Easy Three-Ingredient Tomato Soup
My favorite tomato soup recipe! You wouldn’t think that three ingredients — butter, onion, and tomato — can come together to make such a velvety and delicious tomato soup, but let me tell you. They can. Jump to the Tomato Soup Recipe or watch our quick recipe video showing how to make it.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
How To Make The Easiest Tomato Soup From Scratch
This simple homemade tomato soup is quick, easy, and insanely delicious.
The soup is inspired by one of the most famous recipes out there — Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce. Butter, tomatoes, and onion are simmered until slightly thickened. Out comes the onion and the sauce is ready to be spooned over pasta.
It’s genius and absolutely delicious. We use the same three ingredients in this tomato soup, but add a little water and blend everything together just before serving.
Making The Soup
Here’s how to the best (and easiest) tomato soup
Add water or broth and simmer. Bring everything to a low simmer, add some salt and leave it alone for about 40 minutes. See how creamy it gets? That’s thanks to the butter.
Blend. I find an immersion blender is useful, but a blender works, too. Adjust the soup for seasoning then grab a bowl…and maybe a grilled cheese sandwich? This soup is also amazing topped with homemade croutons or served next to this easy buttery garlic bread.
What Tomatoes Should I Use
This tomato soup is excellent with canned tomatoes. I love using whole peeled tomatoes or crushed tomatoes. By the way, we love San Marzano Tomatoes and are always pleased with tomatoes from Muir Glen. Neither are watery and both taste great.
You can also use fresh tomatoes. You will need 10 to 12 whole tomatoes (or about 2 pounds). It’s best to peel them, but we have made the soup with unpeeled tomatoes.
A Quick Recap
This is your new favorite weeknight meal. Promise.
- This tomato soup has three ingredients (plus water and salt).
- Everything is tossed into a pan — no browning, no hovering over a stove.
- You can use canned tomatoes — and should.
- Did I mention there are only three ingredients?
What Our Readers Are Saying
If you don’t believe that our recipe helps you achieve perfect tomato soup at home, take a look at what our readers are saying about the recipe! More reviews are in the comments section below.
“WOW!! What a delicious and easy tomato soup, my three and one-year old were as thrilled as my husband and I were.” – Ashley
“This is the best tomato soup, hands down!! Cannot say that emphatically enough. Did not change a thing from the recipe and it was perfect. Couldn’t be easier to make.” – John
“Made this exactly as written. Oh my gosh, this was amazing!!!” – Dayna
More Easy Soup Recipes
- You might also want to take a peek at our chilled tomato soup recipe (Gazpacho)
- Try this Incredibly Easy and Creamy Vegetable Soup Recipe. It’s one of our absolute favorites and something we make often.
- A wonderful recipe for homemade vegetable broth — It’s ultra-satisfying!
- Or, for something a little different, our roasted tomato soup with lemon and thyme.
- This easy homemade chicken noodle soup recipe is healthy, satisfying, and tastes incredible. It’s faster to make than the traditional version, too!
Recipe updated, originally posted October 2015. Since posting this in 2015, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne
Easy Three-Ingredient Tomato Soup
- PREP
You only need three main ingredients to make this velvety, rich tomato soup recipe. This, friends is your new favorite weeknight meal.
Makes 2 generous servings
You Will Need
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 large onion, cut into large wedges
1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes, we prefer to use whole peeled or crushed, see notes for fresh tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water, low sodium vegetable stock, or chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or more to taste
Directions
Melt butter over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large saucepan.
Add onion wedges, water, can of tomatoes with their juices, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally and add additional salt as needed.
Blend the soup, and then season to taste. The soup doesn’t need to be ultra-smooth, some texture is a nice touch. An immersion blender does make quick work of this, or you can use a blender. If you use a regular blender, it is best to blend in batches and not fill the blender as much as you usually would since the soup is so hot. We like to remove the center insert of the lid and cover it with a kitchen towel while blending — this helps to release some of the steam and prevents the blender lid from popping off (which can be a big, hot mess).
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Can I use fresh tomatoes? Yes. If you want to use fresh tomatoes, you will need 10 to 12 medium tomatoes (or about 2 pounds). You can peel them, but we skip this step since we will be blending the soup in the end anyway.
