Quick and Easy Tomato Basil Soup

budgetmealbanquet

Feb 18, 20224 min read

At $5.64 per recipe or $0.94 per bowl, this Quick and Easy Tomato Basil Soup is budget-friendly and delicious!

One of my favorite lunchtime meals growing up was a mug of Campbell’s tomato soup in a McCoy USA Drip brown mug and a grilled cheese sandwich.

This memory is from when I was younger than the second grade. I can remember on cold days, my mother would call me in for lunch and nothing excited me as much as seeing that brown mug with tan drippings around the edge sitting at my place. I knew what was in that mug, tomato soup. It was the only soup she served in those mugs, all other soup was served in bowls.

I wish I had one of those brown mugs... so nostalgic! However, these orange mugs we picked up on a family vacation to Tennessee when the girls were in HIghschool are a close second.

Growing up, we had a farmhouse-style table that my father made for mom, custom fit to our galley-style kitchen, she was way before her time! It was modern farmhouse back in the, well, let’s not say what year!

My niece called her, Pinterest before there was a Pinterest.

My mother was always trying new dishes, different cuisines, and had a book full of cut-out recipes from magazines and newspapers. Plus all of Heloise’s and Dear Abby’s etiquette tips, plus craft and decorating ideas. She would have loved Pinterest!

Fast and easy = a win in our book!

Tomato Soup has continued to be one of my favorite soups and I have tried many different recipes throughout the years. Some very complicated recipes or time-consuming ones just didn’t make the mark. But our friend, Abby, discovered an amazing tomato basil soup recipe and made it for a church function.

It quickly became our favorite recipe. It is easy to make, uses simple ingredients that are always in our pantry, and tastes delicious. I have never found anyone who doesn’t love and ask for the recipe. We served it at our recent Galentine party and I had to make copies of the recipe for everyone to take home.

Diced tomatoes boost flavor and smooth the texture

The original recipe called for canned crushed tomatoes but I have found that I prefer diced or even whole canned tomatoes and use either an immersion blender or put small amounts in the regular blender to blend until it reaches a smooth consistency.

I’ve found the texture is better with the diced tomatoes, and it even tastes fresher. However, tomato basil soup can definitely be made with whatever tomato products you have on hand.

While I’m still on the note of tomatoes, I’ve found that Hunt tomatoes are my absolute favorite, especially if I catch them on sale. At Walmart, they’re currently $0.98 a can.

Victoria buys whatever off-brand is cheapest that week and loves this recipe just as much, but the price difference isn’t big enough to make a huge difference in my budget. I’ll stick with my Hunt’s!

Blend for the perfect texture!

Victoria recently received an immersion blender as a wedding gift (thanks, Susan!). We’ve always made this soup by putting it in the blender, but I can’t get enough of Victoria’s immersion blender! Definitely my next kitchen purchase.

Another update of ours - you can use fresh basil, but I always use dried basil. Unless I have some growing over the summer, it’s easier and cheaper to use dried. I don’t notice a big taste difference, but you can definitely use fresh if you have it on hand!

How it's made:

Start by bringing the tomatoes and chicken broth to a boil. Once it’s boiling, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.

We always use chicken bullion in this recipe, unless we recently made chicken broth. This one from Walmart is the BEST chicken bouillion I've found! It lowers the cost of this recipe, without compromising on taste.

Add the basil and sugar, then bring the heat down to low.

I always puree my tomatoes before adding the milk. The main reason is that if you’re using a blender, it’s a smaller amount to blend! With the immersion blender, I’ve found it doesn’t make a huge difference in what order you blend in. Whatever makes your heart happy, and your meal prep easier!

Stir in the butter and milk, once the butter is melted you’re ready for a hot bowl of this delightful soup!

I highly recommend drinking it out of a mug, but a bowl works too. Wasn’t that incredibly easy to make? I hope this healthy and easy soup becomes one of your family staples, just like it is in our home!

This recipe costs only $5.64 to make, and is around $0.94 per bowl! There's no place other than your own kitchen you can get a bowl of soup this incredible for that price!