Easy Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe (Fresh or Frozen Tomatoes)

If you have more fresh tomatoes than you know what to do with, this Easy Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe is one of my favorite ways to preserve them for later. The tomatoes are roasted with garlic and shallots then blended with carrots and herbs and finished into a rich, naturally sweet homemade tomato soup.

Yes, you can freeze tomato soup. This recipe is especially freezer-friendly because it contains no dairy, which helps avoid any texture change at defrost time. You can make a large batch during the height of tomato season, freeze in individual portions, and enjoy homemade tomato soup throughout the fall and winter months.

You can make this recipe with fresh tomatoes or with tomatoes you've previously frozen from your garden or farmers market. In fact, roasting frozen tomatoes produces a flavorful tomato broth that doubles as the broth base for the soup.

This is truly the tomato soup I make when I want to turn a summer tomato harvest into an easy winter meal.

What Makes This Roasted Tomato Soup Different?

This delicious soup hits all the right tomato notes for a fresh tomato soup that can also be made from frozen tomatoes. It's also one of those classic soup recipes that pairs well with some cheesy homemade croutons or a classic grilled cheese. I love the use of carrots here that offers a balanced sweetness, without added sugar, to counter the acidity of the tomatoes. 

The result is an incredibly easy tomato soup recipe that can be enjoyed all year long. This is especially enjoyable on a chilly day in the middle of winter when we're craving the beauty of tomato season once more. 

What Tomatoes are Best for Tomato Soup?

I absolutely love Tomato Season in Summer and opt for growing Roma Tomatoes, Early Girl Tomatoes, and other heirloom varieties. I will also pick up bags of San Marzano tomatoes I find at the local farmers market to keep on hand for this soup. Their thicker, meatier flesh with fewer seeds hold up well to the roasting technique we use in this recipe. Since we strain the soup, fewer seeds definitely make this an easier task.

While you can, honestly, use just about any tomato here (I've made this with roasted heirloom cherry, grape, and diced Brandywine tomatoes from the garden), you want to ensure that the tomatoes do not have any signs of mold or spoilage and you want to ensure you cut around any splits or cracks if using fresh tomatoes. Check out this post where I talk about what to do with split or cracked tomatoes you may find at the farmers market or in your CSA box.

That said, if I hand to rank tomato varieties I would use for soup making:

1. Roma Tomatoes
2. Early Girl Tomatoes
3. San Marzano Tomatoes
4. Heirloom Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
5. Other garden variety tomatoes you love

Now that we've got the "choose your tomato fighter" question out of the way. Here's the short list of ingredients we're using in this tomato recipe:

• 3 pounds of whole tomatoes. If you're wanting to make this exactly as I have, you'll need the Early Girl tomato variety. You can also use Roma tomatoes or your own tomatoes from your garden. We're roasting the bunch of tomatoes here to bring out their sweetness for our homemade soup. See the note in the recipe card for using frozen tomatoes. I stored our tomatoes in reusable freezer bags in a single layer weighing about 3 pounds for each bag. This has been the easiest way to store and preserve those extra tomatoes to enjoy in the winter months. 
• Aromatics. Shallots and garlic add depth of flavor to our large pot of soup. 2 small shallots about 2 inches in length, peeled and quartered
• 2 medium carrots. I love the use of carrots here for both an added veggie but also for its inherent sweetness. This helps in balancing the acidity of the tomatoes without an added teaspoon of sugar.    
• Dried Herbs. Fresh basil is also great for our tomato soup especially if made with fresh tomatoes. Given both are not in season during this time of year, I like to opt for a mix of dried basil and thyme for this delicious homemade tomato soup recipe. 
• Vegetable or Chicken Broth. You can opt for vegetable broth to keep this in the vegetarian or vegan space. Chicken broth also works. But if you are you using frozen tomatoes like I did, the tomato broth we yield from the liquid released during the roast is perfect here.  

Can You Make This Soup with Frozen Tomatoes?

Absolutely! This is why I freeze batches of garden tomatoes each summer. While you could go through the work of preparing soup or sauce to can for future use, I'm not an expert canner (yet) so freezing tomatoes whole is my version of "the Lazy Girl's Guide to Saving Summer."

