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Homemade Instant Pot Tomato Soup with Basil

Did you know that tomato soup is on the top of comfort foods served in Poland and the U.S.A.?

I tried tomato soup once and didn’t like the acidity, so I never ordered it again. At my husband’s request and after multiple hints in the past couple of weeks, I finally took the challenge to make tomato soup for his birthday brunch last Sunday. Bought canned tomatoes 3 weeks ago, but didn’t have time (or motivation?) to cook it. This was the perfect reason to give it a try!

Delish tomato basil soup

After browsing a few recipes I found two that I liked, but chose this one because I wanted one with basil. It’s a bit more elaborate, but I figured that the Instant Pot would cut some of the cooking time, and having a healthier option seemed worth it. And yes, it was totally worth it because the result was a delicious tomato soup with low acidity!

How could that be? Well, I believe the secret is in the addition of carrots, celery and onion! Of course I had to do everything my way, so I tweaked the recipe a bit. Instead of whole tomatoes, I got diced tomatoes, and instead of chopping the veggies I decided to shred them. I also exchanged some of the half and half for regular milk and added extra basil.
Check out the recipe below and give it a try.

Homemade Instant Pot Tomato Soup with Basil

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 cup shredded celery
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 cup chopped onions
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 3-1/2 cup broth I used beef
  • 1-3/4 cup low fat milk
  • 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan/Romano cheese
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt
  • black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Using the Saute option of your Instant Pot, heat the oil and butter.
  • First add celery, carrots and onions; cook a few minutes until tender.
  • Mix in the flour and stir to cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the broth, milk and tomato juice to the pot and stir.
  • Finally add the crushed tomatoes, thyme, basil and bay leaves.
  • After stirring, cover the Instant Pot and switch to Pressure Cooker, cooking for 22 minutes.
  • Do a quick or natural release of pressure before opening the pot.
  • Remove the herbs and puree the soup with a hand or immersion blender until it's smooth.
  • Finish off with cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

Top off your soup with some Romano cheese and chopped fresh basil, or if you want to give it a twist… add chopped cilantro.

Buon Apetito!

You can also prepare this soup from fresh tomatoes if you’re willing to do a bit more work. First blanch (quickly boil) the tomatoes, then skin and puree them before incorporating into the soup.

Fun fact: I looked up the origin of tomato basil soup (is it French or Italian?), but all I found out is that Gazpacho is a Spanish tomato soup served cold (Wikipedia). Like I mentioned earlier, tomato basil soup is very popular in the USA and Poland.

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