Traditional tomato soup and grilled cheese. Identify a greater consolation meals combo, I’ll wait! This straightforward recipe makes the last word creamy do-it-yourself tomato soup and a gooey grilled cheese sandwich, and it’s all prepared in 25 minutes.
On the lookout for simpler soup recipes to pair with a crispy, golden grilled cheese? Attempt my pumpkin soup, creamy butternut squash soup, and this nostalgia-packed, do-it-yourself alphabet soup.
Irrespective of the season, a bowl of cozy, traditional tomato soup and a melty grilled cheese is my go-to consolation meals. The mixture of a crispy, tacky, golden sandwich dunked into creamy, tangy tomato soup is actually the perfect! It was my favourite as a child, and it nonetheless is now. So, let’s make the perfect do-it-yourself tomato soup paired with an ideal grilled cheese.
Why This Traditional Soup and Sandwich Combo Works
- Prepared in half-hour or much less. Whereas the soup simmers, make your sandwich on the stovetop or within the oven. I share each straightforward strategies, plus my suggestions for the right grilled cheese.
- Craveable distinction. The distinction of creamy, savory flavors and crunchy textures between the tomato soup and the sandwich is the stuff of goals. There’s nothing higher!
- Scrumptious anytime. Serve soup and grilled cheese for lunch, dinner, or as a comfortable climate meal. Immediate consolation.
Collect What You’ll Want
I’ve included notes under on the substances you’ll have to make my traditional tomato soup recipe and the perfect grilled cheese ever. It’s tremendous straightforward! Scroll all the way down to the recipe card after the submit for the printable recipe, adopted by step-by-step directions with images.
Tomato Soup Substances
- Butter – Unsalted butter or olive oil, for sautéing.
- Onion and Garlic – Chopped yellow or white onion and freshly minced garlic. If you happen to don’t have recent garlic, substitute ½ teaspoon of garlic paste or ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per clove.
- Flour – Stirred into the melted butter to make a “roux”, to thicken the creamy soup. I like to recommend all-purpose flour.
- Vegetable Broth – I choose low-sodium broth. Rooster inventory may also work right here if you happen to’re not making the soup vegetarian.
- Crushed Tomatoes and Tomato Paste – Canned crushed tomatoes work completely in do-it-yourself soup (and I really discover canned tomatoes have extra taste than recent!). Attempt to use Italian San Marzano tomatoes if you happen to can, as they’re sweeter and extra flavorful.
- Heavy Cream – I can’t resist amping up the creaminess of this soup with a contact of cream. Be at liberty to make use of half-and-half, entire milk, or Greek yogurt for a lighter choice (it’s possible you’ll discover a slight distinction within the general texture and taste, although).
Canned vs. Recent Tomatoes in Home made Soup
I exploit canned tomatoes on this recipe as a result of they’re all the time in season. You may completely make your tomato soup 100% from scratch with recent tomatoes if you happen to choose. The secret’s to roast the tomatoes first to carry out their sweetness and tang.
You’ll discover this method in my roasted tomato soup recipe. I like to recommend cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or very ripe backyard tomatoes, roasted at 425ºF for 20-25 minutes earlier than you add them to the soup. Giant, watery tomatoes will dilute the flavour.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Bread – My favourite bread for grilled cheese is crusty sourdough. It’s also possible to use white bread or entire grain bread.
- Butter – Nothing beats butter when it comes to taste. Plant-based butter will work right here, too.
- Cheese – I make my grilled cheese with cheddar and Mozzarella cheese for max meltiness. It’s the perfect cheese combo for a grilled cheese, IMO. You possibly can additionally use American cheese. Use skinny slices or grate the cheese in order that it melts rapidly.
Recipe Suggestions
- If you happen to mix the soup utilizing a normal blender or meals processor, be certain to vent the highest. Sizzling soup in a sealed blender creates a vacuum, which might result in a scorching soup explosion. Nobody needs soup on their partitions and ceiling. I repeat: Vent the lid.
- Keep away from curdled soup. Ensure so as to add the cream over low warmth, and after mixing. In any other case, the dairy can break up and curdle within the excessive warmth.
- Hold the grilled cheese crispy. If you happen to’re nonetheless busy after cooking the grilled cheese, or if you happen to’re cooking a big batch, maintain the completed sandwiches heat within the oven at low warmth, in order that they keep crispy.