To freeze tomatoes whole:

• Remove stems from the top of your tomatoes.
• Gently rinse tomatoes under warm water to remove any dirt or debris.
• Dry tomatoes with a clean linen kitchen towel.
• Place tomatoes in a freezer safe bag, in a single layer, and store in the freezer for up to a year.

Don't forget to label and date your bag with the contents. I also like to weigh the bag and note the weighted amount. This helps with the ratios I'd need for additional aromatics and seasonings when it comes time to make the soup.

Cook's Note: When roasting tomatoes from frozen, you'll notice more water content as they defrost and cook in the oven. This is normal. You may allot additional roasting time to allow any excess liquid to evaporate. I also like to use the excess liquid in lieu of (or as a supplement to) the noted amount of broth in the recipe.

Why I Freeze Tomatoes for Winter

When we first moved to Napa in late summer of 2024, I learned of Sea Level Farm and their dry farmed Early Girl Tomatoes which use the natural resources in the soil to produce some of the best tasting tomatoes I've ever had.

Each summer since, I will make the trek to Oakland to purchase 20 pounds (or more) of the dry farmed Early Girl Tomatoes from Sea Level Farm. They are wonderfully fragrant and require little else to bring out their delicious flavors. Rather than canning them, which often takes a bit more time than I have on hand between juggling work, kids, and everything else in my life, I freeze them whole in a freezer safe bag.

I like the ease of freezing tomatoes fresh as soon as I bring them home from the market and they're so easy to roast from frozen. We've tended to roast them for a tomato sauce for lasagna but this week I roasted them for this heavenly tomato soup that was the cure to these cold winter blues.

How to Make This Roast Tomato Soup

This soup is made in two parts. First, we'll roast the tomatoes then blend them in a large blender. Once we strain the tomato mixture, we'll then move on to the next step in prepping the remaining soup ingredients. Here's how we make it: 

Part I: Roast Tomatoes for Soup

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Clean and cut tomatoes into halves and quarters. Place them on the prepared baking sheet. See note below on how to prepare tomatoes for roasting if using them from frozen.
• Season tomatoes with kosher salt and drizzle with olive oil. Add in the quartered shallot and whole garlic cloves. Using your hands, give the tomatoes and aromatics a gentle toss to coat in the salt and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil.
• Roast the tomatoes about 30-40 minutes until their juices release and skins begin to shrivel slightly. Carefully remove from oven and use a spoon to gently scoop tomatoes into a blender pitcher. Reserve any tomato liquid for the soup later. Blend roasted tomatoes until smooth.
• In a large mixing bowl fitted with a colander or strainer, pour blended tomatoes to strain out skins and seeds. Remove colander or strainer. Set bowl to the side while prepping the next phase of the soup.

Part II: Prepping the Remaining Tomato Soup Ingredients

• Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the diced carrots and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in the broth followed by the blended tomatoes. Season with the dried herbs and give the soup a stir. Using an immersion blender, blend the carrots and tomatoes together until smooth.
• Simmer soup until thickened as desired, about 15-20 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired with more kosher salt and ground black pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve with croutons, toast, or your favorite grilled cheese.

Tips for Storage and How You Can Freeze This Homemade Roast Tomato Soup

Once we've made our batch of tomato soup, we can enjoy it right away or within 5 days when leftover soup is stored in the refrigerator. For additional storage questions and reheating options, I'm sharing these tips below.

How Do You Freeze Tomato Soup?

Leftover tomato soup can be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you start to burnout on the soup this also makes a lovely base for a homemade spaghetti sauce! 

When you are ready for the tomato soup freeze, you'll want to:

• Allow the soup to cool completely.
• Pour soup in individual portions in freezer safe containers. I love these 1-cup Souper Cubes as they are a great way to freeze soups and broth in single serving portions.
• Label and date your prepared soup portions then freeze.  

If you're using the Souper Cubes, you can remove the soup cubes once frozen solid and store in a freezer safe bag that's labeled with the contents and the date of processing. They will store in freezer safe bags for up to six months.

Once frozen, you can remove the soup cubes and store in freezer bags for up to six months. Freezer tomato soup you've made from fresh garden tomatoes is a great practice in efficient meal prep

How Do You Reheat Tomato Soup?

