Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

This Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup is made in the Instant Pot with just a few super simple and HEALTHY ingredients. This uber-comforting plant-based soup is shockingly delicious and creamy without any dairy or coconut milk!

If you’re looking for an easy vegan tomato soup recipe that’s oil-free, healthy, and delicious, then this is the recipe for you! This Instant Pot tomato soup is made with canned tomatoes and just a few healthy pantry staples you probably have at home right now.

It’s a satisfying, customizable, and thick soup that’s just perfect for dipping. 🍲🥖 Let’s get into the details!

About this Soup

There are a lot of tomato soup recipes out there. Many contain large amounts of olive oil, cream, and white sugar. Healthier versions typically still include some oil, coconut milk, cashew cream, etc.

However, this tomato soup is the healthiest (and probably easiest) of them all! It’s seriously delicious, comforting, and creamy, even though it’s made without all of the unhealthy ingredients mentioned above.

How to Make Creamy Tomato Soup without Cream

As the name suggests, this pantry tomato soup is seriously creamy. However, this recipe does not contain:

• Cream or dairy of any kind
• Oil or butter of any kind
• Coconut milk
• Cashews
• White beans
• Flour
• Any strange (or hard to find!) ingredients

This is a vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and fat-free tomato soup that’s perfect for whole food, plant-based diets. The secret to this super thick and creamy tomato soup is…

POTATOES. 🥔

Potatoes are starchy and delicious. When added to tomato soup, they help balance the acidity of the tomatoes and make for a velvety smooth texture.

The other secret to an ultra-creamy soup is a high-speed blender that breaks everything down completely.

About the Ingredients

• Whole Peeled Tomatoes: The base for this recipe is canned whole peeled tomatoes. If you can, try to find whole San Marzano tomatoes for this recipe. They are the highest-quality tomatoes and are so flavorful. You’ll need three 14-ounce cans for this recipe. (Or one 28-ounce can plus one 14-ounce can.)
• Tomato Paste: To amp up the tomato flavor, we’re using tomato paste. We’re also cooking the tomato paste in the first step of the recipe to create an even more robust flavor.
• Potatoes: This is the secret ingredient in this creamy vegan tomato soup. Starchy and healthy potatoes allow us to skip all of the dairy and dairy substitutes, nuts, and flour.
• Onions & Garlic: Classic flavor enhancers to give this soup a bit of flavor, but not enough to overpower the tomatoes.
• Carrots: We’re adding carrots for a bit of natural sweetness, rather than adding sugar.
• Low Sodium Vegetable Broth & Water: A bit of liquid to help make the soup! Use your favorite low sodium broth.
• Thyme: Instead of the typical tomato basil soup, we’re using thyme in this recipe. Though a bit less popular than the tomato-basil combination, thyme pairs really well with tomatoes. Use dried thyme leaves, rather than ground thyme for best results.
• Black Pepper & (Optional) Cayenne: We’re adding a tiny amount of pepper to this soup in order to keep things very smooth, mellow, and versatile. Feel free to increase to 1/4 teaspoon of pepper OR to add 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of cayenne for a spicy tomato soup. Both options are delicious.

How to Make Tomato Soup

This homemade tomato soup recipe takes very little time in the kitchen. In a nutshell, here’s what you’ll do to make this Instant Pot soup:

1. Cook your onions and garlic briefly on “Saute” mode.
2. Add your tomato paste to the Instant Pot and cook for another minute or two.
3. Pour in your broth and scrape up any brown bits at the bottom of your Instant Pot.
4. Add all remaining ingredients, close the lid, then pressure cook on high.
5. Once done, wait a few minutes before carefully venting for a quick release.
6. Blend it all up until smooth and creamy.

How to Blend Your Soup

Once your soup has cooked, everything will be nice and soft. Allow the soup to cool slightly, then blend well.

To blend, you really have two options:

• The easy and lazy way is to use an immersion blender directly in your Instant Pot.
• The preferred way, which will make this soup EXTREMELY thick and creamy, is to blend in a high-speed blender.

I tested both ways multiple times and unfortunately (for those lazy people among us) you really do get a much better product when using the high-speed blender. In my Vitamix, I was able to blend everything up in just two batches and the end product looked better, tasted better, and had a better texture.

To blend in a high-speed blender:

1. Allow to cool slightly, then carefully add approximately half of the soup to your blender. (Do NOT fill the blender all the way to the top. See this how-to blend hot soup video for more details, if needed.) Carefully blend until fully smooth.
2. Transfer the blended soup to a large serving bowl or a glass container, then repeat with the other half of the soup.
3. Stir well to incorporate and serve!

How to Serve

This tomato soup is versatile and customizable. It’s also extremely low in fat and calories. Serve it alongside an entree, as an appetizer, or as a light lunch or snack.

To make this soup a meal, serve with:

• Crusty bread
• A salad
• A grilled cheese
• The entree of your choice

Topping Ideas

• A sprinkling of pumpkin seeds
• A swirl of tahini
• A drizzle of cashew cream
• A dollop of plain vegan yogurt
• A shake of nutritional yeast
• Freshly chopped herbs, such as basil
• A scoop of white beans
• A sprinkling of roasted chickpeas (for a crunch similar to a crouton)

How to Adjust the Flavor of Your Tomato Soup

The flavor of this soup will vary slightly depending on the exact kind of tomatoes you buy, how sweet your carrots are, and even which blender you decide to use.

At the end, add 1/8 teaspoon of salt, pepper, or cayenne per your taste and adjust from there.

I personally dislike tomato soup with any kind of sugar added. In this recipe, the carrots and potatoes do a great job of balancing everything. However, you can also adjust the soup with the sweetener of your choice at the end if desired.

Helpful Tools for this Recipe

• Instant Pot
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Large Cutting Board & Sharp Knife
• Vitamix or Immersion Blender

Final Thoughts

That’s really all there is to this plant-based soup! I’ve been making a similar recipe for about 8 years and am so glad to share an even healthier version of that recipe with you.

This creamy vegan tomato soup is oil-free and fat-free, but still super thick and comforting. I hope you love it!

The Background & Science Behind these Ingredients

• This is a very low-fat and oil-free recipe. Read this editorial about oil by Dr. Esselstyn or this full topic overview by Dr. Greger to learn more about the deleterious effects of oil.
• Here’s a guide to “everything you need to know about tomatoes”.
• Carrots and tomatoes are among the vegetables that are actually healthier when cooked. Have a look at this Consumer Reports vegetable guide for more information.

What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you make this recipe, then please leave a comment and rating. I would love to hear what you think and how it worked out for you!

For more easy Instant Pot recipes, please check out all of my Instant Pot recipes! Looking for dinner tonight? Here are all my main courses.