Easy, comforting and delicious, this roasted red pepper and tomato soup with fennel will warm you up on the coldest of days! This vegetable soup is delicious with goat cheese crostini on the side for dunking!
Are you full force into fall mode, even though it’s not technically fall? I am!
I even bought gourds and mini pumpkins today. And I’m already planning for Halloween.
This past Sunday, after some rest (and lots of coffee), I was all ready to get cooking, so I made this spicy red pepper tomato soup.
I love making big batches of soup on Sunday!
This roasted red pepper tomato soup is a super easy, light and delicious. Plus, it’s chock-full of veggies.
Basically, once the peppers are roasted, everything else is done in one pot right on the stove top. Nothing to it!
If you want to make your meal a little more substantial, a grilled cheese sandwich would be a great sidekick to this roasted red pepper soup.
Fan of tomato soup? Check out this creamy tomato basil soup!
How To Roast Bell Peppers
Buying jarred roasted red bell peppers is super convenient. However, if you have time you can easily roast them yourself at home!
They’re delicious in this roasted red pepper and tomato soup (obviously), but also really yummy on pizza, on a sandwich or even as a component to a charcuterie board.
So, how do you roast bell peppers?
- Place bell peppers (colour of your choice) on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan.
- Place them in the oven (second shelf from the top in the oven). Roast for 40 to 50 minutes, turning the peppers over halfway through cooking.
- Carefully remove bell peppers from the oven, place in a bowl, cover with plastic food wrap and let steam for a little to allow the exterior charred skin to loosen.
- When bell peppers are cool enough to handle, remove stalk, peel off charred skin, cut bell peppers in half and scrape out seeds.
- Now you have delicious roasted red peppers, ready to be used in soup!
More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
How To Cut Fennel
- Cut stalks from fennel bulb (reserve stalks for another use or discard; reserve fronds for soup garnish).
- Cut fennel bulb in half
- Locate core in each half of fennel (it should be easy to locate; see photo below).
- Remove core and discard.
- Thinly slice fennel. Now it’s ready to use in recipes!
Tips for Making This Recipe
- Use the best quality canned tomatoes you can get. I love to use whole San Marzano tomatoes and blend them with an immersion blender prior to using them in this recipe. You can also squish the tomatoes with a potato masher or by hand.
- Don’t have time to roast bell peppers? No worries! You can buy them at your grocery store in jars and they’re ready to use!
- I used two Thai chili peppers in this soup and it wasn’t too spicy for me. You can use less or omit entirely and the soup will still be delicious!
- When I originally made this roasted red pepper tomato soup, I garnished it with crumbled goat cheese. However, for this updated version, I opted to spread some goat cheese on crostini and served it alongside for dunking. You do you!
- Speaking of goat cheese crostini, for those I toasted some baguette pieces and spread with goat cheese. Then, I sprinkled with chili flakes and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (or use balsamic reduction).
More Yummy Vegetable Soups
- Tomato Soup With Fresh Tomatoes
- Tomato Tortellini Soup
- Black Bean Sweet Potato Soup
- Spicy Lentil Kale Soup
- Curried Carrot Soup With Coconut Milk
If you make this roasted red pepper tomato soup, be sure to leave a comment below!
This soup recipe was originally published in January 2016 but has been updated.
Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup With Fennel
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 red bell peppers, about 1.25 pounds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 shallot, peeled and minced (or yellow or white onion)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 to 2 Thai chili peppers, minced (optional)
- 1 bulb fennel, core removed and fennel thinly sliced (about 1.5 pounds)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, blend tomatoes with an immersion blender or roughly break up with a potato masher before using
- ½ cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- Goat cheese, optional: garnish to taste on crostini or over soup
- Chopped fennel fronds, garnish to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Roast bell peppers: Preheat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit. Place bell peppers onto a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper.Note: If using parchment paper, ensure that it is oven-safe up to at least 420 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake the bell peppers for 40 to 50 minutes, turning the peppers over halfway through cooking. Carefully remove peppers from the oven, place in a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic food wrap and let sit until cool enough to handle. You can start preparing the soup while they are cooling.Note: To save time, you can use store-bought roasted red peppers instead and skip the roasting.
- Prepare the rest of the soup: Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add the shallot and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- To shallot, stir in garlic and chili pepper (if using) and cook for 1 minute.
- Add fennel to the onion mixture. Season with salt, black pepper and oregano. Cook for about 10 minutes stirring often, until fennel has softened.
- Once peppers are cool enough to handle, remove stems, outer charred layer (I don't mind if some charred pieces are left on) and bulk of inner seeds (few stray ones left are fine). Basically, what you want is the flesh of the bell peppers and any small amount of juices that have accumulated in the bowl as they cool.
- To fennel mixture, add the roasted red peppers and their juices, vegetable broth and tomatoes. Stir. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat (to about medium-low) to maintain a simmer. Cover with lid ajar and cook for about 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the Greek yogurt. Blend the soup with immersion blender until smooth.
- To serve, divide the soup into bowls and garnish (if desired) with fennel fronds and goat cheese crostini (or crumble goat cheese directly on top of soup). Enjoy!
Notes
- Use the best quality canned tomatoes you can get. I love to use whole San Marzano tomatoes and blend them with an immersion blender prior to using them in this recipe. You can also squish the tomatoes with a potato masher or by hand.
- Don’t have time to roast bell peppers? No worries! You can buy them at your grocery store in jars and they’re ready to use!
- I used two Thai chili peppers in this soup and it wasn’t too spicy for me. You can use less or omit entirely and the soup will still be delicious!
- When I originally made this roasted red pepper tomato soup, I garnished it with crumbled goat cheese. However, for this updated version, I opted to spread some goat cheese on crostini and served it alongside for dunking. You do you!
- Speaking of goat cheese crostini, for those I toasted some baguette pieces and spread with goat cheese. Then, topped with chili flakes and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (or use balsamic reduction).
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
© Girl Heart Food Inc. Photographs and content are copyright protected.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Wes says
It was tasty but it was missing something, not sure it it was needing mot pepper flakes or something else.
I will make it again and play with the spices.
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
Thanks Wes! You can certainly add more chili peppers or spice if you like to suit your taste. I’m happy you enjoyed it all the same! 🙂
Wes says
I stand corrected second day or 3 days later and taste was great, think it’s one of the next day soups. Only thing I added was 1/2 teaspoon of Parma cheese.
Marisa says
I’m totally loving the flavour combo Dawn! I could never get enough of roasted red bell peppers and really need to try this! Such a gorgeous colour and I’m sure it tastes wonderful!
Girl Heart Food says
Thank you Marisa!! It sure does 😉 Enjoy!
Mimi says
A beautiful soup. I’d love a bowl with a dollop of sour cream on top! Have you ever heard of paprika creme? It’s a Hungarian product – basically Hungarian pepper paste in a large tube, or in a jar. It’s so easy to squirt some in to soups, or into a white bean dip for quick and easy, concentrated flavor!
Girl Heart Food says
Thanks Mimi! No, haven’t heard of it, but I bet it’s lovely 🙂