This easy slow cooker tomato soup is made with canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, and butter (no cream) for deliciously simple flavor in every bite. Meal prep a big batch for the perfect quick lunch you can reheat in the microwave on busy days!
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If there’s one thing that kept me going after a long day of classes and a late night of studying in college, it was treating myself to a grilled cheese and tomato soup from Panera. Their you-pick-two made the best lunch or dinner – especially when I needed something quick and easy that I could take on the go. And although I’m no longer frequenting Panera for those speedy, delicious pick me ups, I still often crave a comforting bowl of piping hot tomato soup on busy days. So I found a way to recreate Panera’s creamy tomato soup with minimal effort, right at home in my slow cooker.
That’s right. This slow cooker tomato soup recipe is so easy, you’ll barely spend 5 minutes of your time making it! (Which is why I love slow cooker soup recipes). All you need is 6 ingredients – if water even counts – a 4-quart crockpot, and a blender to make this tomato soup. It’s the ideal recipe for meal prep, busy days, or whenever you’re craving a no-effort homemade meal.
Plus, tomato soup is one of the best healthy soup recipes since tomatoes are packed with nutrients. A healthy, delicious, and easy recipe you can prep ahead for quick lunches and dinners? Yes please.
Slow Cooker Tomato Soup Ingredients
This easy slow cooker tomato soup recipe uses canned tomatoes, onions, garlic and butter (but no cream) for fresh flavor and smooth texture. It’s similar to a tomato sauce recipe, but with the addition of water and butter it transforms into a delicious tomato soup you can eat for lunch! Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- One 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
- One medium yellow onion
- Minced garlic
- Water
- Butter
- Salt
For the canned tomatoes, we like to buy the “no salt added” kind – which is why we add just a pinch of salt into our tomato soup recipe. If you like to buy regular canned tomatoes with salt, you may want to omit the extra salt or simply salt to taste.
We think the best tomato soup is fairly simple and has a tomato-forward flavor, so the only other flavors in this recipe are onion and garlic! These ingredients infuse into the tomatoes beautifully while the soup cooks. Just enough to add some depth of flavor, but not so much that it overpowers the tomatoes.
Finally, a cup of water helps thin things out to a soup-like consistency while the butter adds a touch of creaminess. After all, the best tomato soup has the perfect creamy and smooth texture – and goes great with grilled cheese for dipping 🙂
Storing & Reheating Slow Cooker Tomato Soup
Since all you have to do for this recipe is combine the ingredients in a slow cooker, let it cook, and then blend it before serving, it’s the perfect meal prep recipe. If you’d like to serve it straight from the slow cooker, simply pour the soup back into your crockpot after blending and set it to “warm” until mealtime. However, you can easily portion out individual meals after blending using airtight storage containers.
We have a few sets of Souper Cubes, which are basically silicone trays that help you freeze individual portions of things like soup and chili. They’re so awesome for recipes like this tomato soup! Just pour the soup straight from the blender into the Souper Cubes (we like to use the 1-cup size for soup) and let it cool off a bit before sealing and freezing. Then, when you want tomato soup, simply pop out a frozen cube and defrost in the microwave. Once the soup is defrosted, microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes or until hot, and voila! Instant homemade tomato soup.
Almost like you’ve just picked it up from Panera, but even quicker – and cheaper!
If you have time to plan ahead a bit, you can pop out a frozen cube of soup the night before and let it defrost overnight in the fridge. Alex loves this little hack for packing work lunches. It’s zero effort, and the soup will be defrosted enough to just reheat it in the microwave the next day!
Try the recipe below next time you’re craving a hot bowl of soup and a sandwich for lunch – and don’t forget to let us know how it turns out in the comments!
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Slow Cooker Tomato Soup
Equipment
- Slow cooker (4 or 5 quart)
Ingredients
- 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes no salt added
- 1 medium yellow onion quartered
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp salt
- Garlic & herb croutons optional topping
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a slow cooker or crockpot and stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
- Carefully transfer slow cooker contents to a blender. Blend on low speed for about 30 seconds, then medium speed for about 1 minute until smooth.*
- Serve hot, optionally topping with croutons, or let cool and pour into airtight containers to store in the fridge or freezer.*
Notes
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
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