Tomatoes and rice are a famous combination, and are complemented nicely in this soup by white beans, greens, and fresh basil. This hearty Tomato Rice Soup can be a meal all on its own, or serve it with a side of homemade, oil-free corn chips.
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 6½ cups water
- 1 can cooked navy or white beans (15 ounces; about 1½ cups) drained and rinsed
- ¾ cup dry/uncooked, long-grain brown rice
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces each; about 3 cups total), undrained
- 2 ribs celery, sliced (about ⅔ cup)
- 5 medium white or cremini mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning
- 1½ teaspoons granulated garlic
- 3 cups chopped Swiss chard
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil
- Heat 1 tablespoon of water in a soup pot over medium-high heat. when the water starts to sputter, add the onion and cook while sitring for about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the water, beans, rice, diced tomatoes (including juice), celery, mushrooms, Italian seasoning, and granulated garlic, and bring to a boil, uncovered. Reduce the heat to low then cover and cook for 30 minutes.
- Stir in the chard then cover and cook for 10 minutes more, until the chard has wilted. Stir in the basil toward the end of cooking.
You may also use other greens in this soup, such as beet greens, collard greens, and kale.
If you want to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned, add 1½ pounds of fresh tomatoes (peeled or unpeeled) chopped, in step 2.
For a totally salt-free soup, look for salt-free canned diced tomatoes (see photo below) and salt-free canned beans.
Homemade oil-free corn chips: To make your own oil-free corn chips, cut 6-inch corn tortillas into 6 triangular pieces each and place on a baking sheet (no oil or parchment paper on the baking sheet is necessary). Cook at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Serve immediately (chips will continue to harden as they cool). To learn about buying the healthiest corn tortillas, click here.
Above: These are some of the packaged tomato products that I like and use. Eden crushed tomatoes in the jar are organic and salt-free, and have a smooth, sweet taste (I’ve only found this at Whole Foods and healthy groceries). Pomi brand has a similar taste and contains only tomatoes and no salt (but is not labeled “organic”). The Muir Glen and 365 brands are organic and salt-free. Some are crushed, some are diced, some are chopped; it doesn’t really matter which you use in this recipe. The Pomi and Eden packages above hold about twice as much volume as a 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes, so no matter what brand and size you use, just be sure you’re using around 25 to 30 ounces in total for this recipe.
Above: Some commonly used cooking greens. I use Swiss chard in this recipe, a green that has a naturally salty taste to it. But any of the above greens may be used. Chard and beet greens are more delicate than kale and collards greens, and so they cook a bit faster.
If you make this recipe and enjoy it, please share a comment below or on my Facebook page. If you’d like to print this recipe, use the green “Print” button near the top-right of the recipe. Learn more about the Straight Up Food Cookbook here. Thank you!
Hi Cathy – This soup looks yummy and I will be making it soon. I’ve been following your blog for some time, now, and I always look forward to your posts. Your recipes are always flavorful and it is so helpful that you provide notes and substitutions. My husband and I have been enjoying eating WFPB for about 3 years now and I have used your recipes for several gatherings of my friends who are conventional SAD eaters and I always get favorable comments, so I want to pass that accolade on to you. Thanks for your efforts in making this way of eating delicious and interesting!
Thank you so much, Barbara! 😉
I don’t think 25 minutes is long enough for brown rice. Other than that sounds like a great recipe.
You’re saying you can use parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme?
This soup is beautiful, Cathy! The basil adds a great punch of flavor and I love the heartiness of the mushrooms, rice and beans. I used collard greens instead of chard. I feel like I say this about all your recipes, but I’ll definitely be making this again! 🙂
Thank you Lynn! 🙂 I love collards!
I made this – it was even more flavorful the 2nd and 3rd days. It is such a light soup that I feel like I can eat a bowl with a ginormous salad or a stir fry – it is the perfect nutrient rich complement. Even my veggie hating dog liked it. Perfect for a snack, too. Thanks so much!
Great to hear, thank you Susan! 😉
Trying this today. Smells wonderful. I am honestly not much of a cook but you lay out recipes well for a person like me. I’d love a cookbook with recipes and even simply some pictures and ideas of simple meal plans like you have here on the site.
Thank you Stephen! 🙂 I’m working on a cookbook now, and it will have lots of photos and meal ideas in addition to the recipes. If you want to stay abreast of the progress, you can join my mailing list here.
This looks good! I like the use of swiss chard too. 😉 And thanks for sharing a bunch of the no salt packed tomatoes you like to use. There seem to be more “can-free” options available now, which is nice to see.
I made this soup today for lunch and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I’m looking forward to trying it out.
This sounds yunmy! Could quinoa be used instead of rice and if so how much? Thanks!
Probably just fine; I’d use the same amount. Let me know how it goes. 😉
Where can I find rice that isn’t laced with arsenic?
