This roast tomato and pepper soup has a garlicky kick and can be served with basil oil, grated Grana Padano and some toasted foccacia. Post originally in partnership with Aldi in 2015, last updated in 2025.
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Tasty nutritious soup from fresh vegetables
As I write it’s late January and 6-7 weeks since pay day. The weather was bright at the weekend so we took soup in flasks to the beach for a cheap day out. A tasty warming lunch dish that wouldn’t blow the new year healthy eating plan. Nobody wants to feel deprived when saving money or eating healthily. This roast tomato and pepper soup was a meal to look forward to and visually appealing.
Making hearty winter soup with low cost ingredients
Supermarket Aldi invited me to beat the January blues with a perked up exciting shopping basket that cost less than my usual shop at Tesco. I was able to buy all my ingredients at Aldi, right down to the shallots.
First I made a soffrito type base of shallot, carrot and celery.
I fried this in olive oil.
Then I added water and seasoned with salt.
When the diced vegetables had stewed for around 30 minutes I strained the liquid off and set aside. (I boxed up the soft cooked veggies to mix into a pasta sauce – no waste).
At the same time I had been roasting some tomatoes with whole peeled garlic cloves and strips of pepper.
I let these roast for around 50 minutes.
Afterwards I decanted the roasted tomatoes, peppers and garlic into the Vitamix power blender jug and poured over the liquid from soffrito.
And blended for around 1 minute on high.
Then it was time to decant the lovely thick soup into a flask and hit the beach! We love visiting Whitstable, it’s a seaside town in Kent with a pebble beach. From our home in Walthamstow, east London, we can get there in under 90 minutes. I’ve been visiting Whitstable since the early 90s – although it’s changed a lot lately, and invaded by Air BnB second home owners.
Ted wasn’t impressed by our bracing walk on Whitstable beach but wrapped up warm, it was a nice sunny day for it. The tide was out, so Ted couldn’t throw pebbles in the sea today. Our soup was very satisfying on this bright winter afternoon.
Can you freeze roast tomato and pepper soup?
We had leftover soup to enjoy again for lunch this next day. If you are not eating the leftover soup within a couple of days, you can freeze it. To save space use freezer bags, although it is less wasteful and cheaper to use washable tupperware style containers.
Toppings to put on roast tomato and pepper soup
At home I added a drizzle of basil oil and scattered over grated Grana Padano. Vegetarians should check any hard cheese is not made with animal rennet. Other ideas might be croutons, chopped herbs or miniature balls of mozzarella cheese.
Roast tomato and pepper soup
Equipment
- Blender either a stick blender or power blender, whichever you have
Ingredients
- 5 whole large tomatoes (on the vine is good)
- 4 whole garlic cloves peeled
- 3 peppers red, yellow or orange, deseeded and cut into thick strips
- olive oil (or rapeseed or vegetable oil)
- 2 sticks celery diced
- 3 small carrots (Chanteney not essential)
- 4 shallots finely chopped
- 1 litre water
- salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to gas 5 / 190c. Dice the shallots, celery and carrot.
- Slice the vine tomatoes in half and remove the stalks. Place in a small oven dish with the peeled garlic cloves. In another dish, arrange the pepper strips. Drizzle olive oil and scatter some salt over the tomatoes, garlic and peppers.
- Roast in the oven for around 30 minutes until softened and slightly blackening around the edges.
- Meanwhile, over a medium heat in a frying pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and lightly fry the diced celery, carrot and chopped shallot.
- When softened add 1 litre water and bring up to the boil and simmer for around 30 minutes to create a vegetable stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Strain the cooked vegetables from the vegetable stock and set aside to use elsewhere (such as in a pasta sauce).
- When the peppers, tomatoes and garlic are roasted, place these in the power blender jug and add the vegetable stock. Fit the lid and blend on high until completely smooth. (Or use a stick blender if that's what you have).
- Reheat the soup in a saucepan then serve or decant into a flask.
