Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
80 Comments
Updated Sep 24, 2023
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Roasted red pepper soup is a blend of red peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil. It’s delicious, healthy and easy to make – just roast all the veggies on one baking sheet, then blend it all together in your Vitamix.
I’m a big fan of soups in the fall and winter months. They’re a great way to get more veggies into your diet and perfect for batch cooking and freezing. Because let’s be honest, with the craziness of the holidays sometimes we need a soup recipe that we can easily whip up or reheat.
Watch this video of my Roasted Red Pepper Soup
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If you follow along on my Instagram stories, you saw that it took me a few tries to get this soup right. Translation – I now have an entire freezer of “failed” attempts at this roasted red pepper soup. But let me clarify. They weren’t failed attempts in that they tasted bad. I just learned to not add fresh basil into the soup when blending, as it turned the soup a swampy brown color. More on that in the recipe notes below.
To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of tomato-based soups. I always thought they were a little bland. But this roasted red pepper soup is the bomb. It’s vibrant and flavorful. And much of that flavor is due to the fact that we roast all the vegetables first.
How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Soup
We’ll start by slicing the red peppers, tomatoes and onion in half and placing on a baking tray. Then, just drizzle those veggies with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
You’ll also want to chop the bottom off of 4-5 garlic cloves (you don’t have to peel them) and wrap them in a little aluminum foil. Find a cozy spot for the garlic on the baking tray, then turn on your top broiler and roast the veggies for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are charred black.
Remove the veggies from the oven and use tongs to transfer the red peppers to a glass bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, which steams the peppers and helps to remove their skin.
While the peppers are steaming, you can remove the skins off the tomatoes and onion and add them to your Vitamix. Good news – you can leave the onion as one large half. The Vitamix makes easy blending of it! You can also easily squeeze the garlic from it’s skin.
Then, remove the charred skins from the red peppers (which should be really easy to do) and add those to your Vitamix as well. To all of that, we’ll add some tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, dried basil and water or broth. Then blend everything for a minute or so, until it’s smooth.
For garnish, I top my soup with a little olive oil, black pepper, hemp seeds and fresh basil. Topping soups is the fun part, isn’t it?
And that’s it. An easy, delicious and flavorful roasted red pepper soup.
For more delicious soup recipes, make sure to check out my Vegetable Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Carrot Ginger Soup, dairy-free Cream of Celery Soup, Chicken Soup and Taco Soup. Enjoy!
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Description
Ingredients
- 4 red bell peppers
- 3 large tomatoes
- 1 small onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 1/2 cups water or stock
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
garnish
- olive oil
- black pepper
- hemp seeds
- fresh basil
Instructions
- Turn the top broiler on in your oven.
- Slice the red bell peppers, tomatoes and onion in half. Remove the seeds and stems from the bell peppers, the stems from the tomatoes and the outer peel from the onion. Then, place these all on a baking tray and drizzle the veggies with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Use your fingers to rub the oil and seasoning on both sides of the veggies.
- Roast the veggies for 25-30 minutes, or until the top side is charred black.
- Use tongs to transfer the bell pepper to a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 20 minutes, to steam the bell pepper.
- When the other veggies are cool enough to handle, remove their skins and transfer to your Vitamix or high-powered blender. You should be able to easily squeeze out the garlic cloves from their skin as well.
- Add the tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, dried basil and water (or stock) to your blender. Blend everything on high until smooth.
- At this stage, the soup will be warm. If you'd like it hotter, blend for 4-5 minutes. The friction of the Vitamix blades will heat it up.
- Before serving, top with optional garnish.
Lisa's Tips
- On an early recipe attempt, I added fresh basil to the soup before blending, but it turned the soup a murky brown color. So I recommend dried basil rather than fresh basil in the soup. But you can use fresh basil to garnish.
- I also used an opaque vegetable stock on one attempt and it changed the color of the soup as well. If you prefer using stock, I recommend using one that is fairly clear in color.
- If you want to skip the roasting step, you could definitely used jarred roasted red peppers and canned tomatoes. Though I'd recommend dicing the onion and quickly sautéing with the garlic (mince it) in a little olive oil, to keep the flavor profile similar. This soup makes for great meal prep. Just blend it up and freeze.
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
This post was created in partnership with Vitamix (a brand I’ve loved and used for years). All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love tomato soups and this is one of the best recipes ever.
So delicious and easy!!
I also make soup and freeze it for later – great usage of fresh produce.
