashew cream for the added texture.
Creamy, tomatoey, needs more hot spice, used olive oil, diced tomatoes, paprika, chili flakes, added spinach, topped with shredded mozzarella cheese, diced almonds, dried basil, served with side of pickles
This Tomato Soup is the best I’ve ever eaten. I cut the Italian seasoning in half as I don’t like many herbs to overwhelm my foods and it was still so flavorful. I also took the time to make the cashew cream and glad I did. My favorite soup so far in the challenge!
So far, this is my favorite! A perfect comfort food. I gave a portion to a friend who had just had surgery along with the earlier shops. Her son asked her which soup she wanted and heated it up for her. Not knowing it was the homemade tomato soup and not from the can she had on the shelf, she couldn’t believe how good it was and couldn’t figure out how it was so different and delicious! And, yes, I’ve shared the recipe.
I like that this soup has multiple vegetables in it. Warm and cozy soup! The cashew cream is a nice touch as is the fresh basil.
Perfect for a cool fall day! I used fire roasted tomatoes and added a bit of red pepper flakes and blended to perfection in my Vitamix… nice robust flavor!
SO yummy! I used an immersion blender to puree the soup but I wasn’t pleased with the texture so I pureed it again in my Vitamix blender & that gave it a perfect consistency. I made my own cashew cream using raw cashews, water, lemon juice & salt. Here’s the link to the recipe:
Hey there, we also have a recipe for cashew cream that’s very similar. So glad you loved this soup! Click here for our Simple Cashew Cream recipe.
I made this in my InstantPot, using the Sauté function to dry-sauté the onions, then put the rest of the ingredients on high-pressure/manual release for 15 minutes. It was a bit thinner than I wanted, so I turned sauté back on to reduce some of the liquid, then added some cashew cream to give it that ‘creamy tomato soup’ texture. Loved hiding the extra veg in a familiar soup: more veg, more better.
Forgot to mention, I used my immersion blender right in the InstantPot after cooking to get it creamy. Also, Next time I’ll only pressure cook for 5 minutes as the extra time is not necessary.
This soup was spicy and creamy, a definite step up from your typical tomato soup. It has great depth of flavor. My family’s dishes were so clean; you could not tell what lunch was!
I love this tomato soup. It’s better than anything I have tried store bought or in a restaurant. Its non-acidic which I find a lot in other tomato soups. I made my own cashew cream which was a challenge, my kitchen aid gave out on me. I believe I have the correct creaminess it’s supposed to have. I loved this as an addition to the soup and have enough to add on salad as well. It adds more flavor that I never would have thought of before. All the vegetables and herbs in the soup are great. It wasn’t heavy at all, I had to have seconds. Very light, great aroma. Fun to make and will add this to my favorites collection
I made this recipe and your sneaky tomato soup recipe from your meals cook book and both of them seemed to be a little light on tomato taste. So this time I drained and added a second can of diced tomatoes. I did take it for a spin in the vitamix since I am used to eating pureed tomato soup. The extra diced tomatoes made it taste more like Campbell’s tomato soup to me. Coming out of the vitamix it has a more hearty consistency and is much less watery. All in all a very good resultant soup.
I will be making this soup many more times, with the extra tomatoes.
Love tomato soup, and this one did not disapoint. Yum!
This soup is delicious!! I used my home grown, smoked tomatoes. Definitely a keeper recipe. Paired it with avocado toast….mmmmmm.