What to Serve With Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
I wish to garnish our soup bowls with freshly shaved parmesan, basil leaves, and a drizzle of olive oil. This traditional tomato soup and sandwich mixture is scrumptious as-is, or you may add a kale salad or inexperienced salad, crunchy pickles, or crispy baked potato chips on the facet. Enjoyable reality: Tomato soup and grilled cheese pair amazingly with a glass of chilly, dry rosé or white sangria in the summertime.
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- Giant Soup Pot – You’ll desire a heavy-bottomed pot for sautéing and simmering the soup.
- Immersion Blender – Good for mixing the soup proper within the pot.
- Grill Pan or Skillet – Use this for making the grilled cheese on the stovetop. A nonstick skillet or forged iron pan works nice.
- Spatula – Important for flipping that golden grilled cheese sandwich.
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For the Soup (6 servings)
For the Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Makes 1)
Make the Soup
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Prepare dinner the onion and garlic. In a big pot, soften the butter over medium warmth. Add the onion and prepare dinner, stirring continuously, till softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and prepare dinner till simply aromatic, about 20 seconds.
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Add remaining substances and prepare dinner. Scale back warmth to low and add the flour together with a splash of the broth, gently whisking always. Prepare dinner about 1 minute. Add the remainder of the broth, the tomatoes, tomato paste, and parmesan rind if utilizing. Carry to a simmer and prepare dinner about quarter-hour, stirring continuously, till the soup has thickened a bit.
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Take away the parmesan rind. Flip off the warmth.
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Mix. With an immersion blender, mix up the soup till every part is clean and properly mixed. It’s also possible to use a normal blender, however you’ll want to vent the highest of the blender in order that stress from the recent soup does not construct up and trigger a few of the soup to burst out of the blender.
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Add cream and season to style. As soon as the soup is properly mixed, return it to the pot on the stovetop over low warmth. Stir within the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to style. Prepare dinner till heated by means of.
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Add garnishes. Serve the tomato soup garnished with sprinkles of shredded parmesan cheese and/or with a drizzle of additional virgin olive oil.
Make the Grilled Cheese Sandwich – Stovetop Technique
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Butter the bread. Gently unfold 2 tablespoons of softened butter on one facet of every piece of bread. Be sure you get a fair coat of butter on the bread.
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Assemble grilled cheese. Place a slice of bread, buttered facet down, in a skillet. Layer the cheese slices on high. Add the remaining piece of bread on high of the cheese, buttered facet up.
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Prepare dinner. Over medium warmth, prepare dinner your grilled cheese for about 2-3 minutes per facet, protecting the skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Test the underside of your sandwich periodically. It is able to flip when mild golden brown.
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Make it melty. Take away the grilled cheese from the skillet and lower it in half diagonally to verify the within has melted. If it has not, place the lower slices again onto the skillet over medium-low warmth. Cowl and prepare dinner till the cheese is melty, about 1 minute per facet. The bread will likely be medium golden brown when the sandwich is completed, however shouldn’t be darkish.
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Dig in. Serve your grilled cheese sandwich with a steaming bowl of tomato soup.
Grilled Cheese – Oven Technique
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Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil. It’s also possible to use a silpat.
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Add the butter. Unfold 2 tablespoons of softened butter on one facet of every piece of bread.
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Assemble grilled cheese. Place a slice of bread, buttered facet down, in your baking sheet. Layer the cheese slices on high. Add the remaining piece of bread on high of the cheese, buttered facet up.
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Bake. Place your sandwich within the oven. Bake for about 5 minutes or till the cheese is melty.
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Broil. Activate the broiler and broil for about 40 seconds to 1 minute, till golden brown. Flip the sandwich over and repeat till the opposite facet is golden and crispy. Keep watch over your grilled cheese!
Energy: 448kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 14g | Fats: 31g | Saturated Fats: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g | Monounsaturated Fats: 8g | Trans Fats: 1g | Ldl cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 694mg | Potassium: 888mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1720IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 218mg | Iron: 4mg
Dietary data is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values might fluctuate in accordance with the substances and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed data.
The right way to Make Traditional Tomato Soup
Observe the steps right here to make a batch of creamy, cozy tomato soup in about 20 minutes. You may even double the recipe and freeze leftovers! See the part additional down for particulars.
- Sauté the onion and garlic. First, add the onion to a big pot with melted butter. Prepare dinner over medium warmth till the onion softens, then stir within the garlic.
- Add the opposite substances. Subsequent, decrease the warmth and stir the flour into the sautéed veggies with a splash of broth. Whisk that round to make a roux. After a minute, pour in the remainder of the broth, together with the tomatoes and tomato paste.
