This creamy Roasted Tomato Soup with Chickpeas, basil and garlic is a hearty and comforting soup that can be served for either lunch or dinner with some bread or a salad. The combination of ripe Campari tomatoes, creamy chickpeas, and fresh basil make for a flavor explosion in every bite.
My husband asked me for tomato soup recently but he wanted an option with added protein. So I decided to combine a roasted tomato soup with chickpeas!! Also, it gave me a chance to test my new immersion blender. If you’re are a foodie like me, you know how exciting it is to try new kitchen gadgets:)).
This soup holds well in the refrigerator, so you can make a bigger batch and have soup ready in the evenings when everyone gets back home. Don’t add the cream until you are actually serving in individual plates.
What type of tomatoes to use for roasted tomato soup?
I used Campari tomatoes for this soup, they’re easy to find in my area, always bright red, ripe but still firm to the touch. They taste amazing in salads, soups or just sliced over a piece of bread.
If you garden, just use tomatoes from your garden and adjust some of the ingredients to taste. Otherwise, tomatoes on the vine are a great choice and widely available too! You want to pick tomatoes with a deep red color and lots of taste.
Ingredients for Roasted Tomato Soup with Chickpeas
This is a very simple soup to make, it mixes traditional Mediterranean flavors in one pot. Pick high quality ingredients to make this soup shine.
While you might adjust some ingredients to taste, please note that combination of tomatoes, garlic and basil with olive oil are the base of this recipe. Roasting them together creates the amazing taste we all love!
- Campari tomatoes – these are the best quality tomatoes in my area. If you have access to real San Marzano tomatoes, definitely use those.
- Yellow onion – one large onion will add sweetness and balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Garlic – LOTS of garlic especially because when you roast them, they mellow down.
- Basil – use fresh basil leaves, I add them to roasted tomatoes, on the soup pot and as garnish when serving.
- Thyme – you can use either fresh thyme or dry thyme.
- Olive oil – good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Chickpeas – I used 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- Chicken broth or vegetable broth – I tend to use homemade chicken broth, but store packaged ones will do as well.
- Salt and pepper – I add the salt before roasting the tomatoes then check for salt before serving since broth can affect the taste. I usually add fresh cracked pepper at the end when soup is almost ready and creamy.
- Tomato paste – Usually tomato paste adds color and richness of flavor.
- Water – usually I eyeball how much water I add to keep a thick but creamy consistency, and I usually add hot water to speed up the process.
- Cream for garnish – the heavy cream makes this soup silky and goes perfectly well with the flavor of tomatoes.
- Croutons, crostini or even bread for serving with the soup
- Cheese – optional, feel free to add freshly grated cheese as desired over the soup.
Step by step process
In this section, I try to go over the step by step process of making this roasted tomato soup recipe easier to make for anyone.
- Start by adding rinsed tomatoes, peeled garlic and roughly chopped onion into a baking dish. Add thyme, basil, salt over the ingredients. Drizzle olive oil generously over all of them.
- Roast at 400 degrees F (about 200 degrees C) for about 35-40 minutes. Transfer all ingredients to a soup pot over the stovetop.
- Add chicken (or vegetable broth), drained and rinsed chickpeas, tomato paste, fresh basil and water to soup pot.
- Use an immersion blender to blend thoroughly until everything is creamy.
- Let cook in low-medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add freshly cracked black pepper to the soup at the end and adjust for salt as needed.
- Serve as desired with croutons, bread or a side salad. Garnish with fresh basil and heavy cream.
Tomato Soup with Chickpeas
Equipment
- 1 Porcelain baking dish
- 1 medium soup pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs campari tomatoes
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 garlic head about 10 cloves or so, adjust to taste
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 can chickpeas about 15 ounces chickpeas / 425 grams
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 10 basil leaves split to use some in roasting, some in the soup pot before blending and some for garnish at the end
- 4 tbsp heavy cream to drizzle over each plate at the end
- 0.5 tsp black pepper freshly cracked black pepper will taste better
Instructions
- Add campari tomatoes, garlic cloves and onion on a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over veggies. Add salt and thyme and 2 basil leaves.
- Roast at 400 degrees F for about 35-40 minutes until tomatoes are soft and roasted.
- Pour everything on a soup pot (remove tomato stems if you didn't before roasting). Add chicken broth & water on the soup pot as well as chickpeas and tomato paste. Add some fresh basil leaves too.
- Use the immersion blender and carefully blend everything together. Once the blend is creamy, set the heat to medium low and let the soup cook for about 15 minutes. Check for taste and adjust for salt. Add black pepper at this point.
- Serve soup on individual plates. Garnish with chopped fresh basil and drizzle heavy cream over the soup. Add crostini, bread or croutons to the side for added crunch:). Enjoy!
Notes
- I use a lot of garlic for this soup, adjust to your taste if you don’t like as much garlic.
- Soup can be stored in the refrigerator for few days in an airtight container. Warm up the leftovers in a small soup pot or microwave.
- I love to serve this soup with bread, salad or on its own with some crostini bites.
- You can use tomatoes on the vine instead of Campari tomatoes, but Campari tomatoes will have the best taste.
- Feel free to add freshly grated cheese over the soup or serve the soup with a melted cheese sandwich.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
I usually roast for about 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). If tomatoes are like Campari tomatoes or smaller tomatoes on the vine, I add them whole to the baking dish. However, if tomatoes are on the large side, then I slice them in half to allows for faster roasting.
Of course you can, just adjust the recipe to your own taste. Garlic has a strong, savory flavor that can help to balance out the acidity of tomatoes. When garlic is added to tomato soup, it helps to create a more complex and well-rounded flavor. The garlic also helps to add depth and richness to the soup.
Roasting the garlic with the tomatoes helps mellow down the smell and the flavor a bit. If you were to saute the garlic with the onion, then I would use only 3-4 cloves, but because I’m roasting everything ahead of time then I can use a lot more.
Yes you can! Replace chicken broth with vegetable broth. When serving, don’t use heavy cream as garnish but instead you can use cashew milk or coconut milk.
If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save the below image to your boards in Pinterest to access the recipe later. Please let me know in comments if you have any questions about the soup. Feel free to tag me in social media with your version of this recipe. Thank you for reading my blog!!
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Additional Soup Recipes
Feel free to check out some of my other soup recipes.
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