Freezer-Friendly Roasted Tomato Soup

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My neighbor stopped by and dropped off tomatoes. That is a kind thing to do, and it is also how I ended up with more tomatoes in a season where I am already burnt out on canning them.

So these did not go in jars. They went in the oven, and this is what I do with tomatoes when I cannot face another water bath. It bottles up summer all winter long, which is the whole reason it earns the freezer space.

It is a roasting recipe more than a soup recipe. Four or five pounds of tomatoes, two onions, and a whole head of garlic go into a hot oven and come out soft, sweet, and a little caramelized at the edges. Everything after that is just blending and simmering.

It freezes plain, which is the part I like best. No cream goes in until you reheat it, so one batch can be dairy or not, depending on the meal you are putting it with.

Why you roast the tomatoes instead of simmering them

Tomatoes are mostly water. Simmer them on the stove and you are cooking that water off slowly while everything sits in it, and you end up with something that tastes thin and sharp no matter how long you give it.

A hot oven does two things at once. It drives the water off fast, and it browns the sugars at the cut edges of the tomatoes and the onions. That browning is the deep, almost sweet flavor you are after, and there is no way to add it back in later. If the oven does not put it there, the pot will not either.

What I have learned making this

• Cut side up. The juice stays in the tomato instead of running out onto the pan and scorching.
• Do not crowd the pans. Use two if you need them. Crowded tomatoes steam each other, and steaming is exactly what you are trying to avoid.
• Roast the garlic whole. Slice the top off the head and leave it in its skins. It comes out sweet and mellow. Minced garlic dropped into a pot is a sharper, thinner thing.
• Scrape the pan into the pot. The dark sticky bits stuck to the sheet pan are the best flavor in the whole recipe. Do not leave them for the dishwater.
• Taste before you add the sugar. Some tomatoes need it and some do not. A small grated carrot does the same job more gently if you would rather not add sugar.

How to freeze it

• Cool it all the way down first. Warm soup going into the freezer raises the temperature around it and forms bigger ice crystals in the container.
• I use gallon bags. Ladle the cooled soup into gallon freezer bags. They lie flat, they stack, and they thaw faster than a jar does.
• Lay them flat with a towel between each one. Paper towels or dishtowels, either works. Freeze them on a sheet pan until solid. Skip the towels and they come out as one block you cannot pull apart.
• Freeze it plain. No cream, no milk. Dairy separates and turns grainy in the freezer. It goes in when you reheat it.
• Write the date on it. Four to six months is the window, and by January you will not remember.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation puts frozen soup at four to six months for best quality. Held at zero degrees it stays safe past that. It just starts tasting like the freezer.

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Freezer-Friendly Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasted tomatoes, onions, and a whole head of garlic blended into a deep, sweet soup that freezes for four to six months. Gluten-free and dairy-free as written, with cream, milk or oat milk stirred in when you reheat it.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 4 to 5 pounds ripe tomatoes halved
• 2 large onions cut into wedges
• 1 whole head garlic top sliced off
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp dried basil or a handful of fresh at the end
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp tomato paste optional, for extra richness
• 1 tsp sugar or 1 small grated carrot optional, only if the tomatoes are very acidic

Method

 

1. Heat the oven to 400F. Line two large sheet pans with parchment.
2. Halve the tomatoes and spread them cut side up on the pans. Tuck the onion wedges in around them. Slice the top off the head of garlic, set it on the pan, and drizzle everything with the olive oil. Season with the salt, pepper, basil, oregano, and thyme.
3. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the edges of the tomatoes are dark and collapsed and the onions have color on them. That browning is the whole point, so do not pull them early.
4. Let the pans cool for a few minutes. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins into a large pot and scrape in the tomatoes, onions, and every bit of juice and browned edge from the parchment.
5. Add the vegetable broth and the tomato paste if you are using it. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
6. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender, or in batches in a countertop blender with the lid vented. Taste, and only if the tomatoes were very acidic, stir in the sugar or the grated carrot.
7. Serve hot, or cool completely before freezing.

Notes

To freeze: Cool the soup completely first. I ladle it into gallon freezer bags and lay them flat on a sheet pan with a paper towel or a dishtowel between each one so they do not freeze together. Once they are solid you can stack them however you like. It keeps four to six months.

To reheat: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm it gently in a pot. It may look separated when it thaws. A whisk brings it right back.

About canning: I have not pressure canned this recipe and I do not encourage it. Tomatoes with onions and garlic blended in are no longer a high enough acid food to be safe in a water bath canner. The National Center for Home Food Preservation does not recommend canning pureed or thickened soups at all. The freezer is how I keep this one.

Dairy: As written this is gluten-free and dairy-free, and it freezes that way. After it thaws, I reheat it in a pot and stir in cream, milk or oat milk to make it creamy. Adding it then instead of before freezing means one batch can go either way, and if you are serving a dairy meal you can add it right at the stove.

Fresh basil: If you have it, tear a handful in after blending rather than roasting it. It stays brighter.

Questions I get about this soup

What kind of tomatoes should I use?

Paste tomatoes like Roma have less water in them and make a thicker soup. Slicers work fine and make a thinner one. Honestly, whatever you have been handed is the right answer, and a mix is better than one kind.

Do I have to peel or seed them?

No. An immersion blender takes the skins down to almost nothing. If you want it perfectly smooth, run it through a food mill or push it through a sieve after blending.

Can I use canned tomatoes?

You can, but canned tomatoes are already cooked, so roasting will not do for them what it does for fresh ones. Use them for a quick weeknight soup and save this method for the real thing.

Can I can this instead of freezing it?

I have not pressure canned this recipe and I do not encourage it. The onions, garlic, and broth bring the acidity down out of the safe range for a water bath, and a thick blended soup does not heat evenly in a jar. The freezer is how I keep this one. The National Center for Home Food Preservation goes further than I did: soups have to be pressure canned rather than water bathed, and pureed or thickened soups are not to be canned at all. If you want another way to put up the harvest without the canner, here is how I ferment vegetables.

Is it gluten-free and dairy-free?

As written, yes to both, and it freezes that way. Check your vegetable broth, because some of them are not gluten-free. The cream goes in when you reheat it, not before freezing, and oat milk works if you want it creamy and still dairy-free.

If somebody hands you a box of tomatoes this month and you cannot face the canner either, this is what I would do with them. Tell me how many bags you got out of a batch. I never seem to have any left over.

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