Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup Recipe

I’m so excited to share this tomato basil soup recipe with you!  It’s actually chock full of chopped vegetables.  We like having some chunks in our soup, so I left the delicious soft vegetables alone in chunks within my soup.  If you prefer to have a smoother tomato soup, feel free to blend the veggies up with an immersion blender while it’s still in the pot.

When deciding if I really wanted to make this tomato basil soup recipe for my family, who can sometimes be a bit picky, I spent some time reflecting.  You see, I have fond memories from my childhood, of when I was sick and home from school.  I know, that sounds weird.  Why would I think fondly of being sick?  It’s because I enjoyed my “sick food”.   Specifically, I remember eating tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich.  The two always were the perfect pair.  Even when you’re sick.  (Unless you have the weak stomach of course.)

I also remember eating tomato soup on cold, winter days for lunch.  Like on a snow day, when we stayed home from school.  It was always the perfect comfort food for those cold winter days!

Now that I’m an adult and mom to 7 kids, I actually don’t serve tomato soup that often.  You would think I’d jump on the opportunity, seeing I had such fond memories of it.  The truth is, only one of my kids have ever really liked the easy-to-make canned version that I’ve tried to serve them.

Since they’ve never really been a fan of THAT version of tomato soup, I was hesitant to make this soup for them, as I was afraid that they wouldn’t like it.  I was pleasantly surprised when they gobbled up every ounce of this tomato basil soup by the end of the night.  I mean, they kept coming back for more and there were NO leftovers.

One of my Freezer to Slow Cooker subscription members agreed.  She said:

“Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup was a hit in our house tonight!!! Even my pickiest of eaters loved it!! And the baby! She cleaned her bowl and barely made a mess. Thank you SO much!!!”

As you can see in the above picture, we ended up serving our soup with a cheese quesadilla instead of a grilled cheese sandwich.  It just happened that we were out of bread!  It was totally by accident, but we found that the cheese quesadilla was just as enjoyable with this tomato basil soup recipe as a grilled cheese sandwich would have been!

Now, it’s your turn!  You should try this recipe!  If you do, come back and leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup Recipe

Makes 8 servings

2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely chopped celery (2-3 stalks)
1 cup finely chopped carrots (3 carrots)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 Tablespoon basil
4 cups (32 oz) chicken broth
1 bay leaf
½ cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup butter
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil

Slow Cooker Instructions:

1. Chop celery, onions and carrots.
2. Place chopped veggies, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, basil and chicken broth into a large slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
4. An hour before serving, prepare a roux by melting a half cup of butter on the stove, and add in a haf cup of flour, stirring constantly for several minutes, until smooth and not clumpy.
5. Stir a cup of soup into the butter/flour mixture and slowly add 3 more, continually stirring until it is smooth.
6. Pour soup/butter/flour mixture back into slow cooker and add parmesan cheese, milk, salt and pepper.
7. Add another teaspoon of both basil and oregano and cook on low for another 30-45 minutes.
8. Serve

Freezer Bag Instructions:

• Chop celery, onions and carrots.
• Place chopped veggies, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, basil and chicken broth into a gallon size freezer safe bag.
• Label & lay flat to freeze.
• Remove freezer bag from freezer the night before you plan to cook it.
• On cooking day, pour contents of thawed bag into slow cooker (or add an extra hour to cooking time, if it’s still frozen or partly frozen)
• Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
• An hour before serving, prepare a roux by melting a half cup of butter on the stove, and add in a cup of flour, stirring constantly for several minutes, until not smooth and not clumpy.
• Stir a cup of soup into the butter/flour mixture and slowly add 3 more, continually stirring until it is smooth.
• Pour soup/butter/flour mixture back into slow cooker and add parmesan cheese, milk, salt and pepper.
• Add another teaspoon of both basil and oregano and cook on low for another 30-45 minutes.

Instructions to write on bag:  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Make roux according to recipe instructions and stir in.  Cook another 30-45 minutes.

Side Suggestion: Garlic Cheese Bread