Your family will go nuts for this creamy Instant Pot Tomato Basil Soup with 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
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 with Parmesan
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 leaves
- 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.
Eden says
This recipe is great! I made it over the stove, added a couple garlic cloves and doubled the fresh basil (I love basil) and used an immersion blender at the end, it turned out perfect! Would definitely recommend, super easy and fresh ingredients. Thank you!
Angela says
We had a family dinner and this was one of the soups I made. Big hit! Definitely more fresh and tasty than your run of the mill soup. I had a few fresh tomatoes that were needing new life and I subbed the diced tomatoes for some fire roasted ones. Excellent, thank you!
Eileen says
I have made this soup 4-5 times now and absolutely love it. I’ve made it for myself, family & friends pretty much all winter and everyone raves. I make home made croutons to go on top but with some nice bread it’s a filling delicious meal. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Mandie says
I love this tomato soup! Great recipe, easy to follow, and an amazing final result. I used whole milk instead of half and half due to that being what I had on hand. I will be making this again in the future for sure!
Rochelle says
Just wondering if I could sub the half and half with coconut milk?
Lauren Allen says
Sure!
John B says
This is probably the best tomato soup that I have ever had. It requires some patience to make, but the result is well worth the effort. Thanks for sharing!
Darla says
I have made this a few times now, and it rivals a soup from a local restaurant. Delicious! My husband really likes tomato flavor, so we use the whole can of tomato paste, and I am currently using tomatoes from my garden. In fact, the last batch I made was for the sole purpose of freezing for later. I made the base, up to adding the roux back into the pot. I then cooled and froze. When I pull it out, I will heat it up and add the Parmesan cheese and half and half, or, as I did in one batch, Greek yogurt blended in with the immersion blender. Fabulous recipe!
Lindsay says
Bland soup. Was ok for dipping my sandwich into but very bland by the spoonful even after adding extra spices. just doesn’t have that tomato basil depth and kick for me
Kelly says
I found the same
Glinda says
I’ve never made homemade tomato soup and really am not that crazy about tomato soup in general. But I wanted something to go with ham and cheese grilled sandwiches so I started searching for tomato soup. In a quick search, your recipe sounded the best and it is delicious. Glad I decided to make it and thank you for sharing!
Jana says
Tastes like eating Vodka Sauce. I would definitely cut out or reduce the parmesan, Also, way too thick, I would cut the Roux in half.