One of the great joys in life is a bowl of delicious Tomato Bisque packed with a rich tomato flavor. Now, I’m not talking about the canned variety of tomato soup that we all grew up on. I’m talking about a silky-smooth, creamy tomato soup that will have you moaning with every spoonful.
And the good news is you can have this on your family’s dinner table in an hour.
I do have to warn you, that once your friends and family taste this bisque there’s no turning back to the canned variety of tomato soup. But the good news is, my Tomato Bisque is easy to make and freezes well so make up a big batch and freeze some for later! This is definitely one of my favorite soups.
Make a few grilled cheese sandwiches to go along with the bisque and you’ll have the perfect comfort food.
Ingredients
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make our Tomato Bisque. In chef speak we call that the Mise en Place, or everything in its place.
This is a good practice to get into whenever you cook. Not only does it speed up the process but it ensures you have everything you need to make the dish.
It’s a short list of ingredients. Canned tomatoes ( I use San Marzano), vegetable broth or chicken broth, cheddar cheese, cream, chopped onions, chopped celery, flour, butter, salt, black pepper and sugar (optional).
You can also add a little grated romano or parmesan cheese to the soup.
Soups are really easy to make with almost no rules or essential ingredients. In the old days, soups were made out of scraps and foods we wanted to make of use of before they went bad. I think this is where the true kitchen artisans showed their skills making nothing into something delicious.
The problem we run into these days is making something out of what’s on hand is having everyone love it so much that they want you to make it again. That my friends is why we have recipes.
How do I make tomato bisque?
The first step in creating my Tomato Bisque is how I start most cream soups.
- Add the butter to a large pot.
- As the butter melts, add the chopped onions and celery.
- After sauteing the onions and celery for about 5 minutes, add the flour to make a roux. *You can use olive oil to make the roux, but the soup won’t be as rich.
A roux (pronounced ROO) is an important part of many soups and sauces. In this soup, the roux is used as a thickener and a way to make the soup smooth and velvety. A roux helps with consistency and texture and can turn a lackluster dish into a culinary masterpiece.
Adding hot stock to the roux creates a Veloute. This alone could be called a poor man’s cream soup. The addition of cream or milk adds body to the soup, making a hybrid type of bechamel sauce, which is how I like to make my cream soups.
There is actually very little cream or milk in most of my creamed soups. The cream changes the texture, color, and mouthfeel. But using too much can detract from the overall flavor and mouthfeel, so don’t overdo the heavy whipping cream!
After the stock has been fully incorporated into the roux, you can add the other ingredients to the veloute.
Chef Dennis Tip:
Use a rubber spatula to make sure you get in all the corners of the pot to release any roux that may be stuck in the pan.
Once the veloute is ready, add in the tomatoes and seasonings. Mix well and simmer for about 30 minutes.
You can use fresh tomatoes to make this delicious creamy tomato soup, but I would suggest just using San Marzano tomatoes and skip the extra work.
Use an immersion blender or a traditional blender to puree the soup until smooth. It’s an easy way to make smooth, creamy soups.
You can also use a traditional blender or food processor to puree the soup.
The next step is straining the bits and pieces of celery, onions and tomato out of the soup so it’s smooth and creamy. There really wasn’t much left after the immersion blender did its thing.
The last step in creating this ah-mazingly delicious Tomato Bisque is adding the cream and the cheese.
What you end up with is an incredibly flavorful Tomato Bisque. Its rich flavor and velvety smooth texture will make a tomato soup lover out of anyone and will soon become a family favorite. You’ll never reach for that red and white can again!
I like to garnish my tomato bisque with shredded cheddar and chopped fresh basil.
Recipe FAQ’s
No, you don’t. If you don’t mind a few chunks in the soup it’s perfectly acceptable not to strain the bisque.
No, you don’t. I like the way it mellows out the tomato flavor and the added cheese flavor is always a good thing.
Tomato soup is usually made with either vegetable or chicken stock. Tomato bisque is made by adding cream or whole milk. The dairy is what makes it thicker and creamier, which gives it the defining traits of a bisque.
Croutons, fresh herbs, dried basil, toasted nuts, sour cream, poached egg, or additional shredded cheese can be used to enhance the flavor of the bisque.
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Tomato Bisque
Ingredients
- 1 cup celery small dice
- 1 cup onions small dice
- ¼ lb unsalted butter 8 tablespoons (1 stick)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock if you prefer)
- 48 oz whole plum tomatoes including juice (canned) San Marzano if possible
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon sea salt add more to taste.
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese *add more if you like a cheesier soup
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a 4-quart saucepan. Add celery and onions.
- Allow the onions and celery to cook for a few minutes until they turn semi-translucent.
- Add the flour to the pan to make a roux.
- Let the roux mixture cook for 5-7 minutes over low heat (the flour should begin to smell a little like bread).Don't let the roux get dark or burn.
