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.

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.
- 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.
- 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.
For Slow Cooker Tomato Soup:
- Add to slow cooker: diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil.
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.)
Serve tomato Basil Soup with:
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Recipe

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes , with the juice
- 2 carrots , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 small onion , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 ribs celery , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1½ cups half and half (or whole milk)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
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
Nutrition
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.
This post contains affiliate links.
I’ve made this a couple times and it always tastes delicious! I love the hidden veggies. Perfect for a winter night!
Made a triple batch of this soup today to deliver to both sets of our parents and two other families on our “meals on wheels” circuit. It was delicious and not too much work! The canned taste of the tomatoes got lost in all the other goodness! I like the “hidden” vegetables added, too! (The only thing I added was some fresh minced garlic because our family eats garlic in everything. I made some nice crunchy cheese straws to go with the soup!
Everything about this recipe is good with the exception of adding the roux. In my opinion, the addition of the roux is completely not needed and dramatically changes the taste of the soup and almost all but eliminates the bright tomato flavor.
I wish I’d read this comment before making the soup. I couldn’t agree more. It was too thick and lacked something… I couldn’t figure out what, so I threw in a bit of balsamic vinegar, which brightened it up a bit. But yes, Jeff is right – it lacked the bright tomato flavor. My daughter said it tasted more like spaghetti sauce. I’d like to try it again without the roux.
This was delicious. Love being able to use canned tomatoes this time of year. I’d never made a roux before for soup, so that was neat. It added a really nice body to the soup, though you probably could use half the butter and half the flour to cut some richness. Used an immersion blender, but next time will use a regular blender to get a smoother texture.
I’d like to make this for my book club group, but it doesn’t say how many servings it makes. Could you let me know? Thanks!
This serves 4 adults! Enjoy!
I have made this recipe a few times now and it gets better and better each time! My spouse doesn’t like tomato soup and I finally won him over!
Hi there! The croutons look heavenly. Are those homemade or did you purchase them from somewhere?
This soup is delicious. It is full of flavor and so easy to make. It has plenty of vegetables and very creamy. Awesome soup.
This soup turned out absolutely amazing. I added a couple teaspoons of red pepper chili flakes for a little spice, and it was to die for.
I male this stupid at least 3 times a year! It’s amazing! I do add garlic to mine and add some seasonings with my heart instead of measuring but, seriously, it’s amazing! Thank you so much!