Easy tomato bisque recipe with canned tomatoes on the stove I have made over and over again. My whole family loves it. So creamy and semi homemade delicious that even the kids ask for.
My friend made this soup years ago when I was not a tomato lover and cringed at the idea of having tomato soup. I tried it and absolutely fell in love with this easy recipe she made!! I have done a few tweaks to it since making it for my family a few times (yes even the kids are in love with it), and here it is. (affiliate links present)
Tomato Bisque Soup with Canned Tomatoes
If youโre looking for a warm comfort food during the cooler months, or year round really, you wonโt be disappointed with this soup. I rarely cook anything from scratch and many times I donโt because store bought is so similar I cannot justify the time and effort that goes into cooking it.
However, there are a few things like this soup and my slow cooker creamy tomato soup that there just is no comparison for!
Ingredient Notes
- Butter will make it nice and creamy, you could use a vegan dairy free alternative. Olive oil is another choice you can make instead if preferred but not as flavorful or creamy.
- Onion chopped fine is great for added texture and flavor, yellow or white
- Carrot should be chopped into bits that are small so they get nice and tender
- Celery diced will add some flavor and texture too
- Chicken broth is better than water for added flavor, or use boullion cube
- Flour will create a roux to thicken it, arrowroot is a gluten free alternative
- Canned tomatoes, whole, will be made smooth at the end with an immersion blender
- Heavy cream will make a creamy tomato bisque, a better option than milk, if using dairy free cashew milk youโd need to whisk in a bit of cornstarch to thicken
- Seasonings such as salt and pepper are great, fresh basil and other herbs are best if you can find them and chop fine.
Variations
If you do not want to add bacon that is of course okay but it gives the soup a lot of added flavor and makes it so you really donโt have to add any or much salt at all since the bacon has enough salt in it. The more veggies you add the thicker / chunkier your tomato soup will be, so that is up to you.
Great addition to any brunch served with grilled cheese sandwich in toaster oven on the side, or during the holidays when people want something warm and want to eat a bit of this and that all day long.
Tips
Letโs start with the ingredients. In this case we are doing a {cheater version} with a can of whole tomatoes. If you wanted to go all out with a homemade version you could use fresh tomatoes, this is How to Roast Tomatoes in Air Fryer for best results, first for a bit sweeter flavor to the dish. Once all ingredients are cooking, stir occasionally so bottom doesnโt get too hot.
You want the flavors to really develop bring to a boil and then lower the temperature just a bit to a medium flame to let the soup simmer at least 30 minutes up to a good 45 minutes.
When done, use an immersion blender directly in the pot for convenience or transfer (carefully!) to a stand blender for an extra silky texture, blend in batches if needed. After blending, stir in heavy cream or half-and-half to get the bisque texture. Donโt boil the soup after adding cream, or it could separate โ just gently heat through.
If adding meat make sure that the ham or bacon is precooked and diced into very small pieces. You can do this at the very beginning with a bit of olive oil until slightly crisp, set on paper towels and set aside until you add the cream.
in pressure cooker
If you would like another similar version of this but cooked in just 15 minutes you should give our Instant Pot tomato basil soup a whirl. We added some tortellini into this one which made it a heartier meal, which you could do in this case too. Either way it is a quick way to make this same recipe cutting down on the simmering time because it uses very high pressure instead.
What goes well with tomato bisque soup?
- Garlic pull apart bread made with a package of refrigerated biscuits is super easy to make with garlic butter poured over the top.
- Sometimes if I am using fresh veggies to make this I will make fried red tomatoes to serve on the side too, that is a great pairing.
- Our easy roll recipe is more homemade with yeast but simple nontheless.
Try them all and see which one you like best really! Below is a printable recipe card with nutritional information such as calories and saturated fat listed. Just enjoy though my friends.
Tomato Bisque Soup Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pot
Ingredients
- 4 tbs butter
- 2 pieces bacon
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 tbs flour
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 can whole tomatoes, 28 ounce, peeled tomatoes with liquid
- 3 parsley sprigs, or 1 tsp. dried parsley
- 3 thyme sprigs, or can use 1 tsp. dry thyme out of jar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the diced onion and bacon. Add in your diced carrot, celery and garlic and cook until soft and bacon is done but not crispy. (I do not drain grease, lends a lot of flavor to the soup) Can remove a few pieces of bacon to add to the top if desired.
- Stir in the flour and cook to create a rue of sorts.
- Pour in the broth and can of tomatoes and bring to a boil while whisking constantly.
- Tie parsley, thyme sprigs and bay leaf together and add to pot if you have them. Lower heat and simmer for 30 min. on a low boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- When soup is cool remove and discard herb bundle. Transfer the mixture to a blender or use a hand mixer to blend until pureed and smooth.
- You can use a sieve to strain but I never did and liked the texture. Whisk in the heavy cream and salt to taste. If you have some chopped up bacon still use it to garnish the top!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is the difference between tomato soup and tomato bisque?
We really enjoy both but they are definitely not the same. Cream of tomato is cooked at a much lower temperature. Bisque is French and is commonly used to describe a highly seasoned and creamy soup made from strained broth of seafood items.
Delicious! Made it exactly as written, to go with some gruyere grilled cheese sandwiches, it hit the spot perfectly!! Will absolutely make it again.
Oh yeah glad it was a hit
I made this today and couldnโt wait for it to cool so I just warmed up the cream so it wouldnโt curdle. It turned out great! Itโs a keeper recipe. Thank you.
Glad you loved it too
Sorry Iโm almost done and want to know if I add the cream before or after boiling?