Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup

This Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup is the ideal meal for when your garden is overflowing with sweet, flavorful summer produce. The blended corn gives it a rich, creamy texture with no dairy whatsoever. Smoked paprika and chipotle chili powder provide a subtle smoky, sweetness that will bring everybody back for more. Craving this beautiful soup other times of the year? Frozen corn and store-bought tomatoes will do in a pinch. It’s easy and delicious and absolute perfection paired with a grilled cheese sandwich.

A white bowl filled with tomato soup

Ingredient & Equipment Notes

  •  Fresh corn on the cob – Fresh corn provides a delicious, creamy base for this soup and is by far the best choice. In a pinch, frozen corn would be a close second. Don’t use canned corn for this recipe.
  • Tomatoes – You can use any variety of garden tomatoes here.  Little ones work the best, but if you happen to have large tomatoes in your garden, just quarter them before roasting and you’ll be good to go.  You can buy 10 ounce containers of cherry tomatoes in the grocery store and those work great, too.Fresh cherry tomatoes in a blue dish
  • Roasted bell peppers – I wanted the smoky sweetness of fire-roasted bell peppers, but I really didn’t want to take the time to roast one myself, so I used a jar since it’s something I almost always have in my pantry.  If you want to roast your own bell pepper, just take a look at this tutorial for roasted red peppers.  An 8-ounce jar is equivalent to about 1 medium sized bell pepper.
  • Broth – Use chicken broth, unless you need to make this vegetarian, in which case you can experiment with vegetable broth.  When given the choice of the two however, I’ll always go with chicken broth since it has a lot more flavor.
  • Spices – The two seasonings that will give a ton of flavor to our roasted veggies are chipotle chili powder and smoked paprika.  Both go beautifully with corn and tomatoes and are a perfect compliment to this flavor profile. Don’t worry if you’re not a big fan of spicy food- the chipotle chili powder does not make the soup spicy, just adds a lovely boost of flavor.
  • Baking sheet – The vegetables will be roasting to perfection in the oven. I highly recommend lining your baking sheet with foil for easy clean up!
  • Blender – You can use an immersion blender to puree the soup, but I actually prefer my blender for this one since the corn has so much texture.  Remember when you put anything hot in your blender to remove that little stopper at the top.  It’s important that the steam has somewhere to go.  The other important step is that you cover it with a folded paper towel before you press start!

How To Make Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup

  1. The base of this soup is sweet, fresh corn. We’re going to toss the fresh corn kernels with some tomatoes, and then we’ll add a bunch of chopped garlic, a light sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and a little drizzle of olive oil. The oven then does magical things as the veggies roast and caramelize and release natural sugars. Your house will smell amazing.
  2. While the corn and tomatoes are doing their thing in the oven, we’ll sauté some diced onions on the stove top, and then add some diced roasted red peppers.
  3.  We’ll add our spices right to the pot. And then, since we’re making soup here, we’ll definitely need some broth.Corn and tomatoes on a plate and in a pot
  4. Next we’ll add that gloriously fragrant mixture of roasted corn and tomatoes from the oven, making sure to scrape all the caramelized bits off the baking sheet, and then let it all simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend together in a sweet, smoky combination.
  5. Lastly we’ll blend it all up. I originally planned to add a little low-fat cream cheese to this soup to add a rich, creamy feel, but I realized that the corn has enough starch in it to really create a creamy soup without any actual “creamy” products.  It’s quite thick, and slightly sweet, smoky, and savory, all at the same time.  Simply divine.

Serving Suggestions

It’s pretty safe to say every good soup needs a good grilled cheese by its side! Nice, crusty artisan or sourdough bread paired with smoked gouda or provolone would be an amazing companion here. If you’re in the mood for something a little different, consider a Smoked Turkey and Artichoke Panini.

If you’ve got a garden full of tomatoes that need to be used up, check out these other tomato favorites:

FAQs

  • Does this soup freeze well? Most soups are great reheated, and this one is no exception! Freeze in “pucks” in a silicone cupcake mold or in individual mason jars for quick reheating.

Did You Make This?

I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!

A bowl of roasted red pepper and tomato soup

Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup

5 from 43 votes
This rich, creamy soup is full of sweet, smoky flavor thanks to roasted peppers, sweet corn, and smoky spices. Perfect paired with a gooey grilled cheese sandwich.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings6 cups

