Tomato Soup / Healthy Vegetarian Recipe

This tomato soup is one of the simplest yet flavorful vegetarian soups you can ever make. Made from fresh juicy ripe plum tomatoes, the soup is is mildly tangy, a bit sweet and a little hot in taste. The use of beetroot in this soup not only adds to the nutritional value but also makes the soup very appealing. The recipe does not call for use of butter, oil or cream and even does not use cornflour as a thickening agent. Even no artificial additives or colorant are used. So this vegan and gluten-free soup can be given to small babies and ailing patients as well. Piping hot tomato soup on a rainy day or chilly winter evening is so warm and comforting and a treat to your taste buds for sure. The recipe is very simple and perfect for bachelors and newbies in cooking. Serve this healthy, low-calorie tomato soup with grilled sandwiches or bread sticks or some toasted bread croutons for a flavorful meal.

Tomato soup is one of the most commonly made soups in India. You can find tomato soup written on almost all the restaurant menus. It is served as a starter in dinner parties and get together. I have very fond childhood memories with this tomato soup. My mom used to make this soup whenever some one was unwell in my house , often during winters and rainy season and was surely in the menu for a dinner party. This is my mom's recipe and i never felt like making a change in this recipe. I have been cooking this soup since i was a teen and this bright red soup remains to be my favorite till date.

Tomato soup is generally served with crunchy bread Croutons or bread sticks. In fact my son has this soup only for the sake of this yummy crunchy croutons. The cubed bread is either toasted on a stove top or Oven or deep fried. Click here for the homemade bread stick recipe. You may add butter in the soup just before serving to make it creamier. I have not added any cream or butter in this recipe.

Apart from tomatoes and beetroot i have used ginger and onion in this recipe. The ripe plum tomatoes are less tangy and give soup a bright red color as well. Do not use raw tomatoes in this recipe. Bay leaf and black pepper are used to flavor the soup. The veggies are are first boiled using a pressure cooker, pureed and strained. The soup is then simmered further for few minutes after seasoning with salt , sugar and black pepper powder. This soup tastes best when served hot. Stays good for 1-2 days on refrigeration, but i always prefer to make soups fresh and in small batches. You may use vegetables stock in this soup to make it more flavorful and healthy.

Now coming to the health benefits of having tomato soup. It contains Vitamin E, A,C, K , essential minerals and anti oxidants that can keep you healthy and fit. The vitamin k and calcium in the soup helps to get healthy bones. The high levels of vitamin C provides arterial protection. It strengthens the heart and protects it from diseases like blockage of arteries and strokes. Tomato soup also benefits in weight loss. Selenium in the tomato soup promotes blood circulation preventing anemia. Tomato soup can be an excellent addition to a diabetic patient's diet. It contains chromium, a mineral that helps in the regulation of blood sugar. Source

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 4-5 medium size Tomatoes
• 1 large Onion
• 2 thin wedges of Beetroot
• 1/2 inch Ginger
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tsp black Pepper powder
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Roughly chop the tomatoes and onions. Take 1/2 cup water in a pressure cooker and add the chopped tomatoes, onion , beetroot wedges, bay leaf , ginger and some salt to it and pressure cook until 2 whistles. 

    2. Let the cooker cool down. Discard the bay leaf and blend all this into a puree using a grinder.

 

   3. Strain the puree using a strainer to remove the seeds and skin of tomatoes.

   4. Add 1/2 cup water , little salt, sugar and freshly ground black pepper powder to the soup. Boil it for 2-3 minutes.

 

   5.  Serve hot wit bread stick or crunchy bread croutons and enjoy with your loved ones !

Recipe Notes:

• Do not add more sugar as then the soup will not taste tangy as it is supposed to.
• If not diabetic, i would recommend adding the little amount of sugar mentioned in the recipe as it perfectly balances the sourness of tomatoes and the heat from pepper powder and ginger.
• Use ripe juicy plum tomatoes for this recipe. Using raw tomatoes is not recommended.
• Do not skip the step of straining the blended tomato veggie puree as it removes the seeds and tomato skin from the soup which would ruin the soup.
• I would highly recommend the use of beetroot in this soup for the gorgeous color and nutrition.
• You may increase the amount of black pepper powder as per your taste.
• This soup tastes best while hot.
• The soup stays good in refrigerator for 1-2 days but i would highly recommend making fresh batch every time.
• You may add vegetable stock to this soup to making it all the more wholesome.
• You may serve this tomato soup with grilled sandwich , croutons or bread sticks.
• You may drizzle some cream or add butter to the soup just before serving if you wish. I haven't.

I am sharing this post with a Facebook group, Foodies_RedoingOldPost which i have recently joined. This group is an initiative my friend and fellow blogger Renu who blogs at Cookwithrenu. In this group, bloggers update their old posts with new pics or contents every 2 weeks. I loved this concept, as bloggers we grow each day, our photography gets better and when we revisit our old post, we feel the photography could be better. Also many a time we make changes in our recipe which needs to be updated. I have many such posts which need to be updated and hope this group gives me the needed motivation for it. This is my third entry in this event (26th July). 

                                          

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Checkout the following links for more soup recipes from this blog.

• Detox Quinoa Vegetable Soup

                               

• Cream Of Mushroom Soup with Garlic Bread

                              

• Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

                              

• Watermelon Gazpacho