You can enjoy homemade Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup in only 30 minutes with this quick and easy recipe! This tomato soup recipe uses pantry ingredients like canned tomatoes and basil pesto, and is just as delicious in January as it is in July!
Homemade roasted red pepper and tomato soup is one of my all-time favorite easy soup recipes! It's creamy, comfort food that at the same time, is also light and fresh.
I mostly make recipes that manage to be delicious and flavorful, but also make use of cooking shortcuts. This recipe is no exception. To save time and energy, I use canned stewed tomatoes, a jar of roasted red peppers and and a jar of basil pesto.
That's why this recipe that is packed with all of the summertime flavors, can also easily be made in the middle of winter!
No matter what time of year it is, we all like to cozy up to a bowl of soup every once in a while!
This is a versatile recipe though. So if you have a garden overflowing with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and red peppers, then you can stew the tomatoes up yourself, roast some red peppers and make homemade basil pesto.
Serve this delicious soup with my easy baked garlic bread recipe!
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⭐Why you'll love this recipe
- Made in under 30 minutes!
- Only 8 ingredients - 4 of which are pantry staples!
- This is a soup recipe that is satisfying on a warm summer day and a cold winter night.
🍅Ingredients
- Stewed tomatoes - Stewed tomatoes are ripe tomatoes that have been cooked in boiling water, peeled, chopped and then canned, frozen or consumed immediately. I used stewed tomatoes that were already seasoned with garlic, basil and oregano. If you choose a canned tomato that isn't seasoned, then you'll most likely want to add some dried basil and dried oregano to your tomato and roasted red pepper soup.
- Roasted red peppers - I used Mezzetta Roasted Red Bell Peppers. These come in a glass jar and are chopped into large chunks.
- Basil Pesto - Basil pesto is made using fresh basil, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic and often times pine nuts. When basil is in season, it's incredibly easy to whip up using a food processor. If you're like me and just like to have a pesto on-hand at all times, then you need to purchase Delallo Jarred Pesto.
- Heavy Cream - Adding in heavy cream helps to make this an extra creamy soup recipe.
- Chicken Broth - Chicken broth is used to add a liquid ingredient to this soup. Chicken broth also adds flavor. You could substitute in chicken stock, vegetable broth or water. If you were to use water, you would definitely need to add some kosher salt to this recipe.
- Yellow onion, minced garlic, olive oil - Both the yellow onion and the minced garlic help to enhance the flavor of this tomato soup recipe. You can use whole garlic cloves pressed through a garlic press or purchase a jar of minced garlic. The olive oil can be substituted with 1-2 tablespoons of butter if needed.
🥘Equipment
- Large pot or Dutch oven
- Immersion blender
- Cutting board, chopping knife, measuring cups, measuring spoons
📋How to make
Step 1: Sauté the onion and garlic in a little olive oil for about 3 minutes, over medium heat.
Step 2: Increase the heat and add the stewed tomatoes, roasted red peppers and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 3: Remove the soup from the heat. Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the soup until no whole tomatoes or roasted red pepper pieces remain. Be very careful! You don't want hot, boiling soup to splash onto you and burn your skin.
Step 4: Once blended, add the basil pesto and heavy cream. Stir to combine.
Step 5: Adjust the seasonings to taste, if needed. Since my chicken broth had plenty of added salt and my canned stewed tomatoes were already seasoned with dried basil and dried oregano, I did not need to add any additional seasonings.
Step 6: Serve your soup while it's hot and enjoy! I served my soup with quick and easy air fryer croutons.
🍞Air fryer croutons
Croutons are SO easy to make in your air fryer! Simply chop up your favorite bread into bite sized pieces. A good, crusty bread works the best. Drizzle the chopped up bread with olive oil and season with salt and garlic powder.
Transfer the cubed bread to your air fryer basket. Cook the croutons for about 5-7 minutes at 390°F. They come out so crunchy and delicious! I will never make croutons any other way again!
🍲Recipes you might also like
Make sure to check out some of my other delicious soup recipes!
Substitutions
- Tomatoes and roasted red peppers: I use canned tomatoes and jarred roasted peppers to save time. If you'd like to make homemade stewed tomatoes and homemade roasted red peppers you definitely can!
- Basil pesto - You can also make homemade fresh basil pesto instead of using store bought pesto. All you need is a food processor or a high speed blender.
- Heavy cream - I have not tested this recipe with anything but heavy cream. However, the heavy cream is added for... extra creaminess! Greek yogurt, sour cream, half & half, whole milk, full-fat coconut milk and cream cheese are also commonly used to add extra creaminess to soups.
- Extra seasonings - Additional flavor enhancers for this recipe include a pinch of black pepper, red pepper flakes and Italian seasonings.
Serving suggestions
I highly recommend serving this soup with a buttery grilled cheese sandwich, fresh bread, garlic bread or a delicious salad!
Storage
Store leftover Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Reheat leftovers on the stove in a small saucepan over low heat. The microwave works for reheating as well!
PrintEasy Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Homemade Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup is only 30 minutes away with this quick and easy recipe! This tomato soup recipe uses pantry ingredients like canned tomatoes and basil pesto, and is just as delicious in January as it is in July!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 9 cups 1x
- Category: lunch, dinner
- Method: stove top cooking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3, 15 oz cans stewed tomatoes, with juices, stewed in Italian seasonings
- 1 cup chopped roasted red peppers
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons basil pesto
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot or Dutch oven, about 3 minutes.
- Add the stewed tomatoes (plus juices from the can), roasted red peppers and chicken broth to the sautéed onion and garlic. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a rapid simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the stewed tomatoes and roasted red peppers until smooth.
- Add the basil pesto and the heavy cream. Stir to combine.
- Serve the soup while it's hot and enjoy!
- Optional: Garnish with fresh basil, homemade croutons and an extra splash of heavy cream. Adjust the seasonings to taste if needed.
Notes
- Be very careful when using an immersion blender in hot liquids. Keep the immersion blender fully submerged in the soup while you're blending to prevent splatter.
- See the post above on how to make homemade air fryer croutons.
- This recipe does not call for salt, pepper or any dried seasonings because of the sodium in the chicken broth and seasonings in the cans of stewed tomatoes. Add additional seasoning to taste if needed.
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Katie says
I love how quick and easy this recipe is!