Creamy Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque

A hot roast in the oven caramelizes and intensifies the veggies in this delicious, healthy, super creamy Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque. Add a splash of cream or leave it out, either way, it's delicious!

With lots of rain and cool, cloudy weather this past week, we've been enjoying this delicious Creamy Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque on repeat. If you like a creamy, healthy, beautifully hued soup that's loaded with fabulous flavor, this is sure to become a favorite at your house. It comes together in under an hour yet tastes like something you'd order at a fine restaurant.

What is a Bisque?

You might be wondering what makes a soup a bisque. "Bisque" is simply a French word for a thick, smooth, creamy soup. Traditionally, it was made with seafood but these days that's not necessarily true. A tomato "bisque" is simply a thick, creamy tomato soup.

I'm calling my roasted tomato carrot soup a bisque because it's definitely thick and creamy (with no cream or just an optional splash). And also, I just think a soup as delicious as this deserves a fancy name!

How to Make this Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque

Although this Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque is a two-step recipe, it's super simple and the second step is implemented while your oven completes the first.

• The recipe starts with a hot oven and a pan full of fresh produce; cherry tomatoes, carrots and chunks of bell pepper. Drizzle the veggies with olive oil and balsamic vinegar then add a generous dose of Italian seasoning, garlic salt and a pinch of sugar. Make a little foil packet of garlic drizzled lightly with olive oil and nestle it in the center of the veggies. Roast until tender and caramelized.
• While the veggies roast, pull out your soup pot and saute an onion until tender. Add chicken broth, tomato paste and a roughly chopped potato and bring it to a boil. Cover and cook until the potato is tender.
• Next, add the roasted veggies and a handful of fresh basil to the soup pot and puree until smooth and creamy with an immersion blender. A splash of cream is up to you, but the soup will be delicious either way!

How to serve this bisque

This Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque is like the proverbial "little black dress" of the fashion world. Serve it for a hearty lunch or casual dinner with a panini or yummy salad. (This salad pairs fabulously with the soup).

It also makes a great appetizer soup served with a swirl of cream, a few melting fresh mozzarella pearls or some shaved Parmesan. Add a sprig of fresh basil for a pretty finishing touch.

I like to make a grilled cheese with some thin cut, whole grain bread then cut the sandwich into small cubes to create "grilled cheese croutons" to float in this soup. It's also super delicious with halved cherry tomatoes, drizzled with a few drops of olive oil or balsamic vinegar (as pictured in this post).

Don't tell anyone, but I even enjoy this Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque for breakfast sometimes. It's a delicious, healthy way to start the day!

I'm not always a big fan of leftovers but I LOVE having a stash of this fabulous Roasted Tomato Carrot Soup in the refrigerator or freezer. It's light yet hearty, healthy and always seems to hit the spot. In fact, I'm going to run as I've talked myself into warming up a bowl of it right now. Try it, I think you'll love it too!

Cafe Tips for making this Creamy Roasted Tomato Carrot Soup

• This Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque recipe calls for regular cherry (or grape) tomatoes and small golden tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are almost always available, but small golden tomatoes can be more difficult to find. If you can't find golden tomatoes, no worries! Just sub more cherry (or grape tomatoes) for the golden variety.
• This is a blended soup. I use an immersion blender to make things super easy. Immersion blenders are also known as "stick"  or "hand" blenders. An immersion or stick blender is basically an electrically powered stick with blender blades at the end of it. Immersion blenders are super handy for soups as they do their blending right in the pot, saving the time of washing another container. They're also great because they're small enough to store in a drawer or cabinet and can be quickly and easily pulled out. I'm not a huge fan of lots of kitchen gadgets, but there are a few that I would hate to live without and one of them is my immersion blender. I use mine for soup, pancake batter, milkshakes, whipping cream, making mayo, crushing tomatoes... It's a little kitchen workhorse for me and I love that these blenders don't cost an arm and a leg.
• Low sodium chicken broth is one of the ingredients in this recipe. If, for some reason, you are using regular sodium chicken broth, skip the salt when simmering the potatoes. But do taste the soup at the end and add more salt, to taste.
• I love the low sodium chicken broth at Trader Joe's. It's reasonably priced, tastes delicious, doesn't have any weird additives and has a beautiful golden color (there's a bit of turmeric to give it the pretty hue).
• Don't be afraid of the 4 teaspoons of Italian seasoning. It sounds like a lot, but there are a lot of veggies to flavor.
• There is a pinch of sugar in this recipe. The soup does not taste sweet but the tiny bit of sugar tones down the acidity of the tomatoes.
• The last ingredient in this Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque recipe is heavy cream. It's optional but it's not a lot, just 2-4 tablespoons and it does make the soup super creamy. Feel free to omit it if you can't have dairy or are watching your calories (the soup will still be really delicious) BUT, the added amount of calories per cup (with the full 4 tablespoons of cream) is only 20, so if you're not needing to be dairy-free, go for it!