Happy to hear you’re loving this tomato soup! I hope to do a classic version soon as well :)
Made this as stated excellent sweet perfect!!
Mine turned out to have a slightly bitter after taste. What do you think might have caused it?
Excellent recipe. For a family gathering, I did add a 48 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes. Pureed 1/2 the can and then added the remainder diced tomatoes from the can when placing everything in a big pot to simmer while guests helped themselves. Another pot of Tortellini fir those who wanted to add it to their soup. 😋
I can’t wait to try this soup. It sounds so good with the roasted veggies. I’ve been watching your videos for years. My mom has lupus and I’ve been showing some signs too and so I’ve got to get serious about the food that I’m putting in my body. I want to only put whole foods in.
The flavour of this soup is amazing.
Although we found it to be very acidy, so added a couple of pinches of baking soda which evened it out nicely.
We’re a garlic-loving family so next time will add more!
Really delicious.
This was super delicious! Full of fresh flavor
This soup is terrific and so easy to make! I put about a tsp of pesto in and it just gave it a little more zip
OMG so flavorful! I made a big batch of this and stored it in separate serving containers in the freezer. It’s my go to light dinner. I top it with shredded organic cheddar cheese and cracked pepper, and it’s great for dipping a cheese sandwich that’s been buttered and toasted on the griddle. I was looking for a good non dairy tomato soup recipe, and have tried a few that needed a lot of tweaking here and there, but your recipe was perfect just the way it is. Thank you!
Glad you’re loving this soup the way it is Melissa!
Easy and flavorful. I did reheat it in a pot though, don’t forget to cover it then.
Easy soup but can be made easier!! 1. Quarter tomatoes and onions. 2. You don’t have to wrap the garlic in foil. 3. Scatter fresh basil all over the sheet pan on top of other veggies. 3. Sprits liberally with olive oil and good aged balsamic vinegar. 4. Roast at 375/400 for about an hour or an hour and a half. 5. Don’t skin the tomatoes after roasting. Just Dump it all in a Dutch oven and simmer with some good chicken stock for extra flavor. 6. Purée with stick blender. Adding a little coconut cream here adds extra richness. Enjoy with fresh basil!!!!!
I followed your your suggestions and the results were amazing! And so so easy.
I added an abundant amount of fresh basil to the soup pot and it was simply delicious.
Thanks for your suggestions.
I was really excited to be making this soup but it’s nothing special and bland
Hi Evie – sorry you didn’t love this soup. It is a really mild flavored soup, but if you’d like a bit more heat add a pinch of red pepper flakes next time!
The soup is delicious but corrections need to be made. The addition in the recipe of the garlic was not included. Also it doesn’t say to remove the skin of the red pepper. In both cases I had to go to the video twice to see what to do.
Hi Robin – In step 5, it mentions to remove the skins of the vegetables before adding to the blender, which includes the garlic. Hope that helps!
Sorry, you’re right. I’m making it again, I liked it so much last time
This was excellent! Roasting the veggies contributes a ton of complexity. We like some spice, so I added a good amount of cayenne pepper to the soup – I’ll have to try roasting hot peppers themselves.
It sure does John! Glad this was a success with extra cayenne pepper.
Do you roast the garlic?
Hi there – Yes! As you can see in the video, I’m roasting the garlic wrapped in foil.
I made this soup tonight to share with my bride. It was delicious! This was the first time that I’ve had tomato soup since I was a small child. I printed out the recipe and saved it in my cookbook folder so that I can make this more often. I look forward to trying out more of your recipes.
Wonderful! Happy to hear you loved this red pepper soup :) Can’t wait to see what you make next.
I have a bunch of tomatoes & peppers from my summer garden already in the freezer. What portion replacement would you recommend for the fresh tomatoes?
Hi Mary – I’m not sure on that one. I’d recommend searching online to see if you can find some tips.
This looks good, can’t wait to try it ! Just want to know if the nutrition indicated is for the complete recipe or per serving?
Hi Meena- The nutrition facts will always be per serving :)
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! I made everything just as you recommended. It was so good I will definitely be making this again and again. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed this tomato soup recipe Bren :)
Hi Lisa, I have been following your blog for a while and tried many of your recipes. I just tried this soup yesterday and it’s a bit once again. Just wanted to thank you for all the great recipes and sharing.
I have always enjoyed your videos.
Sending love from Malaysia!
