Creamy Tomato Soup

Name: Creamy Tomato Soup
Prep time: 11 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 3 tbsp Olive Oil; 2 chopped Onions; 2 sticks Celery; 300g Carrots; 500g Potatoes; 4 Bay Leaf; 5 tblsp Tomato Puree; 2 tblsp Sugar; 2 tblsp White Vinegar; 1½ kg Chopped Tomatoes; 500g Passata; 3 Vegetable Stock Cube; 400ml Whole Milk

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Starter recipe with British flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 42 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 30 min total

3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 chopped Onions
2 sticks Celery
300g Carrots
500g Potatoes
4 Bay Leaf
5 tblsp Tomato Puree
2 tblsp Sugar
2 tblsp White Vinegar
1½ kg Chopped Tomatoes
500g Passata
3 Vegetable Stock Cube
400ml Whole Milk

Step-by-step instructions

Put the oil, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes and bay leaves in a big casserole dish, or two saucepans. Fry gently until the onions are softened – about 10-15 mins. Fill the kettle and boil it.
Stir in the tomato purée, sugar, vinegar, chopped tomatoes and passata, then crumble in the stock cubes. Add 1 litre boiling water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 mins until the potato is tender, then remove the bay leaves. Purée with a stick blender (or ladle into a blender in batches) until very smooth. Season to taste and add a pinch more sugar if it needs it. The soup can now be cooled and chilled for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
To serve, reheat the soup, stirring in the milk – try not to let it boil. Serve in small bowls with cheesy sausage rolls.

Why this works on a weeknight

Creamy Tomato Soup genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Quick Soups & Stews collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Creamy Tomato Soup actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥣 Quick Soups & Stews Starter British ⚡ 30-Min Dinner Baking