This post may contain affiliate links. See my privacy policy for details.
Thick, creamy, and super delicious, any bisque recipe is worth making. However, it doesn’t always have to be made of lobster – a simple tomato bisque can be just as delicious.
Why not learn How to Make Buttery, Garlicky Homemade Croutons to serve with this bisque?
Tomato Bisque
Though not as traditional as lobster and crab bisque, this recipe makes for a thick, creamy, and delicious tomato bisque that is so much more than just a soup.
While this recipe is obviously a pretty simple one, it is one of those soup recipes that builds layers of flavor on top of one another to help create an ultra-rich and flavorful bisque at the end of it.
Feel free to play around and top your bisque with whatever you want, and then serve it on its own, as an appetizer, or with a really good homemade grilled cheese.
Tomato Bisque Ingredients
Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.
• Unsalted butter
• Yellow onion
• Celery
• Flour
• Salt & pepper
• Basil
• Garlic
• Chicken broth
• Crushed tomatoes
• White sugar
• Heavy cream
• Croutons
How To Make Tomato Bisque
• In a large pot over medium heat, add the butter, onion, celery, salt & pepper, and basil
• Sprinkle the flour over the flour and stir, cooking for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent
• Add in the finely minced garlic and stir for an additional 30 minutes, or until the garlic just begins to become fragrant
• Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, and sugar, and lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes
• Using an immersion blender, blend it until it is smooth
• Return the bisque to the heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Remove from the heat and add in the 1 cup of heavy cream, mixing well
• For garnish, add several of the croutons to the top of the bisque with a sprinkle of parsley
How To Top Your Tomato Bisque
Tomato bisque is obviously a simple recipe and can also look pretty uniform in color. To help provide some variety of texture and flavor, why not try and spruce up the toppings of your bisque?
A standard topping in restaurants is a little dribble of heavy cream over the top. This not only provides a pleasing visual contrast but it also allows for just a little bit of extra heterogeneity. This means that every bite is not the same as every other, as now and again, you will get a little bit of extra creaminess directly on your palate.
You can also achieve this by topping your bisque with things like croutons, small bits of chives, or even just a whole cherry tomato.
Anything to give the bisque a bit of texture and extra flavor will work well as a topping. Even just a little sprinkling of Parmesan cheese can work wonders in improving both the flavor and presentation of your bisque.
What Kinds Of Tomatoes Should You Use For This Recipe?
For a lot of people, all tomatoes are basically the same. The red ones that are vaguely round from the supermarket, right?
However, like with all plants, there are actually a huge number of different varieties of tomatoes out there, and they can have a big impact on your bisque depending on which ones you choose to use.
Most supermarket tomatoes are all so pretty plain and flavorless as well. Try and shop around and see if you can get some high-quality farmer’s market tomatoes if you don’t mind paying for them.
However, the most reliable way to get good-quality tomatoes at home is to buy canned stuff.
Despite their reputation, canned tomatoes are actually some of the freshest tomatoes you can get because they are canned and preserved really quickly after harvesting. Plus, they tend to be actually good-quality tomatoes.
Just try and drain a little bit of the juice in each can, as that seems to be usually made from a lower quality tomato juice rather than the good tomatoes themselves.
You can also use the peeled whole varieties of canned tomatoes if that is all you have, but the crushed ones work a bit better in this recipe, as they are already partially broken down.
Looking for more tasty Soup recipes? Try these out:
• Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Happy Cooking
Love,
Karlynn
Pin this recipe to your DINNERS AND SOUPS Board and Remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!
Tomato Bisque
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup yellow onion (diced)
- 2 stalks celery (diced)
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 3 Tablespoons garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- one 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup cheese or garlic croutons
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat add the butter, onion, celery, salt, pepper and basil. Sprinkle the flour over and stir and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Add in the finely minced garlic and stir an additional 30 seconds, just until the garlic gets fragrant, then add in the chicken broth, tomatoes and sugar.
- Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender until it is smooth.
- Return the bisque to the heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and add in the 1 cup of heavy cream, mix well.
- For garnish add several croutons to the top of the bisque with a sprinkle of parsley. You can also add more heavy cream to the bisque if you prefer.
Leave a Comment or Recipe Tip