Tomato Ginger Soup Recipe
On a cold winter day, I don’t think there is anything better than a nice warm mug or bowl of smooth creamy soup. One of my favorites is tomato soup – and to make it even more warming, I use fresh ginger to give it a spicy kick. This tomato ginger soup is great sipped out of a mug as a light lunch or paired with a salad or a grilled cheese to make it a more robust meal!
Beyond simple, with minimal prep work, this recipe just requires you to toss all ingredients in the slow cooker, turn it on and come back a few hours later ready to enjoy. You do want to plan in advance though as this takes 4-6 hours to cook – toss it together when you get breakfast and it should be ready by lunch.
Just a few notes on the recipe
Tomato Ginger Soup before cooking.
I like my soup sippable so I use an immersion blender at the end of the cook time to break down any chunks that are left. If you would rather not go that route, make sure you mince your garlic well, dice your onion into small pieces and I would suggest you grate rather than mince your ginger.
I prefer to use dried basil when cooking the soup, and adding fresh basil at the end for garnish if I have it in the house. The bulk of the flavor is going to come from the dried basil, and I prefer it to the taste of fresh in this recipe. I find that fresh basil just doesn’t taste right when cooked for hours in a tomato soup.
About fresh ginger
Fresh ginger is an amazing ingredient, but a confusing one if you have never worked with it before. The first step is picking the ginger at the grocery store – you want to look for a piece that has a little bit of a sheen to the skin – if the skin looks dry, the ginger will be too, and you don’t want that. Ginger is branched with lots of arms and these arms are very easy to break off in the grocery store – you can pull off an arm that is the size you need – do not buy a giant piece of ginger if you only need a 2” piece.
Once you are ready to prep, I find the best way to peel ginger is to use a spoon (the kind you eat off) to scrape the skin off the ginger – using the edge of the spoon it should just come right off. Ginger can be really fibrous, if you are mincing your ginger for a blended soup, make sure you have a sharp knife and go slowly. If you are grating your ginger, use a microplane and clean the fibers off the blade periodically.
And save those tomato cans
Once your soup is cooking, wash out your tomato cans and pull off the labels, check tomorrow’s post for a great upcycle using these cans!
Tomato Ginger Soup
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 28 oz non-dairy milk, plain and unsweetened (I like a coconut almond blend)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- Fresh basil for serving
Instructions
- Add the tomatoes to a 4 qt slow cooker. Use one of the cans to measure your non-dairy milk and add to the slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- Set slow cooker on low heat and cook for 4-6 hours.
- Once cook time has ended, use an immersion blender to puree the soup, ensuring all chunks of ginger, onion and garlic are processed. Alternatively, you can add the soup in batches to a blender and process until smooth.
- Ladle into bowls for serving and top with fresh basil if desired. Great as is or served with a grilled cheese sandwich.
