Dairy Free Creamy Tomato Soup
Dairy free and creamy do not often go together. When I see a soup described as "creamy," I automatically rule it out as off-limits, or begin to imagine how many substitutions I will have to make to recreate it, and if they will even work.
Martha Stewart, our Queen and GOAT, shares this recipe for creamy tomato soup which happens to include minimal dairy ingredients. I aimed to determine if the seeming oxymoronic terms of "dairy free" and "creamy" could peacefully co-exist.
Hypothesis: This recipe will yield an easy, delicious, and creamy tomato soup without any dairy in sight.
Method
Recipe source:
https://www.marthastewart.com/1531447/test-kitchens-favorite-tomato-soup
Dairy-Free Modifications and Procedures:
1. Basically, you start with creating a roux, which is a mixture made of equal parts fat and flour over heat.
1a. Butter substitution: Imperial margarine
1b. To make this recipe even more flavorful and easy, I am using a crockpot in which I had just finished cooking chicken. Therefore, some of the chicken fat still remained in the pot. I figured this would only add to the flavor, but I also decreased the "butter" a little bit to accommodate. Instead of putting my pot over the stove, I cranked up my crockpot to HIGH, and let the margarine melt.
1c. Add in flour and stir.
2. Add cans of tomatoes, and cook.
3. Optional: To make this more of a complete meal I added some of the chicken from earlier, which I shredded.
Results
Though I would not describe this soup as traditionally creamy, the inclusion of the roux seemed to help the soup be a little less acidic.
Overall, it was a super easy, delicious, and let's say slightly creamy tomato soup.
Discussion
Why did I garnish with parsley when I also grow basil? Who knows.
This soup was souper easy to make, using canned tomatoes and pantry ingredients. Therefore, it would be very convenient to make any time, such as a rainy fall day. If you have fresh tomatoes from your garden, I'm sure that would be great as well, but I am so grateful that Martha and her team considered other priorities.
This soup makes a perfect for lunch or dinner with toast or even grilled "cheese." Should we do a dairy-free grilled cheese taste and meltability test? Let me know what you think, and if you'd try this recipe!