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.
This soup was so refreshing. Perfect for a hot summer day! Is there a special brand of olive oil you use when you make it?
Made this tonight, along with the Farro Stuffed Zucchini in “Love & Lemons Simple Feel Good Food.” My parents declared it “a restaurant quality meal” and my 3-year-old was delighted to have soup in the summer. I loved how easy it was to make and that it could be made ahead.
Hi Taija, aww I’m so glad the meal was a hit!
Took this to a picnic in the park, super easy and delicious!
That sounds lovely, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
What an easy and delicious summer recipe! I used fresh veggies from my garden, added a little jalapeno for some spice and had lunch ready in a flash! So tasty and refreshing!
Hi Adrienne, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Made this today. It was amazing. I don’t usually like Gazpacho much. But this recipe is filled with flavor!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Refreshing on this hot and humid night. Got most of the ingredients in my CSA share last week.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious! Very easy to make and everyone commented that it was the best gazpacho recipe they’ve ever had. I made it on Saturday to serve Sunday. It was great Sunday and just as great on Monday as leftovers.
Hi Alissa, I’m so glad it was a hit!
This was so perfect for the heat wave that we’ve been having. I was able to quickly blend the ingredients together mid-afternoon and the flavors married perfectly by the time we ate dinner later in the evening. I used basil in place of cilantro and a jalapeno. Yum!
Hi Lindsay, I’m so glad you loved it!
This was such a simple and flavorful dish! I’ll definitely be making it again.
I’m so happy to hear!
Gazpacho – Refreshing, easy and delicious. We will be making it again.
I am not a big gazpacho fan, but the tomatoes at our local farm stand were so big and red and juicy and delicious that I had to buy a bunch of them. Then I saw your Easy Gazpacho recipe in my inbox and figured I had to give it a try. My husband and I both loved it, and it was perfect for a 98 degree summer day! And it was very easy (other than the fact that I had to make it in two batches in my blender because it wouldn’t hold everything all at once). This will be a summer staple!
Couldn’t be easier or more refreshing! The cucumber I had was a little mushy so I ended up using some pickles instead, which added a really nice, briny sweetness!
So cool and refreshing. The addition of cilantro takes it more to a Mexican flavor profile. Always nice to try something new.
Such an easy and delicious lunch/dinner after a scorching hot day in the sun. Still a lot of summer left here in Texas so I’ll be making this often.
Delicious! Made the soup as written. I used red bell pepper instead of chilis. Will try chilis in next batch.
My husband and I loved it!….and it was even better the next day.
It’s 110 degrees here today…we’ll be having gazpacho. 🙂
Yum! Mine didn’t turn out at pretty as yours, but was still yummy!
So good, fresh, and easy!
So easy and quick to make!? Perfect dinner tonight on this hot, hot summer evening. Added crusty French bread on the side. Delicious! It’s a keeper recipe.
Needed to use up some tomatoes so tried this. Delicious. I didn’t have cilantro but it was still good. Will be on rotation For the summer, thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it, Jeanne!
Delicious and my skeptical BF loved it!! Great with a baguette- and so easy to make!
Hi Pamela, I’m happy to hear!