About This Recipe

Roasting tomatoes before making them into soup is the step that transforms a pleasant, homemade tomato soup into something that makes you wonder why you ever settled for tinned. The oven’s dry heat concentrates the tomatoes’ natural sugars, caramelises their edges, and intensifies their flavour in a way that no amount of simmering on the stovetop can replicate. The tomatoes go in fresh, slightly acidic, and watery. They come out collapsed, sweet, slightly jammy, and extraordinarily flavourful — a different ingredient entirely.

White beans — cannellini or butter beans — are the second ingredient that elevates this soup beyond the ordinary. Blended into the roasted tomato base, they add a creaminess that dairy would also provide, but with additional protein and fibre instead of fat and calories. The beans also provide body and substance that makes the soup genuinely filling rather than merely hydrating. The finished soup has a deep, slightly grainy texture from the blended beans that is more interesting than the perfectly smooth, somewhat thin texture of a pure tomato soup.

Fresh basil — added to the blender rather than cooked into the soup — retains its bright, clean flavour rather than developing the slightly dull, cooked taste of basil heated in the pan. A good drizzle of olive oil swirled into each bowl at serving, a scattering of torn basil leaves, and perhaps a piece of toasted sourdough alongside complete a soup that is both genuinely healthy and genuinely delicious — the combination that makes any recipe worth returning to.

History & Origins

Tomato soup as a standalone dish became popular in the late 19th century, with commercial canned tomato soup first produced by Campbell’s in the United States in 1897 and quickly becoming one of the most widely consumed soups in the Western world. The Italian tradition of pappa al pomodoro — a thick tomato and bread soup — predates the commercial version by centuries and shares the same instinct of using very ripe, flavourful tomatoes as the primary ingredient. The combination of tomato soup with beans draws on the Tuscan tradition of ribollita, which similarly uses white beans to thicken and enrich a tomato-based broth.

Why It’s Healthy

Tomatoes are the richest dietary source of lycopene, a carotenoid antioxidant with extensive research linking it to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Critically, lycopene becomes significantly more bioavailable when tomatoes are cooked and combined with fat — roasting and blending with olive oil is the optimal preparation. Cannellini beans provide soluble fibre, plant protein, iron, and magnesium. Olive oil provides oleocanthal. Garlic provides allicin. Basil provides eugenol and rosmarinic acid, both with anti-inflammatory properties. The entire soup is vegan, gluten-free, and nutritionally comprehensive at remarkably low caloric cost.

Roasted Tomato and White Bean Soup

Recipe by By butter u0026 berriesCourse: Healthy, Soup

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

Calories

1660

kcal

Ingredients

• •t1kg ripe tomatoes, halved (mix of types if possible)

• •t400g tin cannellini or butter beans, drained

• •t1 large onion, roughly chopped

• •t6 garlic cloves, skin on

• •t3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve

• •t1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• •t1 tsp sugar

• •t500ml vegetable broth

• •tLarge handful fresh basil, plus extra to serve

• •t0.5 tsp chilli flakes

• •tSalt and black pepper to taste

• •tSourdough toast to serve

Directions

• Preheat oven to 200°C. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a large baking tray.
• Add onion and garlic cloves to the tray. Drizzle everything with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season generously.
• Sprinkle with sugar and chilli flakes.
• Roast for 35 to 40 minutes until tomatoes are collapsed, caramelised and slightly charred at the edges.
• Squeeze garlic from their skins. Transfer tomatoes, onion and garlic along with all the tray juices to a blender.
• Add cannellini beans, vegetable broth and fresh basil.
• Blend until smooth. Taste and season with salt, pepper and more balsamic if needed.
• Reheat gently in a pot if needed. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh

Notes

• Use the ripest, most flavourful tomatoes available — the roasting concentrates whatever flavour is already there. Bland tomatoes produce a bland soup regardless of technique.
  The balsamic vinegar on the tomatoes deepens the caramelisation and adds a slight sweetness that rounds out the acidity.
  Keep the garlic skin on during roasting — it protects the cloves from burning. Squeezing them out after cooking takes 5 seconds.
  The soup will be thicker than expected from the blended beans — add extra broth until you reach the consistency you prefer.

Make Ahead Tips

This soup is made for batch cooking. Make the full batch, cool, and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for 3 months. The flavour improves significantly overnight as the roasted tomato and bean flavours meld. Always reheat gently and add the fresh basil and olive oil drizzle only at serving.

Storage & Serving

The soup keeps in the fridge for 5 days and freezes beautifully for 3 months — one of the best soups for batch cooking. Reheat gently over medium heat, stirring occasionally. It thickens on standing and in the fridge — add a splash of water or broth when reheating. Always finish with fresh basil and a generous drizzle of good olive oil at serving to restore brightness and freshness. Serve in warmed bowls with thick slices of toasted sourdough rubbed with a raw garlic clove. A simple salad of rocket and shaved Parmesan alongside turns it into a complete lunch or light dinner.

Variations & Substitutions

Stir 100ml of coconut milk into the finished soup before serving for a creamy, slightly sweet version with a hint of the tropics. Add a teaspoon of harissa to the roasting tray for a spicy, smoky variation. Top each bowl with crispy chickpeas roasted with paprika and cumin for texture. For a ribollita-style version, add torn day-old bread and cavolo nero to the soup in the final 10 minutes of heating rather than blending — a chunkier, more substantial dish entirely.

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