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We are at the very tail end of tomato season here in N.C. (thanks to the warm fall weather we’ve been having) so we did use fresh tomatoes, but this tomato bisque recipe can easily be made with canned tomatoes as well. (For a tomato bisque with fresh tomatoes, aim for roughly 10 of them in lieu of the canned version we use for this recipe).
Easy Tomato Bisque Soup Recipe
I should also mention that my kids (who are not even tomato fans other than spaghetti and pizza sauce) loved this dish! They even asked for seconds. Tomato bisque is a great way to sneak some more veggies into your family’s diet! The creamy and delicious soup is packed with flavor, and seriously stands as an entire meal on its own. So enjoy and don’t forget to freeze the leftovers!
Below, find our recipe for making Tomato Bisque from scratch including all of the hearty ingredients and step-by-step directions!
Creamy Homemade Tomato Bisque
This is a great opportunity to use up some extra tomatoes from the garden, and a must-try easy to make soup recipe if you’re new to the game! I intentionally created this recipe with nutrition and ingredient quality in mind. Unlike the canned stuff, there’s no hidden sodium or sugars. That makes this bisque a comfort-style meal your whole family can enjoy without sacrificing your commitment to real food.
How to Make This an Even More Creamy Tomato Bisque
True to this recipe, it’s really easy to make it this tomato bisque even creamier! The secret isn’t in the hearty whole wheat roux, but instead the heavy cream. Whether you’re using organic or regular cream, you can simply adjust the creaminess of this tomato bisque by adding more or less. Pairing it with a grilled cheese? You might want it to be a bit on the creamy side so it’s perfect for dipping!
Tip: If you don’t have any heavy cream on hand, whole milk can be substituted, but of course wont’ be as thick. Add it a little at a time to get the texture and taste combination you’re looking for.
Can you Freeze Tomato Bisque?
This tomato bisque recipe is ideal for freezing! In fact, I recommend doubling the batch so your next soup night can be an easy one. Whether you’re saving your leftovers for another meal or cooking a batch of this ahead of time, you’ll find it freezes exceptionally well. To freeze this bisque, pour the completely cooled soup into freezer proof jars up to the fill line, screw on the top, and add a label with date. We use a mix of 8 oz jelly jars (for individual servings) and 16 oz wide mouth mason jars at our house.
*I suggest consuming the frozen soup within a year for best flavor and consistency, however there is no safety issue if you wait longer.
How to Reheat Bisque:
Place the freezer container under some warm water momentarily to help dislodge the frozen bisque if need be. Next, place the frozen soup in a pot and cook it on low to medium temperature to melt and then begin reheating.
Alternatively, you could freeze it in smaller portions and reheat it in the microwave for work or school lunches! Open the container and set the lid aside (no metal in the microwave!), place a folded piece of paper towel on top to avoid splatters, and microwave it on the reheat setting until it’s steaming and heated through.
More Soup Recipes
I have many more soup recipes for you to try. Enjoy!
Tomato Bisque
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter (we used unsalted)
- 1 onion (diced)
- 2 slices bacon (proscuitto, or ham, minced)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 5 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 28-oz can peeled tomatoes ((with liquid))
- 3 sprigs parsley
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup heavy cream (or less if desired)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or more if you are using unsalted homemade broth)
- pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and cook for about 5–6 minutes or until it starts to get soft.
- Add the bacon (or other meat) and the garlic and stir for another minute or two or until the meat gets crisp.
- Add the flour and stir vigorously for 2–3 minutes.
- Pour in the broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil while whisking constantly.
- Throw in the herbs and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
- Remove the herbs and puree the soup either in a blender (in batches) or with a handheld immersion blender (if you like to make soups this is a great tool to have by the way!)
- Stir in the desired amount of heavy cream and salt & pepper to taste. Serve warm.
Notes
- You may need to adjust the amount of salt depending on whether you used canned tomatoes (try to avoid varieties with added salt and sugar!) or fresh and also what type of broth you use (homemade, canned, or low-sodium canned). As with any recipe, it’s best to start light on the salt and adjust to taste. You can always add more, but you can’t take it out.
