This Cajun spicy tomato soup is perfect for cold weather and doubly perfect for celebrating Mardi Gras!
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Tomato soup is one of my favorite comfort foods. I really love this version that’s kicked up with Cajun flavors as well as little bacon and Swiss grilled cheese croutons!
Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” is the last day before Lent begins, the 40-day period of penance and sacrifice between Ash Wednesday and Easter.
Mardi Gras, the big blow-out before Lent, is also called Carnaval or Carnival in Spanish-speaking countries.
Originating in Rome, the tradition of a big fat party preceding Lent sprung originally from pagan traditions and spread as Christianity spread. It is most popular in Catholic countries and communities.
There are lots of foods popular for celebrating Mardi Gras.
I usually make King Cake. In France, King Cake looks very different from the tri-colored confections of the US. It is made with puff pastry and called “Galette des Rois.“
Other foods associated with Mardi Gras or Carnaval are:
This year I was invited by Chrissie of Off the Eaten Path to participate in a virtual Mardi Gras celebration. Scroll down to grab my recipe for Cajun Tomato Soup. Here is the deliciousness from our other bloggers.
What are you waiting for? Go plan your own Mardi Gras party immediately. Your menu awaits!
That shape up there is supposed to be a fleur de lis. I get points for trying. It’s just sour cream thinned with a little milk, a pinch of salt and some Cajun seasoning.
I made this spicy tomato soup on the fly a couple of weeks ago for dinner. It was so good that I made it again–this time complete with bacon and Swiss croutons–for lunch with friends a couple of days ago. They loved it, and friend Roxanne encouraged me to go ahead and post it. So here I am, posting it. I figure since it was already Cajun-spiced that Cajun-spicy tomato soup would be appropriate for Mardi Gras. We can all Laissez Les Bontemps Roulez while bundled up nice and warm.
As usual, when I think I’ve come up with something Unique and Awesome, the Internets smack me down and let me know that 19,400 people came up with unique and awesome spicy tomato soup before me. Fine. But the grilled cheese and bacon croutons are mine. Mine! (If you don’t count the 1400+ references on the Hinternets)
How to Make Spicy Tomato Soup
Spicy tomato soup > regular tomato soup, especially when you add those grilled bacon and Swiss croutons!
Soup is an easy thing to make, friends. Here’s the rundown for this particular soup:
Time needed: 25 minutes.
Time is approximate, but you should easily have this soup on the table in about 30 minutes, especially if you make the grilled cheese croutons while the soup simmers. Here’s the rundown on how to make it.
Saute aromatics.
Aromatics are the flavor base of any soup. In the world of Cajun cuisine, we’re talking onion, celery, and green pepper, or “the trinity.” I start with butter in this recipe, but you could just as easily go with oil. The trinity goes in with the seasonings, and then it’s saute, saute, saute until softened, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Canned tomatoes, chicken broth (or vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian), a little red wine vinegar to give it a bit of tang, and a tiny bit of sugar to balance the acid.
Simmer.
This step is really easy because the stove does all the work. Let the soup gently simmer to help the flavors get to know one another and reduce the liquids to intensify the flavor.
Blend.
You can either use an immersion blender or a counter top model. If using a counter top blender, blend in batches so you don’t overfill the container and make a mess and possibly burn yourself. I prefer blending my soup in my big blender, because I like the smoother texture. Using a stick or immersion blender will do the job, but the texture will be just a touch more rustic. Your call.
Serve.
Serve in mugs or bowls. For garnish, I’ve given you three ideas–thinning out some sour cream with milk, adding a touch of spice, and piping it onto the soup, drizzling on some good quality extra virgin olive oil and spices, or making grilled cheese croutons (bacon and Swiss in this case, but you could use pepper jack, cheddar, or whatever good melting cheese you prefer). However you serve it, serve it nice and hot. Enjoy.
More Recipes To Warm You Up on a Cold Day
If you’re still feeling the chill after all the soup and Mardi Gras recipes, consider some of these warm-you-right-up recipes.
If you’re not a sour cream fan or want to keep your soup dairy-free, garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of Cajun spices.
The first Cajun tomato soup that came up in search for me was this one from Food Coma. It sounds good, and the ingredient list is short which means you get soup Very Quickly.
My version of spicy tomato soup has a few more ingredients (shocking, right?) but does pay tribute to The Trinity of Cajun and Creole cuisine: onions, celery and bell pepper. Either way: soup! Yay!
Cajun Spiced Tomato Soup (with Grilled Cheese and Bacon Croutons)
Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
This makes a ton--probably close to 2 quarts or even a bit more. Feel free to cut the recipe in half. You'll still have 4 nice-sized portions. The way the recipe is written, it is vegetarian. You can easily make it vegan by using oil for the cooking fat and using vegetable stock or water for the liquid.
