Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe - Chowhound (2024)

FAQs

Can you add cream to tomato soup without curdling? ›

Temper the cream first. Add a liitle bit of tomato sauce at a time to the cream until it is warm and then add it all back into the tomato sauce. This will keep it from curdling.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

Tomatoes are very acidic and milk or cream is added to them, curdling can occur. Curdling will be more likely to happen when the ratio of acid to cream increases or when mixing a cold and hot mixture. To thwart the curdling tendency, changing procedures will render a smooth tomato soup.

If your sauce or soup contains an acidic ingredient like wine, tomatoes, or lemon juice, the milk is more likely to curdle.

You can warm the cream, or “temper” it, which is what I do. Take about half a cup of the hot broth and slowly add your cream to that, stirring constantly. Then you can pour the cream mixture back into the soup and it should be fine.

Reduce the heat of the sauce to just below the simmer. Put the cream into a measuring cup. Stir some of the heated sauce by spoonfuls into the measuring cup, stirring well, to slowly get the cream heated up, then slowly pour the contents of the measuring cup back into the rest of the sauce, continuing to stir well.

A small pinch of baking soda will tame any unwanted acidity in the soup.

Milk or Half-and-Half: This is the other magical ingredient that turns your homemade chicken noodle soup into the creamiest soup ever. Use 1 cup of whole milk or 1 cup of half-and-half.

It's just the milk - that happens when you heat it. It mystified me, too, the first few times I made tomato soup. I was using cream, I think, and it looked like strings of mozzarella cheese in it!

Is canned tomato soup better with water or milk? ›

The standard direction for a can of condensed Tomato Soup is to put the condensed soup in a saucepan, fill the can with water, add the water to the pan, stir, and heat just to the point of simmer. BUT. It's MUCH better with Milk, which makes it a creamy tomato soup, a bit more like a tomato bisque.

Stir some hot soup liquid into cold dairy product to temper it, then add to the soup. Do not boil the soup after adding any dairy product, especially cheese. Add acid to the milk instead of milk into the acid. This is especially important for tomato soup.

Soup can become acidic due to a variety of factors such as using acidic ingredients like tomatoes, vinegar, or lemon juice, overcooking certain vegetables, or adding too much of ingredients like wine or citrus. It can also be caused by fermentation or spoilage of soup over time.

Cold milk will curdle if added directly to a simmering liquid, so it too should be warmed. Milk also doesn't react well to boiling. If adding milk (in place of cream) to thicken the soup, take a moment to anticipate how much it will thin it out once added. When ready, remove soup from heat and stir in warm milk.

Cold milk added to hot soup can also cause curdling. Try heating both separately and then slowly adding the soup to the milk. Don't boil it either as milk curdles at 180F if I remember correctly. Fresh cream works really well for tomato soup because it has less lactic acid in it(causing curdling).

The high fat content in heavy cream contributes to a velvety mouthfeel, making the soup more satisfying. Additionally, heavy cream can mellow out the flavors of certain soups, balancing any acidity or sharpness. It also adds a subtle sweetness, complementing savory ingredients.

Yes, you can definitely add cream to your soup. Whether you use a few tablespoons or a few cups, cream gives soup a silky mouthfeel and rich flavor. You can definitely add milk or other dairy as well, though it will taste gradually less creamy as you go down in percent.

You are right - the heat causes the acid from the tomatoes to curdle the protein in the half-and-half.