This creamy chilled tomato soup blends fresh heirloom and sun-dried tomatoes with soaked cashews and warming spices for a silky, dairy-free delight. Easy to make (no cooking required), it’s a refreshing, healthy, and flavorful summer soup that’s perfect served cold.
🍅 The Ultimate Refreshing Chilled Tomato Soup for Summer
Looking for a refreshing, creamy tomato soup without dairy? This Chilled Tomato Soup combines fresh heirloom tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and creamy soaked cashews for a velvety texture that’s smooth and satisfying. It’s light, flavorful, and perfect served cold on hot days.
🥄 What Makes This Cold Tomato Soup Different?
Unlike traditional tomato soups that rely on cream or dairy, this recipe uses soaked raw cashews to create a luscious, plant-based creaminess. The mix of fresh vine tomatoes and oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes creates a depth of flavor that pairs beautifully with the subtle warmth of paprika, coriander, and cayenne. Similar to gazpacho, it’s the kind of summer soup that whips up in minutes and can stay in the fridge ready to be sipped or spooned at a moment’s notice.
Why You’ll Love This Creamy, Refreshing Tomato Soup
- Light but satisfying: Low-calorie, nutrient-rich, and hydrating for hot days.
- Fast and easy: Minimal ingredients and no cooking needed beyond a quick simmer.
- Versatile: Can be served as a starter, lunch, or light dinner.
- Elegant presentation: Smooth texture and vibrant color make it a showstopper for summer entertaining.
🥕 Ingredients for Creamy Chilled Tomato Soup (+ Notes)
| Ingredient | Notes |
| Raw cashews (soaked) | Provides creamy texture; soak at least 3 hours or overnight |
| Small peeled and chopped carrots | Adds natural sweetness and body; grate if no high-speed blender |
| Paprika, coriander, cayenne | Adds subtle warmth and depth of flavor |
| Fine sea salt | Enhances all the flavors |
| Small garlic clove | Adds aromatic savoriness |
| Filtered water | Used to blend soup to desired consistency |
| Medium vine or heirloom tomatoes | Fresh base flavor; peeled, seeded, and chopped |
| Olive oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes | Adds richness and deepens the tomato flavor |
| Extra Virgin Olive Oil | For smooth richness and balancing acidity |
🥄 How to Make Creamy Chilled Tomato Soup (Step-by-Step)
- Prepare cashew base: Drain soaked cashews and add to a blender with grated carrots, spices (paprika, coriander, cayenne), garlic, and water. Blend on high until very smooth and creamy.
- Strain for smoothness: If your blender isn’t high-speed, strain through a fine mesh sieve, pressing to extract liquid. Pour strained liquid back into the blender and set aside.
- Peel fresh tomatoes: Score the bottom of the tomatoes with an “X.” Boil water in a large pot, blanch tomatoes for 20 seconds, then transfer to an ice water bath. Peel off skins, halve tomatoes, remove seeds, and roughly chop.
- Blend tomatoes: Add chopped fresh tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes to the reserved cashew mixture in the blender with olive oil. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Chill: Refrigerate soup for at least 2 hours to let flavors meld and serve cold.
- Season to taste: Adjust salt or pepper if desired before serving. Pour into small glasses or bowls and enjoy!
🌿 Variations for Vegan Tomato Soup
- Add fresh herbs: Blend in basil for a fresh herbal note.
- Make it spicy: Increase cayenne or add a pinch of smoked paprika for smoky heat.
- Use roasted tomatoes: Roast fresh tomatoes for a deeper, caramelized flavor.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
- Serve in small glasses for elegant appetizers or in bowls for a light meal.
- Garnish with fresh basil leaves or a drizzle of olive oil.
- Pair with a crisp green salad for lunch.
- Perfect for brunches, parties, or as a refreshing starter.
Make-Ahead Tips & Storage Instructions
- Make ahead: Soup can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated to deepen flavors.
- Storage: Keep covered in the fridge up to 3 days.
- Serve: Stir before serving as some separation may occur.
🌟 Final Thoughts: Your New Favorite Dairy-Free, Chilled Tomato Soup
This Chilled Tomato Soup offers a unique twist on classic tomato soup with its smooth, dairy-free richness and warm spice notes. Easy to make and bursting with fresh, vibrant flavor, it’s a perfect light meal or elegant starter for hot summer days.
More Chilled Soup Recipes:
Cold Vegan Tomato Soup
A smooth and flavorful no-cook chilled vegan tomato soup made from both fresh and sundried tomatoes for a refreshingly different way to beat the heat.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup/30g raw cashews (soaked in water for at least 3 hours or overnight)
- 3 small peeled and chopped (or grated if you don’t have a high speed blender) carrots
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- ⅛th teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 1 ½ cups/360ml filtered water
- 3 medium vine or heirloom tomatoes (about 1 lb)
- 3 olive oil packed sundried tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons/30ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- Drain soaked cashews and place in a blender along with the grated carrots, spices, garlic and water. Blend
on high until very smooth and creamy. (Actual time will vary depending on the strength of your blender). Strain
mixture through a fine mesh sieve pressing on solids to extract liquid. (If you have a high-speed blender you can skip straining step.) Pour liquid back into blender and set aside. - Cut an x on the bottom of the tomatoes. Fill a large bowl with ice water, set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully lower the tomatoes into the boiling water. Remove them after 20 seconds and place them into the bowl of ice water. - Once the tomatoes have cooled, peel the skins from the tomatoes, slice them in half and remove the seeds. Coarsely chop both the peeled and sun-dried tomatoes and add to reserved liquid in blender along with olive oil. Blend on high until smooth and creamy.
- Chill until cold (about 2 hours) to allow flavors to blend.
Taste and season with additional salt or pepper as necessary if desired. Divide soup among small glasses and serve chilled.
Notes
Start by soaking your cashews ahead of time.
For a fully raw recipe, skip the blanching of the tomatoes and simply cut an x and peel with a knife.
Serve with grissini on the side if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 187Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 297mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 2g
Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
Nikhil says
I love tomato soup and I love this amazing recipe. Very healthy and yummy. Thanks for sharing.
Jaclyn says
Your photos are always gorgeous!!
dixya| food, pleasure, and health says
while everyone is talking about Fall, I am trying to cool off here, this recipe will come very handy 🙂
Queen Sashy says
What a color explosion. Makes me run to the supermarket right away.
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
The vibrant color is simply amazing Sylvie! It's healthy, light, refreshing tomato soup. It's warm this weekend here in SF and I'd love to have this chilled soup!