- Heat the stock in another saucepan.
- Add the stock to the roux, using a wire whip, and mix well.
- Add the tomatoes and seasonings and allow to simmer for 15- 20 minutes.
- If you have an immersion blender after the bisque has simmered, use your immersion blender to puree as much of the product as possible. You can also transfer it to a food processor or blender, just be very careful with the hot bisque.
- After you have either used an immersion blender or food processor, strain your bisque to remove all the bits and pieces of celery, onions, and tomatoes.
- Return the bisque to the pot and add the heavy cream and fold in the shredded cheddar.
- At this time if the bisque appears to thick you can either add more vegetable stock, milk, or just plain water.
- Taste the soup and re-season if necessary, then allow the soup to simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Deb
I hope to make this soon. My favorite tomato bisque i discovered in a restaurant located in an antique store. It is out of business now, and I have been wanting to find a recipe that was as good as the one they served. They added sliced mushrooms to their bisque, which I thought was unusual, but it was very good! I hope I like your recipe just as much!
Naomi LaForte
Yellow cheddar or white cheddar?
Alex
My family loved it! The only change I had to make was to add basil since I did not use San Marzano tomatoes which contain basil. This recipe will be added to our dinner rotation.
Peggy Wright
I have made your bisque several times and love it! However you might want to correct the amount of butter in the recipe… you have it listed as a 1/4 pound of butter instead of tablespoons.
Michelle Lowe
Made this soup. For first time tonight with grilled cheese will never eat can tomato soup again it was so good.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoy my tomato soup, Michelle, it is delicious!
Clarissa and John Sullivan
This soup is amazing! The first time we made it, we did it exactly as the instructions state–would rate it a 6 star on a 5 star scale. The second time we made it, we added couple cloves of garlic and 1 tsp of dried basil leaves–delish. We have made this soup every week for almost a month now.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the soup recipe. It’s fun to add your own touches to recipes and I appreciate the great review!!
Lauren
Just made a half recipe tonight for my husband’s birthday to go with some grilled cheese. I happened to have all the ingredients on hand already, but I didn’t have whole tomatoes, only a can of crushed tomatoes, so I used that instead and it worked just fine. I also decided not to strain it, since there wasn’t any seeds or anything to worry about. It was absolutely delicious and paired very well with the grilled cheese sandwich with avocado and sautéed shallots.
Ariel
About how many people will this serve? Thinking of this for a work lunch but need to know if it needs to be doubled. Thank you
Chef Dennis Littley
it should yield eight 10-12 ounce servings. It won’t take much more time to double the recipe and then you’ll have soup left over for home. If your workmates don’t go back for seconds.
Fariha
If you are looking for a REALLY good, possibly the BEST tomato bisque recipe in existence, look no further than Chef Dennis’ tomato bisque. oh my god. This soup is * D E L I C I O U S *. I could not stop myself from wanting more and more. The cheese is what takes it home.
I made a few adjustments in the “seasoning liberties” department and added a tsp of roasted garlic base to the broth and and some garlic to the celery and onion combination for the roux.
Thank you for sharing this!! I will be making this for the rest of my life!
Heather B
This recipe is a hit with my husband and I. We had been big fans of a store bought Tomato Basil Bisque but the store that carries it is out of our way. So tonight we tried this and we are sooooo glad we did. We didn’t strain it but we don’t mind the texture as all. What a great flavor!!
Paula
OMG!!!!
Chef Dennis
This soup is to die for. Will be making again in the near future. My best friend has COVID and he asked me if Knew how to make tomato bisque I said I have made it in the past which was years ago. I was researching recipes and found this yesterday. I made a double batch and delivered this morning to them. My second batch is for our dinner tonight with a grilled cheese sandwich. Thanks so my for posting this recipe online.
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks for the great comment and review Paula, you really made my day! Enjoy the bisque!
Darren
Just a small amount of minced garlic, a pinch of basil, and I used Tillamook Sharp White Cheddar to shred into the pot. Possibly a couple fresh basil leaves… Overall awesomeness!!!
Marianne C Rodriguez
did you use the juice in the canned tomatoes
Chef Dennis Littley
yes use all of the tomato product in the can
Nicole
Is a 28 oz can of peeled tomatoes enough?
Chef Dennis Littley
only for half the recipe. You need two 28 ounce cans
Darla
Looks so good! What kind of cheese did you use?
Chef Dennis Littley
I almost always use Cabots seriously sharp. But you’re favorite cheddar will work nicely.
Dennis Latchum
I made this maybe a month ago now served it to guests, we all agreed this recipe knocks it out of the park. Hat tip to Chef Dennis Again!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the tomato bisque!
Genevieve | Fitty Foodlicious
I love a good tomato soup recipe and this one looks perfect for a delicious lunch recipe! Grilled cheese anyone?