What do you use to portion the soup into small, individual batches?
Hi there. 8 oz jelly jars.
I am trying to be more healthy and thought whole food would be the way to go. However, when I see ingredients such as bacon and heavy cream, red flags appear in my mind. I guess I have always equated real food=healthy food…but that is not necessarily the case. All real food is not necessarily healthy…it is just not processed which, for most American diets is a huge improvement! I think I’ll try the recipe with a few modifications. Perhaps nitrate free bacon (and cut off all visible fat) and would I be able to substitute a low fat half & half for the heavy cream?
Linda,
I use a very similar recipe of my grandmothers but have adapted it. I never use pork and I use almond milk thickened blended with soy sour cream in place of heavy cream. I also use veggie stock or broth rather than chicken. for me the key is good tomatoes and a little garnish of a quality parmesan for a zip.
Hi Linda. I do think those changes would work fine. We do not use low fat products because they are more processed and sometimes have other things added to them. Also, these two posts might give insight into our philosophy of “healthy eating”: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/healthy-eating-defined/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/portion-size-matters/.
This is one of my (and my family’s) favorite soups. I make it all the time! My daughter recently requested it for her 5th birthday, and I decided to try it in our electric pressure cooker. It turned out AMAZING! Flavors seemed more pronounced. Since you can saute in the cooker, I just did everything the same as the recipe but instead of simmering, I pressure cooked it for 5 minutes. My new favorite way to cook one of my favorite soups!
Tomato soup IS fairly bland. The key is awesome chicken broth. Thats the depth of flavor. But the flavor of tom soup is still fairly bland. Otherwise you have spaghetti sauce soup or taco salsa soup or curry soup, depending on what you add to jazz it up.
Add pasta or dunk grilled cheese or quesadillas into it if you wanna get rly crazy.
Cooked rice is rly good too for Tom-Rice Soup.
I found this soup to be a little bland even after seasoning with salt and pepper (I also simmered it with more of each herb than the recipe called for). I seasoned it liberally at the end with more fresh herbs, chopped, and with a few dried herbs as well (basil, oregano, thyme, parsley). After adding the cream I finished each bowl off with a bit of balsamic vinegar as a nice acid at the end and then I found it really good!
If you’re using fresh tomatoes, you may not need as much broth depending on the water content of your tomatoes. (I doubled the recipe and used 8 cups of broth.)
Unfortunately some store-bought tomatoes don’t have as much flavor as the locally grown variety. Glad you made it work!
I love this tomato bisque recipe! Honestly, it’s the only way I’ve had it so far! It’s easy to throw together a dive frozen it in batches for easy lunches throughout the week. Love it!
This recipe is beyond rediculious for the effort put into such a small yield! And it DOES NOT taste like real tomato bisque. Terrible! Do not waste your time,
Hi Bill – The yield is clearly indicated in the recipe, but you can easily adjust it by clicking the little arrows by the number of servings. The ingredient quantities will update automatically so you can print and use the recipe without extra calculations (we often make double or triple batches and freeze the leftovers in jelly jars). As for the flavor, you could reduce or omit the bacon for a more traditional flavor profile, but I personally look forward to this recipe as it is. – Jason
Much better than can!
Are there any suggestions to replace the cream for a dairy allergy?
Hi there. My favorite replacement is coconut cream. This might help: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/08/31/food-allergies-dairy/ and this thread has many great suggestions: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/dairy-free-options-for-cream-soups.
Think jarred diced tomatoes would work?
Hi there. Yes, it should work just fine.
Made this tonight and it was amazing! My 6yo, 9yo, and husband loved it. It was so easy too. It is definitely bacon-y and I’m sure that’s one of the reasons it went over so well. Thank you!
can I freeze the finished soup? The cream won’t curdle? Thank you
Hi there. Freezing it can change the texture but it still tastes good.
