How I Perfected Dairy-Free Creamy Tomato Soup
During my internship at Flea Street Cafe in Menlo Park, I regularly made 16 quarts of seasonal, vegan soup every few days. Needless to say, I got pretty good at it. One of the best skills I learned was how to make luscious and velvety soups without using cream. The secret? More olive oil than you might be comfortable with (trust me, don’t skimp—it’s healthy and delicious!) and cooking very thinly sliced onions low and slow for longer than you think.
The Secret to Making Creamy Dairy-Free Tomato Soup
Using the technique of slowly cooking onions in a generous amount of olive oil, paired with a high-speed blender to aerate the ingredients, you can achieve a creamy, rich tomato soup without any dairy. You’ll never miss the heavy cream! The result is a healthy, velvety soup with a deep, satisfying flavor.
A Kids’ Favorite Meal
This summer, I featured this tomato soup as part of my Kids’ Cooking Camp menu. Paired with a chopped salad with homemade vinaigrette and grilled cheese paninis, the kids absolutely loved it! Even those who typically don’t enjoy tomatoes were surprised at how flavorful the soup was. With just a few simple ingredients—quality canned tomatoes, olive oil, lightly caramelized onions, and a good blender—this soup turned out smooth, creamy, and delicious.
Easy Weeknight Meal and Freezer-Friendly Soup
It may not seem like a quick meal to make on a weeknight, but it is! A quick cooking soup, you can speed things along by slicing an onion first thing, allowing those to cook down in the olive oil while getting the rest of the ingredients out. Even better, because it’s dairy-free, it freezes exceptionally well! I often double the recipe and freeze individual portions using Souper Cube silicone trays. Having ready-made soup in your freezer makes for a quick, nourishing meal after a long day. Have leftovers? Pack some up in a thermos for the office, you’ll be the envy of those around you. Extra points if it’s a rainy day and you have crusty bread to dip it in.
Cheers,
Christina
Dairy-free Creamy Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cups onions, thinly sliced about 1 large or 2 small onions
- 1 cup sliced carrots about 2-3 carrots
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp red pepper flake optional
- 1 28-oz can of whole or crushed San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 qt chicken or vegetable stock divided
- Flaky maldon salt for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and when it's warm enough to slide easily across the pan, add the onions, carrots, salt and pepper. Cook until very tender and only lightly golden, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high. Add the garlic, tomato paste, basil and red pepper. Cook for about 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the tomato paste gets slightly darker.
- Add the tomatoes and 3 cups of the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat until the soup is just simmering and let it cook for about 10 minutes allowing the flavors to meld.
- At this point you can turn off the heat and let the soup cool a bit before blending or you can add the hot soup in two batches to a high speed blender. Carefully blend until smooth. If more liquid is needed, add a bit more stock.
- I often serve straight from my blender but you can also return the soup to the pot and keep warm. Either way, be sure to taste for seasoning. More salt is often needed but it depends on how salty your broth is. Serve with a pinch of flaky salt, if desired.
Nutrition
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