Got tomatoes? Then you must make this easy homemade roasted red pepper and tomato soup with basil to celebrate late summer. It combines the best of a tomato basil soup with a roasted red pepper soup, for an incredibly rich flavor that far surpasses anything in a can.
Roasting the tomatoes, onion and red bell peppers takes a little time, but the prep work on your part isn't more than 15 minutes. You can also make this soup ahead, as the flavors get even better over time.
Jump to Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.
Jump to:
There's nothing better than fresh tomatoes at their peak. Juicy, full of flavor and so many kinds of tomatoes available. And while they're great simply sliced on some toast with some olive oil, I love roasting tomatoes too.
In fact, I created this roasted red pepper and tomato soup when I was looking for ways to use some extra roasted tomatoes. They add so much savory umami to anything they touch, like this roasted eggplant soup made with roasted tomatoes.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Only 15 minutes of prep are needed for this recipe.
- A long roasting of the tomatoes with balsamic vinegar brings out a more intense umami flavor.
- Rich tomato soup without the cream!
- Make this for lunch, dinner or a first course.
- Versatile for adding other herbs to suit your own tastes.
- Combines the best of all worlds by mixing a tomato basil soup with a roasted bell pepper soup.
🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- Adding red bell peppers deepens the flavors of this soup and promotes the thicker texture of a roasted red pepper soup.
- A touch of balsamic vinegar adds a lot of umami depth.
- Roasting the tomatoes, onions, and peppers intensifies all the flavors.
- Using a stick blender keeps a few chunks of tomatoes in the soup.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions for this roasted tomato and pepper soup, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Tomatoes - I always use a combination of heirlooms (if they're in season) and compari® tomatoes. If you don't see compari tomatoes at your market, use Roma tomatoes (plum tomatoes). If you use canned tomatoes, be sure to purchase San Marzano tomatoes. They have the best flavor. I do not recommend cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes in this recipe.
- White onion - you can use a yellow onion, if that's what you have on hand, or sweet onion.
- Red bell peppers - this recipe is best when you roast your own peppers, but you can use jarred roasted red peppers in a pinch. Read the Preparation Tips section for tips on making this substitution.
- Balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil
- Vegetable broth - I use Better Than Bouillon - Roasted Vegetable Paste and add water
- Lightly dried basil - or fresh basil leaves, sliced into slivers
- Parmesan cheese - Asiago, Cheddar and Monterey Jack all work well in this soup
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping soooo much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
Here are my recommendations for this roasted pepper and tomato soup.
- Baking sheet
- Air fryer, if you choose to air fry the peppers
- Heavy bottomed pot
- Immersion blender
- Cheese grater
If you prefer a completely puréed soup, use either a high speed blender or food processor to blend it before serving.
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this easy roasted red pepper and tomato soup are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Roast the veggies. Prep the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add a flurry of salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes in the oven. Air fry the red bell peppers and onion if you have an air fryer, otherwise roast them in the oven too.
Step 2
Simmer. Pile the roasted vegetables into a heavy bottomed pot (see Equipment for my recommendation). Add the broth and basil. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. The roasted veggies are still warm, so this shouldn't take long.
Step 3
Purée. Purée to how smooth you want the soup. I like mine a little chunky, so I use a stick blender. If you like your soup smoother, use a high speed blender.
Step 4
Serve. Serve with a little grated cheese and slivers of basil.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- There's a lot of variability between tomatoes, with some being much more juicy than others. If your soup is a little thinner than you like, stir in a little tomato paste to thicken it.
- Likewise, there may be some variability in the acidity of the tomatoes your use. Feel free to add a little sugar if the soup is too acidic for your tastes.
- You can can use jarred roasted red peppers if you like. However, they're less meaty than roasting them yourself, and you may need to add a little tomato paste to thicken the soup.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- If you want to up the protein in this delicious soup, add 1 cup cooked white beans. When they're puréed in the soup, they turn this roasted soup into a creamy soup without the cream.
- Stir 2 - 4 tablespoons heavy cream into the soup to make it creamy, or serve with a dollop of sour cream.
- Another option for a creamy soup is stirring in full-fat coconut milk.
- Add ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes for a little kick.
- Other Italian fresh herbs besides basil work great in this soup, such as oregano and marjoram.
- Add a few unpeeled cloves of garlic to the roasting pan along with the tomatoes.
- Feta cheese is wonderful in this roasted pepper tomato soup in place of the Parmesan cheese.