Whenever I freeze soups with cream in them, when I go to reheat, I just use the immersion blender on it again. Smooths it right out again.,,
Trying his soup tonight! Can’t wait!!
My 9yo and I made this yesterday. She declared it “better than canned” (a big compliment from her!) and she has taken some in a thermos for lunch.
This was delicious and a great way to use up tomatoes from my garden. Thank you!
Will eliminating the bacon, ham or prosciutto from the recipe alter any taste?
In my opinion, it will alter it Jaimi (but still be delicious if omitted). The bacon takes it up a notch for sure.
We dont use the bacon and its still awesome!
It will alter it a bit. – Nicole
I am making this for dinner! I’m making a double batch so I can freeze some! Do I pre-cook the bacon?
Hi Jessica. You cook it for a couple minutes when you add it to the pan. :)
what can you use in place of heavy cream? I don’t like that all that I’ve seen has carragean in it.
Hi Amber. You can find heavy cream without it: http://www.toxinless.com/heavy-cream. You could always just use whole milk, too.
We are gluten free and Dairy Free and make this recipe often. We sub the heavy cream for a can of full-fat coconut milk, from the asian isle in the grocery store. When you buy it, shake the can, if you can’t hear liquid moving around that means it has a lot of cream in it. That’s what you want :) It also tastes great without any cream or milk–but then I guess it can’t be considered “bisque”.
What do you sub for the wheat flour?
I use a gluten free all purpose flour. Potato starch would work too :)
Does the coconut flavor cook out or does it just add another layer of depth to the end result? I can’t imagine coconut and tomato going together well
Does anyone know the nutritional value for this recipe? Mostly fat, calories, carbs and protein. Thanks so much
Hi Amy. We don’t provide nutrition info. You could try using My Fitness Pal or a similar online tool that can give you those details. Numbers just aren’t our focus. This post explains why: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
Made this last night, and it was really good! I used 1 tsp dried parsley and about 1/2 tsp dried thyme as substitutes since I didn’t have fresh on hand. Served it with cheese toast, and everyone (3 kids and husband) really liked it. :)
Yes, I’d put it in the blender regardless. Ideally, you’d want the tomatoes (and everything) to be smooth in a soup like this.
We LOVE this soup!! One batch doesn’t cut it, I have to triple the recipe!!! It is delicious!!
I don’t know why it took me so long to make homemade tomato soup! Thank you for this recipe!! I did not include the meat (because I did not have any on hand) nor the heavy cream and it was still amazing! I made a toasted cheese on the homemade honey wheat sandwich bread with cheddar cheese and it was such a great combination. Tasted like comfort food on a cold winter day and I felt good about eating it because I knew exactly what was in it. I’m freezing the rest in small containers since I’m the only person in my house that likes tomato soup.
I tried this recipe this evening, once again I felt as though it was missing ‘something’, not sure if it’s a spice or what. I wasn’t a fan of the bacon either, too chewy. I used the hand held mixer to crush all the ingredients and it smelled amazing cooking, I didn’t care for the taste. I also added basil, parsely, and more garlic to it, and still it was not a go at our house. So far, I love your baking recipes, not sure if I like any of the cooking ones!
A+. We made this bisque tonight and it was perfect! Added a can of tomato paste like another reviewer did for a more tomato flavor, a and tasted as we went along to ensure the flavor was what we wanted. Dear hubby enjoyed it too (he added a bit more bacon)! Overall a great recipe. We’ll keep this recipe on hand. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Never mind,I just re-read the paragraph above. Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to try this!
Can this soup be frozen?
Hi Bonny. Yes, freeze it in an airtight container.
This was such a great recipe! Definitely my new go-to tomato soup recipe! Very very tasty w/o anything too “fancy” to change it from the original, simple taste of pure tomato soup.
I like tomato bisque, but my youngest daughter is the real tomato soup fan here & doesn’t care for the creamed soup. Since none of us is a fan of the Campbell’s type, we have been using the tomato-basil type (Progresso or some similar brand). I’d like to make that kind of tomato soup myself and avoid the canned soup with all of the extra salt & stuff. Where can I find a healthy recipe for a tomato-basil soup? Anyone??
