Learn how to make the BEST Vegan Tomato Soup ever! Silky smooth, dairy free but creamy and made with simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry right now.
One of my kid’s favorite dinners is grilled (vegan) cheese and tomato soup. I make a batch of Stretchy Vegan Mozzarella for the “cheese” and pair it with an easy homemade tomato soup.
I’ve been wanting to share this recipe for quite some time and am finally getting it out there. I hope you love this easy, creamy soup as much as my family does!
How to make Easy Vegan Tomato Soup
(The full ingredient list and instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom, this is an overview)
- In a large pot, saute a chopped onion in a little olive oil or water.
- Add a can of crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- To a high powered blender, add some raw cashews.
- Add all the soup on top of the nuts. It should all fit unless your blender is small or you double the recipe.
- Blend!
- Transfer the soup back to the pot, add salt and sugar (just a teaspoon to cut the acidity) to taste.
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Special Tips & Substitutions
- Nut Free: You can make this without nuts, though using cashews makes for the best results, in my opinion. To make nut free, stir in about 1/2 cup of coconut milk. You could also use soy or hemp milk. Make sure it is unsweetened and unflavored.
- No Blender? No problem. Just use one of the nut free options and an immersion blender instead. You could even skip blending altogether if you want texture, especially if you use crushed tomatoes.
- For Tomato Basil soup, add about 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves to the blender and blend along with the rest of the soup. Yum!
- I love Muir Glen brand canned tomatoes. You really want to use quality canned tomatoes for tomato soup, not the cheapest versions if possible. San Marzano tomatoes are also a great choice.
More creamy vegan soups
- Vegan Cauliflower Soup
- Easy Vegan Potato Soup
- Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Instant Pot Vegan Tomato Soup
Easy Vegan Tomato Soup
Learn how to make the BEST Vegan Tomato Soup ever! Silky smooth, dairy free but creamy and made with simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry right now.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or water for oil free)
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, optional to cut the acidity
Instructions
- In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil (or water) for 4-5 minutes over medium heat, until soft and translucent.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth and stir. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- To a high powered blender, add the raw cashews. Now carefully transfer the soup to the blender as well (unless you double the recipe, it should all fit). Use a towel to protect yourself from any splatters, and blend until very smooth.
- Return the blended soup to the pot and taste. Add salt to taste, and stir in a teaspoon of sugar to cut the acidity a little bit. Serve with salad, croutons, a loaf of bread, or dip vegan grilled cheese into it! Enjoy.
Notes
- Nut Free: Instead of cashews, simply stir in a little coconut milk from a can (1/2 cup) or even soy, hemp or oat that is unsweetened. You can also make it without any "cream" added.
- No Blender: Use one of the nut free options from above, and use an immersion blender to blend it right in the pot. It won't be as silky smooth this way, but it will still be good.
- For Tomato Basil soup, add about 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves to the blender and blend along with the other ingredients.
- For the best tomato soup, use quality canned tomatoes, not the cheapest generic version unless you have to! I use crushed, but you can also use whole canned tomatoes, or even diced.
- Store leftover soup in the refrigerator for 4 days. It freezes very well.
- Instant Pot: To make this in an Instant Pot, first saute the onion in the inner pot, then add the tomatoes and broth. Seal and cook for 5 minutes on high pressure. Continue with blending, and adding salt/sugar to taste.
Nutrition
Calories: 173kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1026mg | Potassium: 728mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 677IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 4mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!
Good day beautiful woman…. I was so impressed with this soup.. I didn’t do any adjustments other than just a little bit of garlic because you can’t go wrong with garlic …but I find myself when needing a recipe I always end up on your page …your recipes are easy and fantastic !!!! everybody thinks I’m this glorious cook when I have to give you all the credit LOL thank you for sharing your gift with us!!!
You’re so welcome!
So I only have roasted cashews. Do they have to be raw?
For this recipe, I think using roasted cashews should be okay. But I haven’t tried it, the soup may have a nuttier flavor than if you used raw cashews.
This soup is so delicious. I had a huge can of Sam’s Member’s Mark crushed tomatoes and thought I’d give it a try. Followed the recipe according to instructions and will not deviate.
