High-Protein Tomato Soup with Cottage Cheese

Name: High-Protein Tomato Soup with Cottage Cheese
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 100 min
Total time: 115 min
Ingredients: 2 lb cherry or grape tomatoes; 1 whole head garlic; 2 medium shallots; 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp smoked paprika; ½ tsp fennel seeds or fennel pollen; ½ tsp red pepper flakes ((optional)); 2 cups chicken bone broth; 2 cups full-fat cottage cheese; fresh basil leaves; grated parmesan

In this post:

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Why You’ll Love It
Key Ingredients
How To Add Protein To Tomato Soup
How to Make It
Swaps & Substitutions
Victoria’s Tips
Storage & Meal Prep
FAQ
More Soup Recipes
The Recipe
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More Recipes To Try

It’s officially soup season and here I am with my very first soup recipe of 2026: High-Protein Tomato Soup with Cottage Cheese.

And let me just say, it’s a banger.

Tomato soup is a classic so I found myself wondering, does the internet really need another tomato soup recipe?

And to be honest, the answer is probably no.

But trust me for a second, because this recipe is absolutely wild.

Super easy, PACKED with flavor, and 42 grams of protein per serving.

In the flavor department its really the slow roasting and fennel that make all the difference. It concentrates the flavor and is sweet, umami, and so so savory.

If you’re a fan of tomato soup, please give this one a try and let me know in the comments… did the internet need this recipe?

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Creamy tomato soup with cottage cheese topped with grated parmesan, basil and black pepper

Why You’ll Love It

Unbelievable flavor. The combination of slow roasting the tomatoes, the whole head of roasted garlic, and the fennel just makes this soup so damn good.
High-protein. 42 grams of protein per bowl from the bone broth and cottage cheese. That’s absolutely ridiculous for a blended soup like this.
Minimal ingredients. Designed for maximum flavor without a long grocery list, this recipe uses a couple of pantry staples and only a few fresh ones.
Super customizable. Feel free to add more veggies to the sheet tray to roast alongside the tomatoes, add different seasonings, and top with whatever you like. You can easily make this recipe your own.

If you’re looking for more high-protein soups, try my Lentil Soup with Ancient Grains next. Simple, budget-friendly, and packed with flavor.

Spoonful of high protein tomato soup lifted from the bowl with a sourdough crouton on top

Key Ingredients

This recipe is designed to use as few ingredients as possible while delivering big on flavor.

Cherry or grape tomatoes: The star of the show, this recipe starts with 2 pounds of fresh cherry or grape tomatoes. They have a higher sugar-to-acid ration which will lead to a sweeter more concentrated flavor. Plus, no deseeding or peeling needed!
Head of garlic: Since we’re slow roasting the tomatoes anyway, why not add a whole head of garlic to the sheet pan? It gets caramelized and sweet and the whole thing gets squeezed into the soup for that unmistakable roasted garlic flavor.
Cottage cheese: This is one of the secrets to the 42 grams of protein. Cottage cheese replaces the creamy element in a classic tomato soup and is lower in fat and higher in protein. Believe me, the soup doesn’t taste like cottage cheese, it’s just creamy, thick, and rich.
Chicken bone broth: This is the other secret to the protein. Chicken bone broth not only amps up the protein but brings delicious, concentrated savory flavor and a myriad of health benefits.
Fennel seeds or pollen: Okay hear me out, this single ingredient is what makes this soup so special. It’s kind of ridiculous actually just how much flavor it brings (and the smell as it roasts in the oven!!) Fennel seeds work great if that’s what you have but I love to use fennel pollen. It’s hard for me to put my finger on the difference between the two but fennel pollen has a little je ne sais quoi that reminds me a bit of celery salt. It’s gentler, softer, and has notes of honey. I just googled it to see how other people describe it and one description reads “culinary fairy dust” so I’ll leave it at that.

If you liked this one, try my Birria Soup with Sweet Corn & Crispy Tortilla Strips. It’s one of my favorite recipes on my site.

How To Add Protein To Tomato Soup

Tomato soup naturally doesn’t have much protein but it’s super easy to add it in with two secret weapons: bone broth & cottage cheese.

Bone broth replaces whatever liquid you would normally add to the soup but has a higher protein content from the collagen and gelatin extracted from the bones. It can often have close to 10 grams of protein per cup.

It also has all kinds of nutritional benefits like supporting join and gut health.

