Roasted Tomato & Fennel Soup

Tomato soup in pink and blue bowls next to a pink napkin with a silver spoon.

This fresh and vibrant soup combines tomatoes with subtle aniseed from fennel and these flavours are perfectly balanced with a delicious hint of sweet orange. It’s a warming and nourishing bowl of soup that goes down well with the whole family, and it’s so much better for you than tinned gloop.

The trick of roasting the vegetables first makes this soup very easy to prepare (hello, rough chopping and hands-off cooking!) and extra tasty too, as everything gently caramelises and brings out the vegetables’ natural sweetness.

Fennel is a nutrient-dense vegetable with plenty of calcium, manganese and vitamin A, and it can also help to settle a gassy, bloated or painful gut. This is a tummy-friendly soup which is suitable for all ages.

Find the vegetarian/vegan switch in the cook’s tips below. This soup is naturally dairy-free and gluten-free.

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Roasted Tomato & Fennel Soup

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Lunch Boxes & Picnics, Main Courses, Soups
Servings 4
Suitable for Special Diet (or adaptable) Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Nut-free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Pre heat the oven to 200°C (conventional) or 180°C (fan).
  • Roughly chop the fennel, reserving the darker green fronds for garnishing the soup later. Cut the orange in half (removing any pips). Peel and roughly chop the red onion.
  • Place the fennel, red onion, orange halves and cherry tomatoes into a roasting tray with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Roast for 40 minutes, pausing halfway through the cooking time to give the veggies a shake and a stir to help prevent sticking, and to tuck the garlic cloves (still in their skins) into the roasting tray for the remaining roasting time.
  • When the vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelise, remove the roasting tray from the oven. Lift out the roasted garlic and orange halves using kitchen tongs. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins onto the vegetables. Then squeeze in the remaining orange juice, removing any pips.
  • Scrape the mixture into a large saucepan and add the chicken broth. Bring up to a simmer and allow to lightly bubble for 5-10 minutes, to let the flavours infuse.
  • Remove from the heat and use and electric stick blender to whizz the soup until it is smooth. A top tip is to continue whizzing for at least 5 minutes as this makes the soup extra velvety. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Return to the heat to warm through if needed. Decorate with the fennel fronds scattered over the soup, plus a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with crusty fresh bread.

Notes

To boost this soup with extra protein and fibre, stir in a drained tin of white beans like cannelini, haricot, or flageolet beans, add in around 100ml more stock or bone broth and then blitz it into a smooth soup.
For a vegetarian or vegan version, swap the chicken bone broth for a good-quality vegetable stock.
If you prefer a slightly creamier texture, you can stir through a little cream or coconut milk before serving.
The soup keeps well in the fridge for up to three days and freezes well in portions.

Per serving. Nutrition content in food is never consistent, so take these estimates with a pinch of salt! Also, our recipes tend to use low-GI carbs and sugars, so these values are not directly comparable with shop-bought UPFs.

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