Beat the heat with this easy gazpacho recipe! Made with summer veggies, vinegar, and olive oil, this cool soup is rich, tangy, and refreshing.
It’s no secret that I love gazpacho. Over the years, I’ve shared a gazpacho recipe with watermelon, one with corn, another with carrots, and still another with tangy tomatillos. What can I say? On a hot summer day, there’s no better way to cool off than with cold soup.
If you’re not familiar with gazpacho, it’s a chilled soup that originated in Andalucía, Spain. Traditional recipes call for tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and bread, which thickens the soup.
This recipe isn’t entirely authentic, but it has a lot in common with Spanish gazpacho. Tomatoes, cucumber, and olive oil make up its vibrant red base, garlic adds bite, and red wine vinegar gives it a delicious tang. Even Jack, who normally passes on gazpacho, devoured a bowl for lunch last week. Complex, refreshing, and bursting with summer produce, it’s the perfect thing to make right now, when the days are hot and fresh tomatoes are at their peak.
Gazpacho Ingredients
As I mentioned above, bread is often used as a thickener in Andalusian gazpacho. I like the lightly creamy texture of the soup without it, so I make my gazpacho with these simple ingredients:
- Tomatoes – Any variety of tomatoes will work well here. Choose the best ones you can find at your farmers market or grocery store!
- Cucumber – Dice some cucumber and reserve it for garnish. Then, peel the rest and blend it into the soup!
- Fresno chiles – Traditional gazpacho is made with bell peppers. But earlier this summer, I was making gazpacho at home, and fresno chiles were the only peppers I had in the fridge. I tossed them in, and I fell in love with the heat they added to the soup. I highly recommend using them, but you could swap in half a red bell pepper if you prefer.
- Garlic – For bite!
- Red onion – Rinse it under cold water before you add it to the blender to tame its sharp flavor.
- Red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar – It adds delicious tang.
- Cilantro – It’s not traditional, but I love the herby fresh flavor.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – 1/2 cup might seem like a lot, but trust me, you’re going to want every drop in this cool summer soup. It’s essential for creating a rich, creamy, and balanced gazpacho.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Best Gazpacho Recipe Tips
- Good tomatoes are gold. This gazpacho recipe calls for a whole lotta tomatoes: 2 1/2 pounds! Fresh tomato juice makes up the body of the soup, so the quality of your tomatoes will really affect the final dish. If you can, look for local tomatoes at your farmers market. But no matter what, make this recipe in summer, when any tomato is sweeter and juicier than it would be at other times of year.
- Work in batches if necessary. This recipe makes a lot of soup, so you might need to work in batches depending on the size of your blender or food processor. Of course, you could also halve the recipe, but I like having leftovers in the fridge. The soup becomes more complex and flavorful the longer it chills, so it tastes even better on days 2 and 3!
- Chill the soup for at least 2 hours before you eat. It might be tempting to cut the chilling time short, but trust me, the wait is worth it! After the flavors meld and develop in the fridge, the soup becomes more balanced, complex, and refreshing.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this gazpacho recipe two ways: in a glass or in a bowl. Drink it for a light lunch or appetizer, or load up your bowl with toppings to make it a meal on its own! I like to garnish my bowl with diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, and a drizzle of olive oil. Roasted chickpeas, croutons, chopped hard boiled eggs, and avocado would be delicious toppings too.
Round out the meal with good crusty bread or socca. For a heartier meal, serve this easy gazpacho with grilled vegetables and romesco sauce, your favorite protein, or a veggie frittata. Enjoy!
More Favorite Tomato Recipes
If you love this gazpacho recipe, try one of these summer tomato recipes next:
- Pico de Gallo
- Homemade Salsa
- Classic Caprese Salad
- Panzanella
- Greek Salad
- Cherry Tomato Couscous Salad
- Tomato Soup
- Or any of these 50 Fresh Tomato Recipes!
Gazpacho
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber
- 2½ pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 2 fresno chiles, or ½ red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded
- ¼ small red onion, rinsed
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1¼ teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cherry tomatoes, for garnish
- Fresh herbs, for garnish
Instructions
- Finely chop ¼ of the cucumber and reserve for garnish.
- Peel the remaining cucumber, cut into chunks, and transfer to a blender. Add the tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. Season to taste and chill for at least 2 hours.
- Serve the soup garnished with the reserved diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, drizzles of olive oil, and freshly ground black pepper.
