This Tomato and Bacon Bisque with basil is my new comfort food favorite. The bisque is creamy, flavorful, and smooth. It pairs perfectly with grilled cheese sandwich!
Hello last week of summer!
Perfect time to savour all the summer goodies and enjoy their full potential. This creamy tomato and bacon bisque is a perfect example of how summer produce marries with fall comfort food.
How To Make Tomato Bisque
The base of this bisque is made with vine ripened tomatoes, smoky rich bacon slices, lots of onions and garlic, garnished with fresh basil and a touch of cream all simmered up in a pot. Oh goodness gracious, the smells that will happen! I am having a hard time imagining anything more comforting and summery at the same time.
It’s smoky, creamy and perfectly balanced sweet with sour. It’s simple to make and is ready in just under an hour, with MOST of that time spent just waiting for the pot to roast in the oven by itself, while the smells of tomatoes, onions, garlic and bacon wrap you up in their delightfulness.
This bisque is perfect for extra fast weeknight dinners because if you’re a weekend cook like me, you can make this soup ahead of time! The soup refrigerates and freezes very well. I use these freezer containers
I’m going to ask you for a favour. Make some extremely cheesy and bacon-y grilled cheese sandwich! Because tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich with bacon – it just works!
First, we start with the bacon. Because all the good things in life start with bacon. It will serve two purposes for this dish – first it will be the base of the bisque and second – we’ll use it for our grilled cheese sandwich later!
Then, we are going to roast everything in a big oven proof pot until nice and charred. Throw in some fresh basil and blend it all up in a food processor or blender until smooth. Immersion blender works well too and avoids cleaning extra dishes.
Add the heavy cream and simmer for a few minutes as a last touch. Serve this creamy bisque with extra cheesy grilled cheese sandwich.
Simple, delicious, ready in less than an hour and a perfect gateway to your long awaited fall comfort food!
Creamy Tomato and Bacon Bisque
Ingredients
Tomato Bisque
- 2 lb tomatoes (heirloom mix) roughly chopped
- 4 bacon slices
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme finely chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup fresh basil chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- 4 slices thick cut bread halved
- 1 cup freshly grated cheddar or Swiss cheese
- 2 tbsp butter
- reserved bacon from the bisque
Instructions
Tomato Bisque
- In a large oven proof pot cook bacon until crisp over medium heat. Set aside, we’ll need it for our sandwich!
- In the same pot add chopped onions with garlic. Cook until onions soften, about 3 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and thyme. Season everything with salt and pepper and roast in the preheated 425 F oven for 30 minutes or until tomatoes begin to char.
- Throw in some fresh basil and blend it all up via the immersion blender.
- Add heavy cream and simmer everything for 5 more minutes.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Heat a skillet over medium heat with butter. Arrange the cheese and reserved bacon on one piece of bread and top with the second piece to make a sandwich.
- Place the sandwiches in the skillet and cook pressing slightly with the spatula until golden on each side, about 4-5 minutes per side.
- Enjoy right away dipping into Tomato Bisque.
More Delicious Soup Recipes:
Hearty Italian Wedding Soup – Fresh greens, soul-warming broth and delicious mini meatballs married together in a nourishing weeknight supper.
Seafood Bisque – Shrimp and crawfish combined with cajun and old bay spices give this seafood bisque its fabulous flavor.
Thai Shrimp Noodle Soup – Easy, creamy, flavourful, a kind of soup that hits the perfect spot between silky-creaminess and fire-breathing flavour all in one sweeping spoon.
Ukrainian Borscht – This soup is so full of nutrients, you can just feel the vitamins nourishing your body as you eat each delicious spoonful.
Beautiful. Love these photos. The soup and sandwich are both so inviting!
Thank you so much sweet Mimi!
This flavorful bisque looks so smooth, creamy and delicious. I can’t wait to have a big bowl of it.
OMG you’ve combined tomatoes and bacon into a delicious soup! I’m all about this soup and how easy it is to make! Thanks for sharing!
The flavours in this soup sound so good, can’t wait to give this recipe a try.
So delicious! I never thought to put bacon into tomato soup. So glad I tried it!
Wow wow wow! We absolutely loved this recipe! The sweet tomatoes with a hint of bacon smokiness was to die for! One of the best recipes we tried!