Roasted Vegan Green Tomato Soup
It’s silky, it’s smooth, and it’s creamy- vegan green tomato soup. Make the best of your green tomatoes with this soup that brings together the acidity of green tomatoes, the deep roasted flavors, and the sweetness of caramelized onions. Bring a little warmth to your chilly fall evenings with this simple, beautiful soup.
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What to Do with Green Tomatoes
When I say green tomatoes, I’m talking about unripe tomatoes. Some varieties of tomatoes are green when ripe- like green zebra tomatoes- but what I’m talking about here are the unripe form of a tomato. As summer ends and autumn begins, you are likely to be left with tomatoes growing on the vine that will never ripen as the temperatures drop. This year I got a shoebox full of green tomatoes from my father. While my mother does most of the gardening between the two of them, this year my father found and nurtured a volunteer tomato plant that showed up in their compost bin. With plenty of compost to feed on, this little cherry tomato plant was a productive one and I reaped the benefits of it.
Green tomatoes not the plump, juicy, tomatoes you’re used to, but we can still find delicious ways to eat them. Green tomatoes are firm and smooth. They are crunchy and acidic, and have a little bit of an astringent quality. When ripe they are very sour but cooking them can lessen the sour and astringent flavors. The most common recipe for green tomatoes is the southern classic, fried green tomatoes, where green tomatoes are sliced, coated, and fried. They can also be used in similar ways to tomatillos, like in a salsa verde. I’ve heard of people using them in desserts too, by adding sugar and spices, and treating them similarly to a green apple. I’m going to be giving something like that a try soon for sure.
One of my favorite uses for green tomatoes is to cook them down slowly in olive oil with garlic, until they burst, and the juices reduce. Season with salt and pepper, and add to beans, pasta, or toast. And of course, if you have a large haul of unripe tomatoes, this soup is a great option!
Looking for Green Recipes? Try one of these!
- Hoover’s Breakfast Greens and Tofu
- Vegan Foraged Stuffed Grape Leaf Recipe
- Roasted Potatoes in Creamy Fenugreek Leaf Sauce
- Pipián Verde with Mexican Jackfruit and Tofu
- Vegan Mung Bean Dal Fennel Frond Recipe
- Garlic Scape Fermented Hot Sauce
- Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup with Poblano
- Stinging Nettle Recipe: Falafel with Nettle Yogurt Sauce
- Garlic Mustard and Spinach Saag
- Avocado Mashed Potatoes with Porcini Gravy
- Crown Daisy Pasta in Spicy Almond Sauce
- Briny Summer Burdock Stalk Tapenade
- Smashed Vegan Cucumber Salad
- Seasonal Vegan Spinach and Garlic Scape Pesto
- 15-Minute Sesame Roasted Snap Peas
- Ooey-Gooey Baked Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
Looking for Tomato Recipes? Try one of these!
- How to Make Tomato Powder from Canned Tomatoes
- Tomato and Garlic Vegetarian Sandwich Meat
- Eggplant and Heirloom Tomato Cobbler (Vegan)
- Tomato Rhubarb Soup- Savory Vegan Rhubarb Recipe
- Sweet and Savory Tomato Jam Recipe
- Heirloom Tomato Summer Watermelon Salad
- Fresh Tomato Soup with Crispy Garlic Toasts
- Lion’s Mane Mushroom in Cherry Tomato Sauce
- Vegan Cornbread with Roasted Tomatoes
How to Make Vegan Green Tomato Soup
The secrets to making green tomatoes work for you are time, love, and sweetness. Start with your green tomatoes and place them on a baking sheet. You’re also going to want to tuck your garlic cloves onto the baking sheet as well. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then into the oven it goes, to slowly roast, reduce, and brown, bringing out the tomato flavor, softening the flesh, and reducing the sourness. Roasting gets you most of the way there, but in order to combat the acidity a little more we’re going to add a little sweetness using two methods. The first is with caramelizing onions, which is a process where you slowly cook onions down, so they lose moisture and draw out the sugars. The caramelized onions will get blended with the roasted tomatoes, with some plant-based milk to add a little creaminess and some herbs and spices. Finally, a tablespoon of brown sugar really helps to get the soup just where you want it. There is still more acidity than in a red tomato soup, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Both are delicious and taste great with a nice slice of crusty bread.
Roasted Vegan Green Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. green tomatoes
- 4-5 cloves garlic
- 2 medium-sized onions
- 1 cup plant-based milk
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- ½ tsp. dried oregano
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- Olive oil, as needed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Place the green tomatoes on a large baking sheet, along with the garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 45 minutes, taking them out once in the middle to stir before returning to the oven. Cook until soft, bursting, fragrant, and starting to brown.
- While the tomatoes roast, start on your onions. Cut the onions into thin half-moons, and place in a medium-sized skillet. Add a little olive oil and sprinkle with some salt, and heat to medium-high. Cook slowly to caramelize the onions, turning down the heat to avoid charring, and stirring frequently. Cook until soft, sweetened, and browned (about 45 minutes).
- Transfer the roasted tomatoes along with the garlic and all the juices to a blender. Add the caramelized onions along with the remaining ingredients (the plant-based milk, brown sugar, and herbs and spices). Blend until completely smooth, then taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm with a drizzle of olive oil on top and serve with bread or crackers.
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