Smoky Tomato Soup

By Alexa Weibel

Updated June 5, 2025

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1½ hours
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
1¼ hours
Rating
5(209)
Comments
Read comments

A grown-up version of grilled cheese’s best friend, this tomato soup is subtly complex thanks to the addition of ancho chile and smoked paprika, but it still has all of the nostalgic qualities of a really good tomato soup: It’s silky, robust and wonderfully tomato-y. Taking a cue from this classic tomato soup, this recipe calls for sweating the onion and garlic with a little flour to thicken the soup, which creates a velvety texture that doesn’t hide the pure tomato flavor. Simmering a whole ancho chile in the soup produces an undercurrent of heat; but if you prefer more spice, pluck off the stem and blend the chile into your finished soup rather than discarding it. Adjust the amount of cream and the level of heat as you like and the soup will taste just right to you.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings (about 8½ cups)

  • ½ cup unsalted butter

  • 1 large yellow onion (about 1 pound), minced

  • Salt and black pepper

  • 2 garlic cloves, minced

  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  • 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes

  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

  • 8 fresh thyme sprigs

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 ancho chile

  • Crema (or sour cream thinned with water), for serving

  • Chives (optional), for serving

  • Grilled cheese (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

32 grams carbs; 46 milligrams cholesterol; 305 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 18 grams fat; 8 grams fiber; 1163 milligrams sodium; 7 grams protein; 16 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add the garlic, crushed red pepper and paprika, and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.

  3. Step 3

    Sprinkle the flour on top and cook, stirring constantly, until sizzling and crackling, about 2 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Add the tomatoes and their juices, squeezing the tomatoes to crush them as you add them to the pot. Stir in the stock, thyme sprigs and sugar. Drop in the ancho chile (plop!) and bring to a simmer over medium-high.

  5. Step 5

    Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover almost all the way and simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavors deepen and tomatoes break down, about 45 minutes.

  6. Step 6

    Pluck out the ancho chile and thyme sprigs, then transfer the soup to a blender (in batches, if needed) and blend until creamy. (Alternatively, use an immersion blender to blend it right in the pot.) Give the soup a taste and adjust seasoning if desired. If you’d like to increase the smoky flavor, you can blend in a portion of the stemmed and deseeded chile, if desired.

  7. Step 7

    Transfer to bowls, top with a swirl of crema and a sprinkle of chives. Serve with grilled cheese, if desired.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
209 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

june

1/2 c. buttter? DId I read that correctly? Seems excessive. no?

BayColony

@june Butter enhances the flavor and acts as a melding agent for the other ingredients.

DSGabq

Cut in half. Very good. We are two people. Are in New Mexico swapped Ancho pepper for 1/8 ancho pepper flakes. Delicious

KLVT

Yum! My new favorite tomato soup. I used half the butter plus some olive oil; used only one teaspoon of sugar -- more would have been too much for my taste; and I used more smoked paprika than called for, because why not! Used canned fire roasted tomatoes. The soup was plenty spicy for me without needing to add back any of the (whole) ancho after cooking. Ate with some leftover cheddar dill muffins. So good.

Joanie Glenn

Delicious. Made the recipe exactly exact used 4 cloves of garlic. I

Dheep'

I would also add some rice - Cold ,that you reheat in a Micro just a bit and then add the amount you would like to your bowl before pouring in the Hot soup. Way back I added too much Rice & way too early to the Pot without thinking. Came back & had a Gluepot of Red Rice ,as it had sucked up all the moisture. Lesson learned

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.