This Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup Recipe Swaps Regular Bread For Garlic Bread

The following recipe and excerpt for tomato soup with garlic-bread grilled cheese are from “I Sleep in My Kitchen” by Mariam Daud. It’s available for purchase on Amazon.

I didn’t grow up eating tomato soup with grilled cheese, but once I tried it, it became an instant classic in my repertoire. But of course, I wanted to put my own spin on things. First, I decided to roast the tomatoes to give the soup a depth of flavor you can never get from raw or boiled tomatoes. I’m obsessed with garlic—as you get further along in this cookbook, you’ll see it pop up everywhere—so I decided that the best way to sneak more garlic in here was to use garlic bread as the base for my grilled cheese. But the garlic is hidden inside the sandwich, rather than on the outside, so when you take a bite you get this garlicky surprise. I still remember the first time I made this for my family. (I always find it exciting to make food that is a bit new to us, to see their reaction.) Of course, they loved it, and now it has become an annual fall tradition for me to make a huge batch of tomato soup with garlic-bread grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tomato Soup with Garlic-Bread Grilled Cheese

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time:1 hour 25 minutesTotal time:1 hour 55 minutesServings:6 servings

Ingredients

Tomato Soup

• 6 tomatoes (such as Romas), chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus whole or chopped leaves for garnish
• 2 to 2½ cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1½ teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• 2 cups heavy cream, plus more for garnish

Garlic-Bread Grilled Cheese

• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more as needed
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• 12 (½-inch) slices of your preferred bread (such as white or sourdough)
• 12 slices nice-quality mild Cheddar cheese
• 8 ounces freshly grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)
• Mayonnaise, for spreading on bread slices
• Butter or cooking spray, for the pan

Instructions

Make the tomato soup:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Arrange the tomatoes and bell pepper in an even layer on a sheet pan. Roast until tender, about 20 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and broil until the tomatoes develop a nice char, about 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat the butter and oil over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and fresh basil and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Transfer the roasted tomatoes and bell pepper to the pot. Add the broth and stir to combine. Add the brown sugar, oregano, salt, black pepper, onion powder (if using), garlic powder (if using), dried basil, white pepper, and cayenne to taste. Adjust the seasonings as needed. Cooking doesn’t have to be strict, so tailor it to your preference.
4. Cook until the flavors have melded, about 15 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. (Or allow the soup to cool slightly, then blend in batches in a standard blender. Once blended, return the soup to the pot.) Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes until incorporated. At this point, you can either keep the soup warm on the stove (cover it to retain the heat) or refrigerate it and reheat it before serving.

Make the garlic-bread grilled cheese:

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, stir together the butter, garlic, fresh basil, pepper flakes, and salt.
6. Generously spread the garlic-butter mixture on one side of each slice of bread. Arrange the slices of bread on a sheet pan, garlic butter-side up, and bake until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.
7. Top the garlic-butter side of each of six slices of bread with two slices mild Cheddar and a generous portion of extra-sharp Cheddar. Close the sandwich with the other slices of bread, buttered-side down. Spread a thin layer of mayo on both unbuttered sides of the sandwiches.
8. Heat a medium skillet over low heat. Lightly grease the pan with a small amount of butter or cooking spray. Working in batches, add the sandwiches to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and toast until the first side is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the sandwiches, cover the pan, and toast the other side until golden and the cheese is thoroughly melted, about 3 minutes more. Keep aa close eye on things — the sandwich can burn, even on low heat!
9. Cut the sandwiches as desired, ladle the tomato soup into bowls, drizzle with some heavy cream, and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Serve with the grilled cheese on the side — dipping in the soup is encouraged!

Keywords:Budget, Dinner, Dinner Recipes, Lunch, Lunch Recipes

“I Sleep in My Kitchen” Copyright © 2026 by Mariam Daud. Photographs copyright © 2026 by Jim Henkens. Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group. A division of Penguin Random House LLC

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