Gluten-Free Tomato Soup (Dairy-Free Option)

Name: Gluten-Free Tomato Soup (Dairy-Free Option)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 4 Tbsp butter; 1 medium-sized yellow onion (finely chopped); 2 garlic cloves (minced); 32 oz plum or crushed canned tomatoes ((two 16-oz, 450g cans)); 2 cups vegetable broth; ½ cup cooking cream; 1 Tbsp sugar, or added to taste; ½ tsp black pepper, or added to taste; ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

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This creamy gluten-free tomato soup is everything I want tomato soup to be! Rich, flavourful, comforting and so easy to make! It requires only 9 simple ingredients and 20min to make! Oh, and you have the option to make it dairy-free too! If you want to take it to the next level, serve it with crunchy gluten-free garlic bread or a freshly baked gluten-free focaccia.

Why you will love this soup

Here are a few reasons why this gluten-free tomato soup will become your new favorite soup:

It is so comforting.
Requires only basic pantry ingredients.
It’s inexpensive and easy to make
Offers a healthier and special-diet-friendly alternative to the classic tomato soup.
It is so flavourful, it literally tastes like summer in a bowl.
IT IS VERY CREAMY. And you can even make it this creamy without a blender!

Ingredients and substitutes

A tablespoon of sugar, dried basil, black pepper, one onion, two canned tomatoes, butter, garlic, cooking cream, vegetable broth.

Onion. If you are making it without a blender then I would recommend that you chop the onion as thinly as possible.

Garlic. You can add more/less garlic, depending on how garlicky you want it.

Butter. You can replace it with olive oil to make it dairy-free.

Canned plum tomatoes. You can also use chopped tinned tomatoes. However, if you don’t have a blender or you don’t want to use a blender you can substitute this with tomato passata (tomato puree)

Vegetable Broth. You can use vegetable stock and dissolve it in water by yourself. Just make sure to read the ingredients because some brands might contain gluten.

Cooking cream. You can use lactose-free or dairy-free (oat or soy-based).

Black pepper. In my opinion tomato soup needs black pepper, but you can of course omit it if you don’t have or don’t like it.

Fresh Basil. This is optional, but if you have it at hand I highly recommend making gluten-free tomato basil soup. If you don't have fresh basil you can also use dried basil.

Sugar or any sweetener of choice. This is completely optional, sometimes the tomatoes are a bit too sour for my taste and I like to add about 1 tablespoon of sugar.

How to make gluten-free tomato soup

Step 1: Saute Onion & Garlic

Start by chopping the onion and mincing the garlic. Next in a Dutch oven or soup pot melt the butter, then add the onion and garlic, season them with salt and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent and soft.

Step 2: Add the rest of the ingredients

Add plum tomatoes or (crushed tomatoes with their juice), veggie broth, chopped basil, sugar (or add sugar to taste), and black pepper. Stir together and bring to a boil then reduce heat, partially cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 3. Blend (if you are making it without a blender, you can skip this step)

Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can use a food processor or a normal blender, just make sure to work with small amounts of soup at a time or let the soup cool down before adding it to the blender. Too much hot liquid in your blender may cause the top to blow off while blending.

Step 4: Add the cooking cream and serve

When everything is blended add the cooking cream and stir to combine. Serve with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

How to store homemade tomato soup

You can store the leftover in plastic containers in the fridge for up to 3 days or you can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
Do defrost: take the frozen soup container and run it under hot water for 1-2 minutes. This will defrost the soup enough to make it easier to take it out of the container. You can warm it up on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Stovetop method: Dump the frozen block of soup into a small saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat for about 8-10min, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Microwave: Transfer the frozen soup into a microwave-safe container cover it partially and microwave on low heat for about 5 minutes. Pause the microwave every 60 seconds to stir the soup.

Recipe Tips

If you are making it without a blender, chop the onion as thinly as possible to get a smoother consistency.
If you use a blender or food processor, let the soup cool before blending. Hot soup can make your blender explode. If you want to eat it warm, you can add it back on the stovetop once is blended or you can reheat it in the microwave.
Use the best quality tinned tomatoes you can afford. I’ve made this soup with both cheap and more expensive and there is a big difference in flavor.
Check your seasoning throughout cooking. Adding salt while cooking will bring out the flavors, whereas adding it when it is already cooked will only make it taste salty.

What to serve with tomato soup

As I mentioned above my favorite way to serve tomato soup is with crunchy gluten-free garlic bread or freshly baked gluten-free focaccia bread. However, you can also serve it with gluten-free pizza rolls, grilled cheese, mozzarella sticks, baked potatoes, or gluten-free croutons.

Gluten-free tomato soup in a bowl decorated with cooking cream and fresh parsley

FAQ

Is Campbell’s tomato soup gluten-free?

Campbell’s tomato soup gluten-free is not gluten-free because it contains wheat flour. In fact, most canned tomato soups are not gluten-free as they use wheat for thickening the soup.

Can I use milk instead of cooking cream?

No, milk will make your soup too thin and watery.

Can I use coconut milk instead of cooking cream?

I personally don’t like it because it makes it taste too much like coconut. However, if you don’t mind that then yes you can use full-fat coconut milk.

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