This Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup tastes like the cream of tomato soup you loved as a child! Here's an easy tomato soup recipe that's easily adaptable to paleo, keto, vegetarian, or vegan diets.
Is there anything more comforting than a warm bowl of homemade tomato soup?
Why . . . yes there is! This Creamy Tomato Soup made in an Instant Pot rates even higher on my comfort food scale. It's so quick and easy to make! This recipe will show you how easy it is to make tomato soup in an Instant Pot.
One spoonful of this creamy tomato soup was all it took to remind me of my childhood Saturday lunchtimes. Mom would open a can of that soup, mix it with half water and half milk, and whip up some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it.
Back then, it tasted good to me. But this pressure cooker creamy tomato soup is so much healthier, so much better, (and dare I say the best homemade tomato soup?)
Jump to:
❤️ Why this recipe works
- An Instant Pot does more than simply cook food quickly. Because it uses pressure to cook, it concentrates flavour, drawing out every bit of goodness from your ingredients. This Instant Pot Carrot Ginger Soup with Apple is another good example. It's an incredibly flavourful nutritious soup that's so easy to make!
- This recipe is easy to adapt for different diets. Make a vegan tomato soup, a keto tomato soup or a paleo tomato soup!
- You can freeze this soup and have it ready for lunch or dinner another day.
- For those who like to meal prep, you can double the recipe and get twice as much soup in the same amount of time!
- The best part? Just one pot to clean!
- You can use this same recipe to make this tomato soup on your stovetop. Scroll down to find the easy stovetop instructions.
🛒 Ingredients
- onion
- carrot
- garlic
- tomato paste
- canned tomatoes: I like to use San Marzano tomatoes
- broth: vegetable broth or chicken broth or chicken bone broth
- thyme: fresh or dried
- bay leaf
- tamari soy sauce or coconut aminos OR soy sauce
- cream OR coconut milk
Before we get to the full recipe for this homemade tomato soup, here are a few notes about ingredient substitutions you can make. You can easily adapt this recipe to make it friendly for Vegan, Paleo, Whole30, or Keto diets.
Made from scratch, this Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup is nutritious, additive-free and absolutely delicious!
- Vegan tomato soup: use vegetable broth and coconut milk
- Paleo and Whole30 tomato soup: use bone broth or chicken broth and coconut milk. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce or gluten-free tamari.
- Keto tomato soup: use bone broth or chicken broth, coconut milk or cream, garnish with bacon and basil.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
- Using the Sauté function on the Instant Pot, heat olive oil in the stainless steel inner pot. Add diced onion, carrots and garlic and cook till tender but not browned. Stir in the tomato paste.
- Add chopped tomatoes with liquid, broth, thyme, bay leaf and soy sauce. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any brown bits.
- Cook on Manual for 15 minutes. Use the Quick Release function when the time is up. Remove the lid carefully and remove the bay leaf and the thyme stems. Stir in cream OR coconut milk (for vegan or paleo). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Purée in batches in a blender until smooth.
- Transfer to soup bowls and garnish with freshly chopped basil and or parsley (for vegan) and/or crumbled cooked bacon for paleo or keto diet.
1. Sauté onions, carrot and garlic. 2. Stir in tomato paste, add tomatoes, broth and herbs. 3. Set Manual timer for 15 minutes, then use Quick Release. 4. Stir in cream, then blend until smooth.
🥄 Stovetop recipe directions
What if I don't have an Instant Pot?
If you don't own an Instant Pot, you can make this homemade soup on the stovetop. Follow the recipe directions in the recipe card below, but simmer in a large heavy-bottomed pot instead of using an Instant Pot.
When the vegetables are tender, remove the bay leaf and the thyme stems and stir in the cream or coconut milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Purée in batches in a blender. Garnish with freshly chopped basil (for vegan) and/or crumbled cooked bacon for paleo or keto diets.
❓Reader's Questions
Nothing! No worries. Blending the soup will take care of the curdling. Curdling can easily occur when adding cream to an acidic liquid like tomato soup. Next time, try having your cream at room temperature and let the soup cool slightly before adding the cream.
🥶 Storage and Freezing Instructions
Store this soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze this soup? Absolutely! It freezes well. In fact, I often double this recipe and freeze it in individual portions.
