This tomato cheddar soup with grilled cheese croutons is exactly what we crave on a cold rainy day. It's an easy-to-make recipe that uses mostly pantry ingredients, and it's ready in just 30 minutes!
Ingredients
2tablespoonsolive oil
1medium onion, chopped
3clovesgarlic, minced
4tablespoonstomato paste
28ouncecan fire-roasted tomatoes, or diced tomatoes
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook it until it looks transparent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 medium onion, 3 cloves garlic
Stir the tomato paste into the onions then let it cook for about 3 minutes, until it begins to smell sweet. Then add the fire-roasted tomatoes, stock, thyme, salt, and pepper to the pot and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Blend the soup using either a blender or an immersion blender until it's smooth. See the notes if you're using a regular blender.
Stir the cheese into the pot a few handfuls at a time. Stir in the milk or cream. Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper, if you'd like.
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, ½ cup whole milk or cream
Notes
During recipe testing, we found that some less-expensive cheddar cheese didn't melt into the soup as well as better quality cheese. If your soup doesn't look silky smooth after adding the cheese, blend it one more time. We love to serve this soup topped with our grilled cheese croutons!