I love tomato soup, but not the variety that you find canned in stores that is loaded with sodium, and other not-so-desirable ingredients.
Also, most recipes that you can find online, are loaded with cream, butter, chicken stock, and other animal based ingredients, as well as white flour, sodium and white sugar. These are not ingredients I want in my food.
Fortunately, it’s easy enough to make your own tomato soup from scratch using fresh ingredients or from diced tomatoes that you can buy canned. However, who has the time to be chopping and cooking and blending and pouring and washing…
What most people fail to realize is that healthy food can also be FAST FOOD, like 5 minutes fast!
Seriously, it doesn’t get any easier than that! (…unless you just eat whole tomatoes straight from the tomato plant, of course.)
So – since this is a site for smoothie and blending fanatics (;-)) – why not live a little and experiment with a raw – and living – version of a good old tomato soup.
This recipe for a cold tomato basil soup is similar to a gazpacho soup, but with little extra flavoring of garden-fresh basil (or other fresh herbs).
This delicious soup is incredibly healthy low-fat, low-calorie, GMO-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan and takes only 5 minutes to prepare.
Raw Tomato Basil Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-5 medium tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are also delicious for this recipe)
- 4 sun-dried tomato slices
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
- 1 avocado
- 1 celery stalk
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 yellow onion
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon or lime juice
- dash of cayenne
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until almost smooth, or until desired consistency is reached. If using a regular blender you may need to add extra water to help the mixture blend.
Easy Tomato Soup Recipe
Variation #1:
Here is one easy tomato soup variation with raw corn kernels.
Ingredients
- 4 large, very ripe tomatoes
- 1 large peach
- 1 small avocado
- 1 head of romaine lettuce or 3 celery stalks
- 1 cup of sprouts from my sprout garden (optional)
- a handful of fresh basil leaves from my balcony garden
- salt and pepper to taste (optional)
- 1 cup of fresh corn kernels (as "rice)"
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients except corn in a blender to desired consistency. You may want to add a bit of water if you want a less thick soup. Season with salt and pepper (optionally - I find that as I'm using less and less salt, I don't crave it any more in raw soups and other dishes). Pour into soup bowls and add corn kernels. Decorate with a few leaves of basil or other fresh herbs.
You may replace the basil with an equal amount of fresh cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, or tarragon – or experiment and find a tasty combination of herbs.
Variation #2:
Here is an interesting variation for a creamy tomato soup that I have found. I haven’t tried it yet – but it definitely looks promising.
- 4-5 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced (cherry tomatoes are also delicious for this recipe)
- 2 cups loosely packed basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
- 2 cups cashews, soaked OR 1 cup of cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup or 2 pitted dates (optional)
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 yellow onion, finely chopped
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Place cashews and water in a blender and blend until creamy. Add basil, tomatoes and onion. Season with salt and pepper.
You may use heated water to make the soup warm. (For those of you who would prefer the soup raw, even if the water has just been boiling, the water will not warm the blender full of cold ingredients to over 118 degrees, so the precious nutrients will stay intact!)
You may also blend all ingredients on high in a high-powered (Vita-Mix or Blendtec) blender for a minute or two, until it’s warmed and creamy. If you’re using a VitaMix, the longer you blend in the first step, the warmer your soup will be. You may also heat your soup in a pot over stove top – just don’t heat too much – or you destroy some precious nutrients!
This recipe is uncooked (raw), low-fat, low-calorie, GMO-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, cholesterol free, vegetarian and vegan.
Tomato Soup (Raw or Cooked)
Raw soups are delicious, but most people like their tomato soup cooked. This recipe can be easily adapted for cooked version. Simply follow the recipe above but rather blending the ingredients raw, you will cook them. You may use a high power blender, such as Vitamix or Blendtec blender, allowing the blender to continue to run for several minutes will warm the soup. If a Vita-Mix is not available, just blend all vegetables into a liquid form, and then heat until just warm, but not hot.
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic (pressed or chopped fine)
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 tomatoes, cut in pieces
1 teaspoon basil (dried – use fresh if available)
3 cups water
1 small zucchini, chopped
salt (to taste)
Method
Combine all ingredients in a soup pot and simmer over low heat until all vegetables are soft. Allow to sufficiently cool, so that the soup can be transferred to a blender or food processor safely, and then blend until smooth. Return to the cooking pot, bring to a simmer, and it is ready to serve.
If you don’t already own a VitaMix, I strongly encourage you to check out what this machine is capable of! For more information about VitaMix you can go directly to the VitaMix website. You may also want to read my post about the Best Blender.
I LOVE my VitaMix and highly recommend investing in one if you are ready to make serious changes to your diet. I have had mine for almost 5 years and use it daily!
If you decide to purchase Vitamix – be sure to use Promotional Code 06-004554 to get free shipping.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
If you have a favorite recipe, why not submit it here in the comment section of this this blog for others to enjoy too!
I also welcome any comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks!
