Every August, the same thing happens — the cherry and pear tomatoes stop trickling in and start showing up by the bowlful, faster than anyone can eat them fresh. By the time September rolls around, you’re looking for every possible way to use them up before the first frost takes them. This soup is the answer.
Version 1 is the everyday one: tomatoes straight into the pot with minced garlic, low heat, an hour of mostly walking away. The flavour is sweet and jammy — deeper than a quick soup, without turning the oven on.
Version 2 is for when you want that extra layer. Roast the tomatoes first and they come out of the oven almost caramelized — a smoky sweetness you can’t quite get any other way.
Got a handful of spinach in the fridge that’s on its last day? Stir it in before you blend. It disappears completely, and nothing goes to waste.
Use bone broth if you have it — it adds a quiet richness and slips right into the gut-health work this soup is already doing.
Both versions end the same way: a bowl of something genuinely good, a grilled cheese for dunking, and dinner done.
Garden Tomato Soup
A simple garden tomato soup made from cherry and pear tomatoes — two ways. The stove top version simmers low and slow for a sweet, jammy bowl with no oven required. The roasted version adds a layer of smoky depth for when you have a little more time. Use bone broth for an extra gut-health boost, and stir in leftover spinach before blending if you have it. Perfect with grilled cheese.
Ingredients
Method
Version 1 — Stove top Low & Slow (sweet, jammy, no oven)
- Warm 2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5–6 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Stir in the minced garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the halved tomatoes, broth, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Turn the heat down to low, set the lid slightly ajar, and let the soup simmer 45–60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have completely broken down and the flavour has deepened.
- If you’re adding spinach, stir it in now and let it wilt for about a minute.
- Blend smooth — immersion blender right in the pot, or in batches in a stand blender.
- Stir in the cream, if using, and the torn basil. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Ladle into bowls, top with extra basil, and serve with grilled cheese.
Version 2 — Roasted Tomatoes (smoky, caramelized,deeper flavour)
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the halved tomatoes and whole garlic cloves with 1 Tbsp olive oil, the salt, and the pepper. Spread in a single layer.
- Roast 25–30 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and starting to char at the edges.
- Meanwhile, warm the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5–6 minutes until soft.
- Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin and add it to the pot along with the roasted tomatoes and all their juices. Pour in the broth.
- If you’re adding spinach, stir it in now and let it wilt for about a minute.
- Simmer 5 minutes, then blend smooth.
- Stir in the cream, if using, and the torn basil. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Ladle into bowls, top with extra basil, and serve with grilled cheese.
Notes
Notes for the Cook
Which version? Version 1 is the everyday one — no oven, one pot, low effort. Version 2 is for when you want that smoky-sweet depth that only comes from roasting. Both are genuinely good; it mostly comes down to whether you want to turn the oven on.
On the broth. Chicken broth works perfectly here. Bone broth is worth using when you have it — the long simmer in Version 1 especially draws out its richness. Beyond flavour, bone broth brings collagen and minerals that support gut lining integrity, which makes it a quiet upgrade in a soup that’s already doing good work.
The spinach add-in. One or two big handfuls of fresh spinach — the kind that’s nearly past its best — go in right before blending in either version. A minute of heat is all it needs to wilt. Once blended, you won’t see it or taste it. Iron, folate, and magnesium, and nothing goes to waste.
No need to peel or seed. Roasting or simmering and blending handle the texture completely. The skins add flavour.
On sweetness. Cherry and pear tomatoes are naturally sweeter than big slicers. No added sugar needed here.
Freeze-dried garlic works well in both versions. Use about 1½ tsp in place of the 2 fresh cloves — add it with the onion so it has time to rehydrate and mellow. Red Russian garlic is bold; start conservative and adjust.
No broth? Water works. The tomatoes carry plenty of flavour on their own.
Skip the cream for dairy-free — still rich from the long cook or the roasting.
Freezes well up to 3 months. Leave the cream out and stir it in fresh when reheating.
Doubling for a crowd? For Version 2, use two baking sheets so the tomatoes roast in a single layer instead of steaming.
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