Tomato soup is delicious creamy comfort food that is great for warming you up on cold days or when not feeling at your best.
Sometimes you want a little extra something to serve with your soup. Bread-based sides are the classics, with many options available to make the meal a more filling and satisfying experience. So what are some of these other ideas?
Here are some excellent side dishes for your soul-warming tomato soup.
1. Toast
Toast is an excellent side for tomato soup as the sweet and refreshing tomato gives toast all the flavor, with the toast giving the texture.
You have to make sure that the toast is nice and crisp with medium thickness loaves of bread, often giving the best texture when toasted.
Make sure not to add butter to the toast; otherwise, you’ll ruin the flavor.
2. Grilled Cheese
Grilled cheese is the classic, combining delicious toast with a flavorful cheese and creamy soup.
Cut into triangular portions, grilled cheese is perfect for dipping into the soup, making for mouthwatering bites of gooey hot cheese with sweet and smooth tomato soup. The combination is the ideal remedy for cold weather and those much-needed moments of self-care.
Use cheeses like cheddar and mozzarella for the best flavor and texture, or combine both for a delicious richness and added depths.
Tip: You can even serve grilled cheese atop a single slice of bread for classic ‘cheese on toast,’ another great side for tomato soup dipping.
3. Sour Cream
This is an easy one. Delicious sour cream goes well with everything from fajitas, paprikash, to you guessed it, soups. Sour cream is an excellent addition to tomato soup on a cold Winter’s night.
4. Grilled Crusty Rolls
Go to the store and buy in some nice crusty white rolls. Go for the nice messy stuff that crumbles when you give it so much as a look. But also make sure that you don’t pick something rock hard as you don’t want anything stale.
Once you’ve got your crusty roll, you should tear it into pieces and place it onto a baking tray. Next, sprinkle a little salt and maybe a drizzle of olive oil over the rolls and place under the grill for 2-5 minutes.
Now enjoy your extra flavorful, crispy, warm rolls with your tomato soup.
5. Baguette
A nice baguette or ‘french stick’ makes an excellent addition to your tomato soup for dipping and chewing on with a massive grin on your face because you can’t get over how good it is.
In the store, look for a baguette by giving any possible suitor a gentle squeeze (we mean the baguette, not a shop assistant). The baguette should have some elasticity and return to its previous shape. It shouldn’t be rock hard or so malleable that it stays squashed.
Once you’ve found ‘the one,’ you can go home and cut it into small portions about an inch-two inches thick. With a baguette, you can optionally add some butter, or you can enjoy the portions of the baguette with your tomato soup right away.
6. Crispy Streaky Bacon
This fantastic food addition isn’t so much a side dish as it is something you can add to the dish itself.
Place 2-3 pieces of streaky bacon on a baking tray and place under the grill. Turn as required until the bacon is sufficiently crisp for your tastes.
Cut into portions and serve atop your ready-prepared tomato soup.
The rich, crispy bacon adds an extra dimension to this dish, combining excellently with the sweetness and creaminess of the tomato soup. The flavors complement one another, as do the textures. You really can’t go wrong with this classic combo.
7. Baked Potatoes
Find a large baking potato and simply pop it in the oven for an hour-two. Baked potatoes taste amazing when combined with soup, especially when you can get the skin crisp enough to crunch a little in your mouth.
Note: Potato also goes well with lots of soups, not just tomato. If you’ve never tried a baked potato as a side for soup before then maybe it’s time to give it a go?
Bread and Butter
It’s old school, but some people still love it, including me! Yes, bread and butter is a quick and easy side dish to serve with almost any soup, and tomato soup is one that it goes with the best.
You can go for any bread you want, wholemeal or white, or even a seeded loaf. Add as much or as little butter as you’d like. You can even skip the butter if you can’t eat it for dietary reasons.
Eat as much as you’d like, but I find the right ratios seem to be about 2-3 slices of bread for 1 tin of soup.
8. Parmesan Cheese
In Italy, Parmesan is often used much like Salt and Pepper. There are few dishes that a little sprinkle of salty parmesan cheese can’t help elevate, especially when it comes to anything with tomatoes. Simply sprinkle a generous serving of parmesan over the top of your tomato soup, and enjoy!
Conclusion
So there you have it: some excellent, delicious, often decadent additions to serve with your tomato soup. Enjoy!