Roasted Tomato Soup with optional Halloumi Croutons. It’s like having a grilled cheese sandwich on the side, but without the bread. Low-Carb, GF & Vegan Adaptable!
This glowing bowl of Roasted Tomato Soup is made with fresh summer tomatoes, roasted in the oven until caramelized and sweetened. Topped with the optional Halloumi “Croutons”, it is kind of like having a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of comforting tomato soup but without the bread. Get it? 😉
Low-carb and gluten-free, this can be made ahead and frozen in mason jars for the cold winter months to come. A little jar of sunshine in the midst of winter. Roasting tomatoes -or any fruit or vegetable – deeply intensifies the flavor – which adds layers of complexity to the finished dish.
A little meal prep tip: You can always roast something a day ahead (say, carrots for soup, or plums for ice cream) then store it in the fridge overnight, or until you are ready to use it. Often while dinner is on the table, I’ll have something else that needs to be used up, roasting in the oven, that I’ll refrigerate after dinner, and turn into tomorrow’s soup or meal. 🙂
How to make Roasted Tomato Soup
- Tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, and garlic are tossed in olive oil and roasted in the oven until tender.
- Once tender and cooled, they are blended with broth or stock and herbs, until smooth,.
- Season to taste with salt, pepper and sweetener of choice.
- Simmer gently on the stove, to reduce just slightly and allow flavors to meld.
- Stir in a little sour cream, plain greek yogurt or cream (or vegan cream) to taste.
- Serve with the crispy seared halloumi “croutons” and fresh herbs.
How to freeze soup
If you are cooking for one or for two, remember that freezing leftovers or batches of soup is always a nice option. You can freeze the soup in mason jars -leaving an inch of headroom at the top for the soup to expand.
In the middle of winter, or when feeling under the weather- it’s so nice to be able to pull out a jar of comforting, homemade Roasted Tomato Soup.
Can this be made vegan?
Yes! To make this vegan, either simmer 1/3 cup raw cashews in the veggie broth for 20 minutes, before blending with the soup- or sub a vegan yogurt, vegan sour cream or even a swirl of good olive oil. Leave off the halloumi cheese and sub homemade croutons. 🙂
What are the best tomatoes to use?
Fresh, ripe, summer tomatoes- a variety is nice, heirlooms, Roma, or what you can find.
These tomatoes are from Urban Eden Farm, a local farm right here in the heart of Spokane in an area called Vinegar Flats.
Garnish the soup with the crispy halloumi croutons and a swirl of yogurt of sour cream.
This glowing bowl makes me so happy just looking at it. I know my body will love all the nutrients it will provide.
This homemade tomato soup would also make a great gift to someone who is feeling under the weather. Put it in a mason jar and wrap it up in a kitchen towel. Simple and sweet.
xoxo
More soup recipes
Coconut Ginger Tomato Soup (Vegan)
Roasted Tomato Soup
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Soup, vegetarian, gluten-free
- Method: oven, roasted
- Cuisine: Vegetarian, Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Roasted Tomato Soup is made with fresh summer tomatoes and topped with optional crispy Halloumi Croutons. Vegan adaptable. For a year-round version, using canned tomatoes please see our Homemade Tomato Soup.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ripe tomatoes, halved, stem removed. ( If they are small, ok to leave them whole)
- 1/2 large red onion- thinly sliced into thin rings
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into quarters
- 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
- 4– 6 garlic cloves- whole
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 –4 cups veggie broth or chicken stock.
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil leaves (or cut into ribbons)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Pinch cayenne
- 1/2 –2 tablespoons sugar or honey
- 1/2 –1 cup plain sour cream, heavy cream , greek yogurt (or sub a drizzle of olive oil)
Halloumi Croutons (optionanl)
- 1 6-8 ounce block of halloumi cheese- (available at trader Joes, upscale supermarkets, international markets) cut into 3/4 inch cubes.
- 1 tablespoon oil
Garnish: Basil, scallions, yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- On parchment or foil-lined sheet pan, spread out tomatoes (cut side down), onions, bell pepper, carrot and garlic. Sprinkle with the thyme, drizzle with oil give a good toss. Roast for 25-30 minutes, but check garlic at 15 minutes (removing if need be) and roast until the onion /pepper/carrot are tender and tomatoes have just begun to caramelize at their edges. When done, remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, cut the halloumi into small 3/4 inch cubes. Pat dry. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sear the halloumi on two sides, until golden, not overcrowding and turning heat down if necessary. Place on a paper towel-lined plate.
