Vegan Tomato Soup
on Jan 23, 2023, Updated Aug 14, 2024
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This easy vegan tomato soup features fresh roasted tomatoes, carrot and red pepper blended with coconut milk and basil for a creamy and flavourful finish.
Take your tomato soup to the next level by using roasted vegetables. This roasted tomato soup is loaded with fresh veggies and topped with creamy coconut milk, croutons, and fresh basil.
You’ll love how easy it is to make too! Simply roast the veggies and garlic in the oven then blend with coconut milk, broth and nutritional yeast to finish it off. It’s perfect for dunking a grilled cheese sandwich.
Love making soups? Don’t miss this Hearty Vegan Vegetable Barley Soup, Sweet Potato Lentil Soup, Chickpea Vegetable Chowder and Lemon Chickpea Orzo Soup or browse all my soup recipes here.
Ingredient Notes
Please scroll down the page to find the complete recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.
- Tomato: You’ll need 4 whole tomatoes on the vine or about 3 cups chopped. Roma or San Marzano tomatoes work well here.
- Carrot: You’ll need 2 carrots or about 1 cup chopped but the amount doesn’t have be exact, so any 2 carrots will do!
- Bell Pepper: You’ll need 1 red bell pepper. You could substitute orange or yellow bell pepper if that’s what you have. If you can’t use bell pepper, you can omit it and use a little extra carrot.
- Garlic: Fresh/raw garlic is best here.
- Broth: Any store-bought or homemade vegetable broth works (bouillon, cubes, carton, etc.).
- Basil: You’ll need fresh basil for this recipe. You could use dried basil if that’s what you have but fresh basil will add the best flavour.
- Coconut Milk: Full-fat coconut milk was used in this recipe but you can substitute light coconut milk for a lower-fat alternative. If you can’t use coconut milk, you can use substitute 1/2 cup raw cashews and add a little extra broth, water or plant-based milk to reach your desired consistency.
- Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast adds just a bit of nutty, cheesy flavour. You can increase the amount up to 1/4 cup if you enjoy nutritional yeast.
- Salt and Pepper: Amounts are provided but you can reduce to lower the sodium or increase to taste as needed.
- Olive Oil: A good quality extra virgin olive oil works well but you can substitute avocado oil or grape seed oil if needed.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Add your roughly chopped tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper and onion to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add the whole garlic cloves as well.
Drizzle the veggies with the olive oil and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Roast them for 25 minutes or until the veggies are tender and you see some golden brown on the tomato skins.
Step 2: Add the roasted veggies to a Vitamix or other high-speed blender along with the coconut milk, broth, nutritional yeast and remaining salt and pepper.
Step 3: Blend the soup until very smooth, then add the fresh basil and blend again until it’s fully mixed in.
Quick Tip: If you don’t have a Vitamix or high-speed blender, you may need a little additional water or broth to get allow the mixture to blend.
Serve your soup with a drizzle of olive oil or coconut milk or cashew cream topped with croutons and more basil.
Quick Tip: If the soup is not hot enough, transfer to a pot and heat through or heat individual bowls briefly in the microwave.
FAQs
Yes. This tomato soup recipe is gluten-free as written.
If you don’t have a Vitamix or other high-speed blender such as BlendTec, you may need to add a bit of additional water or broth for blending.
If you don’t have a blender at all, add the roasted veggies and remaining ingredients to a large pot and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
You can. To use canned tomatoes, roast the carrots, onion and bell pepper then add them to the blender with a 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes or diced tomatoes (fire-roasted is a great choice)!
Variations
- For heat, add up to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to the blender.
- Other herbs that work well in this recipe are oregano or Italian seasoning. Add up to 2 tsp dried herbs of choice.
- Smoked paprika works well for a flavour variation. Add up to 1 tsp to the blender.
- For a deeper tomato flavour, you can add 1-2 tbsp tomato paste to the blender.
- Taste the soup after blending. If you feel you’d like to balance the acidity of the tomato, stir in 2 tsp maple syrup, brown sugar, cane sugar or coconut sugar.
