Name: Lazy Slow Cooker Tomato Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 480 min
Ingredients: 2 28oz cans whole peeled plum tomatoes with juice; 2½ cups vegetable broth; 1½ cups chopped onion; 1 29 oz can tomato sauce; 2 tbsp roasted garlic, smashed; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped small (or 1½ tsp dried basil); ½ tsp fresh ground pepper; 2 pieces Parmesan rind (OPTIONAL - do not include for dairy free/vegan); 1 5oz can full fat unsweetened coconut cream

Jump to Recipe

This easy slow cooker tomato soup is a creamy, dairy free version of the old classic. No canned soup could compare to the authentic and intense flavors in this homemade soup recipe!

A bowl of tomato soup with a round crouton floating on top

Tomatoes and slow cookers are meant for each other. The more time tomatoes spend in a slow cooker, the richer and more intense their flavors become.

Lazy Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce is a perfect example. The suggested minimum cooking time is eight hours, but cooking a bit longer will just intensify the flavors.

The same principle applies when using a Crockpot to make this tomato soup. Longer cooking = more intense flavor. Low and slow is the way to go (sorry for the corny-ness).

A bowl of tomato soup with basil leaves on top

Shopping list

This homemade tomato soup uses many pantry staples. You may have most if not all of it them already in your pantry or refrigerator.

Cans of whole, peeled tomatoes,
veggie broth,
tomato sauce, tomato paste,
roasted garlic,
soy sauce,
onion,
basil,
pepper,
unsweetened coconut cream
Parmesan rind (skip to keep dairy free and vegan).

How to make easy slow cooker tomato soup

Toss all ingredients in your crockpot (click here to see my favorite one).
Let that thing work it's magic!
Blend with an immersion blender
Savor every bite (slurp??)!

All raw tomato soup ingredients ready to cook

Substitutions

This recipe calls for roasted garlic, which adds a nice flavor. However, feel free to substitute regular pressed garlic.
To add to the creamy texture, a small amount of coconut cream is used towards the end of cooking time. For those of you who just turned your nose up because you don't like coconut, relax! My avowed coconut haters couldn't taste a hint of it. You can, however, regular dairy cream, or skip it all together (but I don't recommend it).

Adding a can of stewed tomatoes into a slow cooker

Hints and hacks

One of the most labor intensive steps in this recipe is chopping onions. Stay lazy like I do and skip this by buying frozen chopped onion in the frozen veggie section of your market. It is very inexpensive and saves a lot of tears!
Basil is an important ingredient. Recommended amounts are included below for both dried and fresh. If possible, go with fresh.
Recommended cooking time is at least 8 hours. You can serve it after about 6, but the flavors will become more intense the longer you cook. This is a great 12+ hour soup to make if you want to set it up before work (or a long day out) and eat when you get home.
Anytime after 6 hours, use an immersion blender to pulverize into a smooth and creamy soup. If you are using a slow cooker liner (I am a HUGE fan of these!), be very careful! It is easy to catch a piece of the liner on the immersion blender and chop it up - essentially ruining the entire soup. To avoid this, don't let the blade of the blender fully touch the sides or bottom of the slow cooker.
The recipe shows 2 pieces of Parmesan rind as an optional ingredient. I feel this adds a really great additional layer of flavor. However, if your goal is dairy free soup or vegan soup, feel free to omit.
For laziest cleanup, a slow cooker liner is the way to go (although always fully optional). I buy them in bulk for the best per piece price. Click here to see that option.