Winter Tomato Soup

One of the great pleasures of winter? Tomato soup! This recipe starts with canned tomatoes that are first roasted then slow-cooked to draw out deep, intense tomato flavor. It's the recipe to choose during cold weather and the many months when fresh tomatoes just aren't worth time or money. And my recommendation? Grab some bread and cheese too, people, because homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese are a special winter-worthy combination!

Real Food, Fresh & Flexible. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Great for Meal Prep.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

Bounty May Be Overrated

Last winter after a big snow, the dog attached me to her leash and took me for a walk through Tower Grove Park, a Victorian jewel here in St. Louis and a four-season mid-city modern oasis turned silent beneath a winter muffle.

Just days before, it had been unseasonably warm – 70s in January?! – so with new cold, the open water around the fountain was shrinking, constricting the resident ducks who nevertheless quacked with apparent content.

So too is our winter food supply constricted although imports from the summer of the southern hemisphere disguise the fact.

In the void that is winter fresh food, we turn to our pantries and our freezers, happy to lighten the load on their shelves and our waistlines.

Bounty may be overrated. Some times, fewer choices are worth a quack of contentment.

Homemade Tomato Soup: It's a Thing.

Is tomato soup made from scratch really a thing? It is in my kitchen! Yours, too?

Over the years, I've collected several tomato soup recipes, all slightly different, all demanding grilled cheese sandwiches on the side, wink wink.

• FOR WINTER, WITH CANNED TOMATOES Winter Tomato Soup (recipe below), roasting and slow-cooking draw out summer flavors from canned tomatoes
• FOR SUMMER, WITH RIPE GARDEN TOMATOES Summer's Tomato Soup, a completely different soup, for those in the southern hemisphere!
• YEAR-ROUND, WITH FRESH BASIL Rustic Tomato Basil Soup, tomato basil with chunky vegetables.
• WHEN YOU NEED SOUP, NOW Two-Can Ten-Minute Homemade Tomato Soup, is it really homemade? I say yes, yes, yes.

Roasted Tomatoes: The Secret

The trick to homemade tomatoes soup in the winter is to start with canned tomatoes, then to roast them with a pinch of sugar to draw out even more flavor. Then the soup needs to simmer for three hours, on the stove, in the oven, even in a slow cooker.

Yes, it's that easy!

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Just updated! First published way back in 2009.

WINTER TOMATO SOUP

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 4 - 5 hours
Makes 6 cups

• 56 or 58 ounces (2 large 28-ounce cans or 4 small 14.5-ounce cans) canned diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar


• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 leeks, white and green parts only, trimmed, halved lengthwise, washed well, sliced into half moons (for a photo tutorial, see how to clean leeks)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste (see TIPS)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups liquid (vegetable stock or another stock or water)

ROAST THE TOMATOES Set the oven to 475F/250C. Drain the tomatoes in a colander, reserving the juice. Arrange the tomatoes in single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the tomatoes with brown sugar and roast for 20 minutes plus whatever preheating time remains.

MAKE THE SOUP Meanwhile, melt the butter on medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven, make sure it's oven-proof if finishing the soup in the oven. Add the leeks and sauté until golden, stirring often. Stir in the tomato paste, nutmeg and flour; cook for a minute to cook off the floury taste, stirring all the while. Slowly add the liquid a tablespoon at a time at first, stirring to incorporate each addition before adding more. Stir in the roasted tomatoes and reserved tomato juice. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Decide how to finish the soup.

STOVETOP OPTION Cover and let barely simmer for 3 hours.

OVEN OPTION Reduce the oven temperature to 350F/180C. Cover and cook for 3 hours.

CROCKPOT OPTION Transfer to a slow cooker. Cover and cook on High for 3 hours.

ALANNA's TIPS Leeks? Their flavor is subtle and lovely but at least in my kitchen, not something I keep on hand. So. Trader Joe's frozen leeks do work quite well, they just need to be chopped up a bit. But really, if you don't have leeks, just use a medium-size onion and dice it up. No one'll complain. What cook doesn’t lose leftover tomato paste in the back of the fridge where it turns to fur? Instead, watch for tomato paste in toothpaste-like tubes. Just squeeze out what you need, refrigerate the tube: no waste! Another way to save leftover paste? Freeze it in small spoonfuls! How to Freeze Tomato Paste! In summer, when fresh tomatoes are bountiful, you'll want to try Summer's Tomato Soup.

So Many Variations!
CREAMY TOMATO SOUP Winter Tomato Soup is a hearty and intensely tomato-flavored soup. For something more delicate, stir in milk or cream.
TOMATO ORANGE SOUP For a fruity variation, stir in a cup of orange juice and a half cup of cream.
TOMATO COCONUT CURRY SOUP For Thai-style flavor, stir in a can of coconut milk. To add a bit of curry heat, mix a dab of Thai red or green curry paste into some of the liquid before adding.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup: 116 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 10mg Cholesterol; 416mg Sodium; 19g Carb; 3g Fiber; 10g Sugar; 3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 2 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 5 & Freestyle 3 & myWW green 3 & blue 3 & purple 3 (but heads up, 2 cups of Winter Tomato Soup is only 5 points)

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More Recipes Especially for Winter

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ more winter recipes ~

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More Hearty Soup Recipes

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ more soup recipes ~

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Recent Favorites from A Veggie Venture

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If you like Kitchen Parade's recipes, you'll love A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables with more from-scratch recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, home to the famous Alphabet of Vegetables and vegetables in every course, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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