Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Slow Cooker Tomato Soup


If there was one meal I could feed to Adam every day that he would never complain about, it would be grilled cheese and tomato soup. So much so that I've started stockpiling those red and white cans of tomato soup in the pantry for when one of "those days" rolls around. Right next to the blue box blues.

Yes, even my pantry has it's own dirty little secrets.

Like most things, the homemade version is way better than store-bought. However, also like most homemade things -- this takes a bit longer than the open-can-dump-in-bowl-place-in-microwave store-bought variety. Even in the slow cooker form.

BUT, if you're actually craving tomato soup and not just pulling it out of thin air as a last minute dinner option, then making it yourself is really the way to go. Trust.

Campbell's doesn't give you the option to leave things slightly chunky or ridiculously smooth. It doesn't have the extra nuance from the bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and sherry. And it most certainly doesn't have that lovely extra bit of creaminess, even if you use milk instead of water. It.just.doesn't.

But this does. And it's fantastic. Which is why you should really hope for a rainy day soon. I mean, if you really need that excuse and all.

Slow Cooker Tomato Soup
Adapted from: Pass the Sushi

2 tablespoons butter
3 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained and juices reserved
2 cups onion, diced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 cup light cream
2 teaspoons cooking sherry
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Stir in tomatoes (without juice), onion, sugar, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes become lightly browned and dry, 8-10 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook for an additional minute. Slowly pour in 1 cup chicken broth, whisking constantly. Pour tomato mixture into a slow cooker (with no plastic liner).

Add the remaining chicken broth, reserved tomato juice, and bay leaves, stirring to combine. Cover and cook on low, 4-6 hours.

Remove bay leaves and lower heat to "warm". Puree soup in the slow cooker with an immersion blender until smooth (or transfer in batches to a regular blender, then return to slow cooker). Add the cream, sherry, and cayenne and still until fully combined. Add additional chicken broth if soup is too thick.


Serves: 6


The only thing I forgot to do when making this was to throw in the rind from some Parmesan cheese to add another layer of flavor in this soup. Dang it. Next time. And according to the hubby, there will most definitely be a next time. If you happen to make this (which why isn't it on your to-make list already?), try it out for me and let me know how that goes. Just make sure to pull out any remaining rind before pureeing away.

Oh, and happy day -- the homemade version is actually lower in calories and sodium than the Healthy Request canned version (1 cup vs. 1 cup). A little more saturated fat, but I think taste totally trumps that in this case.


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 388g
Amount per serving
Calories 144Calories from fat 67
% Daily Value
Total Fat 7.5g12%
Saturated Fat 4.5g22%
Cholesterol 21mg7%
Sodium 275mg11%
Total Carbs 17.0g6%
Fiber 3.5g14%
Sugars 8.9g
Protein 3.9g
Vitamin A 41%Vitamin C 50%
Calcium 5%Iron 8%

11 comments:

  1. I never knew tomato soup could be made in the slow cooker!! This is great!!

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  2. I love love grilled cheese and tomato soup, but making it homemade is definitely better. What a fun idea to make it in the slow cooker!

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  3. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is such a classic. This soup founds fantastic. I love the convenience of slow cooker recipes, with a little planning they make life so much easier.

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  4. I love checking posts to see recipes I recognize! Totally makes my day. :)
    I actually wasn't a fan of tomato soup - until I made this one. I had never had one that tasted like this, or maybe my taste buds have gown a bit. I recently tried another crock pot version and it wasn't nearly as good as this one. Glad you both liked it :)

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  5. We are huge fans of grilled cheese and tomato soup at my house. My husband gets super fancy with the grilled cheese adding multiple kinds of cheese and sometimes a tomato or sauted mushrooms. I never even would have thought of making my own tomato soup thinking it's not worth the effort. This recipe however looks super easy and delicious!

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  6. Mmm, this sounds fantastic - tomato soup is utter comfort to me. I love your little bowls!

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  7. Sounds delicious! I love a good slow cooker recipe.

    I think all of our pantries have little secrets or we wouldn't be human :)

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  8. I must try this! I've been meaning to make tomato soup for, like, a year now. This recipe looks perfect. Hope you are feeling well and that training is better this week. :)

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  9. Looks delicious - I love making tomato soup from scratch but it always annoys me how long it takes. This looks like the perfect solution!

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  10. I am making this for the second time. It is by far the best tomato soup I have ever had let alone made. I didn't have sherry so I subbed in balsamic vinegar and it was still perfect! I ate it for lunch and dinner until it was all gone.

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  11. Big hit, will definitely go into the rotation for slow cooker. Delicious. Didn't bother with grilled cheese, just a great crusty baguette. And funny because I looked on my slow cooker go-to sites, and there wasn't a recipe to be found. Skipped the cayenne because had to be little-kid friendly. Didn't have sherry. Added a little homemade red wine vinegar -- too strong, so countered with another splash of cream. One thing nice is that this is a recipe list most of us tend to already have stocked in the pantry. Great find and I've already passed it among friends.

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