Homemade Tomato Soup with San Marzano Tomatoes
Tomato Soup with Beef Chuck Roast and Havarti Grilled Cheese
There’s a short list of meals that feel like a hug, and tomato soup with grilled cheese is at the top of it. This version keeps the soup simple and puts the extra effort into the sandwich. If you’ve made my beef chuck roast, this is one of the best ways to use the leftovers.
Why You’ll Love This Tomato Soup
- It’s built on a few good ingredients. Butter softened onions, a lot of garlic, and San Marzano tomatoes do most of the work.
- It has a little texture. The onion, garlic, and stock are blended first, so the tomatoes stay slightly chunky instead of turning into baby food. Prefer it perfectly smooth? Skip that early blend and use the immersion blender on the whole pot at the end.
- It has a secret ingredient. One tablespoon of fish sauce adds savory depth. It doesn’t taste fishy, you just notice a richer, rounder soup.
- Aleppo pepper adds warmth, not fire. It’s fruity and mild, and it works beautifully with tomato.
- The basil goes in at the end. Added for the last 5 minutes, it stays bright and fresh instead of simmering away.
The Perfect Pairing: Beef Chuck Roast Havarti Grilled Cheese
Take your leftover beef chuck roast, shred it, and tuck it into a grilled cheese. Here’s what I recommend:
- Havarti. It’s buttery, mild, and melts beautifully, so you get a gooey interior without any greasiness.
- Sourdough bread. The tang cuts through the rich beef and cheese, and the sturdy slices stand up to dunking in soup.
- Salted butter. Spread it on the outside of the bread for flavor and a deep golden crust.
The method: Layer havarti, a generous pile of shredded chuck roast, and a little more havarti on buttered sourdough. Cook in a pan over low heat. Going low and slow gives you a gentle golden-brown crust and a hot, melty center. Rushing it over high heat browns the outside before the cheese has a chance to melt.
Cut it in half and dunk away.
How to Make Homemade Tomato Soup?
Homemade Tomato Soup with San Marzano Tomatoes
A silky, slightly chunky tomato soup built on butter-sweated onions, plenty of garlic, and San Marzano tomatoes. Aleppo pepper adds gentle warmth, fish sauce adds depth, and fresh basil goes in at the end for brightness. Finish with cream, Parmesan, and more basil.
Equipment
- 1 Immersion Blender or Standard Blender
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 yellow onions finely chopped
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes
- 2 cups chicken stock low sodium
- 2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes with their juice (56 oz total), preferably San Marzano
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil plus more to serve
- 1 Tbsp sugar plus more to taste
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper plus more to taste
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
To serve
- Heavy whipping cream
- Freshly grated Parmesan
- Fresh chopped basil
Instructions
- Sweat the onions. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 8 minutes.
- Add the aromatics. Stir in the garlic and Aleppo pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Blend the base. Pour in the stock and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Add the tomatoes. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer.
- Simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the basil. Stir in the basil for the last 5 minutes of simmering. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with a drizzle of cream, fresh basil, and grated Parmesan.
Notes
Pre-blending the onion, garlic, and stock leaves the tomatoes with a little texture. For a completely smooth soup, skip step 3 and blend the whole pot with an immersion blender after the basil goes in.
