Recipe: Tomato Bisque ⋆ 100 Days of Real Food (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between tomato soup and tomato bisque? ›

While both are delicious, they are quite different, especially when it comes to the texture. Tomato bisque is thicker and creamier in texture, and calls for the use of milk and/or cream.

The term 'bisque' tends to be used in a looser and more general sense these days, which can make it a little tricky to define. Broadly speaking, however, it refers to a thick soup, with a base made from blended ingredients, an extremely smooth texture and lots of cream.

Add a can of diced tomatoes, a bit of cream, and torn fresh basil leaves. Swirl some red wine vinegar into the soup and serve with a stack of mozzarella and fresh basil leaves on a toasted baguette. Add a drizzle of pesto (homemade or store bought) and finish with toasted pine nuts and croutons.

Authentic recipes for bisque actually ground the shells of the crustacean into a fine paste, using that to thicken the soup. Nowadays, it is more common to use rice as a thickener.

In a sealed nonreactive container, tomato soup will keep up to one week in the refrigerator, or six months in the freezer.

Liquid — Bisque recipes aren't shy about liquids: cream or milk, broth, clam juice white wine, and often a bit of brandy are used to create a complex, fascinating flavor.

Because of this distinction, there are many who argue that tomato bisque is not a true bisque at all because it has no crustacean products mixed in. However, the term has evolved in modern day to include cream based soup such as squash, mushroom, and tomato.

A bisque is a thick, creamy soup made with puréed shellfish or vegetables. A soup is a thinner, broth-based dish that can be made with a variety of ingredients.

This tip comes from food science. Add a small spoonful of sugar to enhance the natural sweetness of the tomatoes. Season with salt in all of the steps (starting with the sauteed onions). This ensures your tomato soup is never bland.

Why does my homemade tomato soup taste bitter? ›

Leaf states that this can be due to burning the sauce in the pot or simply dealing with a batch of produce that are overly acidic or metallic from canning or cooking. This can also come from under-ripe or low-quality tomatoes, as well as stirring in a hefty amount of tomato paste, per Boss The Kitchen.

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.

When you add baking soda to tomato soup (or sauce, or chili), it neutralizes the acid in the tomatoes. Not only will this make the tomatoes taste less acidic (good news if your tomatoes turned out more sour than you expected), but it also means that you can now add milk to your soup without risking curdling it.

Many sources recommend adding a pinch of baking soda to a sauce that's overly tart, which raises the pH and makes it less acidic. We've always preferred adding a bit of sugar.

The standard direction for a can of condensed Tomato Soup is to put the condensed soup in a saucepan, fill the can with water, add the water to the pan, stir, and heat just to the point of simmer. BUT. It's MUCH better with Milk, which makes it a creamy tomato soup, a bit more like a tomato bisque.

Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Bisque is a delicious, indulgent twist on our classic tomato soup crafted with cream and tasty tomato pieces.

So that begs the question, what's the difference between a tomato bisque and cream of tomato soup? After combing through countless recipes I can honestly say there doesn't seem to be much of a difference. They can be seasoned a little differently, but in essence these two soups are the same thing.

A traditional French chef would define a bisque as being a thick, creamy soup made with shellfish and thickened by a paste made from their shells. Julia Child was one chef to popularize lobster bisque in the United States; her recipe uses both the shells of the lobster and rice to thicken the bisque.

WATER, TOMATO PASTE, DICED TOMATOES (TOMATOES, TOMATO JUICE, CITRIC ACID, CALCIUMCHLORIDE), CANOLA OIL, CREAM, SUGAR, ONIONS, BUTTER, SALT, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, BASIL, YEASTEXTRACT (BARLEY), WHEAT FLOUR, MODIFIED MILK INGREDIENTS, DRIED GARLIC, DRIED PARSLEY, ONIONPOWDER, ANNATTO, SPICES (CONTAINS CHILLIES).