Vegan roasted red pepper and tomato soup with extra layers of smokiness from Spanish smoked paprika. Healthy, naturally creamy and gluten-free, the kind of easy nutrient rich soup you want to make all winter long and all the way late into spring.
This is simply the best soup when served with a drizzle of Italian pesto, some fresh basil, homemade crusty vegan bread and a sprinkling of fresh chives and toasted pine nuts.
In case you haven’t heard, I am the self-proclaimed Soup Queen of my castle. I could literally live on plant-based broth forever. Let me count the ways I love a steaming hot bowl of deliciousness in my face any day. Fall, winter, summer, spring, I will never discriminate against soup, no matter the season.
Roasted Red Peppers + San Marzano Tomatoes!
Two magical ingredients!
- As with all things involving canned tomatoes, I will strongly suggest using the San Marzano variety again. There is no other tomato like the one grown in the fertile volcanic soils of the San Marzano region in Italy. Fragrant, smooth and naturally sweet, not acidic at all and so there is never a need to add any sugars to your tomato soup or sauce.
- Roasting your own peppers is the best way to go about it to achieve that naturally deep smoky flavor. I won’t judge however If you end up using the jarred variety in a pinch, the smoked paprika helps make up the smokiness.
The soup is technically whole foods plant based and oil free. However, the pesto has some olive oil into the mix that can be replaced with water or veggie stock if desired. Personally I felt the pesto really needed a touch of oil to emulsify and become rich and silky. Your call!
Make your soup as thick or thin as you like. Gradually add the veggie stock or water until desired thickness is achieved. You could even stir in about half cup of cashew milk or coconut cream at the very end for a milder creamier flavor all around.
For more delicious soup inspiration make sure to try our favorites! This Vegan Zuppa Toscana, Italian Minestrone, Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup, Spiced Chickpea Stew, Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup, Creamy Broccoli Potato Soup, Ultimate Potato Leek Soup and the Best Cauliflower Soup!
P.S. As always, If you make this soup recipe please come back here to rate it, snap a photo and tag me with #VeggieSociety on Instagram, it always makes my day ~ Florentina Xo’s
How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup:
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup ~ Vegan
Simple, healthy, gluten-free, easy and most importantly vegan roasted red pepper tomato soup with extra layers of smokiness from Spanish smoked paprika.
Servings 6 people
Calories 132kcal
Ingredients
- 5 red bell peppers
- 3 mini sweet peppers (Optional) - mixed colors for garnish
- 28 oz canned San Marzano Tomatoes - whole
- 1/2 sweet yellow onion - diced
- 6 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes - to taste
- 1 pinch sea salt + more to taste
- 1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
- 2 leaves bay
- 2.5 - 3 cups veggie stock or water
- 1/3 cup basil leaves - thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup pine nuts - toasted
- 2 tbsp fresh chives or parsley - for garnish
- 2 tsp water
Parsley Pesto
- 2 cups Italian parsley (leafy green tops)
- 3 Tbsp pine nuts (toasted)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2.5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or water to be WFPB & Plantricious compliant)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
Roast the Peppers:
- Preheat your broiler and place the sweet and red bell peppers on a broiler proof sheet pan. Roast them under the flames for a few minutes until charred all over and the skins have turned black. Keep a close eye on them and using a pair of kitchen tongs turn the peppers to make sure all sides get nice and charred. Transfer to a bowl and cover with a tea towel or a lid until cool enough to handle. (Alternately you can roast them on open flame on your stove top, but it might be a little messier that way)
- Gently peel the charred skins off of the peppers and discard the core. Set aside until needed.
Make the Soup:
- While your peppers are roasting start the soup. Preheat a heavy bottom soup pot on medium low flame.
- Add the diced onion with a pinch of sea salt and a light drizzle of olive oil (omit the oil and use water or veggie stock for WFPB Plantricious diets). Sautee together for about 10 minutes until wilted and translucent. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic and smoked paprika and give everything a good stir. Add the San Marzano tomatoes with all their juices.
- Bring to a gentle simmer and add the roasted red peppers (reserve the mini sweet peppers for garnish) and bay leaves. Pour in the vegetable stock or water and bring to a simmer again. Cook together on medium low flame for 20 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and discard the bay. Using a hand held immersion blender puree the soup until thin to your liking. Add more vegetable stock or water to thin out the soup as much as you like. (Alternatively you can wait to add any water or veggie stock as the last step, some people prefer their soup to be very thick).
- Adjust seasoning to taste with more sea salt and serve with a drizzle of Italian parsley pesto and a few toasted pine nuts.
Make the Parsley Pesto:
- Add all the pesto ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth to your liking. Drizzle over the soup and enjoy!
Notes
- As all vegan soups this one also freezes well and keeps up to 5 months in freezer proof containers or mason jars. If storing in jars I recommend leaving the lid off until the soup is almost frozen then tightly secure each jar with the proper lid.
Nutrition
Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Sodium: 189mg | Potassium: 731mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 4515IU | Vitamin C: 159.8mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 2.9mg
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This was incredible. There’s definitely something to those San Marzano Tomatoes you turned me on to. Perfection!
Wow, this tomato soup was killer, I don’t even know how to explain how delicious this is. Roasted my own peppers like a pro and the smoke was more than worth. Hands down best I’ve ever had and my family agrees. Thank you Florentina!
This was the best tomato soup I’ve ever made in my entire life. Roasted an extra couple of pepper and nobody complained except why I didn’t make more. Amazing recipe, bookmarked the website too, it is now my most favorite food blog! Keep those recipes coming, thank you!
I am a huge fan of tomato soup and spicy flavors, so this was PERFECT for me! I had never homemade a tomato soup before, and I am so glad I started with this one! I was so smoky and delicious! Thank you for the awesome meal! 🙂
So happy to hear this Taylor. This is one of our most loved tomato soups as well, it never gets old. Enjoy! ~ Florentina
I want to make this but was confused about the bay/basil. You have basil listed as an ingredient. Was that a typo for bay leaves or was the bay leaf accidentally omitted? Basil isn’t listed in the instruction section, so wasn’t sure. Thanks!
You’ll need both the Basil and 2 Bay leaves 🙂