This Creamy Harvest Tomato Soup recipe came as a result of a need to preserve surplus garden veggies AND because I enjoy tomato soup more than any other. I freeze it in quart jars and in the cold winter months Caleb and I sip it for lunch out of mugs. It is like eating from the garden with a foot of snow on the ground!
I should put in a disclaimer here. It may not be all that kid friendly. Not only is soup messy, but it is pretty much all veggies. It has been acceptable to my toddlers if used as more of a sauce over cooked rice so if you have littles, you might want to have rice handy when you serve it.
Creamy Harvest Tomato Soup
- 10-15 tomatoes of various sizes (It is best if half of them are romas or a “meatier” tomato)
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper (any color)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 large carrots
- 1 medium zucchini
- any additional garden veggies you have excess of such as broccoli and celery. I’ve even thrown in green beans!
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- ground pepper to taste
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup half-and-half
Directions
Peel tomatoes if you do not like the skin. The soup will be pureed, but the skins do not blend completely. I prefer the tiny bits of remaining skin and do not peel my tomatoes.
Chop onions, carrots, and peppers.
Heat oil in a 4 quart stock pot and saute onions, carrots, and peppers until lightly cooked.
While onions and peppers are cooking, roughly chop tomatoes and zucchini.
Once onions are cooked, add chopped garlic and sautee for a minute. Add salt, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and pepper.
Add tomatoes and zucchini to pot and mix thoroughly. Put in all additional veggies now.
Pour chicken stock into veggies and bring to a simmer.
Simmer for 30 minutes to one hour, stirring occasionally. I think it tastes better if it cooks a bit longer, but it is only necessary to simmer until veggies are cooked through.
Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender or transfer in two batches to a stand up blender. Soup is very hot!
If serving immediately, add half and half now. If you are storing in fridge or freezer, add half and half when you reheat it.
This recipe also came about as a need to preserve garden surplus.
I was so excited when I saw this recipe, I made it the same day. My tomatoes are having a great year & making tomato soup was on the “to learn list”. The soup flavor is fantastic. I really like the rosemary in it. I did not peel my tomatoes & I put the finished soup in my blender, poured it into pint canning jars, then canned it. Awesome!! I also will not be adding the half and half, making it dairy-free. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I’m glad you like it! It does taste good without the dairy, just not as creamy. I love that you have a “to learn list”. I need to do write one! Bees will be at the top of my list 🙂