Ready to serve up a deliciously dark and ghoulishly good meal for your next Halloween celebration? A potion so rich and red it would make any vampire’s mouth water? This incredible, from-scratch “Vampire Blood” Tomato Soup with spooky, cutout Muenster Sammies is the ultimate festive feast! It’s a rich, velvety, and deeply flavorful homemade tomato soup, made extra special and fun with adorable, cheesy, Halloween-shaped sandwiches that are perfect for dipping.
This isn’t just a recipe; it’s a guide to your new favorite Halloween tradition. We’ll show you the simple but crucial secrets to a sophisticated, from-scratch tomato soup that is bursting with a secret, aromatic flavor. This is the kind of satisfying, soul-warming meal that is perfect for a chilly autumn night and is a guaranteed hit with ghouls and goblins of all ages.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of ContentsRecipe Overview: The Ultimate Spooky & Delicious Halloween Meal
What makes this Halloween meal so spectacularly delicious is its brilliant combination of a gourmet-quality soup with a super fun, festive, and kid-friendly sandwich. The “Vampire Blood” Soup is a masterpiece of simple, from-scratch flavor. It’s a rich and velvety tomato soup, made with a secret, sophisticated ingredient—fresh fennel—which adds a wonderful, subtle, and aromatic sweetness. The Muenster Sammies are the perfect, playful partner. A simple, sweet and savory combination of apple jelly and cheese is sandwiched between two slices of dark pumpernickel bread and then cut into fun, spooky shapes using Halloween cookie cutters.
| Metric | Time / Level |
| Total Time | 50 minutes |
| Active Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Difficulty Level | Easy |
| Servings | 4-6 |
The Vampire’s Feast: The Essential Ingredients
This iconic party dish uses a handful of high-quality ingredients to create its signature rich and savory flavor.
- The “Vampire Blood” Tomato Soup:
- The Tomatoes: For the absolute best, most authentic, and sweetest flavor, it is highly recommended to use a can of high-quality, whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes.
- The Secret Ingredient (Fennel!): This is the key to an incredibly sophisticated and aromatic soup. A fresh fennel bulb has a wonderfully crisp texture and a subtle, sweet flavor that is reminiscent of licorice or anise. When it is sautéed and simmered in the soup, its flavor becomes very mild, sweet, and beautifully aromatic, adding a fantastic, “what is that?” depth to the broth.
- The Spooky Muenster Sammies:
- The Bread: The recipe cleverly uses a thin, dark Westphalian Pumpernickel bread. Its deep, dark, almost black color is perfect for a spooky Halloween theme and has a wonderful, rich, and earthy flavor.
- The Fillings: A surprising but incredibly delicious combination of sweet apple jelly and a classic, creamy cheese blend of mild Muenster and tangy Cheddar.
Step-by-Step to the Best “Vampire Blood” Soup and Sammies
This fun and festive meal is incredibly simple to prepare.
Part 1: How to Brew the “Vampire Blood” Tomato Soup
Step 1: In a large sauce pot or Dutch oven, heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium-high heat. Add your 2 1/2 cups of chopped fennel, your 1 cup of chopped onion, your 4 smashed garlic cloves, the 1 1/4 teaspoons of kosher salt, the 1 teaspoon of fennel seed, and the crushed red pepper flakes, if you are using them. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables have softened and are just beginning to brown.
Step 2: Drain the juice from your can of tomatoes into a bowl and reserve it. Gently crush the whole tomatoes with your hands as you add them to the pot. Increase the heat to high and cook the tomatoes for about 5 minutes, until they begin to brown slightly and caramelize.
Pro Tip: This step of browning the tomatoes is a fantastic, professional trick that deepens their flavor and removes any raw, acidic “canned” taste.
Step 3: Add your reserved tomato juice, the 2 cups of vegetable broth, the 2 cups of tomato juice, and the 6 torn basil leaves to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then, stir, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let the soup cook for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender and the soup has reduced and thickened.
Step 4: Remove the pot from the stove. Use an immersion blender to carefully purée the soup until it is completely smooth and velvety. (Alternatively, you can carefully transfer the soup in batches to a regular blender).
Step 5: Stir in the 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and season the soup with any more black pepper to your taste.
Part 2: How to Craft the Spooky Muenster Sammies
Step 1: While the soup is simmering, you can prepare your sandwiches. Toast your 16 slices of pumpernickel bread in a toaster or a toaster oven for a few minutes, until they are slightly crisp.
Step 2: Spread one side of each slice of the toasted bread with the 1/2 cup of apple jelly.
Step 3: Layer the cheese over the apple jelly on 8 of the bread slices, and then top with the remaining 8 slices of bread.
Step 4 (The Fun Part!): Use your favorite, fun, Halloween-themed cookie cutters (like pumpkins, ghosts, bats, or cats) to cut out as many spooky shapes as you can from the sandwiches.
Serve the hot, velvety soup in warm bowls, with your adorable and spooky Muenster Sammies on the side for dipping.
‘Vampire Blood’ Tomato Soup with Halloween Sammies
A festive, Halloween-themed recipe for ‘Vampire Blood Tomato Soup’ served with mini Muenster cheese sandwiches. This from-scratch, vegetarian soup features a rich, deep-red color and is made with a flavorful base of sautéed fennel, onion, and garlic. The vegetables are simmered with San Marzano tomatoes, vegetable broth, and tomato juice, then pureed until smooth. The soup is served with small, decorative sandwiches made with Muenster and Cheddar cheese on pumpernickel bread, which can be cut into spooky shapes with cookie cutters.
