Creamy Tomato Bisque is a cozy and comforting soup made with fresh tomatoes, herbs, garnished with cream. Serve with crunchy croutons or with a crispy, gooey grilled cheese sandwich for a perfect vegetarian meal that is ready in under 30 minutes!

I am pretty sure most of you have a favorite restaurant that serves the best Tomato Bisque. For me, it is a restaurant called Yard House in New York. I look forward to my hot comforting bowl of soup each time I go there. And here is my healthy take on the delicious restaurant-inspired Tomato bisque soup!
Bisque
So what is bisque? Bisque is a soup made with vegetables or seafood, that is pureed with the addition of cream to get a smooth, velvety texture. More often made with Seafood, I love this fresh and satisfying Creamy Vegetarian Tomato Bisque with crunchy garlic croutons dunked in.
Tomato Bisque is often made using canned tomatoes and is a great option when tomatoes are not in season. I personally love making this soup with vine-grown tomatoes and fish herbs like parsley, basil, and oregano. Although, canned tomatoes can also be used in this recipe instead of fresh.
Variations
- Vegan - use Cashew cream instead of heavy cream. To make cashew cream simply blend ½ cup of cashews with ½ cup of water until smooth. To make it nut-free and dairy-free use unsweetened coconut cream. I love Trader Joe's canned coconut cream
- Canned Tomatoes - work equally well in this soup, especially when tomatoes are not in season
- Dried herbs - substitute freeze-dried herbs for the fresh ones by reducing the quantity by half
Steps
Here is my EASY step by step recipe using Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Step 1: Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat oil. Add onion, celery, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, oregano, basil, and parsley cook for a minute until fragrant. Add broth and salt. Mix well. Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Note: I use the Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base to make the broth. Set the Instant Pot to Manual/Pressure Cook for 8 minutes. Followed by a quick-release or NPR (photos 1 - 4).
Step 2: Open the Instant Pot, and carefully puree the soup using an immersion blender. Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode. Stir in honey, cream, and pepper. Bring to a gentle boil (photos 5 - 6).
Step 3: Ladle into bowls and sprinkle some cayenne pepper for an extra kick. Enjoy hot with crunchy croutons.
Serving
For a light, lunch serves this soup with crunchy croutons. I also love to serve tomato soup with a toasty cheese sandwich for a filling meal. A bowl of this hot soup with a delicious side salad also makes for a perfect meal.
Storing
Refrigerate any leftovers for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze the soup for longer shelf life.
Do you enjoy soups? Here are some easy and delicious vegetarian soup ideas:
- Pasta e Fagioli
- Vegetarian French Onion Soup
- Low Carb Mulligatawny Soup
- Coconut Curry Noodle Soup
- Lemon coriander soup
- Butternut soup
- Miso Ramen Soup
Recipe
Recipe
Creamy Tomato Bisque
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup onion diced
- ½ cup celery sliced
- 1 cup carrots peeled and sliced
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
- 6 tomatoes 2 pounds , quartered or 1 28 oz can of peeled tomatoes
- 1½ cup low sodium broth Note: I use the Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon honey optional
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to saute mode and heat oil. Add onion, celery, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, oregano, basil and parsley cook for a minute until fragrant.
- Add broth and salt. Mix well. Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing.
- Pressure Cook for 8 minutes. Followed by quick release or natural pressure release.
- Open the Instant Pot, and carefully puree the soup using an immersion blender.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode. Stir in honey, cream and pepper. Laddle into bowls, sprinkle some cayenne pepper for an extra kick. Enjoy hot with crunchy croutons.
Video
Notes
- Vegan - use Cashew cream instead of heavy cream. To make cashew cream simply blend ½ cup cashews with ½ cup of water until smooth. To make it nut-free and dairy-free use unsweetened coconut cream. I love Trader Joe's canned coconut cream
- Canned Tomatoes - work equally well in this soup, especially when tomatoes are not in season
- Dried herbs - substitute freeze-dried herbs for the fresh by reducing the quantity in half
Nutrition
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Manisha Ghodke says
So easy and quick ! Thank you Archana for this wonderful recipe! Love all your recipes!!
Mara says
How long does this soup stay good for?
Archana says
upto 5 days refrigerated.
Kishori says
I tried this method and it was very very tasty. Thanks Archana
Heather says
Followed the recipe as written! Easy and delicious...adding this in our rotation!
Denisha says
Love love this recipe super quick and has become my favorite for snow days ..
Grace says
Which hand blender did you use, could you please share?
Archana says
I have a Cuisinart and also Mueller Austria. They are both good and you can find them on my amazon store
traci says
I made this using a combo of tomatoes I had in the refrigerator, and a can of diced tomatoes; also a combo of dried herbs and fresh basil - absolutely perfect! I live at altitude so I did pressure cook it a few minutes longer. I also don't have an immersion blender so just blended it in smaller portions in my regular blender... This soup is SO GOOD, putting it into rotation ~ Thank you!
Archana says
You are most welcome, Traci!
Karla says
So quick and easy to make on a weeknight. I've made this soup several times and its always a hit.
Archana says
Thank you Karla!