Tomato Soup

Michael Eisenwasser

Print Recipe

A creamy tomato soup without onion or garlic.

Prep 10 min

Cook 30 min

Serves 4

Gluten-freeDairy-free-option

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced (about 3/4 cup)
• Green tops of 4 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can (14.5 oz / 411g) whole or crushed tomatoes, no onion or garlic added (Muir Glen or Cento)
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) low-FODMAP chicken broth or low-FODMAP vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, torn, plus more for serving

Instructions

Build the Base

1. Warm the garlic-infused oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.
2. Add the carrot and scallion greens. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until the carrot softens slightly.
3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, until it darkens and smells sweet.

Simmer

1. Add the canned tomatoes with their juice, breaking up the whole tomatoes against the side of the pot with a spoon if using.
2. Pour in the broth. Add the sugar, salt, and pepper.
3. Bring to a gentle simmer, then lower the heat and cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly and the carrot is fully tender.

Blend and Finish

1. Turn off the heat. Blend the soup until smooth using an immersion blender, or transfer in batches to a countertop blender and vent the lid.
2. Return the soup to the pot if needed. Stir in the heavy cream and the basil. Warm through over low heat for 2 minutes. Do not boil after adding the cream.
3. Taste and adjust salt. Serve with a drizzle of garlic-infused oil and more torn basil.

Tips & Substitutions

• Use canned tomatoes without onion or garlic. Muir Glen and Cento usually work. Check the label on any brand. "Tomato basil," "fire-roasted," and most pasta-sauce-style cans add onion or garlic.
• Keep canned tomatoes to 1/2 cup per serve. Monash rates canned tomatoes low at 100g (about 1/2 cup) per serve. A 14.5 oz can split across 4 bowls comes out to about that amount per bowl.
• Tomato paste stays at 2 tbsp or less. That's the Monash serving size. The recipe uses 2 tbsp total across 4 servings, so each bowl gets well under it.
• For dairy-free, use coconut milk or lactose-free milk. Swap the 1/2 cup heavy cream for 1/2 cup light canned coconut milk total (not per serve), or 1/2 cup lactose-free milk plus an extra tablespoon of oil for richness. Stick with the light can of coconut milk; full-fat is higher in FODMAPs at this volume.
• Use a broth that doesn't list onion or garlic. Swanson, Pacific, Kitchen Basics, and Better Than Bouillon almost all contain onion or garlic powder. Fody and Gourmend make Monash-certified broths, or use homemade. Watch for "natural flavors" on the label too, since that can hide onion or garlic.
• Add a pinch of baking soda if the soup tastes too acidic. Start with 1/8 tsp stirred in after blending. It neutralizes some of the tomato acid without changing the flavor much.

Why This Works

Canned tomatoes are low at a measured serve. Monash rates canned tomatoes low-FODMAP up to 100g per serve. Splitting one 14.5 oz can across four bowls keeps each serving within that Monash serving size.

Garlic-infused oil plus scallion greens gives you the onion-garlic flavor. Fructans don't dissolve into oil, so the oil carries garlic flavor without the FODMAPs. Scallion greens cover the onion note; the white bulbs are what you avoid.

Heavy cream works because it's high in fat. The higher the fat content of a dairy product, the lower the lactose per serve. The recipe uses 1/2 cup cream total, which is about 2 tbsp per bowl. That's a small lactose hit that most people tolerate. The same volume of whole milk per person would push past the lactose limit.

Tomato paste intensifies flavor within the serve limit. 2 tbsp is the Monash serving size, and spreading that across four bowls gives depth without stacking FODMAPs.

Storage

Refrigerate in sealed containers at 40°F (4°C) or below for up to 4 days. Reheat gently over low heat, stirring often, since cream-based soups can break at a hard boil. Freeze the blended base without the cream for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge, reheat, then stir the cream in fresh.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.