Roasted Garlic & Tomato Bisque
I'm not kidding you, this creamy roasted garlic and tomato bisque is the best tomato soup I've ever had. The intense tomato flavor is smoky, savory, and vibrant with a kick from red pepper, the roasted garlic sings in the background, and the creaminess from milk balances everything out. This umami bomb is incredibly comforting—I'll be reaching for this recipe over and over on cold days. A topping of crispy, gooey grilled cheese croutons and fresh basil take this over the top.
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Makes 4-5 servings
Prep time: 1 hr 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
What you’ll need
2-3 heads garlic
Olive oil
1 ½ tbsp red miso*
4 tbsp sun dried tomatoes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
4-5 ripe larger tomatoes, quartered
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes (whole or diced both work)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 can or 1 ½ cups unsweetened milk of your choice*
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Handful of fresh basil
2 tsp sugar
Salt to season
Prep
Preheat oven to 400 F. Slice the tops off of garlic heads, remove loose papery outer layers.
Quarter your onion and larger tomatoes.
On a large, greased or lined sheet pan, arrange the quartered onions and tomatoes, whole cherry tomatoes, and garlic heads. Drizzle olive oil generously over everything, making sure that the exposed garlic cloves are oiled. Sprinkle with salt, red pepper flakes, thyme, and oregano.
Roast in oven for 1 hour, or until the garlic is golden brown. Remove roasted garlic and pop into freezer for 20 minutes to cool.
Cook
In a large high speed blender, add the roasted tomatoes and onions. Squeeze the now cooled roasted garlic into the blender. Add miso paste, fresh basil (reserve some for garnishing), sun dried tomatoes (add more for a more intense, smoky flavor) and entire can of tomatoes and blend on high until completely smooth. You can also use an immersion blender for this step.
In a large pot on medium heat, add the blended tomatoes. Gradually add the milk, stirring to incorporate. Add vegetable broth and stir. If it’s not smooth enough, you can blend it again or even pass it through a sieve.
Season to taste—add salt or more miso paste if you want it more savory, more red pepper flakes for more of a kick, and optionally sugar if you want it sweeter to balance out the vibrant tomato flavors.
Plate
Ladle soup into bowls. To garnish, drizzle with cream, milk, or olive oil and top with small basil leaves and grilled cheese croutons. Serve while piping hot.
Grilled cheese croutons: Using day old white sandwich bread, make grilled cheese how you like it. In the pan while toasting, pressed to flatten and condense the grilled cheese. This makes for better croutons. Toast with lots of butter till crispy. Slice off crusts and cut into tiny cubes.
Notes
Milk — I used coconut milk in mine. The soup is bold and savory enough that you won’t taste the coconut flavor, and coconut milk has a higher fat content which gives the soup the creamy richness you want. If swapping milks, use one with a higher fat content so that your soup is creamy and not watery. I wouldn’t recommend using almond milk or most oat milks.
Miso — I used red miso because it has a punchier, bolder flavor profile than white and yellow miso, which are sweeter and milder. You could still use yellow or white miso but it would have a sweeter, earthier flavor. For a savory soup that mostly serves the purpose of being a dip for grilled cheese, 1 ½ tbsp miso paste. For a less salty soup that you’ll be drinking by the bowl, I’d decrease it by ½ tbsp. You may need to adjust to taste based on which miso you use as some of them are saltier.
Can you skip roasting the tomatoes?
Roasting the tomatoes doesn’t just intensify the flavor and bring out the sweetness, it also increases the availability of lycopene, an antioxidant in tomatoes. I’d highly recommend roasting the tomatoes, along with the garlic and onion!
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