To easily double the recipe, click on the number 6 beside "Serving Amount" in the recipe card below. A little slider will appear. Slide it to 12 to find the new recipe amounts.
When you need a quick meal, thaw and reheat the soup in a microwave or on your stovetop.
🍽 Serving suggestions
- Who doesn't love tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches? They go together like peanut butter and jelly! Take your grilled cheese sandwich to the next level with this Caramelized Onion, Apple and Cheese Crostini
- Love bacon? Garnish your bowl of soup with some crumbled cooked bacon bits and basil if you're not following a vegan or vegetarian diet.
- Create a new favourite lunchtime tradition with your family with a bowl of this warm comforting soup. Make a batch of Herbed Gluten-Free Baking Powder Biscuits to go with it!
🥣 Equipment
(These are affiliate links. )
- 6 - quart Instant Pot This is the one I've had for a few years.
- Blender I use my VitaMix almost every day!
- soup bowls: a simple, classic every day set.
- spatula: I can't recommend this set highly enough!
🗒 More recipes you might like
Need more soup recipe ideas? Try these 8 Comforting Homemade Dairy-Free Soup Recipes
Find more Instant Pot Soup recipe ideas here: 5 Clean-Eating Instant Pot Soup Recipes to keep you healthy.
🗒 More Instant Pot recipes
When you make this tomato soup recipe, please leave a comment and a rating below. I love hearing when you've made one of my recipes. Thanks in advance! Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
📖 Recipe
Wholesome Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin (or avocado oil)
- ½ cup yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoon gluten-free tamari, or soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 ¾ cups half and half cream, OR 1 14 oz can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- fresh basil leaves or parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Using the sauté function on the Instant Pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, carrots and garlic and cook till tender but not browned. Stir in tomato paste.
- Add chopped tomatoes with liquid, broth, thyme, bay leaf and tamari soy sauce. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Cook on Manual for 15 minutes. Use the Quick Release function when time is up.
- Remove the lid and remove bay leaf. Stir in room temperature cream OR coconut milk (for vegan or paleo). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Purée in batches in a blender.
- Garnish with freshly chopped basil (for vegan) and/or crumbled cooked bacon for paleo diet.
Mila
A good reliable recipe! Love this with grilled cheese.
Elaine
Mmmm! So do I! Thanks for commenting!
Margaret
Delicious soup! I'm not usually a fan of tomato soup, but my husband loves it. I found your recipe today and made it for lunch and it is a beautiful soup. We both enjoyed it very much, so thank you for such a lovely recipe.
Flavour & Savour
That's great to hear, Margaret! We love this soup too. Coincidentally, I'm thawing a jar of it that I had in the freezer right now. It makes a quick lunch. Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed it!
Michelle Wilbur
Would this work with fresh tomatoes or do they need to be canned?
Flavour & Savour
Hi Michelle, I would suggest substituting an equal weight of fresh tomatoes for canned and, for best results, I would blanch and skin the tomatoes. However, I do remember that I made this using half fresh and half canned tomatoes in the fall when my garden tomatoes were ripening and I didn't blanch them. I would still add the tomato paste. Let me know how it turns out! Thanks for your question--I'm sure other readers would like to know, too.
Susan Gillingham
Typically I don't write comments but I really wanted to thank you.My husband and I are seniors & we come with our own dietary issues. We enjoy entertaining & our favourite time with family and friends is always around the table. It takes more planning these days to create meals that work for everyone ...I find your recipes consistently delicious but what I really appreciate is how you show me ways to adapt them. I don't feel confident enough to experiment on my own and you've saved me hours of reading and researching online. It's a wonderful feeling to sit at your table and see people of all ages enjoying the food & the company and everyone is so appreciative when you've kept their special needs in mind. They always comment on how delicious the food is and how great it looks...and I can tell they're genuine. I do tell them about Flavour and Savour...so I trust I've sent people your way.
I probably won't write again for a hundred years but I did want to say thank you... finally.
Susan G.
Flavour & Savour
Thanks so much, Susan! Your kind comments made my day. Perhaps the reason my recipes resonate so well with you is because sharing meals with family and friends around the table is OUR favourite time too! Thanks for commenting!