Tomato soup instantly takes me back to my childhood. A warm mug of homemade soup with a grilled cheese was my idea of a perfect cold day lunch. My friend Lindsey told me she adds fresh zucchini and carrots to her homemade tomato soup and after trying it I was hooked! So this is my version of vegan tomato soup and it always gets my kids' stamp of approval.
As a parent, I want to recreate those memories for my kids yet also make sure they're eating food that nourishes them, so I love the idea of packing this soup with veggies that don't diminish the classic tomato flavor.
Easy Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe
I know homemade soups often have a long list of ingredients with a whole lotta steps, yet don't fear! My vegan tomato soup recipe has a fairly small ingredient list, using easy-to-find vegetables. It's perfect for the beginner chef as well as easy to customize to fit your taste preferences.
- In a stock pot, warm some avocado oil over medium-high heat. Add in diced onion + a bit of salt. Cook, stirring often, for 7 minutes or until the onion starts to soften.
- Add in sliced carrots + celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add chopped zucchini and cook for a few minutes, until it starts to soften. Since you are going to puree your tomato soup, no need to peel the zucchini.
- Stir in vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, and 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.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed. Serve with your choice of toppings (I like to add in cashew cream, fresh basil or 'cheese' sprinkle). 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!
See how simple this vegan tomato soup recipe is? Now excuse me while I go make some.... I just got hungry.
Vegan Tomato Soup FAQs
No! Traditional tomato soup contains dairy in the form of cream or milk. My vegan recipe is honestly super creamy and doesn't have any milk! I puree once everything is cooked through, then add a dollop of cashew cream (vegan sour cream) to bump up the cream level.
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.
How to Store Soup for the Future
Soup takes work to make. All the ingredients, chopping and cooking is exhausting! So when I make soup I always double the recipe so that I can freeze the extras. These frozen portions make super quick n' simple meals for that future lunch or dinner you just don't wanna make.
I freeze my homemade tomato soup in single servings for easy reheating. Using pint-sized, wide mouth mason jars, I pour the cooled soup into the jars to the freeze line (this is important so the glass doesn't burst when frozen!). Make sure the soup is cooled completely before freezing; putting the jars into the fridge overnight before freezing is an easy way to ensure this.
If I plan ahead for lunch then I take the frozen soup jar out of the freezer and refrigerate overnight to thaw a bit. When I'm ready to reheat, I'll pour the contents into a small pot to reheat. You can also stick that mason jar into a bowl of warm water to help the thawing process.
If you work in an office, then just toss that frozen container of tomato soup in your lunchbox. By lunch it should be ready to microwave and enjoy! Don't forget to pack any toppings you wanna add 🙂
More Creamy Vegan Soups
Soups can be just as easy to take on-the-go as smoothies, if they're pureed. These soup recipes are high on flavor and veggies, so you'll get a filling meal quickly. Grab an insulated water bottle or thermos and add your warmed soup. If this vegan tomato soup to go intrigues you, then check out some of my other pureed soup recipes:
- Gazpacho soup: A fun soup that doesn't need to be warmed to enjoy!
- Pumpkin soup: A creamy delight perfect for Autumn gatherings.
- Carrot ginger soup: Delightfully 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.
Don't forget to let me know in the comments how this vegan tomato soup turned out for you... it's a Hansard family fav so I hope it can be on regular rotation for you too!
Vegan Tomato Soup
Rate this Recipe Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion (diced)
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon 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 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Toppings
- 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.
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.
Nutrition (estimated)
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Tiffany
This was delicious!! I first blended it with an immersion blender and it was good. With what was left I blended it with a Vitamix and added some cashew cream and it was even better.
Neil
This soup looks and tastes more like carrot soup. I used one can of fire roasted tomatoes and it seems like it need more. Will try it again and double up the tomatoes.
The soup does have a good flavor and I did enjoy it, just not a lot of tomato flavor. Do like it having all the veggies in it.
Dora Suarez
WOW, so easy to make and a family pleaser makes this soup a keeper, it also freezes well, I know as I made it before, this was my 2nd go at it but it will be all gone by dinner time tonight. Next time I'll double batch to freeze and have a quick emergency meal ready to go. This recipe is easy to make and great for a busy weeknight or easy weekend meal. We had it for our Crazy Monday back to the grind meal, I had mine for lunch along with a grilled cheese sandwich, and left the rest simmering on the stove for the family to have tonight along with their prepped and ready to be griddled grilled cheese sandwiches. I made mine with regular canned tomoatos as they didn't have fire roasted at Aldi's and it tastes just as good as the previous time, I made it. For toppings I simply added fresh basil and some Nutrional yeast, my family will probably sprinkle theirs with fresh mozzarella.
Jill Newton
This is the BEST homemade tomato soup I've made! Plenty of flavor and spice. Even my have-to-have-protein-at-every-meal husband loved it. Healthy and flavorful! WIN WIN!!
Laura Kephart
I swapped out the fire-roasted tomatoes for tomatoes I got at farmer's market & oven roasted myself. Really liked topped with the cashew cream. Also good with grilled cheese sandwich "croutons"
Jacqueline Strawn
OMG!!!!
absolutely in love with this recipe. I kept saying to myself, the color will not be the same as the picture, but it definitely blended well in my Ninja Blender. The cashew cream was an extra awesomeness!!
Thank you sooooo much!!
Neil
This soup looks and tastes more like carrot soup than tomato soup. I used 1 15oz can of tomatoes per the directions and it seems like that is not enough tomatoes. It does taste good just not tomato. When blended in the Vitamix it tends to get too much air whipped into it and turn a little foamy.
Will make it again but will at least double the tomatoes.
Kim
Yummy and so easy! I love tomato soup and this was really good. I like that it has other veggies like carrots, zucchini and celery in it. It didn't take long to make and now I have extra servings for later in the month.
Carrie Hewitt
This soup is simple to make and totally delicious. I reduced the amount of olive oil to 2 tsp.; otherwise, I adhered to the recipe. I really enjoyed this recipe!
Gwen
I don't make soup very often, so this recipe was a good reminder that it can be simple to create and delicious! I'll definitely be making this again. Thank you for sharing it.
LalitaSakthi
We truly enjoyed the whole process
The delicious aromatics of the herbs. Making grill cheese sandwiches as a family to accompany this soup
At first I was a little unsure since it uses so many vegetables and would not taste like a tomato soup. I now know I had nothing to worry about the soup was perfect
Shairoz Bheriani
Absolutely Delicious ! We still have tomatoes in season, so I broiled some fresh tomatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and garlic.
Amanda Villarreal
This is a simple and great recipe!
Traci Ziebarth
Super easy to make but I think I need to add a little bit more flavor for my kids to be on board. I ate this for lunch and it was filling (especially with the cashew cream added) but maybe I will add some garlic salt and/or pesto to help with flavor. Thank you for this challenge!!
Kelly Gallagher
This soup is delicious and has an impressive number of vegetables. Yum.