This Cajun spicy tomato soup is perfect for cold weather and doubly perfect for celebrating Mardi Gras!
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!
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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, meaning I didn’t follow a recipe. I created one! 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:
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
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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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 Others Are Saying...
Beth Annesays
Comfort Food Haiku:
Tasty soup is good. Cheese bacon croutons still better. Lunch makes me happy.
I knew it was a fleur de lis, who wouldn’t? Sounds delightful and reads like poetry 🙂 I don’t think I could improve on it, so I’ll leave the recipe and the poetry to you, but thanks for the haiku’s and links to prose. I think there is nothing so comforting as soup….
My soup My warmy bowl My pleasing coup Of liquid soul I spoon with you While other meals Please with ease Their preparation Gyrations Do not bend my will To ‘said’ meal Perfected only By tonics and libations My soup Sits tall With what I need For when it calls I simply heed And, indeed, It will feed Me
What a gorgeous soup and tribute to the Trinity! And, for your reading pleasure, the soup poem I just wrote.
Fragrant broth from meaty bones simmering stovetop, steaming up windows warming the kitchen with anticipation softened vegetables, tender meat I dip my rounded spoon, breaking the delectable surface, just a thin sheen of oil And slurp
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.
Beth Anne says
Comfort Food Haiku:
Tasty soup is good.
Cheese bacon croutons still better.
Lunch makes me happy.
🙂
Jennifer Field says
Soup and haiku, they go together like cheese and bacon! =) Hooray for your haiku, Beth, and thank you for stopping in! xo
Amy Stafford Malik says
I knew it was a fleur de lis, who wouldn’t? Sounds delightful and reads like poetry 🙂 I don’t think I could improve on it, so I’ll leave the recipe and the poetry to you, but thanks for the haiku’s and links to prose. I think there is nothing so comforting as soup….
Jennifer Field says
Like they say, soup is good food! I still felt the need to explain the fleur de lis. I’m glad you knew what it was though! =)
Warren Baker says
My soup
My warmy bowl
My pleasing coup
Of liquid soul
I spoon with you
While other meals
Please with ease
Their preparation
Gyrations
Do not bend my will
To ‘said’ meal
Perfected only
By tonics and libations
My soup
Sits tall
With what I need
For when it calls
I simply heed
And, indeed,
It will feed
Me
Jennifer Field says
Huzzah, Warren! A warmy bowl indeed! =)
irene seales says
avgolemono
soothes my aching soul and mind
lemon playlist heals
Jennifer Field says
One of my favorites, Irene! xo
Valerie Cathell Clark says
Ode to Soup
Soup:
A comfort to me
Whether a broth or a cream,
It tastes like heaven
Or so it would seem,
It warms the body
And feeds my soul,
It fortifies the body
Soup keeps me whole,
On a cold and dreary day
Soup chases my blues far far away,
My mother made potato
A soup I ate when ill,
Today when I eat soup
It takes away the chil,l
Soup is good food
No matter when I eat it,
I’ll always turn to soup
As long as I see fit!
Here’s mine! I’m not a poet; I’ll leave that to the pros! But I did make myself chuckle while writing this… xo
GREAT spicy soup recipe!
Jennifer Field says
This is fantastic! Thanks so much for the wonderful poem, and enjoy the soup! =)
movita beaucoup says
My city is frozen,
I should be dozin’,
But I’ve got shovelling and eating to do.
{Not an ode really, just a cry for help.}
{Please send soup.}
Jennifer Field says
Man, our driveway, which is a HILL, is a sheet of ice. Perhaps I shall pour soup on it, Movita! I feel your pain, my friend!
Stacy says
What a gorgeous soup and tribute to the Trinity! And, for your reading pleasure, the soup poem I just wrote.
Fragrant broth from meaty bones
simmering stovetop, steaming up windows
warming the kitchen with anticipation
softened vegetables, tender meat
I dip my rounded spoon, breaking the delectable surface,
just a thin sheen of oil
And slurp
Jennifer Field says
So much soupy creativity! Thank you for your poem, Stacy! Makes me hungry (which I guess is totally the point)! xo
Stacy says
Totally.
Bali Tour says
Great food
Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Jennifer Field says
You are very welcome. Enjoy!
plasterer bristol says
mmm this sounds really good. Thanks for sharing this. Simon
Jennifer Field says
I hope you make it and enjoy it, Simon! Tomatoes and Cajun flavors go together nicely!
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.