?Delicious and so easy! Made it in a Blendtec on soup mode and it worked great! We also added garlic and an extra can of tomato to make the tomato flavor stronger!
This was absolutely amazing! I used Real Tomatoes instead of Canned Tomatoes, and I added Garlic. Which Made it have a little boost in flavor I may add! But It was still amazing!! This was so good!
Thank you! 😀
I love tomato soup and so glad I came across your recipe. It is so good and easy and quick. I highly recommend to anyone who likes tomato soup. Oh by the way I did not add any sugar was fine without, I added a tad salt and pepper right before serving.
Thank you
Syl
You’re welcome!
Delicious and easy! Thanks!
You’re welcome!
I’m excited to try this for dinner! Should I soak the cashews first or just throw them in as is?
I hope you love it! I don’t soak them first because the soup will be hot and help them blend well.
The soup was excellent! Every recipe I found online was so complicated and had a bunch of ingredients, so I was grateful to find your recipe which is much more simple but still delicious! I didn’t make any changes/adjustments and I wouldn’t change a thing 🙂
That’s so great! Thanks so much!
I’m writing this comment while I eat this delicious soup. I’m trying this recipe for the first time, and I must confess that it is delicious! Honestly, your blog has become my favorite vegan food blog. To the point that 90% of what I make these days come from your blog. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes with us.
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the comment!
Could I substitute agave or maple syrup for the granulated sugar?
Sure, no problem.
This is so good and very easy to make. My non vegan daughter had to take some home with her!
Just made this tomato soup and it is delicious!
This is super tasty.
I had to use coconut cream instead of cashews. I also went against the advice of not using cheap, crushed tomatoes, it was all I had in the pantry. But it still turned out pretty great. And it was super easy.
I highly recommend this recipe.
Girl……..This is good! Easy, quick, tasty. Love it.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.
We have a ton of tomatoes on the vine. Can I substitute them for the canned variety and if so, how many? Thanks!
Yes, I believe you could though I haven’t tried it yet. About 4 cups of chopped tomatoes should do it, so maybe 4-6 tomatoes depending on the size. I think you should peel them as well, but again I haven’t tested it. Hope that helps some!
WOW WOW WOW! This was so easy and it so easy and delicious! Being a new vegan, finding easy meals makes the difference! Thanks so much for this recipe
You’re so welcome!! So glad you enjoyed it!
Great recipe, loved the soup and very easy to put together
So high in salt though!! Is there anything I could do about it?
You can use low sodium vegetable broth, no salt added tomatoes and not add any extra salt if you’d like.
This soup is absolutely delicious! I highly recommend it and am so pleased by its simplicity. Yum! Thank you, Nora!
You’re welcome!
Nora, I love so many of your vegan recipes, but I think this might be my most favorite. I absolutely adore this soup and since finding this recipe last week I’ve made it twice so far and will many more times. Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes.
You’re welcome! Thanks for the wonderful comment!
I see what you’re saying now. I’ll add after for sure ! I was surprised the cashews weren’t soaked first. Is that correct ?
Yes, I just don’t find it necessary as the soup is so hot. Thanks!
dear Nora, this recipe is great! and I offer to pour a cup of cornflour for its thickness!
This soup is delicious. Very creamy. I added some italian herbs as well as salt.
FYI for those of you who live outside the USA and use metric 28oz of tomatoes equals 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes.
Glad you loved it!
I love tomato soup like this. My question is this…have you tried the instant pot version? I ask because every time I’ve cooked a soup that’s thick, especially with any plant based milk, I get a burn notice! Maybe cashews wouldn’t do that, but when i used blended cashews with tomato etc in a curry it sure did. I’ve tried different functions etc to no avail. So , I’ve learned to leave till after the cooking, which I guess I could do here. Just looking for other’s tips. Thick Tomato soup is my comfort food!
Yes, I have made it several times in the Instant Pot and it works fine for me. But I have had my Instant Pot for years now, and it’s not one that gives the “burn” message hardly ever. With this soup, you don’t blend with cashews until the end, so you don’t need to pressure cook it when it’s thick. That should help. I hope you enjoy the soup!