- Can I add basil? This soup is delicious with and without basil. Adding a handful of fresh basil at the end before blending the soup is a fantastic idea.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values. We have omitted salt since you will need to add to your tastes.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Serving Size Half of the recipe / Calories 348 / Total Fat 24.9g / Saturated Fat 14.8g / Cholesterol 61mg / Sodium 1485.4mg / Carbohydrate 29.6g / Dietary Fiber 4.5g / Total Sugars 15.4g / Protein 7.8g
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WOW!! What a delicious and easy soup, my three and one-year old were as thrilled as my husband and I were. I made a couple of changes, based on some of the other reviews – I added 1/2tsp of sugar and a small handful of chopped basil as it cooked. Then just before blending I added 1c of half and half. Absolutely wonderful. Will definitely be adding this to our normal rotation.
This soup is amazing! I have made it 4 times now exactly as it is and my husband loves it. I have another pot going on the stove right now. And, the can of San Marzano whole tomatoes is almost 4 times this recipe which i used for a crowed when my 3 kids came home. They too loved it.
I love this soup, easy to mak, delious to eat. I made this soup when I developed an allegy with tinned soup due to rapeseed oil being used ( It is in everything sadly) happily Ichanced upon this recipe and so far have passed to to all my friends, who are also loving it, thank you so much, it means I can once more enjoy tomato soup with a piece of home made bread
So good! I’ve made it twice already and can’t wait to make it again. Perfect as is with 3 ingredients. I will try to dabble and add garlic and basil next time. I always have these ingredients on hand.Like everyone else said I won’t buy store bought again
Just made your tomato soup,bought a French stick and dunked into soup,so delicious. Yum yum
Have most that have made this recipe use water, or chicken broth? thanks
Hi Lynn, We use water quite often, but think broth gives it a slight edge on flavor.
I’ve made this soup at least 3 times. It’s easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. Perfect comfort food, especially when served with a grilled cheese sandwich! The only change I make is adding a pinch of baking soda before blending to neutralize some of the acid.
This is the best tomatoe soup, hands down!! Cannot say that emphatically enough. Did not change a thing from the recipe and it was perfect. Couldn’t be easier to make.
This soup was amazing I cut mine in half used a 14oz can of Mutti cherry tomatoes less onion and butter of course. Added 1/2 tsp of sugar salt to taste. My special ingredient, after all, was done was 1/3 coconut milk ( like mine creamy) It was delicious without but the coconut milk made it amazing. Very easy and delicious recipe will definitely make this again?
This soup is delicious! I’ve made it many times now and my 7 year old loves it and eats it all up. I’m making a triple batch right now.
Amazing! Simply amazing. I love me some delicious tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. This soup is so easy, I loved it. I did add a little bit of sugar. Not too much bc I didn’t want it to be too sweet. It was just right. I doubled the recipe. Most places I’ve tried tomato soup at, disappoint. Now I can make my own. Thank u for sharing this recipe. Will definitely be making it again and again and again and again.
This was sooooo good and so so simple. I did add two tweaks though. A tiny bit of sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon) to balance the tartness of the tomatoes, and a teaspoon of baking powder to cut the acidity of the soup and make it easier on the stomach. Definitely going into my recipe box!
Thank you for a great recipe! I made a batch on the weekend to use up tomatoes from my parent’s garden. Absolutely delicious! Your notes are super helpful. Not quite soup weather in Australia at the moment, but there’s always an exception 🙂
Did you see the tomatoes?
Can you use milk. Some canned tomato soups say add water or milk and i have used milk for years.
You can add a little milk towards the end to add a little creaminess.
Would this recipe work with me using veg broth instead of the water or chicken broth
Yes, definitely!
I must admit, I was 50/50 about this recipe. I read all the reviews and being in the midst of grocery shopping, craving soup, I bought the three ingredients and hoped for the best. IM. IN. SHOCK!!!! Not only did I double the recipe, I’m going out to grab more canned tomatoes and making another batch today!! When I tell you I was so weary- I was, so out of fear I did sauté the onion, and tossed in one celery, a handful of shredded carrots, and a garlic clove. I know! those little additions did not add much difference to the flavor profile, and can’t encourage you enough! to make this. Make it now! I did happen to come across a sale on Pomi tomatoes (I’ve never used them) and I happen to have a 28 oz jar of Muir Glenn tomatoes, perhaps using these particular brands is what knocks this simple AF soup out-the-park!!! Being on Whole30, I didn’t add cream, but my god what a dash of cream would do to this! Oh, and I made it in my Instant Pot (who has 40 minutes to wait for soup) I tossed in all ingredients and set the timer on Soup for 20 minutes, then went at it with my immersion blender. Tossed in some basil and OH MY GOD! Can’t wait to have it again today 🙂
Love this soup. Added 1/2 cup milk and 1t. sugar to cut acidity. Tx for such an easy, delicious soup!!