Easy Spicy Tomato Soup

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This simple and flavorful Spicy Tomato Soup is perfect for a cold winter day. A little smoky spice makes a big difference in this bowl of goodness. But it's surprisingly simple to make. All you need are a few ingredients and about 30 minutes!

If you love soup, don't miss these gluten free favorites like Instant Pot Lentil Soup, Turkey Chili with Sweet Potatoes, Italian Sausage Soup, and Instant Pot Beef Stew.

It's amazing how comforting a simple bowl of hot soup can be. It brings back warm and fuzzy memories for me! Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches were a regular on our family menu when I was growing up. Sometimes it was even Sunday dinner!

This comfort food classic is loaded with antioxidants and a great way to start the year off with a bang. I love adding spices like cumin (basically to everything) and red pepper flakes to kick it up. If I had my way, I would add more spices, but gotta feed the kids, I guess.

Ingredients for Spicy Tomato Soup

• white onion or red onion
• garlic cloves, diced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
• olive oil
• can of whole peeled canned tomatoes
• gluten free chicken broth or vegetable broth if vegan
• cumin
• red pepper chili flakes
• salt
• black pepper (or cayenne pepper if you like it really spicy)
• sugar
• bacon
• fresh basil leaves (optional)
• grilled cheese sandwich (optional)
• If you like it creamier, you can add a little heavy cream at the very end

As you can clearly see, these are pantry staples. I suggest keeping this super simple recipe on hand for those nights when you are exhausted and don't know what to cook.

How To Make Spicy Tomato Soup

• Place olive oil in a large saucepan and heat over medium heat. I prefer to use my Dutch oven. Add onions and garlic and sauté fsautéout 7-8 minutes or until onions soften and turn translucent.
• Add cumin and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring for one minute. Be careful with the red pepper flakes because they are super spicy.
• Add tomatoes and juices, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and sugar.
• Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
• Working in batches, blend the soup until smooth. Use a kitchen towel to cover the pot and hold the lid in place. Return to the pot and proceed with the next batch. You can also easily use an immersion blender. You can use a hand blender, but it might be messy.
• Serve immediately with grilled cheese and bacon for garnish.

How To Spice Up Tomato Soup

Well, there are several ways to do this. In my case, I use red pepper flakes, and a little goes a long way, so be careful. You can also use cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce. If you are looking for ways to make tomato soup more fun, try these

• croutons (gluten free if needed)
• tortilla strips or crumbled tortilla chips
• parmesan crisp crackers or other crumbled crackers (gluten free if needed)
• shredded cheese, we like Mexican cheese
• salsa
• hot sauce
• leftover proteins, like grilled chicken or steak
• basil
• green onion
• chives
• roasted shallots
• cubed grilled cheese
• poached egg
• nuts
• heavy cream or coconut cream
• sour cream
• Greek yogurt

Tips for Making Spicy Tomato Soup

• Start with good tomatoes: use ripe, in-season fresh tomatoes or quality canned San Marzano-style tomatoes.
• Build a flavor base first by sautéinsautéing garlic and chilies before adding tomatoes. Balance the heat with a touch of sweetness (sugar, honey, or roasted carrot) and acidity.
• Choose your heat source deliberately: fresh chilies for bright heat, dried chilies/flakes for smoky depth.
• Add part of the chili early for background heat and part later for a fresher kick.
• Simmer low and slow (20-30 minutes) rather than boiling hard.
• Let the soup cool slightly before blending, and vent the lid to avoid splatter.

Fresh Tomatoes or Canned Tomatoes?

Canned wins for most of the year. A 28-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes is picked and packed at peak ripeness, so in February it'll taste better than anything sitting in the grocery store. That's what the recipe card calls for, and that's what I use nine months a year.

Fresh tomatoes are worth it in August and September when they are actually in season. If you want to go that route, you'll need about 3 pounds of ripe tomatoes to replace one 28-ounce can.

Roast them first at 400 degrees for 30 minutes with a little olive oil and salt. Roasting drives off water and concentrates the flavor, which is why canned tomatoes taste so good in the first place.

One thing to know either way: look for San Marzano-style tomatoes if you can. They're less acidic and a little sweeter, which means you need less sugar to balance the pot.

How To Make It Creamy

The recipe as written is dairy free, and that's on purpose because so many of my readers need it that way. But if you want the creamy version, you've got options, and they're all easy.

• Heavy cream: stir in ¼ to ½ cup at the very end, after blending, over low heat. Don't let it boil after you add the cream, or it can split.
• Coconut milk: use full-fat canned coconut milk, about ½ cup, for a dairy free version. It does add a faint coconut note, which I happen to like.
• Cashew cream: soak ½ cup raw cashews in hot water for 20 minutes, drain, and blend them right into the soup. This is my favorite dairy free trick because it adds body without changing the flavor at all.
• Add a swirl of sour cream or Greek yogurt on top of each bowl for a creamy hit without thinning the whole pot.

If you're adding dairy, hold off on the extra salt until after. Cream mutes salt, and you'll over-season if you salt to taste before it goes in.

What To Serve With Spicy Tomato Soup

The grilled cheese is non-negotiable, which I say again below because I mean it. But if you want to build the meal out a little more, here is what we do:

• A simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette, because the soup is rich and you want something bright next to it.
• Gluten Free Cornbread for dunking, which my kids somehow prefer to the grilled cheese.
• Gluten Free Dinner Rolls warm out of the oven with a lot of butter.
• Roasted chickpeas or a handful of gluten free croutons for crunch on top.
• A grilled cheese cut into cubes and floated on the soup, which is the version that finally got my pickiest eater on board.

Make it Ahead and Freeze It.

This is one of the best soups I know for making ahead, because the flavor genuinely improves overnight. The cumin and the red pepper flakes settle into the tomatoes, and it tastes as if it simmered twice as long.

• Fridge: three to four days in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.
• Freezer: up to three months. Cool it completely first, then freeze it flat in a zip-top bag so it stacks and thaws fast.
• Portions: I freeze mine in two-cup portions, which is exactly one lunch for two people.
• Thawing: overnight in the fridge, then reheat gently on the stove. The microwave works too, covered with a paper towel.

One warning. If you added cream or coconut milk, freeze the soup before you add it. Dairy can go grainy after freezing and thawing. Freeze the tomato base plain and stir the cream in when you reheat.

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More Cozy Soups To Try

If this one goes over well at your house, these are the other soups we make on repeat all fall and winter:

• Creamy Butternut Squash Soup, one pot and ready in 30 minutes.
• Roasted Cauliflower Soup, which gets the same deep flavor from roasting that I talk about above.
• Italian Wedding Soup for when you want something a little heartier.
• Slow Cooker Potato Soup, the one my family asks for most.
• Instant Pot Chili if you want to keep chasing that smoky heat.
• 25 Delicious Soups for Fall: the whole collection in one place.