Hi Linda, this article by Dr. McDougall will help you choose the healthiest rice. 🙂
I must have been on a Straight Up Food bender this weekend as this is the third recipe I made! In the past, I have not had the best luck with tomato based soups as sometimes they just taste too acidic for me. I am happy to report I broke the bad luck streak with this recipe! It comes together very quickly, smells so good while simmering, and the flavors and textures are very good. Nice to have this in the fridge as a go to when we need a quick meal. I added some additional swiss chard when I reheated yesterday just to get some additional greens in :).
This soup is perfect in every way. I just had 2 big bowls! I almost wanted to use dried basil instead of fresh…I’m glad I didn’t. The fresh basil makes this soup special. And the tanginess of the tomatoes…love! Thank you Cathy!
I made this recipe and it was delicious. A complete meal in a bowl. I froze the leftovers and look forward to using that on a busy week night.
I made this using Natural Tomato Juice plus a cup of water instead of canned tomatoes plus water, and 1 cup of barley instead of brown rice, it was delicious!
I’d love to cook this in my kitchen. I think I’m going to dice my own tomatoes. I have some organically grown tomatoes grown in my backyard. Well I’m excited to try your recipe thank you.
Hey I use your blog for one of my staff members at the camp i work at and ITS AWESOME!! I LOVE IT!! THANKS!
Wow, thanks Andrew! That’s so cool! I hope they are enjoying their custom meals. 😉
Hi Cathy,
This was the soup recipe I found (was looking for some type of tomato soup) when I came across those Terrific Oatmeal-Raisin cookies that I commented on. I made this for dinner (and had enough for the two of us for 2 more meals). This is so easy to make and so yummy and hearty and I feel so well fed after eating it. Thanks again for another great recipe!
P.S. for what it’s worth (to anyone else reading these comments) I forgot to mention that I left out the mushrooms (because I don’t like mushrooms), I had to use a red onion instead of the yellow or white onion and Fresh Spinach instead of the Swiss chard and dried basil instead of fresh Basil (those were the closest things I had in my house at the time) and it was still great! I look forward to trying it again with all the “right” ingredient including the fresh basil (I’ve used fresh Basil in a Tomato Basil Soup before and it IS wonderful in soup).
Made this luscious soup last night for dinner and it was delicious! My husband also enjoyed it and commented a few times (1st time being: Something smells good!) and had a 2nd helping. I can hardly wait to share your blog with friends. I, too, appreciate your sharing substitutions since my husband is allergic to corn and I’m always stumped as to what to substitute for it. Thank you so much for a soup that’s light, hardy and full of flavor all at the same time!
I made this soup yesterday for lunch and it is delicious! I had some dandelion greens that I needed to use up…was afraid they might be bitter in the soup, but they were not. I also forgot to get the fresh basil when I was at the store…while I’m sure it’s a completely different soup with the basil, it is also delicious without.
Just made this soup …. awesome awesome awesome !
Yay! 🙂 Thanks Mark!
The basil really completes the soup. I’ll add this one to my regular weekend cycle of soups.
I made this last night for dinner and I am now eating it for breakfast! It was/is really good! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Not sure why you always include canned products. So easy and a lot cheaper to buy the product and cook it yourself.
I include it because of convenience; not everyone wants to make everything from scratch. 🙂
This will become one of my go to soups !!!! What kind of oil free chips do you buy ? I usually make my own because I can’t find the oil free ones . But it would be nice to find good ones I can buy !
I make my own too; from oil-free corn tortillas. (See here.)
What makes your recipes useless to me is your use of canned foods. It’s extremely difficult to find anything in a can that doesn’t have too much salt in it: Canned beans or tomatoes, for example. It’s much easier to find dry beans and fresh tomatoes. Why don’t you give us the measures of fresh ingredients so we don’t have to convert? Please.
Hi John, I so use salt-free canned items, but they are easily found where I live. If you can’t find them where you live, you can order them online or make your own from scratch. I use them because they are convenient, but also use fresh/homemade too. Each 15-ounce can holds about 1.5 cups beans and 1.75 cups diced tomatoes.
Made this today and was excellent! I don’t like mushrooms and left them out. Used an extra can of petite diced salt free tomatoes and another 3 1/2 cups water. I only had boil in bag brown rice so just opened that packet and threw that in last ten minutes and used some chopped kale at the end. Did not have any other beans except butter beans but they worked out well. Will definitely make again.
I give this recipe 5 stars because with a little tweaking it’s perfect 🙂 I used salt-free tomatoes and beans and oil-free vegetable broth to replace half the water. I also used sprouted brown rice and added some kidney beans. As long as you use the cooking time on the rice package it will be cooked perfectly! Black pepper made all the difference for me 🙂 Thank you for the recipe!
hi Cathy. Such a delicious soup and so easy to prepare. Your recipes are always so reliable!