This last week has brought the first really cool and rainy days of autumn. I wasn't ready for it, but there's something welcoming about those chilly mornings, extra cups of hot coffee, and having to dig out the sweaters and sweatshirts.
And soup. Good hot soup is definitely one of the great joys of autumn, as far as I'm concerned!
I was packing away another big batch of dehydrated tomatoes on one of those cold, rainy days, and wishing I had a hot cup of soup, when I had a thought. Why not whip up some instant tomato soup mix?
It's the easiest stuff to make - dried tomatoes, dried onions, a few herbs, and some good sea salt. All things I had easily on hand!
It wasn't exactly how I planned for us to spend the afternoon - but it was raining, and that seemed like a good excuse for getting lost in some culinary experimentation. I found myself making batch after batch of soup mix, working on getting the ratio of ingredients just right.
Of course, that meant lots of taste testing. But that was ok by everyone - especially since there were grilled cheese sandwiches involved.
We finally nailed what I feel is a pretty good ratio of ingredients.
You'll notice when reading the ingredient list that I make this in fairly small batches, since I usually use a magic bullet, which doesn't hold very much. Feel free to scale the recipe up and use your food processor - that works well too!
I will say that working with dried tomato powder made from flavorful heirloom tomatoes has big influence on the robust character of this soup. I almost think I could just add hot water to the dried tomato powder and be happy!
Depending on the quality and variety of your dried tomatoes, you might find it desirable to tweak the amount of salt and herbs just a bit. I kept them on the low side, to let that wonderful tomato flavor really shine through.
Now that I've got the recipe down, I plan to use the rest of our extra tomatoes from this year's harvest making up several quarts of this dried tomato soup mix.
It's so handy, being able to quickly make up a cup or two whenever I feel like it. And it's hard to beat a warm bowl of soup on cold winter's day. Because you know, winter is coming!
Dry Tomato Soup Mix
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dried tomato pieces
- 1/2 cup dried onion pieces
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried sage
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the cup of a magic bullet, or food processor.
- Process until very finely powdered.
- Store in an air-tight container.
- To use, measure 3 Tablespoons of tomato soup mix into a mug or bowl. Add 6 ounces boiling water, and stir well.
Nancy says
I see that you suggest dried tomato slices but I have sun dried tomato chunks. They are leathery and I don't think they would blend into a powder.
My question is, can I dry them out of their leathery consistency and then blend them into a powder?
Please advise.
Thanks!
Nancy
Anna says
Hi Nancy! As long as the tomato slices haven't been treated with a preservative or any kind of oil, they should in theory be able to dry hard enough to blend. If they've been treated with a preservative or stored in oil at all though, I don't think you'd be able to pull it off. If you try it, I hope you'll let us know how it goes!
Bonita Sparrow says
Going to try making this using my dehydrated tomato powder. Also thinking of adding my dehydrated red yellow and orange pepper powder into it to. Would I need a half cup of tomato powder or would it be less?
Deanna says
Can I use tomato powder instead? Would I have to reduce the amount from half a cup, since a half a cup of dried tomatoes would turn out to be less once processed? I too miss the tomato cup a soup, and would appreciate any suggestion you might make.
Jilll says
Will sun dried tomatoes packed in oil work?
Anna says
Hi Jill! I haven't tried this, but I have a feeling the result would be very very different. Perhaps still tasty, but I can't vouch for it! I hope you'll let us know if you give it a try.
Darlene says
where do you find dried tomatoes? do you mean the sun dried ones?
Anna says
H Darlene! I generally use my own dehydrated tomato slices, but absolutely - you can do this with sun dried tomatoes too. Some brands are quite large and tough, and may give your machine a bit more of a workout, so I'd opt for brands that are more like sun dried slices, rather than the bulky whole sun dried tomatoes. Hope this helps!!
Jenny says
You may have just saved my life with this recipe! I just found it that the tomato cup-a-soup that I grew up on has been discontinued! ???
Anna says
Aw, Jenny! That's so sad - I hate it when products I love get discontinued! Hope this recipe helps fill the gap! Best wishes - A
Sabrina says
Love tomato soup. Will have to try this!
Anna says
Hope you enjoy it Sabrina!