Vegan Pantry Tomato Soup with Homemade Croutons

Vegan Pantry Tomato Soup with Homemade Croutons comes together quickly thanks to pantry staples. Delicious, healthy comfort food!

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Veganuary and comfort food emergencies

Before I get to my Vegan Pantry Tomato Soup with Homemade Croutons, I apologize: I have to rant.

I live in Southern Wisconsin.

It's winter.

Today, our low temperature—minus 29º F—is approximately the same as the that of the North Pole.

As in, the tippy-top of the Arctic freakin' circle.

Actually, if you take wind chill into account (-50º F), it's worse here!

More of the same is expected tomorrow.

You can bet that I will be huddled under a fluffy blanket in front of the fireplace, consuming copious amounts of emergency comfort food.

Which brings me to...

Vegan Pantry Tomato Soup with Homemade Croutons

This last installment in my Veganuary series is fast, easy comfort food at its finest, folks.

This easy homemade soup comes right out of your pantry; it's budget-friendly AND kid-approved.

Ingredients

Tomatoes and acidity

I like to use a combination of tinned tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes (you can also use whole tomatoes in juice and crush them yourself).

Whenever they're dealing with tomato sauces and soups, a lot of people will add sugar to counteract bitterness and acidity.

I try to avoid that by using naturally sweet ingredients like carrots and sweet onions (or, in this case, shallots).

If the final soup is too acidic, you can sprinkle ½ teaspoon of baking soda over the top.

The bicarbonate will neutralize some of the excess acid in the soup.

Adding a small amount of non-dairy cream like coconut milk or vegan yogurt will add sweetness without the refined sugar.

Herbs

You might be tempted to use a typical Italian herb mix for this soup, but I would advise against it.

You risk the soup tasting more like marinara sauce than soup.

My personal preference is to opt for a complimentary herb like tarragon, savory, or even a small amount of dill.

I've found that dried tarragon leaves work perfectly.

Or, leave the dried herbs out altogether and tear some fresh basil leaves over the soup right before eating.

Broth

Store-bought vegetable broth is an easy pantry option for this tomato soup recipe.

However, I like to make my own vegetable broth (see below, or skip ahead to "Croutons").

I keep vegetable odds-and-ends like mushroom stems, leek greens, and the like in the freezer for exactly this purpose. (Don't use potatoes: the starch will make the broth cloudy.)

Vegetable broth is super-easy to make in the Instant Pot.

Simply caramelize (deeply brown) the cut side of 2 onion halves in a small amount of olive oil using the sauté function (the highest setting).

I highly recommend also adding 4–8 ounces of cremini mushrooms to this step.

You'll need to sauté the onions and mushrooms on high for 5–6 minutes.

Then, add any vegetable scraps you might have, along with a cup of baby carrots (whole is fine), 2 celery stalks, 2 cloves of garlic (you can leave them in their skin), a bay leaf, a handful of parsley, ½ tablespoon of black peppercorns, and enough water to cover the vegetables.

Dried mushrooms (¼ cup or so) are also a wonderful addition: I like porcini, chanterelles, wood ears, shiitake, or a mix.

Next, lock the lid of your Instant Pot and pressure cook on high for 40 minutes.

When the cycle finishes, manually—carefully—release the pressure.

Run the broth through a fine-mesh strainer.

Chill and keep the broth in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze it up to 6 months.

Croutons

I make my stovetop croutons using my homemade rustic bread.

My current favorite seasoning mix for these croutons is Sunny Paris from Penzey's spices.

It contains shallots, chives, green peppercorn, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil, and bay leaf.

It's also perfect for soups and salad dressings.

Here's how the Vegan Pantry Tomato Soup with Homemade Croutons comes together:

Soup

You might have noticed that in the preparation collage above, I'm using a coarse-mesh colander rather than a strainer.

This might be because our youngest thought that our ex-colander would make a neat-o hat.

He also discovered that it was fun to flatten the thing by repeatedly pounding it on the floor. O.o

Rather than straining the soup, you could also buzz it thoroughly in a high-powered blender or using an immersion blender.

If you choose that route, take proper precautions for working with hot liquids (e.g., avoid splashes, work in small batches, vent the blender to release steam, etc.).

The soup won't be quite as silky this way, but it WILL be delicious.

Croutons

Making the croutons is a simple matter of thawing, cubing, tossing with olive oil and seasonings, and baking until golden. Or you can make them on your stovetop.

I prepare the croutons while the soup simmers.

I always make extra croutons because they're fantastic to have on hand for salads.

And, just like that, you have a steaming bowl of delicious comfort food:

Refrigerate any leftover soup up to 4 days. Or freeze in airtight containers up to 6 months.

That's it! I hope you love this "emergency comfort food" dinner idea.

Stay warm out there!

—xoxo Michelle

P.S. Want more delicious Veganuary dinner ideas? Check out One-Pot Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff, Vegan Pantry Marinara Sauce, Cucumber-Onion-Tomato Salad, and Easy Squash Curry.

And this post is loaded with inspo for making the most of your pantry: Easy Pantry Meals – Living Out of Your Pantry (and refrigerator and freezer).

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