- To make the basil oil, blend most of a small basil plant’s leaves with around 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Drizzle this green liquid over the soup when serving as well as scattering with grated Grana Padano and salt if desired. Serve with toasted focaccia bread rolls.
Notes
Alternative recipes using extra roast tomatoes
If you have too many roast tomatoes you could pop them onto my quick red pepper and feta tart which also uses roast tomatoes. It won’t matter if they’re pre-cooked, just pop them on with the peppers. You can never have too many roast tomatoes added to a red pasta sauce, such as my giant penne pasta dish, pennoni with mussels (Aldi sell mussels by the way!). They’re also great with my meatball casserole Moroccan tagine.
I am sharing this Vitamix roast tomato and pepper soup with:
Simple and in Season – which I am hosting for Ren
Extra Veg – organised by Michelle and Helen
Credit Crunch Munch – organised by Helen and Camilla
Recipe post commissioned by Aldi in 2015, last updated 2025.
A wonderful soup! So tasty and comforting.
Cheers,
Rosa
Amazing soup and such a cute picture of you and Ted! A very interesting read 🙂
Aaah I was going to say – I’m sure that’s lovely Whitstable beach 🙂 What a great post – we don’t have an Aldi near us but we Do have a Lidl and some things are atonishingly cheap compared to the Big Four. I am also fed up with the crappy coupons that offer you a chuink off your next shop… but you must shop again within like a week and spent like £70! As if. Love the sound of this simple, flavourful soup 🙂
Yes I wish my nearest branch was easier but I am definitely doing a periodic stock up!
I love Whitstable, I go often and must take more pictures on a day when the light is less harsh.
What a lovely post… loved seeing the photos of you by the seaside! That vibrant soup looked just the ticket for a clear chilly day! I’m a huge convert to the bargain supermarket… we’ve got Lidl near us and my weekly shop is around £80 instead of £120/30 and that includes wine! My mum has long been a fan of Aldi for stocking up on the cheaper ingredients, which was how I approached Lidl. But when we were on a real budget in September I tried doing my entire shop there and found it very easy to be converted! You might not get the huge range of products, BUT it means you put less in your trolley, shake up your menu and don’t get taken in by all the “offers” at the bigger supermarkets. I enjoy trying out all the different products to see which ones will become favourites too…. I think we might be nearer to an Aldi when we move to Whitley Bay so I’ll be in there like a shot!
This is true – when we’re blasted with excessive choice we just end up spending more!
Great post Sarah! I’m a huge fan of Aldi and even my cat loves their cat food better than other premium brands! My hubby eats their Mueslie which is good quality and far cheaper than other supermarket own brands! Chicken thighs at £1.99 are another regular here! Fabulous soup which sounds really tasty, love shallots in soup! Thank you for entering Credit Crunch Munch:-)
I totally agree Sarah on the choice factor and how much easier it is to keep to budget when shopping at Aldi. I never ever pick up those vouchers that get printed out at Sainsburys and nether does anyone else, there are loads clogging up the machines when I go. I can’t wait for the Ewell branch to open near me which will be very close indeed. Haven’t been to Whitstable in years but I do love it there, good idea to pack up your gorgeous soup, a perfect picnic lunch idea!
Lovely soup Sarah, and a great piece of analysis on where the savings are to be made. Sadly there is not an Aldi anywhere near me.
I’ve been a fan of Aldi for a long time and I agree – the quality is great and the price significantly cheaper! We’re going to have one near me by Easter so I’ll be trying this recipe for sure!
Wow, It seems Aldi is really much cheaper than the other supermarkets,
I have never been there.
Great soup really colourful, I love it 🙂
Best wishes,
Alice
Yes and in an amendment to the above – although the mozzarella cheese cost 5p more in Aldi I can now vouch that it’s quality was more like a premium one elsewhere so that makes it cheaper again!
I don’t automatically think Aldi for shopping so I read this post with interest. Lovely soup from your shopping bounty.
Love your delicious version! I’d do it during the winter with some canned tomatoes as well. Maybe the taste won’t be quite the same, but I simply don’t like the “fresh” tomatoes there are at the stores right now.