This Panera “Soup Dupe” Will Save You Ladles Of Money
If you’re a fan of Panera soups like my family is and maybe you want to save money or perhaps you don’t have a Panera near you. This “Soup Dupe” is for you. We love their tomato soup with a nice grilled cheese sandwich. This past weekend we decided that instead of driving to the store and picking up some that we should try to duplicate the recipe, hence the “dupe”.
We sifted through various websites that offer the recipe hack. The problem is that a lot of them offered different ingredients and cooking directions. That made it hard to find the one to go with, so after finding one that I thought most closely resembled it without a bunch of strange ingredients, we went shopping for the items.
Here’s the shopping list for Panera Tomato Soup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cans (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained, such as San Marzano
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- Salad croutons, optional
Directions
Step 1: Saute the veggies
If you own a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer.
Step 2: Add tomatoes and herbs
To the onions and garlic, add the diced tomatoes, broth, basil, sugar and seasonings. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tomatoes are tender.
Here’s the soup just after adding the heavy cream
Step 3: Puree the soup
Next, puree the soup using an immersion blender until it’s smooth and velvety. If you don’t have an immersion blender do what we did and use a blender. Just make sure the soup cools of enough before you blend it.
Step 4: Stir in the cream
Pour in the heavy cream and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the soup has thickened slightly and is heated through, about 3-5 minutes. The soup swill change color from the bright red tomato to a lighter red look that you are familiar with from the original Panera soup.
Step 5: Serve
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with croutons, if desired. I highly recommend a good crouton like a garlic and parmesan type. You can always go with basic crackers if you don’t have any. Serve warm and we suggest a nice grilled cheese sandwich to enjoy with. Just perfect for a winter’s night. Enjoy!
The finished product! The Panera soup dupe!
