This hearty tomato and rice soup is an easy and budget-friendly dinner idea! With just a few pantry staples, this recipe comes together quickly.

How to Make Tomato and Rice Soup

I’ve made lots of variations of tomato soup over the past year or two, but the addition of brown rice takes it from a side dish to the main dish. This is also a very economical soup, as all of the ingredients are quite inexpensive. If you’re making a large batch for a group, and you’re on a budget, try this one out.

Just a few pantry staples can be transformed into delicious tomato soup while your rice cooks at the same time.

Once the rice is ready, you simply mix it together and serve!

The rice really makes this soup a lot more filling than traditional tomato soup, but you could still serve it with a grilled cheese on the side if you like!

Substitution Suggestions

You can use white or brown rice but I prefer brown because it has more protein and fiber than white rice.
You can use whole tomatoes instead of diced if you prefer. As you cook them, gently break them apart with a wooden spoon.
If you want to make this soup a little spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes!

How to Blend Hot Tomato Soup

I like to use an immersion blender because it’s less messy and it’s easier to achieve the perfect consistency. I like my soup a little chunky so an immersion blender lets me combine all the ingredients without making it perfectly smooth.
But if you don’t have an immersion blender, you can still blend this soup in a blender. I recommend working in two batches and letting the soup cool slightly before transferring, just so you don’t burn yourself! Remember to allow steam to escape from the blender so the soup doesn’t explode!
Do NOT try to blend the hot soup in a bullet style blender like a Nutribullet or Magic Bullet. The steam must escape or you risk an explosion!