Crock-Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
Crock-Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
I have to admit, I am not huge fan of tomato soup. I think I just have too many not so fond memories of canned soup from school lunches that it really turned me off of tomato soup. But I knew, I just KNEW that a homemade soup would beat a canned version any day so I set my sights on making a some tomato soup from scratch and I have to say folks…this soup is WAY better than any old canned soup!
If you are a gardener this soup would be a great use for your home canned tomatoes. However you can also use some high quality canned tomatoes too. They key ingredient here really is fresh basil. I grow a pot of herbs year round in my kitchen so it was easy to harvest some for this soup. However, almost all grocery stores these days sell fresh basil in the produce department.
I decided to make this a vegetarian recipe (not vegan) too. I was at first going to use chicken broth as the base of the soup but I had some vegetable broth in the pantry and could not see any reason why I could not use that instead of chicken. If you are not vegetarian you can of course use chicken broth instead. Now mind you there is a half & half and cheese in this recipe. I am sure there are vegan substitutes for both which you could experiment with.
This is a recipe you can set up in the morning and cook all day. Then about 1/2 an hour before you are ready to serve add the half & half and let it cook a little bit longer. We served our soup with some lovely grilled Mozzarella & Parmesan cheese panini sandwiches. Which we perfect for dipping in the soup. YUM!
Print Crock-Pot Creamy Tomato Basil SoupRating: 51
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours, 45 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Serving Size: 1 cup
This easy recipe for Crock-Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is a warm and satisfying soup to make any time of the year. Serve with a side salad and some crusty bread for a complete meal. This soup is vegetarian and so delicious. Garnish each bowl with a fresh sprig of basil for some additional color and pop!
Ingredients
3 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced 3 stalks celery, finely diced 2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, with the juice 1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried) 1/4 cup fresh basil (or 1 tablespoon dried) 3 cups vegetable broth 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 cups half & half (can use fat-free) Salt & pepper, to tasteInstructions
- To a 4-6 quart slow cooker add the carrots, onion, celery, canned tomatoes, oregano, basil and vegetable broth.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until the vegetables are cooked and soft.
- Using a hand-held blender right in the slow cooker blend until the soup is to your desired smoothness (I left it a little chunky, but you can blend until completely smooth if you desire).
- Add the grated Parmesan cheese and half & half to the soup in the crock-pot and turn the heat up to high.
- Cover and cook for 30 to 40 additional minutes until the soup is hot.
- Add salt & pepper to taste and serve.
http://crockpotladies.com/crockpot-creamy-tomato-basil-soup/
