Smoky Tomato Soup
Updated June 5, 2025
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1¼ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
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)
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.
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Preparation
- 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.
- Step 2
Add the garlic, crushed red pepper and paprika, and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
- Step 3
Sprinkle the flour on top and cook, stirring constantly, until sizzling and crackling, about 2 minutes.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Step 7
Transfer to bowls, top with a swirl of crema and a sprinkle of chives. Serve with grilled cheese, if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
1/2 c. buttter? DId I read that correctly? Seems excessive. no?
@june Butter enhances the flavor and acts as a melding agent for the other ingredients.
Cut in half. Very good. We are two people. Are in New Mexico swapped Ancho pepper for 1/8 ancho pepper flakes. Delicious
I used a combination of fresh tomatoes and canned puree I had leftover. I used three fresh tomatoes and in retrospect I'd use more tomatoes and roast them prior to making the soup. Having said that, my family ate the entire batch along with grilled cheese. I really liked the smoky notes, they went along with the grilled cheese nicely.
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.
Delicious. Made the recipe exactly exact used 4 cloves of garlic. I