Dairy-free Tomato Basil Soup (gluten-free)

I am totally not a tomato fan. I don’t like tomatoes in my sandwiches, on my salads, or straight from the garden. Don’t offer me ketchup, but I will take bar-b-que sauce. And I will eat a whole jar of salsa in one setting. But plain tomatoes, no thank you. However, I have always been intrigued by tomato soup. It was a soup that I always wanted to try but was scared of at the same time. How could something made predominately with tomatoes taste good? But when I made this homemade dairy-free tomato basil soup, I was hooked! Still not a tomato fan, but give me tomato soup and a warm grilled cheese sandwich any day!

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Pioneer Recipe

While I don’t know if the early pioneers made tomato soup or not, I am qualifying this recipe as a pioneer recipe (as opposed to a modern pioneer recipe) because of its simple, home-sourced ingredients. You can certainly make this soup completely from scratch using ingredients sourced right from the homestead garden or homestead pantry!

Here is a quick guide to sourcing the ingredients for this soup from your homestead.

Ingredient Source Guide:

• tomatoes & onions– make sure you grow tomatoes and onions in your homestead garden!
• garlic– garlic is a super fun homestead crop to grow and harvest every fall and summer!
• salt & pepper– I always have these two essential flavors in my homestead kitchen
• basil– every homestead herb garden needs a basil plant!
• oil & sugar– olive oil and coconut sugar are two ingredient staples that I always keep stocked in my homestead pantry
• bacon fat– I always save the leftover bacon fat whenever I cook bacon
• flour– cassava flour is my grain-free all-purpose flour that I always keep stocked in the homestead pantry
• bone broth– canned or frozen, having homemade bone broth on hand is essential for homestead meal prep
• milk– as a dairy-free modern pioneer, I always have coconut milk or oat milk on hand for cooking and baking with, but if you have a dairy animal on your homestead then you are in luck with some fresh, home-sourced dairy to use in your soup!

As you can see, the ingredients in this flavorful soup are not only easy to source right from your homestead, but they are also wholesome and nutritious! No refined sugar, corn, bleached flour, or special additives to this tomato soup.

To top things off, this tomato soup is allergy-friendly! The perfect meal for modern pioneers with dietary restrictions. This homemade tomato soup is….

• grain-free
• gluten-free
• dairy-free
• tree nut free
• corn free
• egg free
• soy free
• refined sugar free

If you need a few other creamy soups to add to the homestead menu this winter, make sure you check out this dairy-free cauliflower soup or its more traditional counterpart, this dairy-free potato soup!

Best Tomatoes for Tomato Soup

I am certainly no tomato expert, considering I’m not a huge fan of eating tomatoes plain. And I have been known to use just about any tomato I have on hand for making into salsa, whether it be roma tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes…. they all taste good in salsa!

But when it comes to making tomato soup, I was a little more cautious about what tomatoes I chose to use in my soup. After all, I wanted to like the soup so I figured I better use the best ingredients possible to increase my chances of falling in love with tomato soup. Now that I’ve made it once and like it, I might be a little more experimental with what tomatoes I use.

For beginner tomatoe-soup-makers, this soup tomato guide should hopefully be of help:

• Ripeness– Homegrown tomatoes that have been vine-ripened will obviously be the best choice! But if your homegrown tomatoes are not in season, look for organic tomatoes that have been vine ripened.
• Type– Plum tomatoes are generally considered the best soup tomatoes because they are meaty, flavorful, and have a low water content. There are several different varities of plum tomatoes and they are often used for making into tomato sauce or paste as well.
• Flavor– For the best flavored soup, make sure your tomatoes are sun-ripened, vine ripened, and fully ripe before making them into soup.

Two plum tomato varieties that make amazing tomato soup include Roma tomatoes and San Marzano tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes can also be made into tomato soup, and they often yield a flavorful, sweeter tomato soup. You can even make tomato soup with larger varieties of tomatoes, like beefsteak tomatoes. Larger tomatoes will often make a lighter, less flavorful soup since they tend to have a higher water content.

Canned or Fresh?

