This Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup is the ideal meal for when your garden is overflowing with sweet, flavorful summer produce. The blended corn gives it a rich, creamy texture with no dairy whatsoever. Smoked paprika and chipotle chili powder provide a subtle smoky, sweetness that will bring everybody back for more. Craving this beautiful soup other times of the year? Frozen corn and store-bought tomatoes will do in a pinch. It’s easy and delicious and absolute perfection paired with a grilled cheese sandwich.
Ingredient & Equipment Notes
- Fresh corn on the cob – Fresh corn provides a delicious, creamy base for this soup and is by far the best choice. In a pinch, frozen corn would be a close second. Don’t use canned corn for this recipe.
- Tomatoes – You can use any variety of garden tomatoes here. Little ones work the best, but if you happen to have large tomatoes in your garden, just quarter them before roasting and you’ll be good to go. You can buy 10 ounce containers of cherry tomatoes in the grocery store and those work great, too.
- Roasted bell peppers – I wanted the smoky sweetness of fire-roasted bell peppers, but I really didn’t want to take the time to roast one myself, so I used a jar since it’s something I almost always have in my pantry. If you want to roast your own bell pepper, just take a look at this tutorial for roasted red peppers. An 8-ounce jar is equivalent to about 1 medium sized bell pepper.
- Broth – Use chicken broth, unless you need to make this vegetarian, in which case you can experiment with vegetable broth. When given the choice of the two however, I’ll always go with chicken broth since it has a lot more flavor.
- Spices – The two seasonings that will give a ton of flavor to our roasted veggies are chipotle chili powder and smoked paprika. Both go beautifully with corn and tomatoes and are a perfect compliment to this flavor profile. Don’t worry if you’re not a big fan of spicy food- the chipotle chili powder does not make the soup spicy, just adds a lovely boost of flavor.
- Baking sheet – The vegetables will be roasting to perfection in the oven. I highly recommend lining your baking sheet with foil for easy clean up!
- Blender – You can use an immersion blender to puree the soup, but I actually prefer my blender for this one since the corn has so much texture. Remember when you put anything hot in your blender to remove that little stopper at the top. It’s important that the steam has somewhere to go. The other important step is that you cover it with a folded paper towel before you press start!
- Souper Cubes (or other silicon molds) – if you ever make soup and freeze it, consider these a must-have! These make soup easy to freeze and pop out when they are solid. Perfect for freezing leftovers.
How To Make Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup
- The base of this soup is sweet, fresh corn. We’re going to toss the fresh corn kernels with some tomatoes, and then we’ll add a bunch of chopped garlic, a light sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and a little drizzle of olive oil. The oven then does magical things as the veggies roast and caramelize and release natural sugars. Your house will smell amazing.
- While the corn and tomatoes are doing their thing in the oven, we’ll sauté some diced onions on the stove top, and then add some diced roasted red peppers.
- Next we’ll add that gloriously fragrant mixture of roasted corn and tomatoes from the oven, making sure to scrape all the caramelized bits off the baking sheet, and then let it all simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend together in a sweet, smoky combination.
- Lastly we’ll blend it all up. I originally planned to add a little low-fat cream cheese to this soup to add a rich, creamy feel, but I realized that the corn has enough starch in it to really create a creamy soup without any actual “creamy” products. It’s quite thick, and slightly sweet, smoky, and savory, all at the same time. Simply divine.
- We’ll add our spices right to the pot. And then, since we’re making soup here, we’ll definitely need some broth.
Storage & Other Tips
- Refrigeration: after letting the soup cool slightly, transfer to an airtight container before refrigerating. It keeps well in the fridge for 3 – 4 days.
- Freezing: this soup freezes really well. Portion it into freezer-safe zip-top bags, or “pucks” in silicon molds and pop them out when completely frozen.
- Reheating: thaw (if frozen) and warm gently on the stove or in the microwave, stirring occasionally.
- Serving Suggestions: Nice, crusty artisan or sourdough bread paired with smoked gouda or provolone would be an amazing companion here. If you’re in the mood for something a little different, consider a Smoked Turkey and Artichoke Panini.
Does this soup freeze well?
Most soups are great reheated, and this one is no exception! Freeze in “pucks” in a silicone mold or in individual mason jars for quick reheating.
Can I use frozen or canned corn instead of fresh?
We do not recommend canned corn in this recipe; it has a distinct taste that just isn’t good in this recipe. However, frozen works really well if fresh isn’t available.
Is roasting the tomatoes and corn a “must”?
Yes. Roasting the vegetables brings out the caramelized flavor and deepens the taste, so technically, you could skip it, but you’ll lose the richness.
How smooth does the soup have to be?
It’s meant to be pureed until smooth, but you could leave a little texture if you prefer a slightly chunkier soup.
What kind of garnishes or toppings work best?
A few roasted corn kernels, fresh herbs, or a sprinkle of smoked paprika work nicely. It’s especially good with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side!
Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup
This rich, creamy soup is full of sweet, smoky flavor thanks to roasted peppers, sweet corn, and smoky spices. Perfect paired with a gooey grilled cheese sandwich.
Servings cups
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups corn kernels, fresh about 4 cobs
- 10 ounces cherry tomatoes about 2 cups
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1 onion, medium any color, diced
- 8 ounce jar roasted red bell peppers drained
- 32 ounces chicken broth 4 cups
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- optional: chopped herbs for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Place corn, tomatoes, and garlic on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Gently toss with hands and then arrange in an even, flat layer. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tomatoes are crinkled and burst.
- While vegetables are roasting, heat a stock pot to medium high heat on stove top. Add remaining one teaspoon olive oil and diced onion. Sauté about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add roasted bell peppers, chicken broth, smoked paprika and chipotle chili powder. Add a light sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper (I add about ½ teaspoon salt and a few cracks of pepper at this point and then season to taste at the very end.)
- When corn and tomatoes are done roasting, add them to the pot*, making sure to scrape off all of the bits on the pan. (*If desired, reserve a couple spoonfuls of roasted corn for garnish.) Bring soup to a low simmer and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender, or transfer soup to stand blender and puree until smooth. Taste, and add additional salt and pepper (and chipotle chili powder if you want a little more heat) to taste.
- Divide into bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, a few corn kernels, and some chopped herbs if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 11/2 cup, Calories: 111kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 3mg, Sodium: 1254mg, Potassium: 336mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 616IU, Vitamin C: 32mg, Calcium: 38mg, Iron: 1mg
Calories: 111kcal
Cost: $8
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Questions & Reviews
Hi,
this soup sounds delicious…too bad the fresh corn season is already over. I hope I’ll remember this recipe next year. Have to make a note 🙂
Greetings from Germany
A friend of mine posted a link to this 3 hours ago on FB and I loved the sound of it. So much so I am now on my second bowl!! I think I may have altered the spicing slightly as the Chipotle Chili/Smoked Paprika was not available in my local supermarket (I’m in the sticks in the UK) so I used normal Paprika and Cayenne Chilli Pepper which was described as smoky. I like a spicy taste so was heavy handed with the CCP and it yielded an amazing flavour with a good kick in it too, perfect for the start of Autumn 😀
(I also had to put half chicken, half veg stock as I didn’t have enough of either.)
I picked up a Taw Valley Cheddar Cheese Boule http://www.co-operative.coop/food/food-and-drink/food/Bakery-range/ to go with it and it was perfect dunked in the soup! You have a new fan, I will be going through your other recipes now…thank you for a great, nutritious, healthy, low fat soup recipe…it’s all good 🙂
Now…….would a 3rd helping be greedy??
I made this delicious soup which smelled and looked so wonderful – thank for you the recipe! – when I got to the blend step I didn’t let the soup cool at all because I was in a hurry 🙂 and didn’t read the part about taking the top thing out of the blender lid… and when I pushed blend on my cheap-o blender, the top part somehow got sucked into the blender (maybe the steam caused the plastic lid to expand, thus your warning about doing that?) and got ground up into the perfect soup!! And hot soup shot out of the top. It was shocking/horrifying/exciting!
But I am getting a new blender so I can make the soup again this week, this time following all of the directions. Ha!
Oh NO! Lol I mean, it’s funny, now. I sure hope there weren’t any permanent injuries!
Anybody think this would work with veggie broth instead of chicken broth? Vegan family. Soup sounds delish! If I try it with veggie broth, I will post results.
Little different flavor, but it should work just fine 🙂
Im not able to tolerate eating any color of bell pepper in my diet. Can you recommend a substitution for the peppers?
You could always use more tomatoes instead, or any other soft veggie, really!
I wonder how a roasted sweet potato would taste in this recipe, the texture would be right and it would add some creaminess as well. Just a thought!
Made it yesterday & let it rest overnite. Delicious!!!!. Served with a green salad. Used a bit of chile powder for seasoning as I didn’t have the smoked paprika but plan on getting some. Two things: use your angel food cake pan for catching the kernels off the cob. Just put the sharp end of the cob in the cake pan hole. Very convenient. In the recipe, it calls to use aluminum foil to line the pan for roasting corn & toms. I found that the corn stuck so will try parchment paper for my next try.
I made this without the onion or garlic (because I didn’t have any and I was planning on going to the store before dinner but it’s been one of those days and we didn’t make it and I needed to use up the corn and the tomatoes from the garden–and that is a super-long run-on sentence) and it was still amazingly wonderful! Next time I will make it to the store so that I am not out of onion or garlic!
I didn’t end up buying the chipotle chili powder (too expensive) so I was planning to just use chili powder. Is that ok? Or is there another substitute?
Just made this and I loved it. I also made a grilled cheese with avocados and tomatoes it was perfect with this. I need to have tomato soup with my grilled cheese but my husband hates the canned version so he will never eat it but he loved this one.
What a tasty sounding summery soup!