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This easy Roasted Red Pepper Soup is the perfect comfort food for a weeknight dinner! This healthy, vegetarian soup is full of pepper, tomato, and roasted garlic flavor.
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
This amazing red pepper soup is made by roasting sweet red bell peppers, onions, and garlic until you have a ton of charred, flavorful bits ready to simmer and blend with celery, carrots, and broth. This flavor explosion comes from healthy ingredients with a depth and complexity you have to taste to believe! Even better: this soup works for vegetarian, gluten-free, and lower carb diets!
While the red peppers are the star, you’ll get a delicious punch of tomato and hints of garlic and herbs in every bite. The heavy cream adds a luscious, rich texture to make this soup super smooth, too. Whether you enjoy this with the whole family tonight or by the bowl at lunchtime this week, you will absolutely love the comforting warmth and full belly you get with this easy soup!
Ingredients for Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need for this low-carb soup. You will find exact measurements in the printable recipe card at the bototm of the page.
- Red Bell Peppers (sliced), Yellow Onion (sliced), Garlic Cloves (whole), Carrots (chopped), Celery (chopped), Canned Tomatoes (crushed) – You can use yellow and/or orange bell peppers if you prefer as well! White onion can be subbed for the yellow onion, though it will give a stronger onion flavor.
- Avocado Oil – Feel free to use your favorite cooking oil like olive oil, coconut oil, or canola oil.
- Vegetable Broth and Heavy Cream – If you don’t care about this soup being vegetarian, feel free to use chicken broth (or your own homemade stock to save money). To make this vegan and dairy-free, swap out the heavy cream with thick canned coconut milk or some cashew cream.
- Italian Seasoning, Fresh Basil, Fresh Thyme, Salt, and Pepper – These are perfect for an all-purpose flavor! You may want to go light on the salt at first, then add in more at the end when you can taste test it.
How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Soup
This delicious vegetarian soup is incredibly easy to make! Here’s a step-by-step guide to making this quick dinner.
Roast peppers, onions, and garlic
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or aluminum foil to prevent the veggies from sticking to the pan. Toss the quartered bell peppers, sliced onion, and whole garlic cloves in half of the avocado oil until nicely coated. Place the vegetables in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet (peppers should be skin-side up), then bake for 18 minutes. Once baked, turn the broiler on and broil for 2 minutes.
Saute carrots and celery
Place a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat, then add in the remaining half of cooking oil. Once hot, add the chopped carrots and celery. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened. Add in the basil leaves and cook just 1 more minute until the basil is fragrant.
Boil soup
Add in the broth, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir together, then bring the mixture to a boil. Once it’s boiling, add in the roasted vegetables and garlic. Boil for 5 minutes.
Blend
Carefully transfer a few ladles of soup to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Work in batches until the entire soup is smooth. An immersion blender can make this SUPER simple–Just stick it into the Dutch oven and blend away until there are no chunks left!
Once the soup is smooth, return it to the pot if it’s in the blender/food processor. Stir in the heavy cream and the thyme leaves, then serve!
How to serve roasted red pepper soup
For a beautiful presentation, add a drizzle of heavy cream and a sprinkle of fresh herbs to each bowl just before serving… Maybe even a little bit of parmesan cheese if you’d like! We LOVE this soup on its own or paired with a gooey Grilled Cheese Sandwich. These Eggplant Mozzarella Stacks and maybe a Simple Arugula Salad would make this the perfect light, healthy vegetarian meal. This Gouda and Jalapeno Bread is perfect for dipping as well.
Low-carb sides for soup:
- Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms – Filling, easy, healthy, and creamy. Plus, just 5.4 net carbs for ~5 mushrooms!
- Chaffle Grilled Cheese – just swap out the bread for these keto chaffles
- Keto Three Cheese Biscuits – freezable and just 2 net carbs each.
- Homemade Croutons – cut and toast these parmesan chaffles for crispy, tasty croutons that barely add any carbs.
- Zucchini Fritters – nice and crisp, perfect contrasting texture. Also just 2 net carbs each!
Need a low-carb substitute for crackers or croutons? Here’s a list of our favorite low-carb options!
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
- Allow your soup to cool completely before placing it in an airtight container and storing it in the refrigerator. It’ll stay fresh up to 5 days, so it’s a great idea for leftover lunches!
- Reheat individual servings in the microwave on 50%, covered with a paper towel to prevent splatter. Reheat in 1-minute intervals, stirring between each blast. To reheat the entire soup at once, transfer to a large pot and reheat on medium low, stirring frequently to prevent burning or sticking.
Can you freeze roasted red pepper and tomato soup?
Yes, this pepper and tomato soup freezes and reheats wonderfully. Allow your soup to cool completely, then transfer to freezer-safe containers (like these jars). Make sure to leave some room so that the soup can safely expand as it freezes.
Soup in the freezer is best eaten within 6 months for ideal taste and texture. Make sure to thaw the soup overnight in the fridge to keep the best nutrition and texture quality.
Tips for the BEST red pepper soup
- You can save time with store-bought roasted peppers! You will need about 24 ounces. These are a great pantry staple, making this even easier to make on a busy day! If you’re doing this, skip roasting the onion and garlic… Instead, saute them with your celery and carrots.
- If you love a deep roasted garlic flavor, you could get a deeper flavor by roasting a whole head of garlic, then add 3 (or more!) cloves during the boiling step.
- Feel free to make a rainbow roasted pepper soup! I love the flavor that comes from red peppers, but you can get a delicious, complex flavor if you include yellow or orange bell peppers, too. They do need to be roasted (just like the red peppers), but they’ll provide a great taste.
- If you don’t have crushed tomatoes, you can get creative with other types of canned tomatoes. The soup is blended at the end, so diced, whole, or stewed will work in a pinch.
If you like this easy vegetarian dinner, you will LOVE these soup recipes:
- Easy Mushroom Soup – This vibrant, flavorful soup is perfect for nourishing you on a cold day! That paprika makes the prettiest, most delicious dinner.
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup – You’ll love how thick and creamy this soup is! If you’re a cheese lover, this might be your new favorite recipe.
- Butternut Squash Soup – This dairy-free soup is vegan and SUPER creamy! The beautiful color and amazing smell that will fill your kitchen are just bonus points!
- Slow Cooker Potato Soup – This classic is well-known for a reason! It’s easy and can cook while you’re busy doing other things–Perfect for the busy winter season!
- Quick and Easy Tomato Soup – This is such a simple delight! This super creamy recipe is perfect for cheering up someone feeling under the weather.
- Cauliflower Soup – We roasted the cauliflower before making this soup so you get the delicious, deep flavor that comes from crispy, cooked cauliflower.
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup avocado oil, divided
- 4 red bell peppers, sliced in quarters and piths/seeds removed
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 8 cloves garlic, whole
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet.
- Toss the quartered bell peppers, sliced onion, and whole garlic cloves in 2 tbsp of avocado oil until well coated. Place the vegetables in a single layer (peppers with skin side up) on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes. Turn the oven up to broil and broil for 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the carrots and celery and cook 5-6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add the basil leaves and cook another 1 minute until the basil is fragrant.
- Add the vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add the roasted vegetables and garlic to the pot and boil for 5 minutes.
- Using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, and stir in the heavy cream and thyme leaves. Serve!
Notes
This soup is perfect with grilled cheese, a crusty piece of bread, or just on it’s own.
Although this recipe is a roasted bell pepper soup, it also has a deep tomato flavor and hints of garlic and herbs in every bite!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