While using fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes are the best for making tomato soup, that doesn’t leave you with too many options when tomatoes are out of season on your homestead. However, you can make tomato soup using canned tomatoes! The key to using canned tomatoes is to try and use whole, plum variety canned tomatoes that are not too watery.

Home-canning your tomato harvest on the homestead is a great way to save tomatoes for making tomato soup during the winter months! If your canned tomatoes are too watery, just add a little tomato paste or more coconut cream to help thicken up the soup.

Did you turn all your garden tomatoes into canned salsa instead? That’s okay! You can still make this delicious venison bean chili soup using your home canned salsa!

Tomato Soup Recipe Tips

Do the tomatoes have to be roasted before making them into soup?

Fresh tomatoes are best roasted before making them into soup. Roasting helps enhance their flavor. For sweet tomatoes, like cherry tomatoes, you can probably get away without roasting them and still end up with a flavorful soup. Large tomatoes and plum varieties benefit from a pre-soup roast though.

If you are using canned tomatoes, you obvisouly don’t have to roast those before blending them into the soup!

Should I peel the tomatoes before making them into soup?

Most tomato varieties can be added whole to tomato soup! Plum varieties and sweet cherry tomatoes can all be left with their skins on and seeds in when making tomato soup. Some larger tomato varieties will have a core at the stem end of them that you may want to remove before making them into soup.

The only other time you might consider peeling your tomatoes is if you don’t have a high-power blender and you want a smooth, chunk-free tomato soup. You can peel the tomatoes to make them blend better and yield a smoother soup. However, most high-power blenders do an excellent job at pureeing tomatoes, skin and all.

How is the best way to puree tomato soup?

Which brings us to our next recipe tip… the best way to puree tomato soup. I knew that if I was going to like tomato soup, it was going to have to be blended and smooth to perfection! A high-power blender, like my Vitamix, was just the tool I needed to make a smooth tomato soup.

However, you can also use a food processor or an immersion blender to blend the soup ingredients together. Keep in mind that a food processor or an immersion blender may not yield quite as smooth of a soup compared to a high-power blender.

Should I use fresh or dried basil in tomato soup?

You can use fresh or dried basil in tomato soup! Generally, when using dried herbs you will want to use less than if you were using the fresh herb. However, I have found with basil that it really doesn’t matter. I used a 1/4 cup of dried basil in my tomato soup and it was not too over-powering of a flavor.

What’s the best dairy-free milk to use in tomato soup?

You can use just about any dairy-free milk alternative you want in your soup! If you are not dairy intolerant, you can also use raw whole milk instead of a dairy-free alternative. I like to use coconut milk beverage in my tomato soup since it is a mild flavored dairy-free milk.

For a thicker soup, you might consider using coconut cream instead of milk.

What kind of broth should I use in tomato soup?

Homemade bone broth is the best broth to use in this homemade soup. It will yield the most flavor and nutrition! Chicken bone broth, beef bone broth, or even venison bone broth can be used in tomato soup since there are so many other flavors that the broth flavor does not stand out. You can also use homemade vegetable broth in tomato soup as well.

This dairy-free tomato basil soup is super easy to make, uses wholesome ingredients that can be sourced right from the homestead, and it is bursting with flavor! Serve it up with a gluten-free grilled cheese sandwich and your favorite gluten-free soup crackers for a nutritious and delicious homestead meal!

Where to Find the Ingredients

• Pompeian extra virgin olive oil
• Redmond real salt
• Otto’s Naturals cassava flour
• Anthony’s coconut sugar
• Pacific coconut milk
• Native Forest coconut cream
• Organic canned San Marzano tomatoes
• Supplies: large stainless steel saucepan, stainless steel soup ladle, Vitamix blender

This dairy-free tomato basil soup is bursting with flavor and nutritious ingredients! Everything can be sourced right from your homestead pantry, harvested from your homestead garden, or made from scratch in your homestead kitchen. I love having a bowl of this tomato soup with a fresh grilled cheese sandwich (made in a cast iron skillet of course) and topped with some crushed cauliflower crackers. Even modern pioneers who are not a fan of tomatoes (like myself) may find themselves pleasantly addicted to this tomato soup!  

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by Alexa