Recipes

Charred Tomato + Bell Pepper Soup

By Sarah Nicole Edwards7 min readJanuary 2026
Charred Tomato + Bell Pepper Soup

The monsoons are finally here with their gloomy skies and chilly winds and there's nothing better than cosying up with a good book and a hot bowl of soup in this weather! This soup is full of fibre, vitamin C and healthy fats.

The key to this deep-flavoured soup is not to boil the vegetables but roast them. Roast them in the oven until nicely caramelised, a little charred even, and then blend them up with their roasting juices.

Ingredients

  • 5 large tomatoes
  • 1 handful cherry tomatoes (or use 2 extra tomatoes if you can't find cherry tomatoes)
  • 2 onions
  • 2 red capsicum
  • 5 sprigs of thyme
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Details

Time:20 minutes
Serves:2-4

What To Do

  1. 1

    Preheat your oven to 180°C.

  2. 2

    Wash all the vegetables. Cut the large tomatoes into quarters.

  3. 3

    Slice the onions and cut open the red peppers, remove the stalk, seeds and white pith inside, and roughly chop into slices.

  4. 4

    Place all chopped vegetables and the cherry tomatoes in a baking tray and mix in the thyme, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil.

  5. 5

    Place the vegetables in the oven for 25 minutes until the tomatoes and peppers char slightly- meaning there are some brown sections- and the onions caramelise into a golden brown colour.

  6. 6

    Once your times beeps, check the veggies. Stir them to mix everything up and roast for a further 20 minutes.

  7. 7

    Once they look lovely and caramelised allow them to cool down. Remove any tough stalks of thyme, and then blend using a hand blender until smooth or tip the vegetables into a mixie, seal the lid carefully and pulse until smooth. Add a splash of water if it is too thick- but this is supposed to hearty. Check salt and adjust to taste.

  8. 8

    When you want to serve, heat gently over a low-medium heat until piping hot but not boiling. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with some extra thyme leaves and a drizzle of olive oil and crack of black pepper. Serve with slices of toasted wholegrain sourdough bread – or tear them into small squares and throw into the bowl to have some rough croutons.

  9. 9

    Meal Prep Tip: As part of your meal prep, you could double these quantities to make a big batch and freeze in single portions. When you're tired after a long day of work, you can thaw it, heat it up and you have a comforting bowl of soup ready without any hassle! This soup can also be served cold if you want a gazpacho- just add a tbsp of apple cider vinegar and stir through.