This watermelon gazpacho recipe SO refreshing on hot summer days! The watermelon's subtle sweetness perfectly balances this cool, savory soup.
This watermelon gazpacho recipe is the perfect dish for hot summer days. In the past few weeks, I’ve gone from hot Austin to hot New York to hot Chicago. Now that I’m visiting my parents in Chicago’s west suburbs, I’m making this recipe as much as I can. I can’t think of anything as refreshing and hydrating as watermelon, so this cold soup really hits the spot. If it’s warm where you are, try it ASAP!
And just a heads up, this recipe makes a lot of watermelon gazpacho. It gets better as it chills, so I love to keep it in the fridge for quick lunches all week.
How to Make Watermelon Gazpacho
I always thought watermelon gazpacho seemed like an odd concept, but here’s the thing – when everything is mixed together, the soup doesn’t actually taste like watermelon. Tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, scallions, and herbs make it tangy and savory. Instead of making the soup sweet, the watermelon nicely balances these flavors. The final dish is rich, tangy, and complex – not too sweet at all.
When I make this recipe, I also add half a jalapeño for spice, but you can leave that out if you’re not into spicy things.
To make this recipe, combine all the cubed watermelon and half the tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, and green onion in a blender. Finely dice the remaining veggies and set them aside.
To the blender, add the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and jalapeño, if using. Puree the soup until it’s completely smooth. Then, transfer it to a large bowl or individual jars and stir in the reserved veggies. Chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight, to allow the flavors to develop. Enjoy!
Watermelon Gazpacho Serving Suggestions
When you’re ready to eat, top the chilled soup with garnishes. I love to add extra chopped veggies, avocado, and microgreens. A dollop of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, minced basil or parsley, or a sprinkle of hemp seeds would also be delicious.
Enjoy the watermelon gazpacho on its own with good crusty bread, or pair it with a salad or sandwich for a larger meal. It would be fantastic with any of these recipes:
- Caprese Sandwich
- Chickpea Salad Sandwich
- Avocado Toast
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Cherry Tomato Couscous Salad
- Easy Pasta Salad
If I’m not in the mood for a sandwich or a salad, I often serve this soup with labneh, hummus, tzatziki, or baba ganoush and homemade pita for dipping.
More Favorite Cold Soups
If you love this watermelon gazpacho recipe, try one of these chilled soup recipes next:
And if you love watermelon, try making my Watermelon Salad with Feta and Lime Juice, Watermelon Tomato Salad, or Watermelon Margaritas next!
Watermelon Gazpacho
- 4 heaping cups cubed seedless watermelon
- 1 English cucumber, diced, reserve half
- 3 medium tomatoes, diced, reserve half
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced, reserve half
- â…“ cup chopped green onions, diced, reserve half
- 1 garlic clove
- small handful basil
- 3 to 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ jalapeño pepper, optional
- diced avocado, optional
- micro greens, optional for garnish
- Set aside the reserved half of the chopped cucumber, tomatoes, red pepper and green onions and place the remaining half in a blender. Add the watermelon, garlic, basil, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and jalapeño pepper, if using. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Pour into a large bowl (or small individual jars, as pictured) and stir in the reserved chopped vegetables.
- Chill for 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
- Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with diced avocado and/or micro greens, if desired, before serving.
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I’m curious what the serving size is on this recipe?
I am wanting to substitute lime juice for the vinegar on this recipe. Has anyone tried this? Thank you!
Hi Elisa, I haven’t tried it but that sounds great to me.
Made this for dinner because it was hot and wife didn’t feel like cooking after working in the garden. I left out the garlic and jalapeno. Soup turned out fantastic. Thanks for this easy to make, great tasting recipe!
I made it for today’s dinner, and everyone in my family enjoyed the Watermelon Gazpacho. All veggies, except the watermelon, came from my garden, making the Gazpacho light and healthy. I am always looking for some easy summer cookless ideas, and this recipe did it for me. From now on, it’s going to be in my summer repertoire. Thank you for this excellent, easy, tasty, and well-balanced recipe.
Hi Galina, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was a huge hit for the baby shower I threw for my daughter in law. I did 5 different kinds of sandwiches, this Gazpacho and a caprese salad. Thank you so much for sharing and now I’m going to try your other recipes.
Hi Miriam, I’m so glad it was a hit! I hope you enjoy the recipes!
Amazingly delicious & healthy! Question – can I freeze some of this gazpacho? Plastic baggies?