- When the tomatoes are cooled, blend them along with all their flavorful juices from the tray and half of the basil- using a blender, with the cold broth or stock, working in small batches. Or use an immersion blender in a pot. Blend until creamy and smooth adding broth to the level of thickness that you like.
- Place in a pot, over low heat, add salt , pepper , pinch cayenne and honey to taste and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes until soup reduces a bit and flavors meld.
- Swirl in ½ cup sour cream or yogurt to the pot of soup. Taste and adjust salt and sugar. Add more yogurt (or sour cream or heavy cream) if you prefer a creamier soup, or even a tablespoon or two of butter.
- Serve soup in bowls, with a little swirl of yogurt. Top with a few haloumi croutons and garnish with basil or scallion or chives.
Notes
Sugar depends on sweetness of the tomatoes. Add to taste.
Vegan Option: You could simmer 1/3 cup raw cashews in the veggie broth for 20 minutes to soften – then blend it with the soup. Alternatively, you could use vegan yogurt, vegan sour cream or a swirl of olive oil, and sub bread croutons for the Halloumi.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: -with haloumi cheese and greek yogurt
- Calories: 290
- Sugar: 8.2 g
- Sodium: 158.7 mg
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.9 g
- Fiber: 3.9 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 22.7 mg
Loved this soup recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Great to hear Julie!
This was sooo tasty! Can’t believe some people thought it was bland. I used a jar of roasted bell peppers instead of roasting myself (didn’t have any fresh) and used fresh San Marzano style Roma tomatoes from my farmers market. Used big blender rather than immersion blender and came out perfect! Can’t wait to make it again. Didn’t make the croutons- didn’t think it needed them after I tasted.
Great to hear Sharon!
The whole family loved this soup. Did not make the croutons- served it with grilled cheese sandwiches instead. Delicious!
Add red pepper flakes it makes a big difference to this soup!!! Also i added honey/sugar not just one or the other and I made this soup 3 times making alternations to it!
Great to hear!
Oh my goodness….this is delicious. Made the soup exactly as written, with my homegrown tomatoes, onions and pepper. AND Tonias recipe for homemade veggie broth. Full of flavor even without the cheese croutons.
Yum yum!
Thank you
Awesome to hear Stephanie! thanks!
The tomatoes in my area (Honolulu) are not so flavorful so I use more local beefsteak tomatoes and/or less broth. I also don’t make the croutons or add the dairy so I add old Parmesan cheese rinds and thicken in my crock pot for a long time. I use thyme and vegetable stock and serve with home made rolled grilled cheese sandwiches. As other commenters have said soup is a little thin, which I blame on my tomatoes and not using chicken stock or dairy.
Hi Wendy, love the addition of parmesan rinds. Did you cook the whole thing in the crock pot, or put it in after blended?
Blended and cooked on stove initially then transferred to crockpot while I was working. Estimate it simmered about 12 hours total. Heated it up in crock pot before serving. I’m actually making it again right now.
Ok great – thanks Wendy!
Delicious! Made the soup last year when I had lots of tomatoes and I’m making it again this year. The soup freezes well too.
Perfect Jacquee!
This is a really bland soup recipe. l spent some time tinkering with the seasoning to make it edible. i would go heavier with the onion and garlic for this recipe. I also added extra salt, pepper, sugar and a few tablespoons of lemon juice to lift the favours. in the end it makes a great soup base, which all of my family enjoyed, you just need to adjust it to suit your tastes.
Sorry about that Nessa, I will have to try this one again, it has been a while. Did you use fresh tomatoes?
Unfortunately this soup was extremely bland. Ended up using oregano and thyme, garlic powder, a boat load of salt and pepper and garnished generously with basil to make it edible. Would not make again.
Did you happen to make the Halloumi Croutons- just curious as they truly do make the soup.
Great straight forward recipe but I cooked the tomatoes for too long (30min) and the soup is more orange-yellow than red. Beware of over cooking and stick to 25 min or below.
My go to soup!
Really enjoy this soup and easy to make. Its a hit at home.
Thanks!
This was so yummy and easy to make. Thank you for sharing
This sounds delicious. I’m only trying it for the first time, and I bought the thyme, but the recipe doesn’t say where/when to add the thyme/oregano.
Sorry about that, I fixed the recipe! Add on the sheet pan!
Loved this! I made this for my family. We are a family of 4 and we had to put a little less of everything. They complained that we should have not put any yogurt.
This turned out so good. love the Haloumi croutons- great idea. Great texture and flavor.
I Like recipe… but please ,…. Halloumi with a double( ll )in written recipe please… that’s the correct spelling… I come up with this many times … ??????I’m from Cyprus where Halloumi originates from ,
thanks -ευχαριστο!??