Sue, we love this recipe: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/10/homemade-tomato-soup-from-scratch.html. I substitute one large can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes, and use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian. It’s delicious! You can also blend in spinach and it just looks like extra basil!
I also do not like creamy tomato soup so I made this recipe and left out the cream and left out the ham. It was perfect. If I would have had fresh basil on hand I would have used it. I think you should try this recipe for your tomato soup.
This was so good! I am not usually a tomato soup kind of person, but this was just downright tasty. Even my non-tomato soup loving hubby devoured his. I’m going to make this for my in-laws when they come over for dinner next weekend.
Is there a way to make the tomato bisque in the crock pot?
Hi Jill. We’ve not tried this recipe in a crock pot. ~Amy
Amazing! I made this for the first time last night to take for my lunches this week and couldn’t quit sampling it. What a great recipe. Thanks so much. This one is going in my regular rotation!
My family is addicted to the canned tomato soup and I just cannot in good conscience serve that to them anymore. I have tried other “homemade” versions which they did not like, although I’m not sure why. However, this one was a hit! It is definitely thicker than the processed variety so I thinned it out a little more for my kids, but my picky husband raved about it. I loved that it was so easy to throw together for a weeknight “real-food” meal. I also thought that it tasted great without the cream.
How did you thin it out? It is too grainy for my taste.
This may be a silly question, but do you strain the soup to get the herbs out or do you just put the entire sprig in so that it just pulls straight out? Thanks!!
No, you do not need to strain. The sprigs will stay mostly intact, so you can just pull them out. ;)
This was so easy and delicious. I am on a soup cooking mission today. Needless to say, I will never buy a red and white can of tomato soup ever again.
I made this recipe this weekend and my entire family absolutely loved it! My husband suggested putting it on the weekly menu and my middle child suggested the daily menu! Thanks for a great recipe!
Have you ever tried freezing your tomato soup in the quart canning jars for an easy meal night in the future? I don’t see any reason this wouldn’t work just like the jelly jars, do you?
Thanks,
Jana
Hi Jana. Sure, I freeze soups in large mason jars all the time. ~Amy
Thanks!
This may be a silly question but how do I freeze this soup? I am new to freezing things and it seems like I have read somewhere that acidic foods such as tomatoes have to be froze a certain way to prevent bacteria growth.
Hi Samantha. We typically freeze soups in wide mouthed mason jars leaving room for expansion. You might find this helpful: http://life.familyeducation.com/foods/safety/36570.html. ~Amy
Will any substitutions work for heavy cream, can I try whole milk or skim milk, soy milk etc>
I always just use whole milk and its just fine!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious! I didn’t include the bacon (or any meat, for that matter) as I limit our bacon consumption to once a month. I also only added salt and pepper because I didn’t want the herbs to over power since I was feeding this to my kids. It was seriously restaurant quality! I definitely recommend the stick hand blender. I couldn’t imagine having to pour it into an actual blender or food processor. Anyway, it was just so good! I paired it with grilled cheese sandwiches which just completed the meal!
After realizing how nasty canned tomato soup can be I tried this recipe on my four small children. I had a hunch my kids would like it so I made a very large batch; Because of the quantity I did have to blend it in several smaller batches. I used a huge Tupperware “that’s a mega bowl” to mix it all back together. As the very large bowl full of soup sat on the table one of my children exclaimed, “It looks like a pot of gold!” It was absolutely Delicious! During the meal my kids loving renamed this tomato bisque “EDIBLE TREASURE.” I now make an even bigger batch which I divide into five portions. We eat one and freeze the other four. It makes a great quick lunch that requires little prep on a busy home school day. We were all ready on our own little real food adventure but this recipe is what got me “hooked on Lisa”…I’m a big fan. :)
lovingly not loving LOL… should have reread to spell check. :)
Hi! I need to know how to defrost the tomato bisquet soup .
Thanks
Hi Patty. Just defrost int he fridge overnight. :)