Creamy, rich and utterly satisfying, this Butter Roasted Tomato-Basil Bisque is what winter months are made of – it’s what they’re made FOR, always. I serve this soup like a French Onion Soup, topped with toasty, cheesy bread. Yep, we’re mimicking a grilled cheese. Thanks for noticing! But it’s faster this way, honestly. Read on for a few deets about this amazing soup, or just jump ahead to the recipe itself.

Butter Roasted Tomato Bisque: The Ultimate Tomato Soup

It breaks both the recipe website/blogger codes of ethics and conduct to go and attach the word, “Ultimate” to any recipe without being able to show that it is, in fact, what it claims. So, we can’t just be throwing around these big, bold adjectives for the fun of it, for no other real good reason, you know?

So then. Why am I asserting this big claim that my soup is the ultimate – neigh, the BEST – tomato soup in all the land? Well, because it just is. Guys, I take my soups pretty seriously, and I don’t share just regular ole’ standard op versions of things. The internet doesn’t need yet another tomato soup recipe. No, that position has been filled a million times over. So, I’m going a bit rogue here.

What is the difference between a soup and a bisque?

“A bisque is a type of soup, so all bisque is soup, but not all soups are bisque. If you make bisque the old-fashioned way, the key difference is the way in which cream is used in the dish. Traditional recipes used much more cream than regular soups – even more than cream soups like cream of mushroom or cream of tomato – and the cream was added much earlier in the cooking process, to be used as a thickening agent, where regular soup recipes added it at the very end.” – Fine Dining Lovers

So, I’m calling this a bisque because we’re using a cream element from the very start (the butter), and then adding in more cream (the milk) and some cream cheese. So, this is much richer and yes, creamier than a regular tomato soup, which is probably why it’s better than a regular tomato soup. 

There, I said it.

What makes this the best tomato bisque ever?

1. It’s roasted. The roasting is really a big part of the magic here. By roasting the components of the sauce together, as opposed to cooking them on the stovetop, we develop the flavors on this deeper, more actualized level. It’s like going on a date in person as opposed to just talking over the phone, if that makes sense. It’s just more effective, and everyone gets to know each other better. Mmmk, I’ll stop with this analogy now. Don’t believe me? Take it from Ina Garten, who has long professed her love of a roasted tomato sauce. Same diff, really.
2. San Marzano tomatoes. More on those, below. 
3. Butter! And Mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese). Yes, I know. It’s wonderful stuff going on here. There is a good amount of creamy, fatty butter and creamy cheese going on in this soup, I’ll be real with you. It needs it though, and I’ll tell you why. Tomatoes – three types of tomatoes no less – are very acidic and therefore for this soup to taste incredible, we need to find balance. We need to mellow out and temper that bright acidic tang of the tomatoes. This is why we’re butter-roasting them, and adding a little bit of creamy cheese to the mix. This truly elevates the soup experience to near ethereal heights, my friends.

What are San Marzano tomatoes?

“San Marzano is both a type of tomato and a region in Italy. The San Marzano tomato is a type of plum tomato, and it’s longer and thinner than the typical plum tomato you might see sold fresh in grocery stores or buy canned. They also have fewer seeds than typical plum tomatoes. Not all canned tomatoes from Italy are San Marzano, and, to make things more confusing, San Marzano tomatoes grow outside of Italy, too. In fact, they are now also grown in the U.S.”

MarthaStewart.com

What makes San Marzano tomatoes better?

While I suppose this could be debated, these tomatoes are known to be a bit sweeter, and a bit more mellow than other varieties. So, they’re revered for these properties. Again this small but significant details of makes a difference in the final flavor profile of our soup. Not every tomato tastes the same, some truly are a bit sweeter which, to me, is a great thing. Just as we’re adding butter and creamy cheese to the soup to counterbalance the acid, choosing a slightly sweeter tomato helps with the balancing act as well. 

What is Basil paste?

Basil paste is typically sold in the produce/fresh herbs section of most US grocery stores. It’s a perfect thing to use during the chunk of the year when you just can’t get fresh basil (like right now). It’s a paste made from just fresh basil and it’s sold in tubes for easy squeezing. You can store it in your fridge for a few weeks – it really lasts. And it’s a great way to infuse fresh basil flavor into all sorts of dishes. 

What do you use basil paste for?

We use it in so many things it’s silly. It’s used as a way to add basil flavor without having to use actual basil, when you can’t get it. It sort of melts into things, disappearing the way butter does. So, its uses are varied and many. 

It’s absolutely a ride-or-die fridge door product, because there are periods of the year when buying nice, fresh basil is tricky. We like to stir it into Southeast Asian-inspired curries and soups. It’s also a ringer in tomato sauce-based recipes like my favorite pantry pasta, cheesy chicken with balsamic tomato sauce, and my Blushing Italian Sausage and Rigatoni Pasta Bake. 

What you’ll need to make this Roasted Tomato Soup

INGREDIENTS

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

4 garlic cloves, smashed

1 white onion, sliced

2 tablespoon basil paste or the stems from one bunch fresh basil, chopped

3 teaspoons vegetable stock concentrate

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper, as needed

5 tablespoons butter, cut into tablespoons

28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes

4 ounces mascarpone cheese or cream cheese

½ baguette, sliced or torn into thick pieces (no need for precision here)

1 to 1.5 cups shredded fontina cheese (amazing with tomato)

How to make this Roasted Tomato Bisque

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position.

Add the cherry tomatoes, garlic cloves, sliced onion, basil paste, stock concentrate (Better Than Bouillon), tomato paste, a light pinch of salt, and a generous pinch of pepper pepper to a large baking dish. Toss to mix and coat. Scatter the butter all around. Cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes.

Add the San Marzanos (or canned tomatoes), stir and roast for 30 minutes more, uncovered. 

If you have a handheld immersion blender, transfer the baking dish contents to a large pot over medium heat. If you don’t have one, transfer them to a blender. Blend until very smooth, and pour into the pot over medium heat. 

Add the mascarpone/cream cheese, and let it melt into the soup. Add 1.5 cups half and half (milk also works just fine). Taste and season with salt and pepper, if you like. You can stop right here and enjoy the bisque just as it is. Or … 

Ladle into oven-proof bowls/mugs and place on a baking sheet. Cover the tops of the soups with a few pieces of the bread and cover with cheese. Place on the middle rack under the broiler for just a couple of minutes, until browned, toasty and melted. Enjoy.

How to make this Tomato Bisque in a Slow Cooker

To prepare this recipe in a slow cooker, simply put all of the ingredients except for the cream cheese/mascarpone and milk into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 8. After that, just take the lid off, add the cream cheese and allow it to melt. You can blend the soup right in the slow cooker with an immersion blender, or transfer it to a high-speed blender. Add the milk/half and half and let it come back up to a simmer.

Proceed with ladling into bowls on a baking sheet, topping with bread slices and cheese, and grilling under the broiler.

If you like the looks of this Roasted Tomato Soup, you might also want to check out:

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Mushroom Ravioli Soup with Toasted Walnuts

Bourbon and Apple French Onion Soup with Crispy Prosciutto Toasts

Cauliflower and Sausage Soup with Kale

Best Creamy Tortellini and Sausage Soup

Spinach and Artichoke Gnocchi Soup

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