Indian Tomato Soup with Crispy Naan Croutons

We are thrilled to be partnering with Red Gold Tomatoes for the rest of this year and 2021 to highlight their delicious canned tomato products. We’re starting with Indian Tomato Soup, please enjoy! 

Today we are talking about the coziest, most flavorful take on a classic tomato soup – Indian Tomato Soup. We take all the classic flavors of our traditional tomato soup – canned tomatoes, carrots, and plenty of garlic – and blend them with some of our favorite Indian spices for a hybrid tomato soup that will knock your socks off. 

Indian Tomato Soup

Calling all tomato soup and Indian food lovers! Why you ask? Because we’ve combined the ever-popular and classic creamy tomato soup with some of our favorite Indian flavors in the most epic mash-up of fall comfort food the whole family will love. Indian tomato soup.

This good-for-the-soul, warm-you-from-the-inside-out soup is packed with some of our favorite fundamentals of tomato soup – quality tomatoes (Red Gold Tomatoes to be exact), carrots, and plenty of onion and garlic. But it’s also packed with some of our favorite go-to spices in Indian food – vibrant turmeric, smoky cumin, and warm garam masala.

If you haven’t guessed yet, Indian takeout’s most popular dish, tikka masala is the inspiration behind this Indian Tomato Soup. Because tomatoes are such a large part of the makeup of a classic tikka masala, it only made sense to blend the two seemingly different dishes together.  

Indian Tomato Soup is creamy, bursting with tomato flavor, sweet, spicy, and just the recipe you need to perk up those brisk fall days. 

Let’s get started! 

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Ingredients in Indian Tomato Soup

The Tomatoes

Obviously the most important ingredient in a tomato soup recipe are of course, the tomatoes. Today we’re using one of our favorite brands Red Gold Tomatoes. We love Red Gold for a variety of reasons, but first and foremost, we love them because they are just plain great tomatoes. Bottom line.

Red Gold Tomatoes are picked when they are perfectly vine-ripe-red, which means they are incredibly bright and fresh tasting.Because they are packed so quickly, there are absolutely no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.

I also love a great family company that’s not only kept a company alive, but thrives for generations.Not only is Red Gold family owned, but the 40-plus farms they work with are all Midwest family farms they know by name. I just love that.

We are fans of all their tomato products, but today for our Indian Tomato Soup, we are using both their chili-ready tomato sauce, and their chili-ready crushed tomatoes. Coincidentally, some of the same flavors found in a classic chili – cumin, garlic, and onion – are also ingredients you’ll find in a classic chicken tikka masala. 

Veggies

As it goes in most cuisines, both the base of tomato soup and the base of many Indian dishes starts with onion and garlic. We take a page from our classic tomato soup, and add chopped carrots. We also take a page from our favorite Indian dish and throw in a bit of grated ginger. 

Spices

The spices we use are what takes this from a classic tomato soup to an Indian-inspired tomato soup. The most important ingredient you’ll need and one you may not have on hand is garam masala. Garam masala is warm spice blend made up of cinnamon, mace, peppercorns, coriander, cumin, and cardamon. Luckily this is something that’s readily available at pretty much any grocery store these days.

Another sort of obscure ingredient I like to use is fenugreek powder. This is totally optional since it’s not found as easily as garam masala, but it’s a great addition if you can find it. It can be bitter by itself, but when you combine with the other ingredients and heat it up, it transforms into a slightly sweet, almost maple flavor that’s really lovely. 

You’ll also need ground cumin, ground turmeric, and cayenne pepper if you want to add a little bit of heat.

Chicken stock

As always, we’re using low-sodium chicken stock so we can control the amount of salt. 

Coconut milk 

Traditionally, you’ll find cream in a classic chicken tikka masala, but I like to use coconut milk instead. It still gives the soup a luxurious texture, but adds just a little bit more flavor. 

Brown sugar

To balance out the acidity from the tomatoes, I like to throw in just 

Lemon juice

I love to add a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the very end, just before serving

Naan Croutons

For me, a creamy soup always needs a little bit of crunch to add some excitement and texture. In a tomato soup, sometimes it’s in the form of a classic crispy grilled cheese, sometimes that means crunchy bacon bits or garlicky croutons. Today, to keep in line with our Indian theme, we’re making crispy naan croutons. Here’s what you’ll need: 

• frozen or fresh naan bread. garlic or regular will work just find. 
• olive oil 
• salt
• pepper
• optional: garlic powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne.

For one batch of soup, you’ll need one whole piece of naan. Use a sharp knife to slice the naan into pretty bite-size strips. Throw everything on a baking sheet, toss with olive oil and sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper. If you’re using any other spices, go ahead and throw those on there as well. 

Make sure to use a large enough baking pan to spread the naan strips out so they get super crispy. Pop in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown and crisp. 

Tip: Make a double batch so you can snack on them well after the Indian Tomato Soup is devoured. 

Let’s make Indian Tomato Soup

Sweat the aromatics. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large pot set on a medium heat. Season with a little bit of salt. Sweat the veggies, just until they start to soften. 

Add in the carrots. Once the aromatics have softened, add in the carrots. Cook another 1-2 minutes. 

Stir in spices. Stir in all of the spices. Cook for another minute or so. 

Add in remaining ingredients. This is where things get really complicated. Pour in the tomatoes, the chicken stock, the coconut milk, brown sugar, and remaining salt. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes until all the veggies are soft.

Complicated, right?

Puree! I am all about the silky-smooth texture in our Indian tomato soup. You can puree it one of two ways. First, you can carefully transfer everything to a blender and give it a whirl until it’s smooth. Or, to save on dishes, you can use a handheld immersion blender to puree the soup directly in the pot. Both methods work wonderfully. 

Give it a squeeze of lemon. Just before serving, I like to squeeze a touch of lemon juice in the soup. Just enough to give it a little punch of acid. 

Assemble! Spoon the tomato soup into bowls, top with crispy naan croutons, and chopped cashews. Sprinkle with parsley or cilantro if desired. 

Can I make Indian Tomato Soup ahead of time? 

Absolutely! In fact, I love to make this on a Sunday, cool completely and store in an airtight container to pull our throughout the week for quick lunches and dinners. 

Substitutions and Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success

• Swap out the coconut milk for heavy cream if that’s all you have on hand. 
• If you can’t find fenugreek powder, no big deal, leave it out. 
• Keep an eye on the naan croutons, they can burn easily if you leave them in too long. 
• For more veggies, try sautéing a leek with the onions, garlic and carrots. Or double the amount of carrots for a thicker, heartier tomato soup. 
• Be sure to season at every step. In something simple like a tomato soup, you want to make sure you season well. We season the onion and garlic. Add a little bit more salt after adding the carrots. Throw in more salt with the tomatoes, chicken stock, and coconut milk. And finally, season to taste at the end. 

What to serve with Indian Tomato Soup

• Make a double batch of the Naan croutons and serve this Indian Tomato Soup with our Coconut Curry Kale Salad
• Keep things classic with our Brussels Sprout and Kale Salad