I had to try this recipe a few months ago. It is now in my weekly rotation! I did a shortcut, though. Along with the other ingredients listed, I omitted fresh garlic and instead used garlic powder. Also I added some red salsa from my favorite Mexican restaurant. It is Perfect for me, and so bright, refreshing and delicious!
Hi Brenda, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the gazpacho! Thanks for sharing your variation.
For a very different taste, include honeydew melon chunks and don’t blend, leaving it chunky like a salsa. The sweet melon contrasts with the spicy pepper. My family finds it delightful.
Do you remove the skin from the tomatoes?
Hi Marlene – I don’t.
I made this and it separated, curdled. What would cause this?
This was my first experience with gazpacho, making it or eating it. We really like it! Just so fresh. That being said, my cilantro has bolted so I cut some oregano,, and it is quite tasty. (Of course, I have no basis for comparison.) I think the hot pepper addition would be very good; we had red bell pepper. Thanks for a great summer recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is a great recipe for Gazpacho. My other recipe did not call for Olive oil so that was a surprise. It really changed it up. My kids noticed right away and like it. I added a whole large bell pepper and 1 jalapeño.
Hi Leslie, I’m so glad it was a hit! I think olive oil is pretty essential in gazpacho 🙂
I made this soup today for my family. We all loved it.
Love all your recipes ?
This is the first time I’ve ever had, and made Gazpacho. This was honestly amazing and pretty simple to make! I owe t one for this recipe! Now it’s heating up to be another hot summer in New Mexico this will be perfect!
I’m so glad you loved it! This recipe is SO great for hot summer days. 🙂
Sweater weather is happing up north but here in Florida it’s still warm and this soup is so refreshing. It’s so easy to prepare and absolutely delish!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Do you happen to know the nutrition information including calories etc.?
This was an amazing recipe that brought me back to my study abroad days in Barcelona. This was the perfect recipe to use up my bounty of tomatoes and cucumbers. I left out the cilantro but that was the only substitution I made. Great, easy recipe.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Fantastic and easy. We made some substitutions. Used a t of dried Cilantro, a mixture of olive oils including Shallot and garlic and plain and ancho chili powder because we don’t like black pepper. It is great!
I’m so glad it was a hit!
I love this recipe. I switch out the cilantro for dill, because I use this as a ‘Bloody Mary’ mix. So delicious
That sounds delicious!
Perfection!
I followed the recipe except I omitted the cilantro and added some basil instead just due to preference. I split into two batches in order to process it in my Vitamix. It came out super creamy—almost foam-like but in the best way possible. 10/10!
This sounds perfect for the heat wave that we have been having. I certainly don’t feel like cooking. Your gazpacho looks great.
I just made it for the exact same reason. It is HOT here in Virginia Beach..
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
So good!
I want to make this as a small appetizer in cocktail glasses. The recipe says: 4-6 servings. Is this 4-6 large bowls?
Hi Miriam, 4 large bowls or 6 medium ones. In cocktail glasses, it’ll make more servings than that.
Very Cool idea!
This is quite simply the best gazpacho ever. Tastes just like the actual stuff I was hooked on in Spain recently. I taste tested many different makes. I have just made two batches using Sherry vinegar and experimenting with using less garlic. This recipe is so good. Just watch the garlic content, easy to overdo it. I’d add less than more. I will start to batch make and freeze! I sieved it as I don’t like particles. Am planning to gift bottles of this stuff. It’s so healthy.
Thank you! Ps I left out the cilantro.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Fully agree on the garlic. I regret using raw garlic. Very easy to overdo it. Probably overdid the cilantro, too.
Our first attempt ended up tasting like blended salsa, and a bit harsh due to too much garlic. Might make it again, but with this in mind. Thanks for the recipe.
I have never made gazpacho before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it came out amazing! I can’t wait to to serve it tomorrow as part of my meal! Thank you for the great recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Looks delicious and different from the one I usually make (Ina Garten’s Greek gazpacho). Can you freeze this?
I use a 4-serving mold of 1 cup Souper Cubes, then pop out when frozen, wrap in saran, and then 4 cubes in a freezer safe ziplock. Works great! Making it again tomorrow! I also “garnish” with ingredients to make it a full meal, like shrimp, sometimes a bit of leftover rice, sliced avocado, even a bit of roasted asparagus or whatever veg I need to use up. It’s not traditional, but it’s yummy! I use the gazpacho as my base.