Cottage cheese replaces the creamy element whether that be milk or cream. It blends wonderfully into the soup adding tons of protein and the creaminess you’d otherwise get from a higher fat source. One cup of cottage cheese and around 25 grams of protein per serving.

And the best part is that neither of these ingredients taste like healthy swaps. You definitely aren’t left with a soup that feels “healthified.”

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How to Make It

While this high-protein tomato soup requires a bit of patience, it’s very easy to make. If you have 90 minutes to slow roast the tomatoes, you’ll get the best flavor. But I’ve also provided a shorter roasting temp and time if needed.

Roasted cherry tomatoes collapsed and jammy on a sheet pan with browned garlic heads

Roast your veggies
Lay your garlic and shallots cut side down on the sheet tray. Add you tomatoes, olive oil, spices, salt and toss to evenly coat. For the slow roast, 300°F (150°C) for 90 minutes. For the fast one, 425°F (220°C) for 40 minutes.

Blender jug of smooth roasted tomato base beside a bowl of cottage cheese ready to blend in

Blend
Remove your pan from from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes to cool down slightly. Add to your blender, squeezing the garlic out of the skin and scraping the fond off the pan. Blend with the bone broth until smooth.

Spoonful of creamy high protein tomato soup showing its thick pourable texture

Add the cottage cheese
Add the cottage cheese to the blender and blend. Blend a bit longer than feels necessary to make sure the cottage cheese becomes fully broken down and incorporated. You shouldn’t see any white specs left over.

Overhead bowl of tomato soup with cottage cheese topped with sourdough croutons, parmesan and basil

Assemble your bowls
Taste your soup and adjust seasonings. If needed, warm it up over low heat on the stove. Then pour into two bowls and top with grated parm, fresh basil, and maybe even some fried sourdough croutons.

If you want something with a similar flavor profile but a little more indulgent, my Creamy High-Protein Lasagna Soup is one of the most popular recipes on my site. And my sister’s personal favorite.

Swaps & Substitutions

This recipe is super customizable so feel free to use what you have.

Tomatoes: This soup will work with just about any kind of tomato. The smaller the tomato, the more concentrated the flavor but you can also use roma, vine tomatoes, or heirloom tomatoes. Or go crazy and use red bell peppers instead.
Shallots: Any kind of onion works as an easy swap here. Feel free to use what you have. Shallot has the sweetest most delicate flavor but red, brown, white, and even green onion are all good replacements.
Vegetarian: Swap the bone broth for veggie broth to keep this soup strictly vegetarian. Just know that you will lose a bit of protein.

Victoria’s Tips

This soup is honestly hard to mess up but here are a couple of tips that take this from good to great.

Use a high-speed blender. I know this one from experience, a high-speed blender really does make all the difference here. A lower quality blender or immersion blender will still make a delicious soup but you may end up with small specs of cottage cheese because it’s not fully broken down. The flavor will be the same but the texture will be significantly less creamy.
Be mindful of the temperature. Like most dairy-products, cottage cheese can curdle at high temperatures. That’s why you want a warm but not scorching hot liquid before you add the cottage cheese. If it’s not warm enough to serve in the end, reheat on low.
Slow roast! It can be tempting to turn that oven temp up and the cooking time down but when it comes to tomatoes, slow roasting produces an unmistakable flavor. Sweet, umami, and concentrated.

Storage & Meal Prep

This high-protein tomato soup recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for meal prep. Simply store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

It will thicken as it sits so feel free to add a splash of water when reheating.

Gently warm on the stove but don’t let it boil to avoid the cottage cheese curdling.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a great recipe to freeze as the cottage cheese may separate when thawed.

FAQ

Why did my soup turn out grainy?

The most likely culprit is that the soup was too hot when you added the cottage cheese and it curdled. Let the blended base sit for a couple of minutes so that it’s warm but not scorching hot before blending in the cottage cheese. If it’s not hot enough when serving, gently rewarm over low heat.

Can you taste the cottage cheese?

I can say with 100% confidence that there is no cottage cheese flavor. It tastes just like any creamy tomato soup.

Can I use canned tomatoes instead of roasting my own?

Yep, you can. The flavor will be different but still delicious. I recommend using two 28oz cans of fire-roasted tomatoes.

Does this recipe work for meal prep?

This recipe’s great for meal prep. Simply double or triple depending on how many servings you want to make. Store in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days.