• Home
  • Email List
  • Cookbooks
  • FAQs
  • Instant Pot Secrets
  • Sponsor Me

365 Days of Slow Cooking and Pressure Cooking

Easy slow cooker and Instant Pot recipes for each day of the year

  • Filter Recipes
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Meatless
  • healthy
  • Soups

February 17, 2011

America’s Test Kitchen–Creamy Tomato Soup Review

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

*Recipe used with permission from America’s Test Kitchen*
This recipe is straight from the new slow cooker cookbook from the chefs at America’s Test Kitchen. 
And I got to try it and now I get to share it with you.  We are so lucky.

Serves: 6 to 8  
Cooking Time: 4 to 6 hours on Low

Why this recipe works: Making a deeply flavored tomato soup is hard enough on the stovetop but getting the consistency right in a slow cooker seemed daunting at best. First, there was the issue of the tomatoes (fresh or canned?) and second, the matter of technique (how to add flavor and texture to the soup). Since perfectly ripe tomatoes are available just a few weeks a year, we turned to our trusty standby, canned diced tomatoes, which are reliable and prep-free. As for technique, the dump-and-go approach yielded lackluster, watery soup so we brought out our skillet and caramelized the tomatoes along with onions, brown sugar, and tomato paste before adding them to the slow cooker. This quick step infused the diced tomatoes with flavor and after adding a little flour for thickening, we deglazed the bottom of the skillet with broth, capturing every morsel of the flavorful brown bits for the base of the soup. To add richness, we added heavy cream and dry sherry after the soup was pureed. We like to serve this soup with Buttery Croutons (see page 41).

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained, juice reserved
1 onion, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra as needed
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons dry sherry
Pinch cayenne pepper

1. Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes, onion, sugar, tomato paste, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until tomatoes are dry and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in 1 cup broth, scraping up any brown bits; transfer to slow cooker.

2. Stir remaining 2 cups broth, reserved tomato juice, and bay leaves into slow cooker. Cover and cook until tomatoes begin to break down, 4 to 6 hours on low.

3. Discard bay leaves. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth, then transfer to large saucepan. Sir in cream, sherry, and cayenne and add additional chicken broth as needed to adjust soup consistency. Reheat soup over medium-low heat until hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Review of the Recipe:
As I browsed through the recipes in ATK’s Slow Cooker Revolution the tomato soup caught my eye.  I had been wanting to make a tomato soup since it brings me back to my childhood of grilled cheese sandwiches and canned tomato soup.  I love tomatoes.  I eat a tomato sandwich everyday for lunch.  And I never tire of it. 

So I faithfully followed the directions above and it turned out beautifully.  I served it up with grilled cheese and I had 2 bowls.  And I’ll probably have it tomorrow for lunch with my tomato sandwich.  I would give this 5 stars.  Husband wasn’t here tonight and I’m not sure what he would think…he’d probably say it would be better with meat, sausage specifically. 🙂

p.s.  every single recipe starts with a paragraph about “why the recipe works”…I love that and think it is so helpful to know the background behind each recipe 

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

9 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Meatless, Soups Tagged With: 5 stars, All Posts, americas test kitchen

Recommendations

Comments

  1. Mary F says

    December 11, 2021 at 11:40 am

    Would using vegetable broth rather chicken affect this recipe? Trying to make it vegetarian

    Reply
    • Karen says

      December 11, 2021 at 7:08 pm

      You could do that! Should be great!

      Reply
  2. Amanda says

    March 17, 2019 at 11:16 am

    Thank you so much for sharing! We love this ATK recipe. My daughter’s favorite meal is tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and she also gives this a rave review. I accidentally forgot to turn off the slow cooker before bed, so it cooked on low in the slow cooker 6 hours longer than recommended, but it was still devine. 🙂

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 18, 2019 at 10:02 am

      Glad you liked it Amanda!

      Reply
  3. Alice L. says

    September 16, 2018 at 10:48 am

    How do you think this would work with a gf flour?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      September 17, 2018 at 1:40 pm

      I bet it would work!

      Reply
  4. Mary salazar says

    August 24, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    This is the very best tomato soup I have ever tasted. Highly recommended!

    Reply
  5. Earthspaceteacher says

    November 8, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    This is the most awesome tomato soup! My family loves it!

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      November 9, 2015 at 8:13 pm

      So glad you like it!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome!

Karen photo

Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

Stay In Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Amazon Associates Disclosure

Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

365 Days of Slow Cooking © 2023 · Privacy Policy

MENU
  • Home
  • Filter
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Meatless
  • Healthy
  • Soups
  • Email List
  • Cookbooks
  • FAQs
  • Instant Pot Secrets