The best ever classic tomato soup and grilled cheese. The soup comes together in 30 minutes, and the grilled cheese uses three cheeses!
How to make tomato soup in 30 minutes
How to make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich
- Butter your bread! I have seen people use olive oil or a combination of oil and butter, but I love to keep it simple and delicious with a little salted butter.
- Use good cheese! You want to use a low moisture cheese that will melt properly. Don’t go for pre-sliced cheese since it often has preservatives in it that will keep it from melting properly (although sometimes I use it to save time). I used a combination of thinly sliced cheddar, monterey jack and shaved asiago cheese.
- Cover it with a lid. This is one of my favorite tricks to getting the cheese to melt without burning the bread. Cover the skillet with a lid while the sandwich cooks. It does not get soggy, and the cheese melts faster.
- Choose your bread wisely. I will often make grilled cheese just on whatever bread I have on hand, but it is extra special when made on sourdough. Make sure you slice the bread thinly so it cooks evenly, and you get the right bread to cheese ratio.
Common Questions about tomato soup and grilled cheese
- Is there a way to make tomato soup without a blender?
To be honest, the blender is my least favorite part of making this soup. Sometimes on really busy weeknights, I will just skip the veggies and use crushed tomatoes to make this a super simple meal for my kids. - Why isn’t my cheese melting?
I mentioned this above, but my favorite trick is to cover the pan. Sometimes cold cheese takes longer to melt, and the bread ends up burning. Covering the pan with a lid speeds up the process. - Can I add meat to my grilled cheese?
Yes! We love a good grilled ham and cheese. I suggest warming up any meat before adding it to the sandwich to cook because cold lunch meat will prevent the cheese from melting.
Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Course: Quick and easy dinner4
servings30
minutes40
minutesThe best ever classic tomato soup and grilled cheese. The soup comes together in 30 minutes, and the grilled cheese uses three cheeses!
Ingredients
- GRILLED CHEESE
8 thin slices sourdough bread or your favorite bread
4 tablespoons salted butter, softened*
2 teaspoons garlic salt, optional
Sliced cheddar cheese
Sliced monterey jack cheese
Shaved asiago or parmesan cheese
- TOMATO SOUP
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 (28 oz) cans whole tomatoes
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth**
1/2 cup coconut milk***
Directions
- GRILLED CHEESE
- Spread one side of each slice of bread with the butter and sprinkle with a little garlic salt.
- Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium heat and add 4 slices of bread, butter side down (or 2 at a time if your skillet is smaller).
- Top with cheese, layering on starting with the cheddar, Monterey Jack and ending within the shaved asiago. Place remaining slices of bread on top, butter side up.
- Cook until golden brown, and cheese is melting, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook for another minute or two until the other side is golden brown, and the cheese is fully melted.
- Serve hot with tomato soup for dipping.
- TOMATO SOUP
- Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and continue to cook for another 3 minutes to toast the spices and until the veggies are starting to soften.
- Add butter, tomato paste and flour, stirring to create a thick paste that coats the veggies and cook for 1 minute.
- Add canned whole tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are starting to break down, about 5 minutes.
- Add vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a blender or use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth. Feel free to leave some chunks of vegetables if you prefer.
- Return pot to heat and add coconut milk or regular milk if you prefer. Season with additional salt and pepper, as needed. Let cook for about a minute until the soup is heated through.
- Serve with a swirl of extra coconut milk and some shaved asiago or parmesan on top.
Notes
- *Feel free to use olive oil heated in the skillet if you prefer it.
- **Better than bouillon vegetable broth is my favorite, but any works!
- ***Any kind of milk works here.
- For a shortcut version of this soup for busy weeknights, use precut veggies and crushed tomatoes. You can also skip the veggies all together so you do not have to do any blending. I have been known to do this when trying to just whip up some really quick tomato soup for my kids.