Ingredients
- For the Soup:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 fennel bulb, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- One 28-ounce can plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 6 basil leaves, torn
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- For the Muenster Sammies:
- Sixteen 3.5-inch square slices of thin pumpernickel bread
- 1/2 cup apple jelly
- 8 slices Muenster cheese (about 3 ounces)
- 8 slices yellow Cheddar cheese (about 3 ounces)
Instructions
- Make the Soup: Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pot or Dutch oven. Add the fennel, onion, garlic, salt, fennel seed, and optional crushed pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften.
- Drain the juice from the canned tomatoes into the pot. Crush the tomatoes with your hands and add them to the pot. Cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add the reserved tomato juice, the vegetable broth, the 2 cups of tomato juice, and the basil leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the stove. Use an immersion blender (or a regular blender in batches) to puree the soup until smooth.
- Stir in the lemon juice and season with pepper to taste.
- Make the Sammies: While the soup cooks, toast the pumpernickel bread slices until slightly crisp.
- Spread one side of each slice of bread with apple jelly.
- Layer the Muenster and Cheddar cheese over the apple jelly on 8 of the bread slices. Top with the remaining 8 slices of bread, jelly-side down.
- Use optional cookie cutters (pumpkins, ghosts, etc.) to cut the sandwiches into festive shapes.
- Serve the warm soup with the mini sandwiches for dipping.
Notes
- Special Equipment: The recipe suggests using Halloween-themed cookie cutters for the sandwiches.
- This is a fun, themed meal that’s perfect for a Halloween party or a festive family dinner.
- Pureeing the soup after it simmers is a key step that creates a smooth, velvety ‘vampire blood’ texture.
- The apple jelly on the pumpernickel sandwiches provides a sweet counterpoint to the savory soup and cheeses.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
This is the perfect make-ahead meal for a stress-free and festive Halloween dinner.
- Make-Ahead: For a super-fast and impressive meal, you can get a head start by preparing the entire “Vampire Blood” Tomato Soup up to 5 days in advance. The flavors will actually be even deeper and more delicious on the second day! You can also assemble your sammies a few hours ahead of time and keep them, well-wrapped, in the refrigerator.
- Storage: Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freezing: The tomato soup freezes beautifully! Let it cool completely, then portion it into freezer-safe containers or bags. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Creative Recipe Variations (“Make it Your Own Potion!”)
- Make it a Grilled Cheese: For an even more classic, warm, and gooey sandwich, you can butter the outside of your pumpernickel bread and gently grill your spooky, cutout sammies in a skillet over a low heat until the cheese is completely melted.
- Make it a Creamy “Blood” Soup: For an even richer and more decadent soup, you can stir in about 1/2 cup of heavy cream or a full-fat coconut milk at the very end of the cooking time, after you have puréed the soup.
- Use a Different “Spooky” Bread: If you can’t find a dark pumpernickel bread, you could get a different but equally spooky look by using a vibrant, orange-colored bread, like a tomato or a cheddar loaf.
Enjoy Your Ultimate Spooky & Delicious Halloween Meal!
You’ve just created a truly special dish that is a perfect harmony of fun, classic ingredients and delicious, satisfying flavors. This classic “Vampire Blood” Tomato Soup and its spooky sammies are a testament to the power of a simple, creative idea to become an instant family favorite and a treasured holiday tradition. It’s a rewarding and deeply satisfying recipe that is sure to make your Halloween dinner a memorable one.
We hope you enjoy every last, perfect, and delicious bite!
If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves an easy and impressive meal!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is the absolute, number one secret to a rich, not acidic, homemade tomato soup?
The secret is to caramelize your tomatoes. This recipe uses a brilliant trick of browning the crushed, whole tomatoes in the hot pot after you have sautéed your vegetables. This simple, 5-minute step helps to cook down the tomatoes, caramelize their natural sugars, and remove any raw, sharp, or acidic “canned” taste, which is the key to a deep, rich, and complex flavor.
Q2: Can I make this soup ahead of time for a party?
Yes, this is a perfect make-ahead soup! The flavors will actually be even better on the second or third day after they have had time to meld. Simply let the soup cool completely, store it in the refrigerator, and then gently reheat it on the stovetop. You can also prepare and cut out your sandwiches a few hours ahead of your party.
Q3: What does fennel taste like?
Fresh, raw fennel has a crisp texture and a bright, slightly sweet flavor with a distinct note of anise or licorice. When you cook it, as in this soup, that licorice flavor becomes much more mild, sweet, and beautifully aromatic, adding a wonderful, sophisticated, and almost “secret” depth to the tomato broth.
Q4: Can I make this recipe vegan?
Yes! To make this recipe completely vegan, simply be sure to use your favorite brand of dairy-free Muenster and cheddar cheese substitutes for the sandwiches. The soup itself is already completely vegan.
Q5: Can I make this soup in a slow cooker or an Instant Pot?
Yes! To make it in a slow cooker, simply complete the first step of sautéing and browning the vegetables and the tomatoes on the stovetop. Then, transfer this mixture and all the other soup ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on High for 3-4 hours. Purée the soup at the end. For the Instant Pot, use the “Sauté” function to complete the first step. Then, add all the other soup ingredients, secure the lid, and pressure cook on High for 15 minutes.