- Coconut bacon, crumbled tempeh bacon or crispy chickpeas also work well for topping.
How to Store
- Let soup cool before storing.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Leftover soup can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated through.
- To freeze, let cool completely, then freeze in a heavy duty freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
What to Make Next
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Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped (about 3 cups, 540 g)
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped (about 1 cup, 150 g)
- 1 medium red bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup, 150 g)
- 3 medium cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil, 15 g
- 1 ½ tsp salt and 1 ½ tsp pepper, divided
- 1 cup vegetable broth, 240 mL
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk, 240 mL
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, 11 g
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, optional
- ¼ cup packed fresh basil, plus more for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the chopped tomatoes, carrots, red bell peppers and whole garlic cloves on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle the olive oil and ½ tsp each of salt and pepper over the veggies and toss to coat.
- Roast the veggies for 25 minutes or until soft and roasted. You should see some brown on your tomato skins.
- Place the roasted veggies, coconut milk, the rest of the salt and pepper, nutritional yeast, and vegetable broth to a blender. Blend until completely smooth. You may need to add some water or additional vegetable broth to allow the mixture to blend if you’re not using a high speed blender such as a Vitamix.
- Add the fresh basil and blend again until it’s completely mixed in.
- Serve right away drizzled with coconut milk or cashew cream and topped with fresh basil and croutons. If the soup is not hot enough you can transfer it to a post on the stovetop to heat or heat individual bowls in the microwave.
- Serve in a bowl and drizzle some of the leftover canned coconut milk. Add some chopped fresh basil over the top or croutons.
This recipe has changed substantially. Why the shift? Is the old recipe somewhere else?
Yes, I noticed that as well! The original version is a staple in my household. I did my best from memory but would love to know where I can reference it.
Here is the original recipe. Please leave comments and reviews on recipes you love so I know people are making them! This recipe had little to no views on my website in years so I recently updated it. If I know there are people who love the recipe then I wouldn’t change it. Thanks.
1 large or 2 small white onions, diced (2 heaping cups, 300 g)
1 tsp cane sugar, optional, to caramelize onion
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, optional, if caramelizing onions
1 cup vegetable broth, unsweetened almond milk or water, to blend with cashews
3/4 cup raw cashews (100 g)
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp tomato paste or tomato sauce
1/2–1 tsp crushed chili flakes, optional
1 tsp each sea salt, black pepper and dried basil
1 x 28 oz can whole or diced tomatoes with their juices
1 cup vegetable broth
Add the diced onion to a soup pot with 2 tbsp water and a pinch of salt. Start cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
After 6-7 minutes either proceed with the recipe for follow step 3-4 to caramelize the onions.
Add the sugar to the pot. If the pan starts to dry out, keep adding 1-2 tbsp of water at a time and scraping the browned bits from the pan back into the mixture.
Keep cooking, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed to scrape the pan, for 15-20 minutes until the onions are dark golden brown and caramelized. Add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and deglaze/scrape the pan 1 final time.
Place the first cup of vegetable broth and the cashews in a blender and process until completely smooth and creamy.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender, including the cooked onions once they’re done and mix until smooth and creamy.
If serving right away, pour the blended soup back into the pot and heat through otherwise store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Tomato soup is one of my all time favourite meals and I’ve made this recipe twice now and it’s my favourite! It’s so simple and quick but also delicious! I’m not big into spicy foods but I use 1/4-1/2 tsp of chilli flakes and it’s the perfect amount!
Thank you Deryn for this awesome recipe 😍 your recipes have become one of my favourite go-tos!
Awesome! I’m so happy you love it and thanks so much for the kind review.
This soup helped my son recover when he was sick with the flu. Thanks a lot for sharing this awesome recipe and hoping to try others on your site.
That’s so great to hear. Glad he’s feeling better. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Terrific recipe! I added brown rice and curry powder, really delicious.
That sounds amazing. I love the idea of making it a curried tomato soup and adding some heartiness with the rice. Glad you enjoyed it!