I love a good tomato soup almost as much as I love my slow cooker and this recipe gives me both. Whether I’m serving a starter at a dinner party, making lunch or dinner for my husband and I or batch cooking for reheating through the week, Slow Cooker Tomato Soup With Homemade Croutons is a recipe that never disappoints.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, try My Favourite Tomato Soup instead!
Of course you don’t have to use homemade croutons if you don’t want to. There are plenty of crouton options available in shops as well as other things you could enjoy with this soup such as store-bought crostini, crackers or anything crispy & crunchy. However, if you have some leftover bread and a bit of olive oil, croutons are a perfect way to prevent wasting bread that might be less fresh than you’d prefer. Something sturdy like a country loaf, a baguette, ciabatta or sourdough is what’s going to work best here – something you’ve bought from the bakery and it’s ok if it’s a bit stale or a day old. In fact, it’s better.
I haven’t added any salt & pepper to this recipe because frankly I don’t think it needs it. But please do check the seasoning before serving and if needed, add salt & pepper to taste. Let’s get started!
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 2x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 large carrot, peeled & chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 vegetable stock cube or stock pot
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 500ml of boiled water from a kettle
- 50ml double cream
- Bite-size cubes of sturdy bread, such as sourdough or baguette, preferably stale
- Garlic oil or olive oil for frying croutons
Method
- Add the tinned tomatoes, chopped onion, chopped carrot, tomato paste, vegetable stock cube or stock pot, bay leaves and the sprig of rosemary to the bowl of a slow cooker along with 500ml of boiled water. Stir and turn the slow cooker onto slow for 5 hours (or high for 3 hours). Stir once or twice during the cooking time and if it looks way too dry at any time, add a little more water.
- At the end of the cooking time, take the rosemary and and the bay leaves out of the soup and use a stick blender to blend the soup in the slow cooker until it’s nice and smooth. If you don’t have a hand-held stick blender, you can use a regular blender. Simply transfer the soup to the blender carefully because it’s hot. If necessary, do it in batches and when all the soup has been blended, transfer it back to the slow cooker.
- Check the consistency of the soup and add a little more water if it’s too thick. Stir in the cream and leave the soup in the slow cooker on low heat for about 10 minutes or so to warm through while you make the croutons.
- To make the croutons, simple heat some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and toss in the bread cubes. Depending on how many you’re making, you might want to do this in batches. Fry the bread cubes until they’re crispy and golden on all sides, turning them with a pair of tongs as you cook them. Remove to a plate once done and set aside until serving.
- To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle the croutons across the top. Serve hot.
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