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This tomato bisque recipe is tangy and creamy! This classic soup makes a tasty lunch paired with bread or grilled cheese.
Here’s a cozy, creamy soup that works in nearly any season: try tomato bisque! This vibrant puree melds bright tomatoes, garlic, and aromatic vegetables with a touch of cream, creating a rich, silky texture.
It’s pure and simple, perfect with a hunk of crusty no-knead bread or a grilled cheese sandwich. Here’s how to make a simple tomato bisque!
Ingredients You’ll Need
A bisque is a creamy, pureed soup of French origin. A traditional bisque uses ground seafood shells as a thickener, like ground lobster or shrimp shells, and heavy cream to add richness. There are also vegetable-based bisques, blended and thickened with cream, like butternut squash, red pepper, or tomato.
While it sounds fancy, a tomato bisque is simple to make. It’s essentially a French-style creamy tomato soup. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- Butter or olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Carrot
- Celery
- Garlic
- White wine vinegar (or white wine)
- Fire roasted diced tomatoes (or San Marzano or best quality tomatoes)
- Vegetable or chicken broth
- Sugar and salt
- Heavy cream
Use Fire Roasted or Best Quality Tomatoes
The key to this tomato bisque recipe? The quality of the tomatoes. Low-quality canned tomatoes have a bitter, flat flavor that can’t be masked by extra seasoning. If you can find fire-roasted tomatoes, they have a pure, developed flavor with less simmering time. Here are a few notes on finding the best quality tomatoes:
- Fire-roasted tomatoes are a type of canned tomato that’s cooked over an open flame before canning. It makes the flavor beautifully sweet out of the can, instead of acidic like many canned tomato varieties.
- Where to get them? This type of tomato is easy to find in U.S. grocery stores; it’s sold by several brands (Muir Glen is a favorite of mine). Look for fire-roasted tomatoes in the canned tomatoes section.
- What if you can’t find them? Substitute the best quality canned tomatoes you can find and increase the simmer time by 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar if the flavor still seems bitter.
Tips for Tomato Bisque
This tomato bisque recipe is simple to make; you’ll sauté the vegetables, add tomatoes and broth, and simmer, then puree the soup and add cream. Here are a few pointers:
- Sauté the vegetables until tender. It’s important to make sure the vegetables are tender before adding the tomatoes so they don’t remain crunchy in the final soup.
- A standard blender works best (vs a stick blender). I used to love the convenience of an immersion blender (aka stick blender), but it doesn’t get the soup nearly as creamy.
- Don’t skimp on the cream. The cream brings a rich, thicker texture and a luxurious mouthfeel. It’s absolutely essential!
Ways to Serve It
Pureed soups like tomato bisque are delicious, but they’re not a meal in themselves! You’ll need to add some protein to make a filling meal. Here are a few ideas:
- Make a grilled cheese, like Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Grilled Cheese in the Oven, or Pesto Grilled Cheese.
- Add bread and cheese, like an Artisan Bread or a No-Knead Loaf.
- Add a salad like Goat Cheese Salad, Kale Salad, Apple Salad, or Chopped Salad.
- Opt for crackers and cheese, like Homemade Crackers or Almond Crackers.
- Corn bread: Try Classic Corn Muffins or Skillet Cornbread.
Storage Info
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The soup also freezes well. To freeze, transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag and store frozen for up to three months.
Dietary Notes
This recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Tomato Bisque
This tomato bisque recipe is tangy and creamy! This classic soup makes a tasty lunch paired with bread or grilled cheese.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stoveop
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons salted butter or olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar**
- 28-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes*
- 1 quart vegetable broth or chicken broth
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a medium pot, heat the butter or olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the onions are tender and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the white wine vinegar and cook until evaporated.
- Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, and salt, and bring to a steady simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. Carefully transfer to a blender using a ladle, then blend until creamy (or use an immersion blender). Stir in the cream.
- Serve immediately, garnished with a drizzle of olive oil or cream and chopped or thinly sliced basil. Leftovers store refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for 3 months.
Notes
*If you can’t find fire-roasted tomatoes, use the best-quality tomatoes you can find (San Marzanos are also a flavorful variety). Simmer for an additional 10 minutes, then taste and add a teaspoon or so of sugar if the flavor tastes bitter.
**If you have it on hand, substitute ¼ cup white wine and cook until all of the wine evaporates.
