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.
Ooh! So exciting to make this at delicious cold soup at home. Always love ordering Gazpacho at restaurants and it never occurred to me to make it from scratch. Serving it in a glass feels extra fancy, haha!
Unbelievably good and unbelievably easy gazpacho recipe. I kept it for several days in carafes in the refrigerator and enjoyed it for snacks and lunches. Just so good – can’t wait to make it again.
Hi Janet, I’m so glad you loved the gazpacho!
Gazpacho is one of my favorites and I absolutely love this! My garden is tomato crazy this year (well I did plant 30 plants!) so gazpacho will be on the menu a LOT!
Hi Abbie, I’m having serious garden envy! So glad you love the gazpacho recipe. 🙂
Although we rarely have farm fresh tomatoes in Texas, this gazpacho was delicious! I even took the risk and made the socca. It added a great flavor element and so appreciate learning about their versatility !
Hi Patty, I’m so glad you loved the gazpacho and the socca!
We have fresh tomatoes out of our garden and found this recipe! I’ve never made or eaten Gazpacho but ill be making this all summer. This soup is sooo flavorful and super simple to make. Also made some fresh sourdough croutons for a fantastic topper and crunch!!!
Hi Beth, I’m so glad you loved the recipe! The sourdough croutons would be so delicious on top!
So, so good!
So glad you loved it, Sylvia!
Such an incredible EASY & FRESH dish to prepare! Plus all the nutritious ingredients are not cooked so full of enzymes and fresh flavours! Keeps in fridge for a quick cuppa when your need a quick lunch.
Ps: subsidizing some fruit (watermelon, or mango or peaches or strawberries) adds a unique fruity flavour to this super easy dish. Great way to use up tomstoes when they’re in season & overflowing from your garden. Enjoy!
Hi Ann, so glad you loved the gazpacho!
Wow! This soup blew mind. It is so flavorful. Will be my new summer go to!!! I added radishes which was delicious.
Hi Sarah, I’m so glad you loved the gazpacho!
I love the way my body feels when I eat fresh vegetables. This soup really hits the spot on a hot Summer’s day. I made it to share with my parents, who are in their 80s. We all want to live long healthy lives. Thanks loveandlemons!
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you loved the gazpacho!
This is a delightful recipe for a day when it is too hot for the oven and the farmers market tomatoes are calling! Will definitely be making this again!
So glad you loved it, Hannah!
I have been making this gazpacho recipe several times per week now this summer and it is so easy to make and absolutely delicious. We serve it with fresh bread rolls and it’s a win.
Hi Tanja, I’m so glad you’ve been loving it!
I have been making the same gazpacho recipe for 20+ years and decided to try something new. Having used a few of your recipes before, I trusted you… and I was not disappointed. This was EXCELLENT! Your recipe is less labor intensive, is healthier and is so tasty. I highly recommend this recipe for gazpacho lovers or for anyone who just wants a great gazpacho. TY!
Hi Stacey, awww so glad you loved it!
This is so easy and absolutely delicious! I didn’t have a fresno chili, so I used half of a red bell pepper as suggested by the recipe. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written. If you like gazpacho, make this. You won’t be disappointed!
Hi Sarah, I’m so glad you loved the gazpacho!
This is so simple and beautiful. Can’t wait to make it!
Can you freeze this for later use?
Just made this and impatiently awaiting it to chill in the fridge. I did taste it and wow! It’s amazing! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I will be making it again! ♥
I hope you enjoy it!
I made this recipe with a slight modification and turned out amazing. I skipped the cilantro and used balsamic vinegar instead. It gives nice tang, but also some sweetness from the grapes used to make the balsamic. I also used half of a rehydrated ancho chili and it gives it a slight bit of smokiness too. If it tastes this good immediately made, I can’t wait to let it sit for a day or two to marinate.
That sounds so good, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Yummy! My cousins and my family had a Spanish night (fish in a red, tomatoey sauce, vegetable paella, tortilla de patat, and gazpacho. They loved the gazpacho and asked for the recipe. The olive oil is essential!
I’m glad everyone loved it!
It tastes so good! Did one Fresno (large) 1/2 red bell pepper
Hi Janice, so glad you loved it!
I just went to my ww app. If I only assign points for the olive oil each serving, based on 6 servings would be approx 6 points and based on 4 servings 81/2 points. That’s too much for me to stay trim….no thank you….I’ll try your recipe with max 1/4 cup olive oil…,.thanks for sharing though….I’m sure it will be very satisfying while being mindful of my weight management goals.
You should try the watermelon gazpacho. Delicious. 3 tablespoons olive oil in the recipe.
Why not replace as much as the oil as you to with water? And just drizzle with 1 tsp?