An easy, creamy, and comforting Vegan Tomato Basil Soup that’s nourishing and full of flavor. Just 1 pot is required to make the best soup ever!
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This spicy vegan tomato soup is creamy from the addition of full-fat canned coconut milk and flavored with Italian seasonings, red chili flakes, and fresh basil.
It's dairy-free, delicious, and so easy to make. You must add this one to your weekly dinner rotation this fall and winter!
Serve with vegan grilled cheese or homemade croutons for a tasty meal!
Ingredients
Tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions, and garlic are blended together to make an easy and delicious vegan soup. You'll be amazed at how simple yet flavorful this soup is!
Canned Crushed Tomatoes: I typically use a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes or whole peeled tomatoes- both work and taste great! Use your favorite brand or whatever is on sale (that's what I do!)
Red Bell Peppers: Sometimes I add 1 pepper from a jar of roasted red peppers and sometimes I dice one up and throw it in the pot with onion. Regardless, it's a delicious addition that I highly recommend.
Onion and Garlic: The key to amazing flavor is onion and garlic. You must have sautéed onion and garlic. Let them cook until soft and starting to brown- that's the best way to infuse the most flavor!
Dried Italian Seasonings: Italian seasonings adds great flavor. I use my homemade blend but you can use store-bought.
Canned Coconut Milk: Full-fat coconut milk is what gives our tomato soup a creamy texture. My favorite brand is Native Forest.
Fresh Basil: This is a tomato basil soup after all. I love adding chopped basil after turning the heat off- add as much or as little as you'd like or just use it to garnish the top. Whatever you want!
Helpful Equipment
You'll need a blender for this creamy vegan tomato soup recipe. An immersion blender is preferred but you can blend the soup with a Vitamix or other blender.
A blender with a tamper is the preferred blender so the steam can escape but be sure to do this in batches and turn the blender up slowly while having a towel over the blender to catch splatter.
If you have a blender that closes completely, wait until the soup has cooled slightly before transferring it to the blender. But I recommend always blending in small batches and being extremely careful.
How to Make This Recipe
This creamy vegan tomato soup gets its creamy texture from coconut milk and its rich flavor from canned crushed tomatoes, roasted red peppers, onions, and garlic.
Heat a large soup pot on medium-high heat and add the olive oil.
Dice the red pepper and onions and cook for 7-10 minutes or until soft and starting to brown.
Mince the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
Toss in the dried Italian seasonings, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Continue to cook for 1 minute.
Please note: This recipe contains added salt and vegetable broth. I typically use low sodium vegetable broth but if you don't, watch the added salt. I would start with half the recommended amount of salt and then taste and add more as needed.
Pour in the vegetable broth and the can of crushed tomatoes.
Bring to a boil then cover the pot and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Carefully transfer the soup to a blender in batches and blend until smooth. Be careful when blending hot liquids.
Return the soup to the pot and whisk in the coconut milk and sugar. Taste and adjust the following: Salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Chop up fresh basil and add to the soup. I usually do about ⅓ cup and more for the garnish. Serve and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
This cozy soup is easy, flavorful, and nourishing, and is so much better than canned. Here's a few helpful tips to make sure your vegan tomato soup comes out beautifully every time.
Don't leave out the coconut milk! The addition of coconut milk does not make this tomato soup taste like coconut milk. But it does help reduce acidity and adds a creamy and smooth texture.
Sugar is a must! It might be a weird choice but the combination of coconut milk and sugar helps reduce the acidity of the tomatoes. It's just a touch!
Salt to your preference: This soup recipe contains added salt and vegetable broth. I typically use low sodium vegetable broth but if you don't, watch the added salt. I would start with half the recommended amount and then taste and add more as needed.
An immersion blender is a very helpful kitchen gaget to have when blending soup. Read above for helpful tips on blending hot soup.
Substitutions & Additions
Canned Tomatoes: If you would prefer to opt for fresh tomatoes, feel free to roast up some of your own and through them in the blender.
Coconut Milk: Despite containing full-fat coconut milk, this soup does not taste like coconut. But if you are avoiding coconut, you can use my heavy cream substitute instead. I don't recommend almond milk or soy milk as those will be too thin and watery.
Vegetable Broth: You can use water if desired but you'll need to compensate for the lack of flavor and add more salt.
Red Bell Pepper: Feel free to leave it out if you want but I personally love the addition of fire-roasted jarred red pepper. So much flavor!
Red Chili Flakes: If you're sensitive to spice, leave out the red chili flakes or add just a touch. I typically make my soup extra spicy!
Dried Basil: If you don't have any fresh basil, you can use dried basil. The fresh will come through more but dried will be delicious as well.
Serving Ideas
- Grilled Cheese: The perfect pair. My favorite way to make grilled cheese is with multiple types of vegan cheeses. I love Violife Aged Cheddar & Follow Your Heart Gouda or Provolone.
- Croutons: Cut up a stale baguette and bake until crispy.
- Garlic Bread: More specifically, my garlic & herb star bread! This would be absolutely delicious together.
- Side Salad: A nice green salad with some Italian dressing would go great with this soup.
- Panzanella: Panzanella is a chopped salad of soaked stale bread, onions, tomatoes, and cucumber with olive oil and vinegar dressing.
Storage
Storage: Store this creamy tomato soup in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Reheat: Simply reheat soup in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Freezing: This soup can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Simply thaw in the fridge before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
This dairy-free tomato soup recipe is thickened by using canned full-fat coconut milk. If you use almond milk or soy milk, it will risk being watery. You can thicken a soup with a cornstarch slurry or simmer for a longer period of time.
You don't need an immersion blender but it is the easiest and safest way to blend a hot soup. The next best thing is a blender with a tamper so the hot steam can escape. You can use a regular blender as well but I recommend letting the soup cool before blending.
Vegan grilled cheese, croutons, fresh baguette... basically, bread!! Lots of bread. But also salad.
Italian seasonings, fresh basil, salt, and pepper. Vegetable broth helps as well.
Yes! Load your freezer up with this tomato soup so you can have a cozy bowl all winter.
More Soup Recipes
Recipe
Vegan Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Large Sweet Onion diced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper diced
- 5-6 Garlic Cloves
- 2 teaspoons Dried Italian Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon Salt more to taste
- ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes
- 3 cups Vegetable Broth low-sodium
- 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes or Whole Peeled Tomatoes
- 1 cup Canned Full-Fat Coconut Milk more for drizzling on top
- 1 teaspoon Agave Syrup or brown sugar
- Fresh Basil to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large soup pot on medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Dice the red pepper and onions and cook for 7-10 minutes or until soft and starting to brown.
- Mince the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Toss in the dried Italian seasonings, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Continue to cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the vegetable broth and the can of crushed tomatoes.
- Bring to a boil then cover the pot and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the soup to a blender in batches and blend until smooth. Be careful when blending hot liquids.
- Return the soup to the pot and whisk in the coconut milk and sugar. Taste and adjust the following: Salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Chop up fresh basil and add to the soup. I usually do about ⅓ cup and more for the garnish. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
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Sydney says
I love this recipe. It’s so simple yet full of flavor it’s going to be hard to not make this in a weekly basis! I love soup and it’s finally soup weather.
Liv says
I make this one weekly in the winter. It's a classic. So happy it's soup season! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Lisa says
This has quickly become one of my go-to recipes! I absolutely love soup and this tomato basil soup is just so delicious. Very easy to prepare as well, perfect for a quick lunch or dinner. Or breakfast for that matter ;). I leave out the brown sugar though, as it is sweet enough as it is (at least to me).
Liv says
I'm so glad you enjoy this soup! Thank you so much for the review 🙂