Tomato Soup made as a cozy, dependable bowl with balanced seasoning and practical prep.
Slow-Simmered Tomato Soup That Feels Like a Hug
A hands-off slow-cooker tomato soup from Ember Pot that delivers balanced, homey flavor with very little fuss.
This tomato soup is the kind of cozy, dependable bowl Cam Torres makes again and again: built on low-sodium crushed tomatoes and a spoonful of tomato paste for concentrated tomato flavor, and simmered slowly so every ingredient softens into the whole. It opens with the bright tomato tang and settles into a rounded, savory finish—comfort food that never tastes one-note.
A quick sauté of onion, carrot and celery (the classic mirepoix) before the slow-cook step is the secret to depth here. The softened vegetables add natural sweetness and body, garlic adds an immediate aromatic lift, and a touch of granulated sugar keeps the tomatoes from tilting too tart. Dried basil, oregano and a bay leaf work quietly in the background to give the soup that familiar, homey herbiness.
The slow-cooker method does the heavy lifting: six hours on Low (or 3–4 on High) transforms the ingredients into something silky and cohesive, with tender vegetable pieces that thicken the broth and let the tomato flavor shine. Because the recipe uses low-sodium crushed tomatoes and broth, you can fine-tune seasoning at the end—add salt and pepper to taste once the soup has finished cooking so the balance feels just right.
This soup is ideal for make-ahead dinners and easy reheats—bring it back to a gentle simmer on the stove or in the slow cooker and it will taste freshly melded again. Serve it with crusty bread or a simple grilled cheese for dunking, or ladle it into thermoses for a warming lunch. Practical, forgiving, and quietly sophisticated, it’s exactly the kind of slow-simmered comfort Ember Pot aims to deliver.
Ingredients
How to Make Tomato Soup
- Trim and coarsely chop the onion, carrot, and celery; mince the garlic.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat and sauté the chopped onion, carrot, and celery until softened and the onion is translucent, about 6–8 minutes; add the garlic and cook for 30–60 seconds until fragrant.
- Transfer the sautéed vegetables to the slow cooker and add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable broth, sugar, dried basil, dried oregano, bay leaf, salt, and black pepper; stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours (or High for 3–4 hours) until the vegetables are very tender and flavors have melded.
- Remove the bay leaf, then use an immersion blender to purée the soup in the slow cooker until smooth or to your preferred texture; alternatively, cool slightly and blend in batches in a blender.
- Stir in the heavy cream, taste, and adjust seasoning with extra salt or pepper as needed; reheat on Low for 10 minutes if the soup cooled while blending.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish each with torn fresh basil leaves, and serve warm with crusty bread or grilled cheese if desired.
Recipe Card
Tomato Soup
Tomato Soup made as a cozy, dependable bowl with balanced seasoning and practical prep.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 6 hr
- Servings
- 6
Ingredients
Instructions
- Trim and coarsely chop the onion, carrot, and celery; mince the garlic.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat and sauté the chopped onion, carrot, and celery until softened and the onion is translucent, about 6–8 minutes; add the garlic and cook for 30–60 seconds until fragrant.
- Transfer the sautéed vegetables to the slow cooker and add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable broth, sugar, dried basil, dried oregano, bay leaf, salt, and black pepper; stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours (or High for 3–4 hours) until the vegetables are very tender and flavors have melded.
- Remove the bay leaf, then use an immersion blender to purée the soup in the slow cooker until smooth or to your preferred texture; alternatively, cool slightly and blend in batches in a blender.
- Stir in the heavy cream, taste, and adjust seasoning with extra salt or pepper as needed; reheat on Low for 10 minutes if the soup cooled while blending.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish each with torn fresh basil leaves, and serve warm with crusty bread or grilled cheese if desired.
Nutrition
- Carbohydrates
- 18
- Saturated Fat
- 3.2
- Sodium
- 725
- Fiber
- 4.2
- Unsaturated Fat
- 4
- Protein
- 4
- Fat
- 7.2
- Cholesterol
- 12
- Trans Fat
- 0
- Calories
- 162
- Sugar
- 12