This post contains affiliate links.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Other popular Instant Pot recipes:
Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowls
Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup carrot, chopped
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped, (or 1 Tbsp dried basil)
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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
- 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.
- 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.
- Pour soup into blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is)
- Purée until smooth. Return to soup pot.
- 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Text me new recipe ideas!
Simple, tasty ideas sent once a week. No spam.
I have a question. I’m about to make this tonight and I’m trying to figure out which method I want to go with. Stove vs. IP. I’m a little confused as to why you would blend the soup without the roux with the instant pot way and with the roux in the stovetop way. What’s the difference? Also, why would you sauté the vegetables with the instant pot but not the stovetop? Not trying to pick apart your recipe, just new to the instant pot and curious as to why you made those specific changes.
I wasn’t really thinking about it when typing up the recipe You can do it either way and it wont matter 🙂
Best tomato soup recipe ever. Literally. Delicious!
Thank you!!! (Been looking for years!)
Loved this soup. My only problem was the amount of butter, I felt that the butter flavor was a bit overpowering and the soup had an almost ‘greasy’ texture. I will make it again, but I think I’m going to leave the butter/roux out and rely on the cream to thicken the soup. I also put the cheese on the table and let people add what they wanted. The flavor of the soup was great, though. I had fresh basil in my garden and I think that really made the flavor pop. Thanks!
I just got an Instant Pot and I need to learn to use it so this recipe looks like a good one to start with. It looks so delicious too! Plus my kids love tomato soup so that’s a bonus.
I absolutely loved it. However i had to change a few things in order to eat it cause i am on diet so i need to be careful. I used half quantity parmesan and instead of half half i used 1 cup of low fat milk. I could still feel the parmesan taste (thankfully). Thank you for this awesome recipe. I became one my favourite soups ?
Looks great going to try this thanks for the Recipe!!
It was tasty but VERY THIN. I ended up doing a double batch of roux to thicken it and it was still thin. If this were on the stove I would have reduced it over a low flame. I cooked it for 6 minutes as I thought 5 sounded too low for all that liquid. Good thing I did. I used my immersion blender and froze half before adding the cream. I used Italian seasoning instead of straight oregano. Tasted very good even without the cheese-I made it at 7 am and too lazy to grate cheese just for a taste!! I would make this again
This was super duper delicious! I had never made a roux before or used it in any recipes, so I’m glad I looked it up on YouTube and cooked it low and slow. I was so hungry I probably would have rushed it and burned it and ruined the soup if I hadn’t followed the directions 😉 Anyway, the soup turned out perfectly and I will be making this again and again! Thanks!
Can I use an immersion blender in the instant pot instead of adding several batches to a blender? I can’t wait to try it. It looks delicious!
Yes, that’s fine!
Can you use an immersion blender instead of using a Regular blender?
Yes, sure! 🙂 Enjoy!