This garlic tomato soup might just be a new contender for your favorite bowl of comfort food. It’s made special by a perfectly balanced amount of garlic, plus a tiny bit of an ingredient used in the tomato soup at one of my favorite Italian-American restaurants. Shout out to East Side Mario's!
This isn't a copycat recipe of East Side Mario's tomato soup, but dare I say it might even be better. Simple, easy to make, and different because you don't have to roast garlic for this recipe.
The first time I tried their all-you-can-eat soup, you better believe I actually ate all I possibly could. Barely took a couple of bites from my entrée, and despite feeling like I was going to burst out of my jeans, I ordered dessert, just so I could ask for the menu back to see the soup description.
And guess what I saw mentioned there? Fennel. Yep.
No clue if the fennel they mentioned meant the fresh herb or the seeds, but in this homemade version, I use crushed seeds. These seeds are long-term pantry-friendly and a worthwhile, inexpensive purchase to up your cooking game.
Tomatoes and garlic are still the pilot and co-pilot ingredients in my soup, but fennel lends a beautiful complexity that doesn’t overpower all those bright and warm flavors.
You can keep this recipe thick and stew-py, topped with croutons, for a filling and satisfying meal. Or thin it out with some extra broth and serve it with grilled cheese (see tips below).
Pre-cooking notes
A few helpful notes on the ingredients you'll need for the recipe
- You can sub cayenne with paprika (plain or smoked) and adjust the quantities based on your heat preference. I like a bit of a kick, so I usually keep the quantities upped from what I’ve mentioned in the recipe.
- Purchasing fennel seeds is so worth it if tomato soup is something you frequently enjoy. You don’t have to buy that tiny bottle from the spice aisle of your supermarket. Find an Indian store nearby and get 10x the quantity (or maybe even more) for the same price. These come in bags, so I transfer to an airtight container for storing.
- Don’t use whole fennel seeds in this tomato soup. You must crush them, or you won’t really get the full flavor. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy pan/skillet.
- I use canned, peeled San Marzano tomatoes. Unless crushed tomatoes are all you’ve got at home, I’d use whole ones, as the latter are less processed and lend a better taste to the soup. Non-San Marzano varieties tend to have a bit more acidity, in my opinion, so you might have to balance it out with more sugar.
- Chicken or veggie broth are both good bases for the soup. Use low-sodium or no-salt varieties. Just as a precaution, do not add too much salt to the recipe. The quantity of salt I’ve mentioned is on the lower side for this exact reason; you can always add more later.
A visual guide for making garlic tomato soup
Here are some step-by-step photos to make the cooking process easy to follow. Plus, there’s a printable recipe card below with all the ingredients, instructions, and notes in one place.
Heat oil in a pot, saute onion and garlic until the onion becomes softened and translucent.
Add pepper, salt, cayenne, ground cumin, and crushed fennel seeds. Saute for a 30 seconds, then add the whole peeled tomatoes with all their juices into the pot.
Pour in the broth along with the sugar, and mix well. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat so it gently simmers, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes. Crush the tomatoes with your spoon when they start breaking down.
Remove the soup from the burner, mix in torn basil leaves, then use an immersion blender or a high-speed blender to puree. Return the soup to the burner. If it's thicker than you want, thin it out with more broth. Taste for seasoning, adjust, and serve hot.
Top tips
- I prefer a high-speed blender over an immersion blender since I like my soups smooth and pureed to a consistent texture. Problem is, my bullet blender cannot handle hot liquids, so I have to cool down the soup first. I transfer it to a large pot or a heatproof bowl, fill my kitchen sink with ice cubes and cold water, and then place the pot/bowl in this ice bath. Cools the soup down very fast.
- If you want to stretch your soup when feeding a crowd, add more broth after you’ve blended it. Then taste and increase the quantities of all the dry seasonings. Once you’re happy with the flavor, make a cornstarch slurry and add it in small increments as the soup simmers. Wait a minute between each addition to see if you need more to get a slightly soupy consistency.
- Before you take the soup off the heat, check for salt and sugar one final time and adjust if needed.
- If you’re going to top your soup with Parmesan or other cheeses, reduce or skip the salt in the soup; cheese can be salty. Salt can always be added later, but you can’t undo oversalting.
Serving ideas
My absolute favorite way to enjoy tomato soup is with some grilled cheese. Dipping, dunking, and getting those mouthfuls of tomatoey goodness and melted cheese in one bite is ultimate comfort.
Sometimes I make air-fried croutons using sliced bread. Grated Parmesan on top also tastes great. You can also add chopped fresh herbs, like cilantro, parsley, or even some extra basil.
And there you have it, one of the top 3 ways I make tomato soups. I'll share the other ones too, hopefully soon, cause soup season is almost upon us here in Canada.
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do, and if you do, the only way I'll know is if you leave your comments and ratings below. I read them all, and I'd love to hear from you.
Happy cooking – Nelo
Garlic Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil - any neutral oil
- 1 medium onion - finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt - add more later if needed
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne - adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teapsoon fennel seeds - crushed (Note A)
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes - I prefer San Marzano tomatoes (Note B)
- 1.5 cups (355 ml) broth - chicken or vegetable, use low-sodium or no-salt options (Note C)
- 2 teaspoons sugar - to balance the acidity
- 6 big basil leaves - hand-torn roughly
Optional serving additions, toppings and garnishes
- croutons or crostini
- chopped fresh basil leaves, parsley or cilantro
- drizzle of heavy cream
- grated parmesan or cheddar cheese
- grilled cheese sandwich
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic and saute until the onion becomes softened and translucent. Do not turn up the heat to cook fast, both those ingredients need to cook nice and slow.
- Add pepper, salt, cayenne, ground cumin, and crushed fennel seeds. Saute for 30 seconds, then add the whole peeled tomatoes with all their juices into the pot.
- Pour in the broth along with the sugar, and mix well.
- Bring the soup to a boil, turn down the heat just enough to maintain a gentle simmer and let the soup cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally and crush the tomatoes with your spoon as they start breaking down.
- Remove the soup from the burner, mix in torn basil leaves, then use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Or cool it down and use a high-speed blender for a very smooth texture.
- Return the soup to the burner on medium-low heat. If the soup is thicker than you want, thin it out with more broth. Taste for seasoning, add more if needed, and serve hot. I've shared optional additions, toppings and garnishes in the ingredients section above.
Zunera says
I absolutely loved this garlic tomato soup recipe! It was so quick and easy to make. The flavour was rich and comforting, exactly what I was looking for. This is definitely going to be my go to recipe!
Nelo says
So glad you gave it a try and dropped such a lovely review, Zunera 🙂