🥬 Make it Vegan
Use a plant based Parmesan-style cheese or eliminate the cheese for a vegan soup.
🧊 How should I store this red pepper and tomato soup?
- This soup will keep for several days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
- Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
🍽 Side Dish Ideas
- This roasted tomato and red pepper soup is perfect with a grilled cheese sandwich.
- Crusty bread
- Green leafy salad
- If you're making this soup in the winter months, this roasted mushroom salad is perfect with this soup. The salad includes roasted cauliflower florets and cherry tomatoes, and is served warm with a roasted mushroom vinaigrette.
- In autumn, I serve this with a delicata squash salad.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Equipment
- baking sheet
- Immersion blender
- box grater
Ingredients
- 2 pounds tomatoes see the Ingredient Notes in the post for tips.
- 2 large red peppers see the Preparation Tips in the post for using jarred peppers.
- ½ large white onion (or yellow onion) peeled and cut into ½" half - rings
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar divided
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt divided
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper divided
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 2 teaspoons lightly dried basil or thinly sliced fresh basil
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese or plant based Parmesan style cheese Asiago, Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese also work.
Instructions
Oven Roasting Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Place one rack in the middle of the oven, or one level below the middle. Slide another rack towards the top of the oven, but not the very top level used for broiling.
- Cut out the stems of the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in half and arrange on one prepared sheet pan. Slice the half onion into ½" thick rings. Slice the red peppers into large pieces, discarding the stems and seeds. Arrange on the the second prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle everything with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Drizzle the tomatoes and red peppers with a total 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.Slide the peppers and onions onto the middle rack, and the tomatoes onto the upper rack. Roast until tender. The roasted tomatoes will become tender in approximately 25-30 minutes. The oven roasted peppers and onions will be tender in 35 - 45 minutes.
Air Fryer Roasting Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Slide a rack into oven that's one level above the middle.Cut out the stems of the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in half and arrange on the prepared sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.Roast for 30 minutes.
- While the tomatoes roast, preheat the air fryer to 400˚F. Slice the half onion into ½" slices and the red peppers into large pieces, discarding the stems and seeds. Toss in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil and arrange in the basket of the air fryer.Air fry for 10 minutes, turn over using tongs, and air fry for another 5 minutes.
Making the Soup
- Place the red pepper slices in a container and cover for a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins that are easily removed. When the roasted tomatoes are cool enough to handle, slip off any skins that remove easily. They should easily slide off.
- Pile the roasted tomatoes, peppers and onion into a large pot. Add the vegetable broth and basil, and bring to a simmer.
- Using an immersion blender, purée the soup to the degree you prefer. If you like a super-smooth soup, use a counter top blender to purée.
- Stir in the cheese until it melts. Correct for any seasoning.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Mjskitchen
Great timing! We have an abundance of tomatoes, basil, and red peppers from the garden. A perfect recipe for August. Also like the eggplant and tomato soup since we have eggplant as well. Thanks!
Cara
This has so much savory flavor, an instant hit! It's just amazing how the simple roasting process adds so much more flavor
Colleen
Love this tomatoe soup! Roasting the tomatoes really makes all the difference. Thanks for sharing.
Marta
I made this roasted tomato soup last night for Meatless Monday and the family devoured it. I loved that I could use the tomatoes from my garden and produce something so elegant.
Mikayla
I absolutely love the flavors of roasted bell peppers and tomatoes. this soup had the richest smokey flavor from them and is now the only way I want to wat tomato soup!
Cathleen
I love tomato soup, so I was so happy to see that this one was so quick to make and made without cream (because I never seem to have any at home haha). Thank you so much for a great recipe 🙂
Tammy
Well, now I know what I'm making with all those garden tomatoes ;D This looks and sounds delicious. I love how creamy it is without the cream...that's so good!
Dennis
Roasting the tomatoes added so much flavor to the soup. I did leave the peppers out, but it was still amazingly delicious!!
Kristina
This is one of my favorite tomato soup recipes. It's my default for dinner by the firepit during a cool evening, with a side of grilled cheese.
Maddy
Great recipe. Roasting the tomatoes brings out so much more flavor to the soup. I use asiago cheese rather than parmesan and it's delightful.
Hayley Dhanecha
This simple yet flavourful roasted tomato soup is simply amazing! Basil and tomato goes hand in hand, thanks for this super tasty recipe.
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer
My garden is going crazy with fresh tomatoes and basil. This was such a great and flavorful recipe to can for winter soups! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!