10-Minute Tomato Basil Soup

An easy tomato basil soup recipe for one that takes just ten minutes to make and calls for six simple ingredients. 

Sometimes it’s hard to not fall into the trap of over-complication which, as I type this, sounds ridiculous because how can something be “over-complicated”? It either is or it isn’t, so let me rephrase: sometimes it’s hard to not fall into the trap of complication. As in, feeling like something is just not good enough in its simplest form which triggers an urge to “improve” it. Sometimes, when considering a recipe, I sometimes I ask, “should add little more of this and that and integrate a few more steps so that it seems more important and better than it might have been otherwise?” it’s a question that rattles around in my head often as someone prone to complicating things.

And so this tomato basil soup represents my intention to step away from complication. It’s a soup I’ve made and enjoyed often over the last few months. Until recently I hadn’t considered sharing it here because every time the idea came to mind I’d shove it off like an annoying fly buzzing around my head. It’s too simple, I thought. But after I reviewed the results from the reader survey (in which most of you told me simple is, in fact, a good thing) I started thinking that maybe the simple ideas aren’t annoying pests I should shoo away. So, I’m embracing them. It’s summertime, after all, and if there’s ever a time to simplify and make things easy, it’s now.

Tomato Basil Soup

The soup serves one, can be made ahead, and makes for a simple lunch or light dinner. When I’m feeling extra nostalgic I’ll pair it with a cheddar and fontina grilled cheese, but most of the time I enjoy it all on its own.

• In about ten minutes, six ingredients (not including salt) go from an idea to a finished dish, so the quality of ingredients matter. Now’s not the time for random-brand canned tomatoes. For this soup, I prefer Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes. The tomatoes are sweet and not too acidic.
• You’ll need some garlic and onion and just a minute or so to give them a quick chop. The soup is pureed so no need to worry about uniformly chopped garlic and onion.
• I’ve made this tomato soup several times using whatever stock I have on hand. The first time I used a splash of beef stock which gave it a bit more depth of flavor, but since then I’ve stuck with chicken stock since that’s usually what’s stocked in my fridge, so don’t get hung up on specificity. Use what you have on hand and experiment.
• I like to add the fresh basil right before serving. As it hits the hot soup it releases its summer-fresh flavor. That said, fresh parsley or thyme or a combination of all three, if you’re feeling wild, would be delicious, too.
• I normally indicate how much salt you should add to a recipe, but because stocks vary in their salt content I recommend waiting until the end to season the soup to your liking. It may be you don’t need any extra salt at all, so be sure to give it a quick taste before you add more.

More Easy Summer Recipes

Bacon Blue Cheese Chicken Salad Sandwiches

15-Minute Mediterranean Pasta

Lobster Salad Sandwiches

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