Thought for the day:

 ^"Your father Abraham rejoiced
at the thought of seeing my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
“You are not yet fifty years old,”
they (the Pharisees) said to him,
“and you have seen Abraham?”
“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered,
“before Abraham was born, I am!"
John 8:56-58

What we're listening to for inspiration:

Jesus

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.

5 from 2 votes

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Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque

A hot roast in the oven caramelizes and intensifies the veggies in this delicious, healthy, super creamy Roasted Tomato Carrot Bisque. Add a splash of cream or leave it out, either way, it's delicious!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Brunch, Lunch, Main, Soup

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Roasted Tomato Bisque, Tomato Carrot Soup

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Total Time: 1 hr

Servings: 10 servings

Calories: 125 kcal

Ingredients

For the roasted veggies:

• 3 pints cherry (or grape) tomatoes I've used all red and a combination of red and yellow with good success
• 12 ounces carrots roughly chopped (or use baby carrots)
• 1 large bell pepper cut into large chunks (I like to use yellow or orange for a pretty color.)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 ½ teaspoons garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

For the soup:

• 1 tablespoon butter I use salted
• 1 large about 8 ounces sweet onion, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth maybe more
• 2 medium-large yellow or Russet potatoes (about 12 ounces) peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

To finish:

• roasted veggies
• fresh basil leaves ½ cup tightly packed
• 2-4 tablespoon cream optional
• fresh basil leaves for garnish
• small red and/or yellow tomatoes halved, for garnish
• 6 cloves garlic unpeeled

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the roasted veggies:

1. Line a sheet pan with foil, for easy cleanup. Preheat the oven to 425 ˚F.

2. Combine the tomatoes and carrots and bell pepper on a sheet pan and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning, garlic salt, sugar and pepper. Toss with your hands to evenly distribute the oil and seasonings. Place the 6 cloves of garlic on a small piece of foil. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and bring up the edges of the foil to make a tightly sealed packet. Push some of the veggies away from the center of the pan to make a place for the garlic packet and nestle into place.

3. Place the pan in the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes. Shake the pan gently to rotate the carrots and tomatoes. Flip the pepper pieces to the opposite side. Roast for another 20-25 minutes or until most of the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated. Remove from the oven.

For the soup:

1. While the veggies are roasting, heat the 1 tablespoon of butter in a large soup or stockpot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. Add the tomato paste and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the tomato paste deepens in color.

2. Add the chicken broth, potatoes and salt. Increase the heat and bring to a medium boil. Cover and cook for 20 minutes until potatoes are nice and soft.

To finish:

1. Add the roasted veggies (just squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins) and fresh basil leaves and blend until smooth, using an immersion blender. You can also transfer the mixture to a regular blender, add the roasted veggies and blend until smooth. (If using a regular blender, be sure to leave the center cap of the cover off and cover the opening with a sieve, kitchen towel or several thicknesses of paper towels to prevent heat build-up and possible explosion.)

2. Add 2-4 tablespoons of cream (optional) and stir to blend. Taste and season with more kosher salt, if needed. If you prefer a thinner soup, add a bit more chicken broth.

3. Serve the soup bowls, garnished with halved cherry or grape tomatoes and/or a drizzle of cream or balsamic vinegar and fresh basil leaves. Refrigerate any leftovers and enjoy within 3-4 days or freeze for a delicious dinner on a busy day!

Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success with this recipe.

Nutrition facts per serving (101 cup)

Calories 125kcal

Fat 8g

Saturated fat 2g

Polyunsaturated fat 1g

Monounsaturated fat 4g

Cholesterol 8mg

Sodium 672mg

Potassium 577mg

Carbohydrates 12g

Fiber 2g

Sugar 5g

Protein 5g

Vitamin A 6245%

Vitamin C 28%

Calcium 47%

Iron 2%

Thought for the day:

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
    for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:9-10

What we're listening to for inspiration:

I Will Carry You

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.