This creamy Tomato Basil Soup is loaded with hidden vegetables and is restaurant-quality DELICIOUS! You can make it on the stove, slow cooker or in the Instant Pot. 

I love making soup for dinner because it's so easy to make (and sneak those vegetables in to) and it's easy to come up with things to serve with it, like an Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich!  Some of my other favorite soup recipes include: Broccoli Cheese Soup, Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, and Spicy Chicken Soup.
Creamy tomato basil soup in a white soup bowl topped with croutons and a spoon inside the bowl.
I have been in LOVE with this soup Tomato Basil Soup recipe for nearly a decade! I have a few different recipes for tomato soup on my site but this one is probably my favorite, and I love how it has veggies hidden inside it! It tastes great and is a little more nutritious than a typical creamy tomato soup. It tastes even better the next day if you want to make it in advance or enjoy meal prep leftovers in your fridge.

How to Make Tomato Basil Soup:

  • Sauté the vegetables: Add the carrots, onion and celery to a pot with a little bit of oil and sauté them for a few minutes.
  • Add: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil. Bring to boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

A soup pot with diced carrots, celery and onion next to another photo of the pot with diced tomatoes, spices and chicken broth added to it.

  • Blend. Use an immersion blender or regular blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) and purée the soup until smooth. Return it to the soup pot.
  • Make the roux: In a separate pot, add butter and melt on medium heat. Stir in the flour and whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
  • Add the roux: Stir a big ladle full of soup into the roux-it will start to form a thick paste.  Slowly add another 2-3 cups of warm soup to the roux, whisking it until smooth. Add the mixture to the soup pot and stir well to combine.

Two process photos for making a roux for soup.

  • Stir in parmesan cheese, half and half (or milk), and salt and pepper. Add additional oregano and fresh basil as desired, to taste. Stir well. Cook for a few more minutes until warmed through.

Two process photos of adding basil, cream and parmesan cheese to tomato soup in a pot.

For Slow Cooker Tomato Soup:

  1. Add to slow cooker: diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil.
  2. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.
  3. Make the roux: About 30 minutes before the soup is ready, prepare a roux. Melt the butter over medium low heat in a skillet and add the flour. Whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
  4. Thicken soup.  Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the slow cooker to the roux–it will start to form a thick paste.  Slowly add another 3 cups of warm soup to the roux. Whisk together until smooth. Add the roux mixture to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
  5. Blend: Pour soup into blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) Purée until smooth. Return to the slow cooker.
  6. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half (or milk), and salt and pepper. Add additional oregano and basil if needed, to taste. Stir well.
  7. Finish cooking. Cover and cook on low for another 20-30 minutes or until warm.

You can also make Tomato Basil Soup in the Instant Pot!

Storing and Freezing Instructions:

  • Store tomato basil soup covered, in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
  • Freeze: To properly freeze this soup, leave out the cream and shredded cheese before freezing it. Then add the cream and cheese after reheating. (Otherwise they may curdle when reheated from frozen.)

A white bowl full of tomato soup with croutons as a garnish and another bowl of soup in the background.

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Recipe

Creamy tomato basil soup in a white soup bowl topped with croutons and a spoon inside the bowl.
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 40 minutes
Save Recipe

Ingredients
 
 

Instructions
 

  • Add oil to a large soup pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add carrots, onions, and celery and sauté them for a few minutes.
  • Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and dried basil. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
  • Use an immersion blender or regular blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) to puree the soup until smooth. (This step is optional, if you like a smooth soup). Return it to the soup pot.
  • In a separate pot, prepare the roux. Add butter to the pot over medium low heat and allow to melt. Stir in the flour and whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
  • Add a big ladle full of the soup to the roux--it will start to form a thick paste.  Add a few more big scoops of soup to the roux and stir well until smooth. Add the roux mixture to soup pot and stir to combine.
  • Stir in the parmesan cheese, half and half, salt, pepper and basil. Add additional oregano and basil if needed, to taste. Stir well. Cook for a few more minutes until warmed through.
  • Store tomato basil soup covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.
  • Try it served in a yummy homemade bread bowl!