Hi Pamela, I haven’t tried freezing it so I’m not sure how it’ll turn out. I like to freeze soups in my food storage containers (I use rubbermaid glass ones).
I loved the taste, but mine came out too soupy. Not enough structure. I did seed the cucumber, and the tomato. Not sure why – any thoughts? Tia…
Hi Val, water content in fruit can vary, I’d suggest adding maybe more of the chunky garnishes? Or maybe blending a little bit less?
I add a chunk of baguette before pureeing
This is the best! I have made it several times already. I made it a couple of days ago for a large gathering, but now when I want to serve it, the weather got way too cold. I don’t know what to do. I think I’m going to try to freeze it even though I doubt it will be as good when it defrosts.
aw, well I’m glad you enjoyed it on a hot day!
This is a fantastic recipe I’ve made it twice in 2 weeks a real hit I include everything including the jalapeno it just gives it that bit of bite although I only use a small amount of jalapeno. The only thing I really wish is to know how many calories each serving is?
I can’t even tell you how much I love this recipe!! I added a few fresh herbs from my garden but otherwise followed the recipe minus the jalapeño. I took a sample to our neighbors at the lake and she had never heard of such a thing and just raved about it. It seemed to me the Red Wine Vinegar was the key ingredient. It did cross my mind to add some fresh mint but didn’t do it – maybe I’ll experiment next time! Thank you for the refreshing lunch on our deck! I added it to my “guest menu ideas” on Paprika.
This soup was so refreshing! Just perfect for a hot summer evening.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was really fantastic! I did not put in the jalapeño and added a little lump crab for protein. So, so, so good!
It’s now late summer here in South Africa and I am making it every couple of weeks until there is no more watermelon! That will be a sad day. Absolutely love this refreshing and spicy gazpacho…can’t imagine going back to the original Spanish recipe!
Hi Cheryl, I’m so glad you’ve been loving it!
Love this recipe! It’s perfect for a refreshing summer meal. Thank you!
Really great recipe. Flavors melded right away and my family ate half even before it was refrigerated.
FIVE STARS. I have made this gazpacho three times in the last two weeks, not even kidding. I am completely obsessed – it is so delicious! Perfect for hot summer nights. Thank you for posting!
Ha, well that’s quite the endorsement! I’m so glad you’ve loved it so much!
Are there a couple entrees you would recommend to go along with this?
Hi Annie,
I’d pair it with a big meal-type salad like one of these:
https://www.loveandlemons.com/chickpea-salad-recipe/
https://www.loveandlemons.com/pasta-salad/
or anything that uses summer produce like the summery toppings on these pizzas: https://www.loveandlemons.com/homemade-pizza/
or these zucchini boats: https://www.loveandlemons.com/stuffed-zucchini-boats/
the spicy green harissa filling in this grilled cheese would go nicely with the cool watermelon: https://www.loveandlemons.com/stuffed-zucchini-boats/
hope that helps!
Aw you are so sweet, thank you so much! I appreciate it! Can’t wait to try – and your website is so pretty!
Thank you, I hope you enjoy the recipes!
I pasted the wrong link for that last one: https://www.loveandlemons.com/grilled-cheese/
We got our hands on some beautiful Italian tomatoes and made this recipe this afternoon. We followed the recipe but added an extra clove of garlic. We chose to blend all the veg as we prefer a smooth soup. So yummy! This is my new go-to for gazpacho.
Hi Amy, I’m so glad you loved it!
Made this for my wife and friends on Sunday and it was a hit. The longer the blend, the better and I doubled the jalapeño for some more heat. Delicious!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
Delicious!! I used less tomatoes because I was low on them and a whole jalapeño because I have many.
How far in advance can you make this gazpacho? If you do make it in advance do you add all of the reserved vegetables before refrigerating or do you wait to add those until day of serving?
Hi Cait, it’ll last about 2 to 3 days in the fridge. I’d keep the avocado and microgreens separate, the rest can be added either when you make the soup or when you serve it – up to you! I hope you enjoy.
Thanks Jeanine. Any chance you can freeze this? Or does it separate if you do that? Thank you!!
We’ve got a party for a huge crowd on Wednesday (4 days from now) of this week and we’re trying to make as much in advance as possible!
I wouldn’t freeze it – I would just make it 2 days in advance and let it sit in the fridge. I hope you have a wonderful gathering!