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–+ servings
bowl of creamy tomato basil soup with Parmesan cheese and basil
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4.96 from 47 votes

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

This bold and ultra flavorful Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is out of this world amazing! It uses a lot of pantry staple ingredients, and can easily be made in the slow cooker, Instant Pot, or right on your stovetop.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time6 hours 20 minutes
Total Time6 hours 50 minutes
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: homemade tomato soup
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 1391kcal
Author: The Chunky Chef

Ingredients

Tomato soup base

  • 30 oz canned diced tomatoes including the juices in the can
  • 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 medium yellow onion diced
  • 2 - 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

Roux

  • 3 Tbsp unsalted or salted butter
  • 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 12 oz can evaporated milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese freshly grated from a wedge of Parmesan tastes best

Instructions

Basic tomato soup

  • To the insert of a slow cooker, add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, onion, garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and chicken broth.  Whisk or stir to combine.
  • Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Blend

  • About 40 minutes before you want to serve the soup, use an immersion blender, or transfer soup (in batches) to a traditional blender and blend until smooth.  If using a traditional blender, transfer soup back to the slow cooker after blending.

Make roux

  • In a small saucepan over MED heat, add butter.  Once melted, whisk in flour.  Cook for 1 minute, whisking often.  Slowly whisk in the heavy cream and evaporated milk and cook a few minutes, whisking often, or until smooth and thickened slightly.  Stir in parmesan cheese until melted.
  • Transfer heavy cream mixture to slow cooker with soup and give a good stir to combine.

Heat through and thicken slightly

  • Don’t cover, and cook on HIGH for about 20 minutes or so, until thickened a little bit, and well combined.

Serve

  • Serve hot, garnished with additional grated Parmesan cheese and minced fresh basil if desired.

Notes

  1. Recipe makes enough for 6 servings of approximately 1.5 - 2.5 cups.
  2. Soup can be made ahead and frozen, see above post under the headings "making tomato soup ahead of time" and "freezing".
  3. Recipe has been updated, but if you were a fan of the old version, I've included it below this recipe card for your convenience.
  4. This soup will need to be blended once cooked, and there are several ways you can do that. My favorite way, and the most convenient, is to use an immersion/hand blender. You can blend the soup while it's hot, and right in the slow cooker. You can also use a traditional blender, or food processor but you'll need to take some precautions.
  • Let the soup cool a little bit, so there is less steam.
  • Only fill up your blender about halfway.
  • Remove the center cap of the blender lid.
  • Use a kitchen towel to hold the blender lid on.
  • Blend, then pour into a bowl.
  • Repeat with remaining soup.

Instant Pot Directions:

  1. Select "saute", then add a drizzle of olive oil. Cook onion until softened, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds.
  3. Add all other tomato soup base ingredients listed above.
  4. Cancel "saute". Give a gentle stir. Secure lid and make sure the valve is set to the "sealing" position.
  5. Select "manual" or "pressure cook" and press the +/- buttons to choose 8 minutes.
  6. Once the time has elapsed, carefully move the valve to the "venting" position. When the pin has dropped and you can remove the lid, do so safely.
  7. Blend.
  8. Make roux as indicated in recipe above, then pour into the soup.
  9. Select "saute" and if your pot has a "low" option, choose that. Stir soup and cook for a few minutes, until thickened slightly and combined well.
  10. Serve and enjoy.

Stovetop Directions:

  1. To a large dutch oven or whichever pot you normally cook soup in, add a drizzle of olive oil and heat over MED heat.
  2. Add onion and saute until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds.
  3. Add remaining tomato soup base ingredients listed above, then stir and bring soup to a low boil.
  4. Reduce heat to a high simmer and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
  5. While soup is simmering, make roux as indicated in recipe above.
  6. Blend soup.
  7. Pour the roux mixture into the soup and stir to combine well.
  8. Simmer for a few minutes, until thickened slightly and smooth.
  9. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 1391kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 67g | Fat: 85g | Saturated Fat: 51g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 26g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 305mg | Sodium: 2066mg | Potassium: 3089mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 83g | Vitamin A: 3854IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 2321mg | Iron: 5mg