Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Bisque
Red pepper bisque is a creamy soup recipe with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, aromatics, and cream. It has the best velvety smooth texture and is so easy to make.
It’s soup season, friends, and to celebrate, I’m sharing one of my all-time favorites: roasted red pepper bisque. It’s easy to make, delicious, and so, so cozy.
There’s something magical about this soup. The cream balances out the acidic tomatoes and peppers, so the flavor is bright but richly decadent. It’s really something special.
It’s also so easy. There are a few things to prep, but you’ll be indulging in a bowl of this creamy soup in about an hour or sooner if you’re handy with a knife.
You can serve it all on its own or dress it up with a garnish. I’m partial to croutons and blue cheese crumbles, but as you’ll see, there are a few options in the garnish department.
Ingredients
- Jarred roasted red peppers: I love a short-cut, and jarred roasted red peppers make this soup easy.
- Crushed tomatoes: Use a good-quality can of crushed tomatoes. I like San Marzano tomatoes.
- Vegetable broth: I use regular broth, so there’s no need to add more salt to the soup. If you use low-sodium vegetable broth, taste the soup and add more seasoning.
- Aromatics: You’ll need onion, carrot, celery, and a bay leaf.
- Flour: A little bit helps thicken the soup, giving it a velvety texture.
- Heavy Cream: Since it’s a bisque, there must be cream and every drop is worth it.
- Garnishes: I like croutons, fresh parsley, and some blue cheese crumbles, but grated Parmesan cheese or crumbled feta cheese works great, too.
How to Roasted Red Pepper Bisque
☑️ Saute the Veggies
Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Stir and cook until softened.
Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir to coat the vegetables evenly.
☑️ Simmer
Add the tomatoes, peppers, bay leaf, and broth. Stir and bring the soup to a simmer for 30 minutes. Give it a stir every so often while it cooks.
☑️ Blend
Discard the bay leaf and add the chopped parsley. Blend the soup until smooth, and then stir in the cream. Warm the soup for a minute or so before serving it with the garnishes.
Recipe Tips
You can make this soup more of a meal with a sandwich, salad, or grilled cheese on the side. You can also make some of my easy garlic bread.
The soup will keep in the refrigerator for several days. I like to portion it into single servings so it’s easy to reheat for lunches or light dinners.
You can freeze the soup, but I recommend leaving the cream out when you freeze it. Reheat the soup on the stove and add the cream as you heat it.
More Roasted Vegetable Soup Recipes
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 rib of celery, sliced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and roughly chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cups vegetable broth (see note)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Optional garnishes: Blue cheese crumbles, croutons, and parsley (see note)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and stir. Cook the veggies for five to 10 minutes or until softened.
- Add the flour, stir, and then add the tomatoes, red peppers, bay leaf, and vegetable broth. Stir and bring the soup to a simmer. Adjust the heat to maintain the simmer for 30 minutes. Stir the soup occasionally as it cooks.
- Discard the bay leaf from the soup. Add the chopped parsley. Blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir the cream into the soup. Let it warm through for a minute or so before serving. Ladle the soup into bowls, add the garnishes (if using) and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
More Recipes with Roasted Red Peppers
Happy cooking,
This recipe, post, and photos were updated from the archives. The post was first published in September 2015.
I”m not a bisque connoisseur by any means but this recipe was excellent, in my opinion. I followed the instructions without changing anything, except that I used a shallot instead of an onion because that’s what we had handy. I used our Vitamix to purée and then put it through a strainer, but there were really no solids to strain out because the Vitamix does such a good job, Thank you for this recipe – it was delicious.
So glad you liked it, Chris!
I just made this recipe a second time and used the immersion blender this time rather than the Vitamix and did have to strain out the solids. Delicious again. Rather than discard the solids, we spread them on crostini and sprinkled with salt and fresh ground pepper. It makes a nice spread.
Love the crostini idea!
Made this on a cold wintery day in the prairies – hit the spot. Croutons are a must! A definite make again – thanks!
So glad you liked it!
Love this recipe and have made it a bunch of times now. Delicious. I just made it today and think I put a little too much liquid. Can you recommend how I can thicken it? Thanks!
I’m glad you like it! You can try simmering it longer uncovered so it reduces more. Hope that helps!
I have never been a fan of tomato soup, but this is delicious. I did add some fresh basil and parmesan at the end. I crave this on a regular basis. Thank you .