It’s not terribly difficult to make homemade tomato soup — that is, if you have the time and all of the ingredients in the pantry. If you don’t have the extra time to make it from scratch, there’s one household staple ingredient that can make it quicker to get on the dinner table — and it’s not canned tomato soup. You’ll want to start with your favorite store-bought marinara sauce with two other relatively common ingredients to make it happen.
All you need to combine with the jar of marinara sauce to start is chicken stock and heavy cream to make an easy, creamy pot of tomato soup. The marinara will work as the base of the soup, and it’s ideal to choose a variety that has some seasonings or herbs to easily add flavor. Marinara is on the thicker side, so the addition of the chicken stock will help achieve that soupy consistency. A bit of heavy cream will smooth out the soup and give it creaminess and flavor to temper the flavors in the marinara. Of course, you might need a little salt and black pepper, but these three ingredients will turn out a pot of tomato soup quickly.
Tips for turning marinara, chicken stock, and heavy cream into a pot of tomato soup
To turn the three simple ingredients into flavorful tomato soup, start with a 24-ounce jar of your go-to marinara sauce. Pour it into a pot, then start with a cup of chicken stock, store-bought or homemade. For the heavy cream, ¼ cup is just enough to turn it into a creamy tomato soup. Depending on the thickness of the marinara, you might want to add more stock or water to reach your desired consistency once you start cooking all of the ingredients together. It only needs to cook over medium-low heat just until it’s warm, but you can let it sit longer for the flavors to develop further. Then, season to taste with salt and black pepper.
There are other ways to upgrade this three-ingredient soup with other ingredients that might be in the kitchen. A good idea is to stir in some freshly grated Parmesan for a touch of cheesiness and nutty flavors. A dollop of butter, especially if you want to skip the heavy cream, will add richness to each bowl of the tomato soup. Other ideal ingredients to spruce it up include fresh basil, Italian seasoning, a dash of hot sauce, or roasted garlic.
When you do have to make a batch from scratch, check out these tips to make the best homemade tomato soup, like using roasted tomatoes.
