Healthy Catalina Tomato Soup
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Catalina Tomato Soup is a healthy, delicious, deep-rooted soup with an uncommon twist on your favorite recipe. It's quick and easy, and with a handful of pantry ingredients, you will fall in love with it.
For a rich, French-inspired soup, try my creamy tomato soup recipe as well!
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What is Catalina Tomato Soup?
While I have a history with this soup, its origins have been a bit unclear. So I did what I always do... I researched it. Beginning with the question, "Does this soup recipe originate from Catalina Island?"
The short answer is... "I'm not sure," but I suspect it must. After hours of research, I came up empty. If you happen to know the origins, I'd love to hear from you!
What I did find was a recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup by Executive Chef Roberto Hernandez of Avalon Grille on Catalina Island-a delicious but more involved recipe than this, but with similarities.
Catalina Tomato Soup Ingredients
So, let's talk about the soup. It's so delicious and so easy to make that it's a lunchtime favorite at my house! Specific ingredient measurements are in the recipe card below, but here's a quick list of what you need:
- Medium-sized onion (I use a yellow onion)
- Garlic cloves: minced or smashed for easy removal
- Tomato paste for a rich tomato flavor, quickly
- Vegetable broth or water, if you prefer
- Potatoes: I use whatever potatoes I happen to have on hand. If they're russet, I peel them; if they're gold or red, I leave them unpeeled.
- Dried oregano, salt and pepper
- Cooking oil: I prefer olive oil, but use your favorite
Where I Learned About Catalina Tomato Soup
Laurel's Kitchen is a cookbook I've mentioned several times on the blog because it was a staple in my mother's kitchen. It is a healthy, whole-foods resource with recipes from writers at the University of California, Berkeley.
It's here that I first discovered Catalina Soup. Over the years, with a son absolutely in love with grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, I would reach for it often. This recipe has adapted over time, but at its heart, it remains similar to Laurel's original recipe.
Catalina Island
Also known as Santa Catalina Island, it is a small rocky island 29 miles southwest of Long Beach, California. At only 22 miles long, it is part of California's Channel Islands.
Initially inhabited by Southern California Tribes, including the Tongva, the first arriving Europeans claimed it for the Spanish Empire.
Today, it is a tourist destination that was first developed by William Wrigley, Jr. (yes, the chewing gum magnate) in the 1920s.
Once a playground for Hollywood elites, Catalina has been known to entertain A-list notables, including John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Betty Grable, and more. It was also the home of famed author Zane Grey and the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs.
USA Today says, "Modern visitors arrive by the boatload to revel in Santa Catalina Island's crystal-clear waters, Old California and Art Deco architecture, and sometimes, with hopes of catching a glimpse of one of the many buffalo that graze throughout the island's vast interior."
Healthy Soup Recipes with Mediterranean Origins
Soup should be its own food group in my mind. It's perfect in every season. Healthy and chock-full of vegetables, herbs, and often protein, like my popular lemon chicken orzo soup, is often on the menu at my house throughout the year.
Other Mediterranean-style soups you may enjoy are this easy version of Italian Wedding Soup, a healthy black bean soup, or Ribollita, a 15th-century Tuscan bean soup we love.
For a heartier soup made with pantry ingredients, see my Grandmother's tomato potato soup recipe, which we've been making for generations.
More Recipes You May Also Enjoy
- Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto)
- Grandmother's Tomato Potato Soup
- 35 Winter Soup Recipes
- Crock Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
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Healthy Catalina Tomato Soup Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves smashed
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 4 cups vegetable broth or water
- 2 cups potatoes chopped into ½-inch cubes (about 2 medium potatoes) *see notes
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- fresh parsley for serving
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan and saute onion and garlic until soft. Crush the garlic with a fork.
- Stir in tomato paste, stock or water, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and add potatoes, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender; about 10 minutes, depending on their size.
- Remove the bay leaf and serve topped with fresh parsley.
Notes
Potatoes
The 2 cup measurement of chopped potatoes is very flexible. Add more for a hardier soup, less for a more brothy soup. Both are delicious. I've even pureed the soup with delicious results!Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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