Don't Skip This Step When Making Homemade Tomato Soup

A good tomato soup is practically a byword for delicious comfort in a bowl. There are a few different ways to get there — you can even make a solid, easy tomato soup with just three ingredients — but, according to a Foodie recipe developer, the real secret behind a winning recipe for this homemade classic is roasting the tomatoes before incorporating them into your pot. Our bespoke tomato soup recipe is creamy and features a finishing drizzle of basil oil. It's built on just a splash of heavy cream, plenty of broth, and some DIY buttered croutons, among other flavorful components. But the secret to its true success is popping a pan of both Roma and cherry tomatoes in the oven to concentrate their sweetness and reduce moisture.

The idea that roasting toms is an essential step isn't unique to our talented recipe developer, either. It's a known fact that roasting tomatoes transforms them, even when you're dealing with supermarket fruit that looks otherwise unappealing. The depth of flavor and profound mix of sweetness and umami you get from roasting tomatoes can even draw comparisons to sun-dried tomatoes with their bold and concentrated flavor.

We've seen two competing approaches to roasting tomatoes: a low-and-slow model that bakes them at 250 degrees for a few hours, and a high-heat method that gets you roasted tomatoes in half an hour flat with a screaming hot oven. Our Foodie writer opts for the latter method, but either way is valid and will result in sweet, slightly charred tomatoes that are bursting with flavor and ready for your soup.

Tomato soup is an internationally-loved dish, and so it stands that there are many, many variations out there. We've seen tomato soup made with green tomatoes or yellow ones; soups that incorporate other veggies like carrots or red pepper; bold soups with a zing of lemon juice; sweet soups that are kissed by basil; and even gazpacho recipes that serve up a chilled product. What we can say, with near-universal certainty, is that roasting your tomatoes will improve just about every variation on this soup. Whether you like to stir in some feta cheese for funk, go heavy (or light!) on the creamy elements, or adorn your bowl with herbs, your tomatoes themselves will sing after being roasted.

You can easily build your ideal tomato soup without even using a recipe, honestly. Roast your tomatoes, blend them in your pot with your liquid of choice, and add in herbs, spices, or any other ingredients you love. Will you leave your soup brothy, or stir in some cooked noodles and ground meat for a heartier bowl? Beans, too, have the power to transform a tomato soup into a full entree.

All that's left to do is decide how, exactly, you will build the tomato soup of your dreams. Our Foodie writer has produced a very solid plan, but riffing on recipes is the spice of life ... pun fully intended. Will you pair your winning roasted tomato soup with grilled cheese, that Western accompaniment that's time-honored and delish? Keep in mind that there are also a ton of ingredients that can elevate grilled cheese, so you might want to start thinking about flavors you love!