Roasted tomato soup with bacon has a rich tomato flavor with just a playful amount of heat, infused with a wonderful smokiness in every spoonful.
You have no doubt tried a basic tomato soup, and then you grew up and enjoyed the more gourmet Tomato Basil Bisque. Well, it is time to meet tomato bisque's cooler older cousin - roasted tomato bacon soup. He's deep, mysterious, and always leaves you wanting more.
This soup is phenomenal! It has deep tomato flavor with just a playful amount of heat from adobo peppers, along with the satisfying salty crunch of bacon. This is easily the best tomato soup recipe I've ever made! This soup is amazing with grilled cheese sandwiches or simply served on its own.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Bacon - I recommend regular cut bacon, thick cut bacon gets gummy in hot liquids.
- Canned fire-roasted tomatoes - You can still make this soup with fresh tomatoes, but you will miss a lot of extra flavor if you don't roast them. You will then also need to add liquid, such as vegetable broth. If you have a hard time locating fire-roasted tomatoes, check the organic aisle of your grocery store.
- Garlic - You can substitute one teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Yellow onion - A red onion would be great too.
- Heavy cream - Half and Half or milk can be substituted.
- Smoked paprika - Regular paprika is an acceptable substitute.
- Adobo chili in sauce - You can substitute crushed red pepper flakes for heat, but it will lack the deeper flavor.
- Salt - Table salt or sea salt is recommended.
- Fresh ground black pepper
How to make it
The best way to make this roasted tomato soup recipe with bacon is to puree your tomatoes in a kitchen blender. However, I recommend doing so before you heat them up to eliminate the risk of hot tomato sauce flying out and scalding you. Otherwise, an immersion blender is perfectly suited to this task as well, it just takes a bit longer.
Begin making this soup by cooking your bacon in a skillet until crispy. Then remove, set aside, and crumble. Reserve the bacon grease in the skillet. Use the reserved bacon grease to saute the onion until tender. I do not puree the sauteed onions with the tomatoes because I like the chunky texture they add to the soup, but you can puree them if you want everything smooth.
Once everything is cooked, all of the ingredients, except the crumbled bacon, are added to a saucepan and simmered together. To prevent the bacon from getting soggy, add it when serving the soup.
Storing & Reheating Leftovers
This soup is perfect to make in advance as the flavors will continue to meld in your refrigerator, and taste even better as leftovers. You can also freeze this soup and reheat it later. Please note, the bacon will soften if it is sitting in the soup as it is stored, but it will still taste great.
To reheat the soup, gently warm it in a saucepan until heated through, or microwave it in individual servings.
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Roasted Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 16 ounce regular cut bacon
- 56 ounces canned fire roasted tomatoes (pureed)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 yellow onion (chopped)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 minced adobo chili in sauce (~1 teaspoon sauce)
- Salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large saucepan fry bacon on medium heat, until crispy. Place bacon on paper towel to drain. Crumble the bacon once it has cooled and set aside.
- Place the pan back to medium heat and reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan. Saute the chopped onion in the pan, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened, then add garlic and continue to cook for another minute, until garlic is fragrant.
- Puree the tomatoes in a blender and then bring to a boil along with the garlic and onions. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and let it cool slightly.
- Add the cream, adobo chili, and smoked paprika to the soup then salt and pepper to taste. Return the soup just to a boil and turn off the heat.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately, topped with the crumbled bacon.
Nutritional Information
This recipe was originally published on FoxValleyFoodie.com March 25, 2015.
va
Is this a spicy/hot soup?
Fox Valley Foodie
It has a mild kick, but that can be adjusted.