Homemade vegan Tomato Basil Soup is made with fresh tomatoes simmered with onion, garlic and sweet basil for a deliciously creamy tomato soup that’s ready in 30 minutes!
Soup is on with this quick and easy tomato basil soup!
This tomato soup is bursting with tomato flavor and made with just a handful of ingredients. It’s a new favorite around our home and I know you’re going to love it too!
A few more reasons to love this recipe:
- It’s great alone, but can be made into a hearty meal with a sandwich, salad or pasta on the side.
- Leftovers taste even better, making it great for to-go lunches or freeze for later.
- This recipe is easily customizable using fresh, canned or dried ingredients.
If you’re a soup lover like myself, a few other delicious and vegan soup recipes worth checking out are this Vegan Minestrone Soup, Creamy Broccoli + Red Lentil Soup, simple Roasted Butternut Squash Soup or Very Good Split Pea Soup.
Ingredients You’ll Need
In the easy recipe, tomatoes, onion, garlic and basil are cooked until soft and pureed for a simple and flavorful homemade tomato basil soup that’s perfect for a light lunch or dinner.
Here is everything you will need:
- Tomatoes – use roma, plum or tomatoes on the vine (can sub with canned as noted in the recipe).
- Onion – I used white, but red, yellow or brown is ok too.
- Basil – fresh is best, but can sub with dried basil if needed.
- Oregano – dried or fresh
- Garlic – fresh is best, can sub with garlic powder as well.
- Vegetable Broth – low-sodium preferred.
- Vegan cream – use store bought or make your own vegan cream (can also sub with plant milk)
- Salt + pepper – to taste.
How To Make Tomato Basil Soup
- Prep: Start by prepping the onion and garlic. Cut the quarter the tomatoes or cut into 1 inch pieces if using larger tomatoes.
- Saute: In a heavy bottom pan, saute the onion with oil or water for 7 minutes, add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Add remaining ingredients: Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, and liquids.
- Simmer: Bring the chunky soup to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Puree: Once soup is done, let rest for 10 minutes to cool. Using an immersion blender or cup blender, puree the soup until desired consistency. Taste for flavor, adding more salt as needed.
Top Tips
- Tasting for flavor. If finished soup seems at all bland, season with more salt.
- Recommended equipment. I love using my immersion blender (affiliate link) for pureeing soups. A standing blender is great too, but may take two batches to puree.
- Thicken the soup. My favorite ways to thicken this soup is using 1 – 2 tablespoons vegan cream, Vegan Sour Cream or tahini or cashew butter.
How To Store Leftovers
- Refrigerator: Leftovers will keep for 5 – 6 days in the refrigerator, stored in a covered container.
- Freezer: Tomato basil soup is freezer friendly and freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, let cool completely and store in multi-use, freezer safe containers (affiliate link), leaving ½ inch head space for expansion. You can also freeze larger portions in large freezer ziplock bags. Let thaw before reheating.
- Reheat: Simply re-warm on the stovetop over low heat until warmed through. Alternatively, reheat in the microwave using 30 – 60 second intervals, stirring after each, until warm.
- Meal Prep: It makes a great meal prep for the week with homemade Artisan Bread or Vegan Naan on the side for soaking up the juices.
How To Thicken Vegan Tomato Basil Soup
These are my favorite dairy-free ways to thicken this soup:
- Add 1 – 2 tablespoons vegan cream or Vegan Sour Cream.
- Add 1 – 2 tablespoons tahini or cashew butter.
- Use more pureed tomatoes.
Serving Suggestions
This tomato basil soup is great alone for a light meal, but can be made even heartier with a little something extra on the side. Here are a few of my favorite serving suggestions:
- Topping: Top with crumbled Coconut Bacon, croutons or Crispy Roasted Chickpeas for crunchy texture.
- Sandwich: A vegan grilled cheese sandwich is perfect with tomato basil soup (I used Dave’s Killer Bread + Field Roast Chao vegan cheese). Also, this Grilled Hummus Sandwich + Sauteed Onions, Tomato & Arugula, Roasted Red Pepper Sandwich, or Vegan Egg Salad Sandwich would be fantastic!