Ingredients

  • 3 cups corn kernels, fresh about 4 cobs
  • 10 ounces cherry tomatoes about 2 cups
  • 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
  • 1 onion, medium any color, diced
  • 8 ounce jar roasted red bell peppers drained
  • 32 ounces chicken broth 4 cups
  • ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
  • kosher salt
  • fresh cracked black pepper
  • optional: chopped herbs for garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400℉.
  • Place corn, tomatoes, and garlic on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Gently toss with hands and then arrange in an even, flat layer. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tomatoes are crinkled and burst.
  • While vegetables are roasting, heat a stock pot to medium high heat on stove top.  Add remaining one teaspoon olive oil and diced onion. Sauté about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add roasted bell peppers, chicken broth, smoked paprika and chipotle chili powder. Add a light sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper (I add about ½ teaspoon salt and a few cracks of pepper at this point and then season to taste at the very end.)
  • When corn and tomatoes are done roasting, add them to the pot*, making sure to scrape off all of the bits on the pan. (*If desired, reserve a couple spoonfuls of roasted corn for garnish.) Bring soup to a low simmer and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Use an immersion blender, or transfer soup to stand blender and puree until smooth. Taste, and add additional salt and pepper (and chipotle chili powder if you want a little more heat) to taste.
  • Divide into bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, a few corn kernels, and some chopped herbs if desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 11/2 cup, Calories: 111kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 3mg, Sodium: 1254mg, Potassium: 336mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 616IU, Vitamin C: 32mg, Calcium: 38mg, Iron: 1mg
Course: Main Courses, Soups
Cuisine: American
Keyword: corn, roasted red pepper, Roasted Sweet Corn and Tomato Soup, soup, tomato
Calories: 111kcal
Author: Our Best Bites, inspired by the Sussman Brothers
Cost: $8
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
woman in denim shirt holding a salad bowl
Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. 5 stars
    Made this tonight for dinner…sooo good! I was wondering what to do for dinner, when I saw this post. I had everything for it, save for the corn which I got at the farm stand up the road…I even roasted a pepper for the first time! The tomatoes were still warm from the sun in my garden. Summer in a bowl!

  2. Something about this says comfort. Can’t wait to try on one of those transitional days…summer to fall. sigh.

  3. I wouldn’t have thought of putting corn with tomato! Yummo! Im going to try this. I always roast my own peppers and do a big batch of them and freeze the blended puree in ice cube trays ready to throw into dishes like this or any tomato sauces. Perfect!

  4. I just printed this up, it looks fantastic and I can’t wait to try making and eating it; all flavors that I adore. So…when I chop the jarred red bell peppers, do I have to recreate the baby elephant?:-)

  5. So how spicy is this? I’m not a spicy person at all (when it comes to food, I mean – ha ha). The paprika and chili powder scare me a bit. Thoughts?

    1. It’s not spicy at all. Smoked paprika doesn’t have any heat at all. Chipotle chili powder is spicy, but with only 1/4 teaspoon in the whole batch, none of the heat comes through, just the smokiness. So no worries!

  6. Hi, this looks so amazing and I really want to try it, but I was also wondering if you could can this recipe? I would love to have some on hand whenever we wanted it. I could try freezing as previously mentioned, but I thought canning would be an easier way (not at the time) when wanting something simple and quick, but delicious.

    1. You really should only preserve recipes specifically created and tested for canning- this one is not so I wouldn’t recommend it!

  7. I love it when you are trying to stick to a healthy diet … you come up with the yummiest stuff!!
    I do have a garden-full of veggies so I love seeing these amazing use-your-veggie posts 🙂 And thank you for putting on those pounds to create a new cookbook … which I am counting down the days for, seriously!!

  8. Waa-ha-ha! I am starting to get into the making-soup-mode and this looks terrific! Gonna try it as soon as I get my hands on some corn on the cob!

  9. Sounds great and I can’t wait to try! I’m surprised at the 7 g of fat per serving– I only see the bit of olive oil. Am I dumb or what?! I guess I need to pay more attention to labels!

  10. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! I love pretty food and this is one of the best soups I’ve seen in awhile. Can’t wait to try it!

  11. That looks totally yummy but since it’s 110 degrees in Chandler, AZ today I think this will have to wait until its not face of the sun hot..Seriously can’t wait to try though!

  12. I am so excited to make this. Thank you THANK YOU for posting the nutritional info and taking the work out of it! Any idea how many fiber grams per serving?

  13. If we made this in the fall when corn on the cob was no longer around, would it be just completely wrong to use frozen corn?
    I have to share a story…last night while at a buffet-style restaurant, my 4 year old grandson tasted a chocolate-dipped strawberry. He said the chocolate was disgusting and wanted to go home and make more. His mom reminded him that he just said the chocolate was disgusting, to which he replied, “We can just use Our Best Bites!” We burst out laughing! That boy knows what he’s talking about!

  14. Wow, that looks good! This might be better than my favorite corn chowder!

  15. Your soup looks great! I’ve been thinking along the same lines and have leftover roasted corn and tomatoes in the refrigerator right now. I saw a similar recipe in the Wall Street Journal’s weekend section last week for corn & tomato soup. Your photos make me hungry for it right now!

  16. Oh I cannot wait to try this – and then.. do you think it would freeze well? Baby is due in October and this looks like the perfect soup to freeze and throw in the crock pot after baby is born to have ready on demand through the day.. with some grilled cheese??

    1. I’ve never frozen this but I’m sure it will freeze beautifully because it’s almost all veggies. Stock up girlie- and good luck with that baby! My first was born in October- it’s a great month!

  17. This looks wonderful! Thanks for including the nutritional information. This is fantastic!

  18. This is gorgeous. I have some corn on my counter right now! I might try this for dinner 🙂

  19. That extra step of roasting the veggies makes so much difference in taste…the best!

  20. Oooooh, this looks delicious! Thanks for posting a healthy recipe and including the nutritional information!

  21. Omg Sara are you back on WW that would be awesome if you are!!!! Now I need to share this recipe with my WW friends ..

    1. I’ve never done WW. Just eating less than my normal allotment of baked goods, that’s all 🙂