Your family will go nuts for this creamy Instant Pot Tomato Soup with basil and parmesan cheese, that’s loaded with veggies. It’s absolutely delicious, full of flavor and has the perfect thick and smooth texture.

Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup with parmesan served in a white bowl with a handle and topped with homemade croutons.

I’ve officially converted my favorite slow cooker soup to an instant pot version that’s way quicker and easier (like all things with the instant pot seem to be). This is one of those soups that I can really eat all year round, and my family loves it too! It’s packed with “hidden veggies” like carrots, celery and onion, which add to the flavor and make me feel even better about how much my kids enjoy it.

How to make Tomato Basil Soup:

Start by sautéing vegetables, and then add diced tomatoes (or fresh garden tomatoes!) chicken broth and spices. Cook in the instant pot, slow cooker or on the stovetop. At this point I like to puree the mixture, but that’s optional if you like your soup chunkier.

Chopped carrots, celery and onion in the bottom of the instant pot next to another photo of the instant pot mixture with chicken broth, diced tomatoes and spices added to it.

Make a roux in a separate saucepan. As a side note, some recipes for instant pot tomato basil soup will have you add the flour and butter mixture directly to the pot, rather than cooking it in a saucepan first. Even though that method is more convenient, that really defeats the purpose of the roux, and more importantly, you’d really miss the deep and rich flavor that comes from cooking the roux until it’s golden brown.

Process photos for making a roux for tomato basil soup including butter and flour cooked until golden brown and then tomato soup added to it.

Once the roux is golden, add a cup of the cooked soup to the roux and stir to combine. You’ll notice the roux will thicken significantly. Add another few cups of soup to the pot and stir well, and then add the roux mixture back to the rest of the soup.

Tomato basil soup in the instant pot with parmesan cheese and heavy cream added to the pot.

Stir in parmesan cheese and half and half. Half and half is a mixture of half heavy cream and half milk but you could use regular milk, to cut calories, if you’d like.

I love to serve tomato soup with homemade croutons, or a piece of crusty garlic bread.

Overhead photo of a white bowl filled with tomato basil soup with parmesan cheese, croutons, and a spoon.

Other popular Instant Pot recipes:

Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls

Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Instant Pot Jambalaya

 

Recipe

Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup with parmesan served in a white bowl with a handle and topped with homemade croutons.
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Total 50 minutes
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Equipment

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Add oil to the instant pot and turn to saute. Add carrots, onions and celery to the pot and saute for 2 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil and stir to combine. 
  • Turn Instant pot off. Secure instant pot lid and set the valve to “sealing”.
  • Cook on Manual/High Pressure for 5 minutes. When the timer beeps allow the pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make the roux. Add butter to a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Once butter has melted, stir in the flour.
  • Cook, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
  • Pour the soup from the instant pot into a blender and blend until smooth (please do this in 2-3 batches, depending on how big your blender is).
  • Add one cup of the pureed soup from the instant pot to the roux and stir to combine. The mixture will start to form a thick paste. Slowly add another 3 cups of soup to the roux. Add the roux mixture back to the instant pot and stir until smooth.
  • Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half and salt and pepper. Tastes and add additional oregano and basil if desired, to taste. 

Notes

Stove Top Method:
  1. Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to a large soup pot. Bring to a gently boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
  2. 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. Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the other pot 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 soup pot and stir to combine.
  3. Pour soup into blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is)
  4. Purée until smooth. Return to soup pot.
  5. 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. Cook for a few more minutes until warmed through.
Slow Cooker Method, follow this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 297kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 10gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 690mgPotassium: 338mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 3455IUVitamin C: 4.2mgCalcium: 212mgIron: 1mg

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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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Comments

  1. Absolutely wonderful soup with such depth of flavor. Used the stove top version instead of y instant pot. Also, sautéed the carrots, onions, and celery in bacon fat.
    Easy and we served it with “adult toasted cheese sandwiches”.
    A very satisfying, quick dinner.
    Joanne and Bill

  2. 5 stars
    Delicious! Love the creaminess and robust flavors. I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned and it is really yummy!

  3. 5 stars
    Made this tonight and it was yummy! I had some sun dried tomatoes that I needed to use so I threw them in.
    After reading other reviews, I added some garlic powder.
    Will do again for sure!
    Thank you!

  4. 5 stars
    So creamy and delicious, lots of flavors involved that all work so well together. I don’t like tomato soup, and neither do my younger brothers, but we all loved this!

    1. I made this for my family and it was absolutely delicious and easy. I was disappointed to find out I was out of carrots and I used a yellow pepper instead. One comment here said it was it as sweet as they liked, so this added something special. Thank you!

  5. 5 stars
    I’ve made this soup a few times now for our family dinner and once for a potluck at work. Everyone loves this soup! I serve it with either Texas toast or with a grilled cheese sandwich (we use sourdough bread for the grilled cheese). I usually use canned San Marzano tomatoes, but have made it with crushed tomatoes too (either way it’s delicious). Recommend blending it up with an immersion blender if you have one.

  6. 4 stars
    Thank you for your recipe! I loved the creamy texture of this soup & creaminess was perfect. If you are making tomato basil soup like you would get from chained restaurant recipes, this is not for you. It will not be as sweet as you would expect & tomato flavor is not as strong.
    I used dried basil but would recommend fresh ones.

  7. I made this in my IP Ace Plus. I left out the celery and added ancho powder and Herb de Provence, any herb will do. I also added squash. Very nice basic recipe! Thank you.

    1. Came here to say this is insanely delicious! I doubled the amount of basil and added some garlic powder, and subbed out the half and half for heavy cream (personal preference). Hubby and I loved it! Will definitely be saving and sharing this recipe.

    1. I ended up adding onion powder, garlic powder, dried basil, oregano, and a tablespoon of sugar. That helped quite a bit. It was bland before that. Next time I would definitely truly add 3-4 cloves of garlic when I sauté the other veggies. I also think I would add more tomato paste.

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