Vegan Tomato Soup Recipe
With a few simple ingredients, you can turn a few cans of crushed tomatoes into decadent and creamy vegan tomato soup without heavy cream. The addition of coconut cream makes this soup silky smooth and rich. It’s perfect for a cold, gloomy day or anytime you’re feeling nostalgic for your childhood favorite.
Why I love this tomato soup recipe
Tomato soup hasn’t always been on my short list of favorites. I always thought it was a little too sweet, and fairly lackluster for my taste. That was probably because I didn’t taste homemade creamy tomato soup until I was an adult.
It was a total game changer for me, and when paired with a classic grilled cheese sandwich, I was on board. But, that grilled cheese isn’t really an option anymore, and I thought creamy tomato soup was a thing of the past, until now.
I decided to give this whole tomato soup thing another shot a few weeks ago because we were having unusually cold weather (like record-setting-blizzard in April type weather).
I had fresh tomatoes that needed to be used, and rather than make a tomato salad, I thought soup might be a better choice. And, it was. We made fresh garlic bread using Smart Balance (our favorite dairy free buttery spread).
If you like this recipe, you have to try this dairy free creamy pumpkin soup, and this fennel carrot & parsnip soup and this vegan broccoli cheese soup.
Searching for more tomato recipes? Summer tomato salad / Shrimp fettuccine in white wine tomato sauce / Giant meatballs baked in tomato sauce / Chicken pomodoro
Ingredients:
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
- Coconut milk– If you can’t do coconut, you can substitute equal amounts of cashew cream or almond cooking cream. Other options would include unsweetened oat milk or vegan sour cream, but you’d need to adjust the amounts depending on which you choose to use.
The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.
How to make vegan tomato soup
Sauté the vegetables. Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large stockpot or dutch oven. Add the diced onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the onions cook evenly and don’t stick.
Simmer the tomatoes. When the onions are translucent and fragrant, stir the remaining ingredients to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
Puree the soup. Remove the bay leaf, then use an immersion blender to blend the soup directly in the pot until it reaches a smooth, creamy consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can carefully transfer the soup in batches to a regular blender, but be cautious of the steam and don’t over fill your blender.
FAQs and tips for making vegan tomato soup
Yes. Most brands of canned tomato soup are vegan, but the flavor and quality of ingredients just isn’t the same as homemade tomato soup.
Absolutely, but I still recommend reading ingredient labels to be sure you aren’t buying anything with hidden ingredients.
Tomato soup is usually made from a broth base, while tomato bisque traditionally has a seafood stock base. However, the terminology for these soups has evolved over time and bisque tends to refer to anything soup with a creamy base.
If you find that your soup is a bit on the thinner side, you can either simmer it until it cooks down and has thickened, or you can dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a 1/4 cup of cold or room temperature water until smooth. Stir the mixture into the soup and allow it simmer for a few minutes until thick.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- Pinch of salt
- 3 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 15- ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
- 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven to medium high.
- Add olive oil, onion, garlic and a pinch of salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf and blend soup with an immersion blender until smooth.
where are the directions?
I’m not sure what happened to the directions. I’m guessing this was a technical glitch, but I’ve updated them and they should be visible now! I’m so sorry the recipe wasn’t available for you.
The instructions do not mention what to do with the refrigerated coconut milk.
You add it when it says “remaining ingredients”!
Then why does it need to be refrigerated? Normally that is needed when we need to separate milk from cream. ?
I made this today and it was SO good! I like my tomato soup creamy and used half coconut milk and half coconut creme. It was perfect!
Can this be served as a chilled bisque?
You could! I haven’t tried it, but it should be good still!
Happy to find this recipe for my kid who loves tomato soup, but is lactose intolerant. In the notes you talk about pulling just the cream off the top of the coconut milk — the ingredients call for the full can. Do I use the whole can or just the cream off the top?
Just the cream off the top, but I listed the full fan in the ingredients because you will still need to buy two cans to make the soup.
Would vegetable broth be okay?Im vegan.
Absolutely!
I just made this and it came out great! I’m definitely going to make this again.
So yummy! I added cooked pieces of chicken breast after blending, because I’m coming off a keto diet. This is definitely a keeper!
Can I freeze the leftovers without ruining the consistency?
Delicious! We’ve been trying a lot of soups lately, but this one was the best! We left out the bay leaf (preference) and ended up eating two bowls each and excited for the leftovers, which never happens! Thank you!
Have a bunch of fresh tomatoes from the garden. Would those work instead of canned?
I really don’t know about this. I’ve never tried it but I’m thinking the water content might be different so you would have to adjust for that.
Could I use fresh tomatoes? If so, do you know how many i would need?
You definitely can, but you’ll need a lot. Probably about 3 dozen, which would be about 6 pounds total.
Tasting great
I am curious, instead of skimming off the cream from the coconut milk, can I just use a can of coconut cream?
Yes. You totally can!
I missed where the coconut milk needed to be refrigerated. I dumped 2 cans in and we devoured the soup! So delicious!
Made this for the first time. I guess I should have read all the reviews as there was no mention in the recipe or the longer article about refrigerating and skimming off the coconut cream from the coconut milk. At least now I know why it wasn’t a thicker soup. Still tasty with the misstep.