Notes

Slow Cooker: Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft. Continue with step three of the above recipe.
Or make it in the Instant Pot.
Freezer Instructions: To properly freeze this soup, leave out the cream and shredded cheese before freezing it. Then add the cream and cheese after reheating. (Otherwise they may curdle when reheated from frozen.)
Gluten-free Adaptations: Use gluten-free all-purpose flour.

Nutrition

Calories: 264kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 7gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 1095mgPotassium: 326mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 3445IUVitamin C: 12.5mgCalcium: 226mgIron: 1mg

Have you tried this recipe?!

RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

 

I originally shared this recipe December 2013. Updated September 2019.

 

The BEST Creamy Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup you can make in the Slow Cooker OR on the Stove top! | Tastes Better From Scratch

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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em
10 years ago

Have you ever tried adding lemon zest or lemon grass while it is cooking? (you remove lemon grass before serving)

Stacey
10 years ago

I was wondering if you could also use cornstarch or a gluten free flour to thicken it? It sounds amazing and would love to try it now that it’s almost fall

Jackie
10 years ago

Could i use gluten free flour?

Laura Loo
10 years ago
Reply to  Jackie

I often use tapioca to thicken stews and soups….I am sure it would work here….

Anonymous
11 years ago

Just made this…very yummy. Cut a few calories using Nonfat condensed milk.

Anonymous
11 years ago

Instead of the blender, could you use a hand-mixer…or maybe pour the soup into the bowl of a KitchenAide? My blender jar isn’t very big…

Lauren Allen
11 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

I have a small blender jar as well so I just blend the soup in batches. But you could definitely try a hand mixer…the result probably won’t be as smoothly pureed but the soup doesn’t have to be blended either. Some people like it with more veggie chunks in it…. Hope this helps 🙂

Anonymous
11 years ago

Would I be able to make this the night before? Or would the veggies get to soft?

Lauren Allen
11 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

I honestly think the soup tastes even better the next day! I put the soup in the blender at the end so that’s it’s really smooth and creamy….but if you don’t want to blend it I still think the chunky veggies would taste great the next day.

J. Valentine
11 years ago

I made some 2 days ago and it is so yummy! I used powdered Parmesan and my soup had a slightly grainy texture to it. The flavor was still wonderful, but the texture was less bisque like. Next time I make this, I will definitely use a better quality grated Parmesan.

Question, do you think I could combine all the ingredients up to the point of starting the crock pot and freeze it? I could make a few batches and just pop one in the crock pot when I’m craving this soup!

Lauren Allen
11 years ago
Reply to  J. Valentine

I’m so glad you liked it! Yes it definitely tastes best with freshly grated parmesan! And I think that’s a great idea to freeze the ingredients beforehand and then throw them in the crockpot when you’re ready and add the rue the day you decide to make the soup! That would work great!

L'Artisan
11 years ago

If I were to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned, how many do you think I would need? And is the Parmesan cheese the shredded Parm, or the spaghetti cheese? This looks amazing, my kids love tomato soup and grilled cheese! Thanks for the recipe!

Lauren Allen
11 years ago
Reply to  L'Artisan

I would use about 5 large fresh tomatoes and I like to use freshly grated Parmesan cheese, not the powder kind! Hope you love this soup as much as I do!

Misty
10 years ago
Reply to  Lauren Allen

Thanks! I was wondering about the Parm. cheese, too. I don’t like carrots, but I love creamy tomato soups and this sounds good – and in the end the carrots get all pureed. So, even though I’m going to make it and I know what’s in it I’m going to pretend I don’t, but still get some good, healthy carrot benefits.

Missy
4 days ago
Reply to  Misty

Carrots are usually added to tomato soup to cut the acidity, instead of using sugar.

Anonymous
11 years ago

They all look yummy. Tess

Jessica W
11 years ago

Oh my goodness, I am going to put this in the crock pot right now! Looks delish 🙂

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