Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
A creamy roasted-garlic tomato soup made from canned tomatoes in 30 minutes, with golden, crispy grilled cheese sandwiches for dunking.
- Everyday Classics
- Cast iron / Dutch oven
- Veggie
- Lunch
- 45 min total
- Serves 4
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
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Original recipe serves 4. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
Tomato soup
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 28 oz whole peeled tomatoes, 1 can, with juice
- 2 cups chicken broth, or vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
Grilled cheese
- 8 slices sourdough bread
- 3 tbsp butter, softened
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 8 slices American cheese
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Gear
- Medium pot
- Immersion blender or blender
- Large skillet or griddle with lid
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Steps
Step 1: SOUP: Melt the butter in a pot over medium. Cook the onion and garlic 6 to 8 minutes until soft and just starting to color. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute.
Step 2: Add the tomatoes with their juice, crushing them with a spoon. Add the broth, sugar, basil and pepper flakes. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 3: Blend until smooth with an immersion blender (or carefully in a blender, filled only halfway with the lid vented). Stir in the cream and salt. Keep warm on low.
Step 4: GRILLED CHEESE: Mix the softened butter and mayo. Spread a thin layer on one side of each slice of bread.
Step 5: Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-low. Lay 4 slices buttered-side down. Top each with 1 slice American, 1/4 cup cheddar, another slice American, then bread, buttered-side up.
Step 6: Cover with a lid and cook 3 to 4 minutes until the bottom is deep golden. Flip and cook uncovered 2 to 3 minutes more until the cheese is melted.
Step 7: Cut the sandwiches diagonally (it's the law) and serve with bowls of soup.
Swaps
- Cheese: Swap in Gouda, pepper jack or Swiss. Mix at least one melty cheese with one sharp one.
- Add-ins: A slice of ham, bacon or tomato in the sandwich.
- Soup shortcut: Doctor a carton of store-bought tomato soup with sautéed garlic and a splash of cream.
Tips
- Mayo on the outside of the bread browns evenly and adds a slight tang.
- Use vegetable broth to keep the whole meal vegetarian.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup is the official meal of rainy days, sick days, and days when you just don’t feel like adulting. It’s warm, it’s crispy, it’s cheesy, and it lets you play with your food. Dunking is mandatory.
The trick to a perfect grilled cheese is lower heat than you think. On high, the bread burns before the cheese has a chance to melt. Medium-low with a lid traps heat around the sandwich so the middle goes gooey while the outside turns golden. A mix of butter and mayo on the bread is the other secret: butter for flavor, and mayo because its oil and egg brown evenly without burning as fast.
The soup is made from canned tomatoes, which are picked and packed at peak ripeness, so they often taste better than winter fresh ones. A little cream and sugar smooth out the acidity. Thirty minutes, one pot, one blender. Easy.
HAM out.
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