Fresh Tomato Soup Recipe

If you have a few extra ripe tomatoes and are wondering what to do with them, make tomato soup. It's quick and easy, and the result will pleasantly surprise you. Fresh tomatoes and proper preparation will give the soup the desired taste; just follow the instructions in my recipe!

➜ About the recipe

This soup calls for only a few simple, fresh ingredients. The main of them is fresh red garden tomatoes, peeled and cut into pieces.

The soup is based on fried onions and garlic. Add chopped tomatoes, pour in the vegetable stock, and season with a bay leaf, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Finally, blend the soup and enjoy it while it is still warm.

The recipe comes from the Czech Republic, where tomato soup is called the term "rajčatová polévka".

MY TIP: If you are a soup lover, try the famous Czech garlic soup, known as cesnecka!

➜ Ingredients

For homemade tomato soup, you need:

• Fresh tomatoes; ripe and firm
• Oil; sunflower or rapeseed, or olive oil (the latter is widely used in Italian tomato soups)
• Yellow onion; sautéed in oil, forms the basis for the luxurious flavor of the soup
• Fresh garlic; cloves
• Vegetable broth; I use a natural broth with no added chemical flavoring agents. You can grab chicken broth for even more flavor, but I think the soup tastes rich enough with quality vegetable broth.
• Seasonings: bay leaf, freshly ground black pepper, and salt

For garnishing when serving:

• Fresh basil leaves; or basil pesto - I just had some open at home, so I used it
• Sour cream; about a tablespoon per bowl, or thicker white yogurt – for a creamy texture
• Cheese cubes; for example, Camembert (cheese is optional)

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

➜ Instructions with photos

STEP 1: First, peel the tomato skins. Wash them, and remove the green stems. Cut them shallowly crosswise with a knife. Put them in boiling water and let them cook for a minute under the lid, but no longer.

Then drain the water and pour ice-cold water over the tomatoes to cool them and stop the cooking process. Remove the skin with a knife and cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Put them aside in a bowl.

STEP 2: Peel the onion and chop it finely. Peel the garlic and chop the cloves into slices. In a soup pot (I use my favorite cast iron Dutch oven), heat the oil over medium-high heat. Fry the onion in the oil until golden brown, add the garlic towards the end, and let its aroma develop.

TIP: If you fried the garlic in oil from the beginning, it would burn and turn bitter.

STEP 3: Add the bay leaf and chopped peeled tomatoes to the onion base. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on the stove for 15 minutes without a lid to evaporate some of the liquid.

STEP 4: Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and let it bubble for another 20 minutes.

STEP 5: Remove the bay leaf from the tomato soup and puree it using an immersion stick blender. If necessary, season with salt or pepper.

Extra tip: If you feel the soup is tart for your taste, add a pinch of sugar to a bowl of soup and stir.

➜ Serving

Tomato soup tastes best when served fresh and warm. Garnish with a spoonful of sour cream or white yogurt in the bowl. You can garnish it with green leaves of fresh basil - the combination of basil and tomatoes is very popular in Italy!

TIP: Instead of basil, add a teaspoon or two of basil pesto to the soup.

Tomato soup pairs well with crusty bread or toast. I topped my toast with grilled cheese. You may also cut the cheese into small pieces and add them to the hot soup; they will melt when it's ready to serve.

➜ How to store tomato soup

If you have any soup left over, let it cool completely and store it in the fridge. It will keep for 4-5 days.

➜ Do I have to peel the tomatoes first?

The short answer is yes. The tough skin of the tomatoes can spoil the good feeling of the soup. However, because this tomato soup is blended at the end, you can skip peeling the tomatoes if you want to save time.

➜ Useful tips

• Use ripe tomatoes for the soup. Orange, unripe tomatoes are harder to peel. In addition, they do not provide the typical full summer flavor of red tomatoes.
• Tomatoes will thicken the soup naturally, turning it into a slightly dense cream. The soup is gluten-free, suitable even for celiacs with food allergies to gluten.
• The consistency of the soup remains the same the next day, i.e., it does not thicken as if it were thickened with roux or flour.

More tasty soups:

• Czech zelnacka sauerkraut soup
• Easy goulash soup
• Split pea soup with bacon
• Tomato and cheese salad