It’s officially soup season. There’s nothing better than a big bowl of hot and creamy soup on a cold day. And this creamy and delicious tomato soup is perfect for our little toddlers at home.
Lot of people think that soups are just for adults. But they make a great meal for the little kids at home too. They are usually loaded with veggies and are excellent for toddlers who are picky with their food. Use their favorite veggie as the base of the soup and add extras as you wish, so they can’t pick them apart.
And if your kids like tomato-based sauces or dishes, they won’t have any trouble licking this bowl of creamy and delicious soup.
You can serve the soup with some toasted bread to add some whole grains in their diet and to make it filling.
Here’s a tip – Cut the bread in their favorite shapes, toast it with some butter or olive oil. Always gets them excited. You can also make some cheese toasties instead of just plain bread. It would pair especially well with this delicious tomato soup.
This tomato soup is kid friendly. By that I mean it has extra veggies and not just tomatoes. I love adding some carrots and a small quantity of potato to mine.
You can also substitute the potato with sweet potato. Remember not to add a lot of sweet potato or your soup will end up being too sweet. Not that your kids will complain. But You want that rich tomato flavor, reduce the quantity of sweet potato. Apart from that, it’s got butter, olive oil, aromatics, onions and all the good stuff.
We made this soup a lot during summer. We had two tomato plants which gave us a lot of fruits this season.
I would ask the kids to water the plants, harvest the tomatoes and get them involved in the process. It was such a fun activity to do. They would get excited to know that they are eating something that came from own garden.
Toddler Tomato Soup Recipe:
Tomatoes :
Juicy red tomatoes are the star of this recipe. I like to use fresh tomatoes in the recipe as my pantry is always stocked with lots of tomatoes. But you can also substitute it with canned tomatoes. The flavor will be much more intense when you use the canned tomatoes. To get the same result here, you will have to cook the fresh tomato puree really well. You can choose tomatoes of your choice. I usually like to use organic Roma tomatoes in mine.
Carrots
One large carrot for some added nutrition and sweetness. carrot is a great ingredient to add into your smoothies and soups. It is such a good source of Vitamin A and beta-carotene.
Potato
My mom taught me to add potatoes in my soup. It makes the soup thick and creamy without having to add a lot of cream or flour. You can skip it and replace it with cream or even a small sweet potato.
Garlic
A clove or two of garlic lends an amazing flavor to the dish. Did you know garlic is used as a remedy for cold in many countries? It is also known to have anti cancerous properties.
Onion
For flavor and also very good to your toddlers immunity.
Vegetable stock
Why add water, when you can add veggie stock that has added nutrition in it? You can add either store bought stock or homemade ones. Making veggie stock at home is pretty simple and it is a great way to make use of those vegetable scraps. If you eat meat, you can substitute the veggie stock with chicken stock.
Basil
tomatoes and basil are a match made in heaven. If you are not a big fan of basil, then add herbs of your choice.
Cream
For the final finishing touch.
Salt, pepper and olive oil.
How to make Toddler Tomato Soup:
Now that we have seen what goes inside the soup, let’s see how to do it.
Let’s heat some olive oil and add some chopped garlic, onions, chopped carrots, chopped potatoes, salt and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
Now add the tomatoes, vegetable stock and cook until the soup thickens a little and the veggies are cooked.
Now puree everything, add the seasoning as per your taste and serve with a drizzle of cream and chopped basil leaves.
Might seem like a lot of work, but you actually don’t do a lot. All you do is add the ingredients to the pot and let it simmer. If you are looking for a faster way of doing this would be to do this in a pressure cooker or instant pot.
How do I make this soup vegan?
The soup is very easy to make vegan. All you have to do is use vegan butter or olive oil and replace cream with coconut cream or another vegan alternative.
How can I replace canned tomatoes with fresh ones?
You can replace the fresh tomatoes with a 14oz can of diced tomatoes.
Serving suggestions/ ideas
You can serve this soup with toasted bread, cheese sandwich or even some boiled pasta.
I like to top mine with some shredded cheese, grated parmesan. My eldest likes pesto, so sometimes I would add some homemade pesto on top before serving.
Croutons are another favorite.
Toddler Tomato Soup Recipe:
PREP TIME- 10 MINUTES
COOK TIME – 40 MINUTES
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped tomatoes (Substitute with 141/2 oz canned diced tomato+ 1 cup chopped tomatoes)
- 1 onion
- 1 large carrot
- 1 small potato (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp olive oil / butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cream for serving
- 7 to 8 basil leaves (use herbs of your choice)
Method:
- Take a saucepan and add the oil to it.
- When it becomes hot, add the onions, chopped garlic, chopped carrots, chopped potato, some salt and saute for 3 to 4 minutes in a medium flame. You don’t want the onions to brown.
- Now add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, 5 to 6 basil leaves and mix everything well.
- Bring it to a boil and cover and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. The tomatoes need to be cooked until the raw smell goes and the carrots and potatoes should be cooked until soft. You can add more vegetable stock if the soup has reduced too much.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Now take a hand blender and puree everything until smooth and creamy. You can also do this in your blender once the mixture is slightly cool.
- Serve hot topped with chopped basil and some fresh cream.