Jody
My apologies, typo, I meant a HIT ! Always spot on for the most delicious and healthy recipes that will not make you feel guilty after eating it.
Thank you,
Jody
Hi Jody- I’m so glad you’re enjoying all my recipes so far, including this tomato and red pepper soup!
I am making this today and just wondered what temperature I would put the oven on….as in the uk we don’t have broilers😉😉😉
Unfortunately you won’t get that same char without a broiler, but you can still just roast them at a high temperature, like 425F to cook through.
Thank you
Also you could get the same effect in the UK by putting it under the grill,a broiler is essentially the same thing but in the oven portion instead of a separate compartment like in the UK. Just ensure its as low as it’ll go on the lowest heat though.
Thank you
This is our favourite! My husband loves this tomato soup. He says its the best one he has ever eaten! He would eat it everyday if i make it😅 thank you, Lisa 🙏🏻🤩
Hi Assem – I’m so glad you and your husband love this soup :)
This recipe is a MUST TRY! It is absolutely delicious. I’ve made this a few times when I felt a cold coming on and I swear all the vegetables helped me ward off the cold. The flavors amazing, I am not a fan of tomatoes but I really love this soup. Highly recommend!
Yay, so happy you loved the recipe Katie! Especially as you’re not a fan of tomatoes. That says a lot! :)
Hi,
For the roasted red pepper soup, do you use chicken, vegetable or beef stock?
Thanks, Shirleen
Hi Shirleen – I would recommend using a vegetable stock for this soup :)
This recipe sounds so good I can’t wait to make! I do not own blender or Vitamix, I have a food processor but I think it will be too small. Could I put all ingredients into big pot after roasting and blend with emulsion blender? Much thanks if you have any tips! :)
Hi Alexis – If you have an immersion blender, that should work as well! A food processor is indeed too small for something like this, so go ahead and try roasting everything in the pot, then blend with an immersion blender :)
I will try this as I have many of your dishes! It sounds delicious. :) Love your videos.
Hi Danny – I’m glad you’re enjoying all my recipes! Can’t wait for you to try this one :)
Can you use a regular blender?
Hi Chesarae – You can definitely try using a regular blender! The Vitamix just has a more stronger power to blend more finely.
Did it work in a regular blender? It’s all I have to work with sadly.
Just made this for Sunday lunch and it was absolutely delicious! All the flavours come out perfectly and it makes just the right amount for 2 people :)
Wonderful! I’m happy you enjoyed the soup Abi!
Can you make this ahead of time and reheat?
Absolutely!
Hi Lisa,
I have just made this soup in the vitamix like you suggested and its absolutely fabulous. Very tasty and will become a favourite in my house hold. Thank you so much for this recipe ! Not too much faff for such a delicious outcome. Thankyou.
Thank you for the kind comments, Mandy! I’m so happy you loved the tomato soup recipe! :)
Just amazing !!!!!!!!! the family loved it. I used chicken stock instead of water .
Thanks, Sally! I’m so glad you loved the soup! :)
Totally amazing! An explosion of flavor!
Yay! Happy you enjoyed the roasted red pepper soup!
Just finished making! Trader Joe’s red pepper and tomato is my favorite soup so when I saw your clean eating version I couldn’t resist!
Wonderful! Hope you enjoy this version as well! :) x
You had me at roasted. This looks amazing, pinning it pronto!
Awesome! Hope you enjoy it Sarah!
Such a fab set of ingredients for a soup and so simple too, roasting adds such a great depth of flavour to a recipe like this.
It’s certainly does. Definitely boost the flavor profile! Thanks Brian!
Hmmmmm, soup! This looks amazing!
Thanks Jillian!
Roasting the veggies makes it all the better, delish! Beautiful photos too!
Thanks so much Colleen! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
This looks looks so good. Love the garnishin. I bet it tastes amazing.
Thanks! It’s quite tasty and the green basil really balances the vibrant red. :)
Mmm love this for winter! And so easy to make in the blender!
Yes! Once everything’s roasted, it’s easy peasy in the blender. :)
Fabulous winter soup recipe; and LOVE THE NEW WEBSITE LAYOUT!
Yay! So happy you love it. And boy is it nice to finally unveil it. Woot! Still lots of work needed to transfer old recipes into the new format, but bit by bit it’ll get there. Thanks so much Liz! :) x
I am making this tonight. Looks so yummy.
Wonderful! Hope you enjoy it Sandy! :) x