Learn how to make the BEST Vegan Tomato Soup ever! Silky smooth, dairy free but creamy and made with simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry right now.
One of my kid’s favorite dinners is grilled (vegan) cheese and tomato soup. I make a batch of Stretchy Vegan Mozzarella for the “cheese” and pair it with an easy homemade tomato soup.
I’ve been wanting to share this recipe for quite some time and am finally getting it out there. I hope you love this easy, creamy soup as much as my family does!
How to make Easy Vegan Tomato Soup
(The full ingredient list and instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom, this is an overview)
- In a large pot, saute a chopped onion in a little olive oil or water.
- Add a can of crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- To a high powered blender, add some raw cashews.
- Add all the soup on top of the nuts. It should all fit unless your blender is small or you double the recipe.
- Blend!
- Transfer the soup back to the pot, add salt and sugar (just a teaspoon to cut the acidity) to taste.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
Special Tips & Substitutions
- Nut Free: You can make this without nuts, though using cashews makes for the best results, in my opinion. To make nut free, stir in about 1/2 cup of coconut milk. You could also use soy or hemp milk. Make sure it is unsweetened and unflavored.
- No Blender? No problem. Just use one of the nut free options and an immersion blender instead. You could even skip blending altogether if you want texture, especially if you use crushed tomatoes.
- For Tomato Basil soup, add about 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves to the blender and blend along with the rest of the soup. Yum!
- I love Muir Glen brand canned tomatoes. You really want to use quality canned tomatoes for tomato soup, not the cheapest versions if possible. San Marzano tomatoes are also a great choice.
More creamy vegan soups
- Vegan Cauliflower Soup
- Easy Vegan Potato Soup
- Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Instant Pot Vegan Tomato Soup

Easy Vegan Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or water for oil free)
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, optional to cut the acidity
Instructions
- In a large pot, saute the onion in the olive oil (or water) for 4-5 minutes over medium heat, until soft and translucent.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth and stir. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- To a high powered blender, add the raw cashews. Now carefully transfer the soup to the blender as well (unless you double the recipe, it should all fit). Use a towel to protect yourself from any splatters, and blend until very smooth.
- Return the blended soup to the pot and taste. Add salt to taste, and stir in a teaspoon of sugar to cut the acidity a little bit. Serve with salad, croutons, a loaf of bread, or dip vegan grilled cheese into it! Enjoy.
Notes
- Nut Free: Instead of cashews, simply stir in a little coconut milk from a can (1/2 cup) or even soy, hemp or oat that is unsweetened. You can also make it without any "cream" added.
- No Blender: Use one of the nut free options from above, and use an immersion blender to blend it right in the pot. It won't be as silky smooth this way, but it will still be good.
- For Tomato Basil soup, add about 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves to the blender and blend along with the other ingredients.
- For the best tomato soup, use quality canned tomatoes, not the cheapest generic version unless you have to! I use crushed, but you can also use whole canned tomatoes, or even diced.
- Store leftover soup in the refrigerator for 4 days. It freezes very well.
- Instant Pot: To make this in an Instant Pot, first saute the onion in the inner pot, then add the tomatoes and broth. Seal and cook for 5 minutes on high pressure. Continue with blending, and adding salt/sugar to taste.
ur recipes never EVER fail, thank you so much!!! makes being vegan soo much easier !! this soup is so sweet and i skipped the onion part and it still worked out well!! it’s very creamy and the perfect consistency.
Hi Grace. How wonderful that you are loving my recipes! This soup is one of my favorites! Thank you for your wonderful feedback and review!
My family loves this soup and it’s so easy to make. We make it with grilled cheese and enjoy the violife mature cheddar slices.
Great recipe! If you use a nutri bullet or similar style of blender (upside down), let the soup cool down before blending so that it doesn’t leach out during blending or crack the plastic due to high temperatures.