You have two main options of defrosting your freezer cubes of tomato soup upon reheating:

1. Defrost cubes overnight in the refrigerator in their container.
2. Add a desired amount of freezer soup cubes straight into the pot to reheat.

Your method of defrosting will likely depend on how you froze your tomato soup. If you used the silicone ice cube tray method, you can definitely remove the freezer cube and put directly into the soup pot to defrost and reheat.

If you frozen your tomato soup in a freezer safe jar, for example, you'll want to defrost your soup completely in its container before pouring into the soup pot to reheat.

Cook's Note

Since we're not using cream or dairy in this recipe, you can absolutely add it during reheating. I love a good creamy tomato soup as much as the next home cook. However, when freezing tomato soup, I avoid adding dairy prior to freezing as the texture of the soup can change during the defrost. Adding cheese or other dairy elements during reheating is also a great way to "zhuzh it up" or add some pizzazz to it on a given weeknight.

What Should You Serve with Tomato Soup?

One of the best things about this soup is that it's so versatile. Add in some crushed red pepper to make a slightly spicy pizza sauce. Make a bigger batch of the soup base to use as a base for pasta. Some of my favorite ways to serve tomato soup:

• Pair alongside an autumnal salad or hearty pasta salad.
• Serve with good old toasted sourdough slices or croutons with a generous grate of parmesan or TomaProvence cheese.
• A classic grilled cheese.

More Soup Ideas for the Season

There's a soup for every season and this Roasted Tomato Soup is a winner for winter. A few other seasonal soups you'll love this time of year include:

• One-Pot Beef Stew
• Roast Carrot Soup with Harissa and Crispy Mushrooms
• Caldo de Pescado (Mexican Fish Soup)

Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup

Frances Kellar

This is a flavorful tomato soup that's made possible in winter with our freezer stash of tomatoes. Roasting brings out their sweetness making for a stellar soup for an easy weeknight paired with your favorite grilled cheese.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 6 Servings

Equipment

• 1 4 quart dutch oven
• 1 immersion blender
• 1 High-powered Blender
• 1 Rimmed baking sheet

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds of whole tomatoes Early Girl or Roma Tomatoes
• 2 small shallots about 2 inches in length, peeled and quartered
• 6 garlic cloves peeled
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 medium carrots peeled and diced into ½ inch diced pieces
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 cups of roast tomato broth or vegetable or chicken broth

Instructions

 

Part I: Roasting Tomatoes for Soup

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Clean and cut tomatoes into halves and quarters. Place them on the prepared baking sheet. See note below on how to prepare tomatoes for roasting if using them from frozen.
• Season tomatoes with kosher salt and drizzle with olive oil. Add in the quartered shallot and whole garlic cloves. Using your hands, give the tomatoes and aromatics a gentle toss to coat in the salt and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil.
• Roast the tomatoes about 30-40 minutes until their juices release and skins begin to shrivel slightly. Carefully remove from oven and use a spoon to gently scoop tomatoes into a blender pitcher. Reserve any tomato liquid for the soup later. Blend roasted tomatoes until smooth.
• In a large mixing bowl fitted with a colander or strainer, pour blended tomatoes to strain out skins and seeds. Remove colander or strainer. Set bowl to the side while prepping the next phase of the soup.

Part II: Prepping the Remaining Tomato Soup Ingredients

• Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced carrots and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in the broth followed by the blended tomatoes. Season with the dried herbs and give the soup a stir. Using an immersion blender, blend the carrots and tomatoes together until smooth.
• Simmer soup until thickened as desired, about 15-20 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Ladle into bowls and serve with croutons, toast, or your favorite grilled cheese.

Notes

If making this soup from frozen tomatoes: opt for high-sided baking dishes in lieu of a rimmed baking sheet. The tomatoes will release more liquid during the roast from frozen that it will spill over the rimmed baking sheet. The good news? We yield about 2 cups of what I'm calling "tomato broth" that we can use instead of vegetable or chicken stock which amps up the flavor of the tomatoes in this soup. 

Keyword soup recipes, tomato season, soup season, tomato soup

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