Better-Than-Panera Tomato Basil Soup

Better-than-Panera tomato basil soup – this hearty and tasty soup is perfect for cooler weather!

We’ve been trying to have at least one meatless meal a week, and it’s been fun to experiment. While I sometimes draw a blank and resort to these black bean tacos (which are pretty delicious), sometimes I will try a new recipe. This tomato basil soup is one of my favorite experiments yet!

I love soup, though I’m pretty picky about it. I don’t like when soup is too brothy, or when it has celery in it. Ha! However, I do love a nice, big bowl of soup that is creamy and full of flavor. That’s exactly what this creamy tomato basil soup is.

Tomato soup is so simple, but it’s really one of those comfort foods I enjoy – especially when it’s topped with crunchy croutons. I absolutely love the tomato soup that they have at Panera, and after I made this, I felt like it was even better. So, hence the title, better-than-Panera tomato basil soup!

I used a combination of fresh and canned tomatoes. At first I just used the fresh, but then I felt like it needed a little more liquid that comes from the canned tomatoes. I also used almond milk, but you could probably use half-and-half, cream, or even coconut milk as well. The flavor was SO good though – Forrest agreed!

I think adding the mozzarella cheese gave it an additional dimension that made this soup even more delicious. It’s really a pretty simple soup to make, and it’s perfect for the cooler weather than *hopefully* lies ahead.

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Better-than-Panera Tomato Soup

Yield: 6

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes, quartered
• Olive oil
• Pepper
• Sea salt
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1 cup almond milk, or coconut milk, or 1/2 and 1/2, or heavy cream
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss tomatoes generously with olive oil, pepper, and salt.
3. Place in oven and bake about 40-50 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to blister.
4. After tomatoes are cooked, place in a large pot with chicken broth, canned tomatoes, garlic, onion powder, and fresh basil.
5. Bring to a boil and let boil for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
6. Add almond milk and bring soup down to a simmer and let simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Stir in mozzarella and let cook for another five minutes.
8. Serve hot with croutons and bread!