Creamy Tomato Soup

THE RECIPE

Prep/Total Time 30 min

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

1 md onion, chopped

2 T butter

2 cans (14.5 oz ea) of diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cans (10.75 oz ea) condensed tomato soup, undiluted

1.5 c milk

1 tsp sugar 

1/2 to 1 tsp dried basil

1/2 to 1 tsp paprika

1/8 to 1/4 garlic powder

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed

*I also added about 2 cups of shredded cheese. 

DIRECTIONS

1) In a large saucepan saute onion in butter until tender.  Stir in tomatoes, soup, milk, sugar, basil, paprika, and garlic powder

2)Bring to boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in cream cheese until melted (This is when you'd also stir in the shredded cheese). Serve immediately.  

*I actually tasted it at this point and decided to let it simmer a while longer, which was a good idea.  It tasted better after the flavors had more time to blend.  

We thought croutons went great with this soup!

THE VERDICT

Neither one of us are big tomato soup fans to begin with.  The only tomato soup that I actually really like is Isaac's Pepperjack tomato soup and this recipe seemed like a pretty good shot at something similar.  I also really liked the simplicity of this recipe.  It's quick, inexpensive, and most of the ingredients are things that I generally have on hand.  

As far as tomato soups go, this one was pretty good.  It's definitely better than a plain old tomato soup that you would get out of a can, and if you really like tomato soup, I think you're gonna love this one.  Since we don't really like tomato soup to begin with, this wasn't our favorite soup ever, but that's not the recipe's fault.  It isn't a very hearty soup; I was full after one bowl but hungry again a couple of hours later.  I probably won't add this to our usual recipes, but I might make it next time we're craving grilled cheese sandwiches.  Also, next time I make it I will probably use pepperjack cheese instead of regular cheddar shredded cheese for some added spice. 

Let us know what you think if you try this soup!

You can find the original recipe here: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Creamy-Tomato-Soup-2