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Creamy Tomato Soup

by 14 Comments

I’ve always loved tomato soup. I remember eating it by the bowlful as a kid along with my grilled cheese. Such an American classic combination, isn’t it? This season, Panera Bread is making a “grown up” grilled cheese on some kind of artisan bread with 2 different types of cheese, sliced apple, and smoked bacon. Sounds great, doesn’t it? I haven’t tried it but I did try their creamy tomato soup. Amazing!

Of course, after I tried it, I came home and tried to find a Panera Creamy tomato soup recipe. I did find something that claimed to be from their cookbook, but the photos looked too orange to be the same version. My version is quite similar but it does not use flour or bay leaf, and it uses much less dairy.

I’ve made it twice in the past week. It makes a fairly healthy lunch and it’s a good way to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet (tomato is a fruit, no?). I like to slow cook the tomatoes to bring out their natural sweetness.

If you’d like to make your own croutons, use Italian or French bread and cut into cubes. Melt a bit of butter in a saute pan, and toss the bread cubes to coat. If desired, sprinkle on some grated cheese of your choice, salt, and pepper to add even more flavor. Cook over low heat until browned on all sides.

 

5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

  • two 28-cans of crushed or whole tomatoes crushed/diced
  • 1 cup sweet onions , sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic , smashed
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • croutons

Instructions

  1. In a large saute pan, melt butter and olive oil over medium heat.
  2. Add onions and garlic and cook for about 15 minutes
  3. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, oregano, and red pepper
  4. Cover and heat over low heat for 1 hour
  5. Remove from heat, pour into blender and blend until smooth
  6. Stir in cream
  7. Garnish with croutons if desired

Recipe Notes

Use a high-quality brand of tomato (RedPack is my favorite but it's sometimes hard to find. Imported tomatoes or San Marzanos are very good)

 

Comments

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  1. Wow..I just made this and it tastes EXACTLY like Panera’s creamy tomato soup. Thank you! Will never have to go to panera again just to get this soup

    Reply

  2. This soup was fantastic! I was looking for a copycat Panera tomato soup and this is it! and it is much healthier. I have tried two other copycat recipes and this one is much better. I used 10% cream for the cream as it was all I had and it worked well. Thank you!

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  3. Looks yummy!! I got to panera for lunch almost everyday and get it with the grilled cheese! I always get 2 bowls to go! If i keep doing that i think they might cut me off! Lol!

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    • I love Panera! I go really often too but haven’t had the tomato soup in a while. If you try this version make sure to use good tomatoes (Muir Glen or San Marzano) as that’s the secret to a good tomato soup:)

      Reply

  6. YES! I have been spending crazy amounts of money getting quarts of this soup to go from Panera and this tastes just like it! I roasted my garlic first and used about 4 roasted cloves. Then I used 1 28oz can whole marzano tomatoes, 1 pint fresh tomatoes, and 2 cups of frozen diced romas. Thanks for sharing!!

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