Tomato Bisque
Ultra creamy with delicious flavor, this easy tomato bisque is a classic blend of tomatoes, onion, celery, chicken broth, heavy whipping cream, and seasonings.
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Table of Contents
- About Tomato Bisque
- What is a bisque?
- Why is there honey in this soup?
- What goes well with tomato bisque?
- How should you garnish tomato bisque?
- How long is tomato bisque good for?
- Can you freeze tomato bisque?
- Notes & tips for tomato bisque
- More great soup recipes
- How to make tomato bisque
- Recipe Details
About Tomato Bisque
Simple and versatile, this classic tomato bisque is easy to make and still has restaurant-quality flavor. Plus, it can be served as an appetizer, side dish, or even as a main dish with a hearty side of bread (such as a cheesy and gooey grilled cheese).
What is a bisque?
A bisque is similar to a traditional soup, except a bisque always has the trademark of a thick and creamy texture. This is because there’s a healthy dose of flour and heavy whipping cream in the ingredients (thickening the soup) and that the cooked soup is blended before serving (making it smooth and creamy.)
Why is there honey in this soup?
Honey (or sugar) helps cut the acidity of the tomatoes and makes for a better-tasting soup. But if you prefer a sharp flavor that tomatoes can bring, feel free to leave the honey out.
What goes well with tomato bisque?
When it comes to tomato bisque, any type of bread ((toasted or not) is an excellent addition, such as french bread, garlic bread, cheesy bread, etc.
But the absolute best bread choice with tomato bisque? A grilled cheese sandwich.
Because dunking a freshly made grilled cheese sandwich in homemade tomato bisque is like a whole delicious meal all by itself.
How should you garnish tomato bisque?
This recipe calls for using a sprinkling of fresh parsley and more heavy whipping cream as garnish, but you can also experiment with any (or many) of the following toppings:
- Croutons
- Fresh thyme
- Cheddar cheese
- Bacon bits
How long is tomato bisque good for?
Once prepared and cooled, tomato bisque can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three to four days.
Can you freeze tomato bisque?
I wish I had better news for you here, but I wouldn’t recommend freezing this soup.
When it comes to dairy, and especially cream, the ingredients can separate and change their texture once frozen. And when it comes to a creamy soup like this one, the odds are not in its favor for this soup to still be the one you remember once it’s been frozen.
However, if you simply must freeze this soup, be sure to completely chill the soup in the refrigerator before transferring to the freezer in a sealed container.
Notes & tips for tomato bisque
- Once you’ve made this soup, you may want to serve it up in some classic soup bowls. I have these soup bowls in a few different colors and love them!
- This soup is made using a dutch oven. There are plenty of pricey name-brand options out there, but I’ve used this Dutch oven for years and it’s still holding up just fine.
- To get the creamy texture of this soup, it needs to be blended. I recommend using an immersion blender, but you can also use a food processor and blend the soup in batches.
- If you’d like this soup to have a spicy kick, add anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cayenne pepper at the same time you add the dried basil.
- If you love cheesy soups, feel free to add some shredded cheddar cheese at the same time as the heavy whipping cream.
- You can use either canned crushed tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes for this recipe.
More great soup recipes
How to make tomato bisque
This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. If you’re looking for the full recipe measurements and instructions, scroll down to Recipe Details.
Step 1 – In a large Dutch oven, heat the extra virgin olive oil, then toss in the sweet onion, celery, garlic, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook everything together until the onions are tender and translucent.
Step 2 – Add flour to the dutch oven, then stir and cook for one minute.
Step 3 – While continuing to stir, add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, and honey.
Step 4 – Bring the soup to a simmer and let it cook, stirring occasionally.
Step 5 – Remove the saucepan from heat and blend the soup with an immersion blender or food processor. The goal is to make the soup ultra-creamy, but feel free to blend it to whatever consistency that you’d like.
Step 6 – Pour in the heavy whipping cream and mix well.
Step 7 – Serve and enjoy!
Tomato Bisque
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced sweet onion, or up to 1 1/2 cups, to taste
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, plus more for garnish (optional)
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven over medium heat, warm extra virgin olive oil. Add sweet onion, celery, garlic, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, about 8 to 9 minutes.2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup diced sweet onion, 1/2 cup diced celery, 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Add flour and stir, coating vegetables. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- While continuing to stir, pour in chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, and honey.4 cup chicken broth, 28 ounce crushed tomatoes, 1/2 tablespoon honey
- Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow soup to cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove dutch oven from heat. Using an immersion blender or a food processor, blend soup until smooth or do desired texture.
- Add heavy whipping cream to soup, then stir until incorporated.1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Serve soup immediately with fresh parsley and a drizzle of heavy whipping cream as garnish (both optional).1 cup heavy whipping cream, fresh parsley
Nutrition
I do my best to provide nutrition information, but please keep in mind that I’m not a certified nutritionist. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values.
