CopycatSpices
Panera Bread Creamy Tomato Soup
Velvety smooth tomato soup with a touch of cream, just like Panera's signature bowl. Simple ingredients, big flavor, and ready in 30 minutes.
soup · panera · tomato · vegetarian
🕑Prep10 min
🍳Cook25 min
⏱Total35 min
🍽Serves6
⭐DifficultyEasy
Ingredients
- 2 cans (28 oz each) whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- 1.Saute the aromatics. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and tomato paste, stirring for 1 minute until the paste darkens slightly.
- 2.Add the tomatoes and simmer. Pour in both cans of whole tomatoes with their juice. Add the sugar, dried basil, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes should break down and the flavors should meld together.
- 3.Blend until silky smooth. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup directly in the pot until completely smooth with no chunks remaining. Alternatively, carefully transfer to a countertop blender in batches. Panera's soup is perfectly smooth — no rustic chunks here.
- 4.Stir in the cream. Reduce heat to low and pour in the heavy cream. Stir until fully incorporated. The soup should turn a rich, rosy orange color. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes but do not boil.
- 5.Serve in a bread bowl or with a grilled cheese. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. For the full Panera experience, pair with a grilled cheese sandwich for dipping.
Panera Bread Creamy Tomato Soup
Panera’s Creamy Tomato Soup is the soup that launched a thousand bread bowls. It is smooth, velvety, and has that perfect balance of tomato acidity and cream richness. It tastes like something that took hours to make, but it comes together in about 30 minutes.
The key is using whole San Marzano tomatoes instead of diced or crushed. San Marzanos have a sweeter, less acidic flavor and a meatier texture that produces a richer soup.
Why Make It at Home?
A cup of Panera’s tomato soup costs about $6. A bowl costs $8. A full pot at home costs about $7 and makes 6 servings. That is roughly $1.15 per bowl — a savings of about 85%. Plus, yours does not come in a to-go container that leaks in your car.
Tips & Variations
- San Marzano tomatoes make the difference. Regular canned tomatoes are more acidic and watery. San Marzanos are sweeter, thicker, and have a deeper tomato flavor. They cost a dollar more per can and are worth every penny.
- The sugar is not optional. A teaspoon of sugar balances the natural acidity of the tomatoes. Without it, the soup tastes slightly sharp and one-dimensional.
- Do not boil after adding cream. High heat causes the cream to separate, giving the soup a broken, curdled appearance. Keep it at a gentle simmer.
- Freeze in portions. This soup freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Freeze without the cream and stir it in when you reheat.
