Roasted Tomato Soup

If you’re a home grower, you’ll know that it is firmly tomato season!  My mum’s polytunnel is absolutely abundant with fresh tomatoes at the moment, with all sorts of varieties growing happily away. Which, of course, means that whenever I visit, I’m often gifted a bag full of surplus tomatoes to bring home.

This easy roasted tomato soup is one of my absolute favourite ways to use them.

It’s simple, comforting and packed full of fresh tomato flavour — and the best part is that it only requires five ingredients. The tomatoes are roasted until beautifully soft and lightly charred before being simmered with garlic and blended into a silky homemade tomato soup.

I made mine using the air fryer, but you can just as easily use your oven. The important thing is to roast the tomatoes until they are wilted, soft and lightly charred around the edges. This adds so much more flavour than simply boiling fresh tomatoes.

Serves approximately 6

Ingredients

- 750g fresh tomatoes

- 4 cloves garlic, peeled

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- Water, as needed

- Salt and black pepper, to taste

I don't count the water as an ingredient because it comes straight from the tap — and let's be honest, I'm not putting tap water on my shopping list!

How to Make Roasted Tomato Soup

1. Prepare the tomatoes

Wash your tomatoes thoroughly and remove the green tops. If you're using a mixture of tomato varieties, that's absolutely fine — this is a particularly good recipe for using up whatever you have growing.

2. Preheat your air fryer or oven

Preheat your air fryer or oven to 180°C.

3. Halve the tomatoes

Cut the tomatoes in half. If you're using particularly large tomatoes, you can cut them into quarters instead.

4. Roast the tomatoes

Line your air fryer basket with an appropriate liner and arrange the tomatoes inside.

Drizzle over the olive oil and add a generous pinch of salt and black pepper.

Roast for approximately 45–60 minutes, or until the tomatoes are completely softened and starting to lightly char around the edges.

Using an oven? Simply place the tomatoes onto a lined baking tray and roast at 180°C until soft, wilted and lightly charred.

5. Transfer to a saucepan

Carefully transfer the roasted tomatoes to a large saucepan.

Pour in enough water to barely cover the tomatoes. You don't want to add too much water at this stage as it can make the soup unnecessarily thin.

6. Simmer

Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 20 minutes.

This gives the roasted tomatoes and garlic time to break down and allows all those lovely flavours to come together.

7. Blend

Remove the pan from the heat and blend the soup until completely smooth using a stick blender or countertop blender.

Be careful when blending hot liquids and follow the instructions for your blender.

8. Season and serve

Taste the soup and add more salt and black pepper if needed.

For an extra-smooth tomato soup, you can pour it through a fine sieve to remove the tomato skins and seeds. This step is completely optional — personally, I don't mind a little texture!

Serve hot with crusty bread, homemade sourdough or a generous grilled cheese sandwich for the ultimate cosy lunch.

Can I Make This Tomato Soup in the Oven?

Absolutely! Although I love using my air fryer for smaller batches, the oven works just as well.

Simply roast the prepared tomatoes on a lined baking tray at 180°C until they are soft, wilted and lightly charred. Depending on the size and variety of your tomatoes, this should take around 45–60 minutes.

Can I Freeze Homemade Tomato Soup?

Yes! Allow the soup to cool completely before transferring it into suitable freezer-safe containers. Leave a little room at the top as the soup will expand as it freezes.

Defrost thoroughly before reheating and make sure it is piping hot before serving.

Serving Suggestions

This easy roasted tomato soup is delicious served with:

- Crusty homemade sourdough

- Garlic bread

- A classic grilled cheese sandwich

- Cheese toasties

- Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino

- A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

- Fresh basil