Ingredients
4 Tablespoons butter or oil
1 medium-to-large yellow or sweet onion, , chopped
2 ribs celery, , chopped
2 medium bell peppers, , ribs and seeds removed, chopped
2 Tablespoons** your favorite Cajun seasoning, (or to taste. If you're not a fan of really spicy, start with 1-2 teaspoons and go from there)
2 teaspoons** sweet or hot smoked paprika, optional but nice
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, , to taste
2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, , juice and all
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth or stock, , vegetable broth or stock or water
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
For the Crouton Garnish (optional)
6 slices your favorite bread
Worcestershire sauce
Grated cheese, (whatever you like that melts well)
4-6 slices of bacon, , cooked crisp and crumbled into small pieces
Instructions
Heat the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan or Dutch oven.
Add the chopped vegetables and spices (cajun seasoning, sweet and hot paprika, salt and pepper) and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are softened but not browned.
Add both cans of tomatoes and the liquid (stock or water). Bring to a boil, choppping up the tomatoes as the soup heats.
Stir in the red wine vinegar and the sugar. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more spices, salt and/or pepper if you think the soup needs it.
Blend in batches in a (affiliate) high speed blender or using an (affiliate) immersion blender until the soup is velvety smooth.
Taste again and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Serve piping hot in mugs or bowls. Garnish with grilled cheese croutons, some cream or sour cream or just a dusting of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
For the Crouton Garnish (optional)
Toast both sides of all the slices of bread.
Sprinkle just a bit of Worcestershire sauce on three of the slices of bread.
Spread a nice layer of grated cheese on all 6 slices of bread.
Spread 1/3 of the crumbled bacon on each of three slices of the bread without the Worcestershire.
Melt the cheese under the broiler or in your (affiliate) toaster oven until bubbly.
Sandwich a cheese slice with a bacon and cheese slice so you have three whole sandwiches.
Remove to a rack to cool so the cheese sets up some.
With a serrated knife, cut off the crusts of each sandwich, reserving them for your own snacking pleasure.
Cut the remaining crustless sandwiches into 12-20 small squares (I cut mine in 16). Place on parchment or foil and return to the oven or toaster oven to keep warm until the soup is ready.
Garnish each bowl of soup with a handful of croutons, a drizzle of oil and some black pepper or a bit of sour cream or cream.
Notes
**We like a fair bit of spice around here. If you think these amounts sound like too much, by all means start with less and then add more at the end if you'd like things a bit spicier.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 8Serving Size 1 cup Amount Per ServingCalories 303Total Fat 17.9gSaturated Fat 8.9gCholesterol 46mgCarbohydrates 22.6gFiber 4.7gSugar 10.5gProtein 14.8g
About that Food Coma tomato soup up there? Well, I was reading the comments, and I came across this:
Soup, soup, a-tasty soup, soup, a-spicy carrot and corriander! chilli chowder! crouton, crouton, crunchy friends in a liquid broth! I am gazpacho, ooh! I am a summer soup, mmm! miso, miso, fighting in the dojo miso, miso, oriental prince in the land of soup!
I was impressed and amazed that anyone would find soup so worthy of poetry, especially in blog comments. My friend Lisa, who is Very Smart, told me it’s from a scene in the British comedy show The Mighty Boosh. Here it is, should you wish to hear it for yourself.
Now I am inspired to write my own Ode to Soup. And Mardi Gras.
Ahem.
Trinity trinity Onions-celery-bell peppa Base of all the tastiness That comes from Louisiana
Spicy tomato, silky soup Warms us on this icy day And in the parades the krewes proclaim Soup-soup-soup hooray hooray!
For more soup poetry inspiration, read Laura’s (Mother Would Know) post on “How to Make Vegetable Soup.” The entire recipe is written as a poem, and it is lovely. Please go read.
And there you have it. Should you feel inspired to write an Ode to Soup, please share it in the comments.
Thank you for spending some time with me here today. Have a lovely day.
I’m Jenni, and I’m here to help you be Fearless in the Kitchen! Search for what you need, or give me a shout. I am only an email away and am happy to help you with any baking or cooking questions you have. I’m honored to be able to help. Learn more about me on my About Page.
What a feast! I learned so much from this Mardi Gras parade of facts, fun, and inspiration, and even got a homemade freshly baked poem! I did not know that croutons could be delicious: I think of them as dry dusty cubes in a box at the back of someone’s pantry, but you reminded me that they can be tasty cheesy upgrades of the saltine crackers that lift up soup around here.
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Nancie says
What a feast! I learned so much from this Mardi Gras parade of facts, fun, and inspiration, and even got a homemade freshly baked poem! I did not know that croutons could be delicious: I think of them as dry dusty cubes in a box at the back of someone’s pantry, but you reminded me that they can be tasty cheesy upgrades of the saltine crackers that lift up soup around here.