- Prepare dinner. Carry the soup to a simmer and prepare dinner for quarter-hour, stirring usually, till the soup is thick and creamy.
- Mix. Now, mix the soup utilizing an immersion blender (or a daily blender with an open lid). Afterward, place the pot again over low warmth.
- Make it creamy. Lastly, stir within the heavy cream whereas the soup heats by means of. Season the soup to style with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and serve garnished with parmesan, basil, and olive oil.
Save Your Parmesan Rinds!
My trick for much more taste in my do-it-yourself soups and sauces? Save leftover Parmesan rinds when you’ve used up the cheese. Add the rind into the soup once you add the broth and tomatoes, to spice up the flavors, just like the way you’d add a bay leaf. Bear in mind to take away it earlier than mixing and serving.
The right way to Make a Good Grilled Cheese Sandwich (2 Methods)
Whereas the soup cooks, I prepare dinner my stovetop grilled cheese in a skillet with a lid to save lots of time. It helps to hurry up the cheese melting with out burning the bread. Alternatively, you need to use the oven methodology under or make an air fryer grilled cheese, which can be fast and simple.
- Butter the bread. Unfold softened butter evenly over one facet of every bread slice. Professional tip: Use unsalted butter, and afterward, salt the buttered bread slices by hand with flaky Maldon salt or comparable. Not solely does it add taste, however the salt crystals assist the surface of the grilled cheese crisp up within the warmth! Win.
- Assemble the sandwich. Subsequent, lay one piece of bread buttered facet down in a skillet. Place the cheese on high, and shut the sandwich with a second bread slice, buttered facet up.
- Prepare dinner. Prepare dinner the grilled cheese over medium warmth, lined with a lid, for 2-3 minutes per facet. It’s able to flip when the underside of the sandwich is calmly toasted.
- Make it melty. Test that the grilled cheese is completed by slicing it in half. If the within hasn’t melted, return it to the skillet till it’s gooey. The bread must be golden brown, however not darkish.
- Dig in. Serve your grilled cheese sandwich subsequent to your steaming bowl of creamy tomato soup.
Oven Technique
If you happen to’re brief on stovetop area, observe the steps under to bake your grilled cheese within the oven or toaster oven as a substitute.
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. You possibly can additionally use a silicone baking mat (Silpat) right here.
- Assemble the grilled cheese. Subsequent, butter the bread slices with softened butter. Assemble the grilled cheese, this time on the baking sheet, following the identical instructions as above.
- Bake. Bake the grilled cheese within the oven at 375ºF for five minutes, till the cheese is melted.
- Broil. Swap the oven to broil for the final 40 seconds to 1 minute, then flip and repeat, till the surface of the sandwich is a crispy golden brown. Don’t depart the broiler unattended, otherwise you would possibly burn your grilled cheese.
Attempt These Variations
- Grilled cheese add-ons. Add cooked bacon or recent tomato slices to your grilled cheese.
- Candy and savory. For one thing a bit of totally different, strive my apple grilled cheese or add rhubarb chutney for a sweet-savory distinction.
- Tomato bisque. The soup I’ve shared right here could be very near my creamy tomato bisque recipe, which I make with canned fire-roasted tomatoes and heavy cream. It’s also possible to “fancy” issues up with a traditional French lobster bisque.
- Make it vegan/dairy-free. Change any dairy within the recipe (butter, heavy cream, cheese) along with your most popular vegan substitutes to make vegan tomato soup and grilled cheese. I’d counsel coconut milk within the soup, vegan cheddar for the sandwich, and olive oil or a plant-based butter different in each recipes.
- Gluten-free. You may make a gluten-free grilled cheese with gluten-free bread. On this case, skip the flour within the soup recipe.
Storage and Reheating
- Retailer and reheat leftover soup. Refrigerate any leftover tomato soup in an hermetic container for as much as 4 days. It’s nice warmed up within the microwave or on the range after the flavors have had extra time to mingle!
- Retailer and reheat leftover grilled cheese. Hold the grilled cheese hermetic within the fridge, too, for as much as 2 days. Reheat the sandwich within the oven or air fryer (you need to use the microwave, nevertheless it received’t be as crispy).
- Make-ahead and freezing. Home made tomato soup is great to make prematurely and freeze. Permit the soup to chill, then freeze it for as much as 2 months. Thaw the soup within the fridge earlier than reheating.
