Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
Today’s homemade soup recipe is an easy comfort classic reinvented: Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons. It’s a fun alternative to serving tomato soup with a grilled cheese on the side that the whole family will love.
Easy Tomato Soup Recipe
I’ve been making this easy tomato soup with buttery, crispy grilled cheese croutons for years!
Back when I ran a home daycare, the kids loved finding these “mini grilled cheese sandwiches” floating on top of their soup and surprisingly it was a lot easier to serve these than making an individual grilled cheese sandwich for each child.
This creamy, lightly seasoned soup uses roasted tomatoes which is really well worth the effort for the amazing depth of flavor that they bring to the recipe. You can skip this step, if desired, but note that the recipe will not be as robust in flavor.
(To save time on the day of making this soup, you can roast the tomatoes a couple of days in advance and store in the fridge until ready to make the soup.)
I’ve made this homemade tomato soup both with and without the addition of cream and truth be told, I like it a bit more with the heavy cream but I don’t miss it when I don’t use it. Skip a step and save the calories by omitting it, if desired.
Store this creamy tomato soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
How to freeze tomato soup: If you plan to freeze this homemade tomato soup, prepare it without the optional heavy cream. Heavy cream can separate upon thawing, ruining the texture of the soup.
To freeze tomato soup, store in airtight ziptop freezer bags or your favorite freezer containers for up to three months. (This set of freezer containers is a crazy bargain.)
Why does my homemade tomato soup taste acidic? Tomatoes can react with the pot that you’re cooking the soup in to create an acidic aftertaste. Avoid using cast iron or aluminum pots to cook this tomato soup – or any tomato-based recipe for that matter.
You can try to balance out the acidity with a bit of extra cream or even a teaspoon or two of white sugar, but it’s always better to avoid the problem than to remedy it.
More Delicious Homemade Soup Recipes
You can see our full collection of homemade soup recipes here.
Tomato Soup Ingredients
- Plum Tomatoes
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Onions, chopped
- Tomato Paste
- Paprika
- Fresh Oregano
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Vegetable Broth (can use water)
- Heavy Whipping Cream, 35% (optional)
Grilled Cheese Crouton Ingredients:
Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.
Note: basil is more classic for tomatoes, but I wanted something different. You can substitute the oregano with a small handful of fresh basil.
Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
- Cookie Sheet
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Heavy stockpot or Dutch Oven <– highly recommended for even cooking and seamlessly transferring this recipe from the stove to the oven
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Cutting Board
- Wooden Spoon or Spatula <– I like these spatulas because they are one solid piece and don’t have removable heads for bacteria to get trapped underneath. Plus they are heat-resistant and have a lifetime warranty.
How to Make Creamy Homemade Tomato Soup
Preheat oven to 425F
Grease or line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Clean your tomatoes and cut each in quarters. Place cut side up on your baking sheet.
Cut the top and bottom off of your garlic bulb and place in the middle of the pan.
Roast the tomatoes for 25 minutes until skins are browned or blackened.
You can peel the tomatoes two ways: allow to cool and the skins will come off easily, or while hot place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 3 minutes, then peel. Set tomatoes aside and discard skins.
Remove the skin from the garlic head and discard the skin, keeping the garlic.
Place the olive oil in a large soup pot and heat over medium heat.
Add the chopped onions and saute for 2 minutes until translucent. Add the softened garlic, spices and tomato paste.
Heat until fragrant, then add the tomatoes and broth.
Increase heat to high until boiling, then reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering for 20 minutes.
In batches, puree the soup until smooth. Do not fill your blender higher than halfway and cover the top with the lid and a kitchen towel.
Return the pureed soup to the pan and taste. Adjust the spices and cook another 2 minutes to rewarm.
If desired, you can stir in 1/2 cup of heavy cream.
To make the grilled cheese croutons, preheat a skillet over medium heat.
Place 1-2 oz of cheese in between two slices of bread, then use a rolling pin to flatten out the sandwich.
Butter both sides of the bread before adding to the skillet.
Cook on each side for about 2 minutes until golden.
Remove the grilled cheese from the skillet and cut off the crusts before cutting the sandwich into bite-sized pieces.
Serve each bowl of tomato soup with a few grilled cheese croutons sprinkled overtop.
Grab your free printable recipe for our homemade tomato soup recipe with grilled cheese croutons:
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Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
Ingredients
Tomato Soup Ingredients:
- 3 lbs Plum Tomatoes, approximately 12 tomatoes
- 1 head Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 Onions, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 2 sprigs Fresh Oregano
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4-5 cups Vegetable Broth (can use water)
- 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, 35% (optional)
Grilled Cheese Crouton Ingredients:
- 4 slices Bread
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 2-4oz Sliced Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Grease or line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Clean your tomatoes and cut each in quarters. Place cut side up on your baking sheet.
- Cut the top and bottom off of your garlic bulb and place in the middle of the pan.
- Roast the tomatoes for 25 minutes until skins are browned or blackened.
- You can peel the tomatoes two ways: allow to cool and the skins will come off easily, or while hot place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 3 minutes, then peel. Set tomatoes aside and discard skins.
- Remove the skin from the garlic head and discard the skin, keeping the garlic.
- Place the olive oil in a large soup pot and heat over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onions and saute for 2 minutes until translucent. Add the softened garlic, spices and tomato paste.
- Heat until fragrant, then add the tomatoes and broth.
- Increase heat to high until boiling, then reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering for 20 minutes.
- In batches, puree the soup until smooth. Do not fill your blender higher than halfway and cover the top with the lid and a kitchen towel.
- Return the pureed soup to the pan and taste. Adjust the spices and cook another 2 minutes to rewarm.
- If desired, you can stir in 1/2 cup of heavy cream.
- To make the grilled cheese croutons, preheat a skillet over medium heat.
- Place 1-2 oz of cheese in between two slices of bread, then use a rolling pin to flatten out the sandwich.
- Butter both sides of the bread before adding to the skillet.
- Cook on each side for about 2 minutes until golden.
- Remove the grilled cheese from the skillet and cut off the crusts before cutting the sandwich into bite-sized pieces.
- Serve each bowl of tomato soup with a few grilled cheese croutons sprinkled overtop.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 404Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 2036mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 5gSugar: 16gProtein: 14g
Sugar, Spice and Glitter uses an auto-generate nutrition calculator. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate unless analyzed in a scientific lab, so these should be considered more of a guideline than medical information.
I hope your family loves this easy tomato soup recipe as much as mine does!
For more scrumptious soups, check out our full soup recipe collection here:
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