- Salad: Serve with Cobb Salad, Vegan Caesar Salad, Green Salad + Tahini Dressing, or simple leafy green salad with Vegan Ranch or Healthy Flax & Evo Balsamic Vinaigrette.
- Grain: Add up to ½ cup of Farro, Quinoa, brown rice, white rice, or even this Cilantro Lime Rice to the soup for texture and healthy carbs.
- Bread: Serve with homemade Artisan Bread, soft and chewy Vegan Naan or gluten-free Socca flatbread to soak up the juices.
- Pizza: Serve with Zucchini Flatbread-White Pizza, Veggie Skillet Pizza Pie or even this Pineapple Veggie Lovers Pizza.
- Pasta: Pair with Zucchini Ricotta Pasta, Lemon Asparagus Pasta Salad, Vegan Pasta Salad, or Quick & Easy Vegetable Spaghetti.
- Veggies: Serve with Savory Sauteed Kale, Skillet Asparagus + Tomato Medley, Curry & Sriracha Roasted Cauliflower, or this delicious Vegan Collard Greens.
If you try this tomato basil soup recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintTOMATO BASIL SOUP (VEGAN)
Tomato Basil Soup is made with fresh tomatoes simmered with onion, garlic and sweet basil for a deliciously creamy tomato soup that’s ready in about 30 minutes!
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 - 6 1x
- Category: Entree, Soup
- Method: stovetop, simmer
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or ¼ cup water
- 1 large white onion, sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 ½ lbs. tomatoes (roma, plum or tomatoes on the vine)
- ½ cup basil leaves (about 10 –12 large leaves) or 2 teaspoons dried
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- salt + pepper, to taste
- vegan cream, to serve
Instructions
Prep: Start by prepping the onion and garlic. Cut the quarter the tomatoes or cut into 1 inch pieces if using larger tomatoes.
Saute: In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil or water over medium heat, saute the onion for 7 minutes, add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add remaining ingredients: Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, pinch of salt and pepper, and broth.
Simmer: Bring the chunky soup to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Puree: Once soup is done, let rest for 10 minutes to cool. Using an immersion blender or cup blender, puree the soup until desired consistency. Season with more salt & pepper as needed. If soup seems bland, it needs more salt. Stir in a couple tablespoons of vegan cream if you like.
Serve: Serve with a drizzle of vegan cream, basil and fresh cracked pepper. For a little heat, add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Pair with homemade Artisan Bread or soft and chewy Vegan Naan for soaking up the juices.
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 days in a covered container. To store longer, freeze for up to 2 – 3 months.
Notes
If you don’t have good fresh tomatoes, sub with 2 cans (28oz.) cans whole peeled tomatoes, juices and all.
Other thickening ideas: Add 1 – 2 tablespoons tahini or cashew butter to the pot. Add more pureed tomatoes.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: I love using my immersion blender (affiliate link) for pureeing soups. It’s easy to clean, small and fits well in a utensil drawer. For more of my favorite cooking tools, shop my kitchen essentials.
Keywords: vegan tomato basil soup, healthy tomato soup
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Penny says
Very good recipe. Thank you for sharing! I allowed mine to cook slowly for several hours and I added a can of cherry tomatoes along with the roma tomatoes. I also used red pepper flakes because I like it a little spicy. The fresh basil leaves made a difference in the flavor… very good!
★★★★★
mary replogle says
This was delicious and sooooo easy. I didn’t add the cream although I thought about adding some tahini……I was afraid I’d ruin the all too perfect flavor and texture. I will definitely be making this again soon.
★★★★★
Margaret Sullivan says
This is by far the easiest, and most flavorful tomato soup I’ve made – totally simple and tasty. It pairs well with the vegan naan recipe, or a vegan grilled cheese.
★★★★★
Christine Gilpatrick says
I made it with coconut yogurt instead of vegan cream and it was good!
★★★★★
ERivera says
Better than I thought
★★★★★