On a hot summer day there is nothing better than a bowl refreshing gazpacho, the famous Spanish chilled tomato soup. Gather up ripe summer tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and a few other ingredients, chop and puree. No cooking involved.
Refreshing Gazpacho Soup
Have you tried gazpacho? All I can say is it's fantastic. Refreshing and healthy, it’s perfect for hot weather and an excellent use for ripe summer tomatoes. Leave it chunky or puree it smooth. It's up to you. I like it smoothed out just a little. Garnish California style with sliced avocado if desired.
Most recipes use bread to thicken gazpacho. Use either gluten-free bread or almond meal for a no-grain gazpacho recipe.
Gazpacho Ingredients
Use the best tomatoes you can find. When you cut your tomatoes and core them, squeeze out some of the seeds. This will give you a thicker soup. Many gazpacho recipes use canned tomato juice but it's very high in sodium. To reduce the sodium, I use no-salt-added organic tomato sauce and broth (no salt).
- Ripe summer tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Lemon and lime
- Herbs
- Red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- Red onion
- Broth (chicken or vegetable)
- Tomato sauce
- Breadcrumbs (GF or â…“ cup almond meal)
- Herbs (parsley, oregano, chives)
- Sea salt and pepper
- Options - molasses for sweetness and a little chipotle for kick
How to Make Gazpacho
Chop tomatoes, squeeze out the extra seeds, and chop the cucumbers. While the ingredient list is a bit long, not to worry.
Once all of the ingredients are mixed, puree the gazpacho in a blender or food processor to the texture you prefer. Puree it all for a smoother soup or puree half and mix with the chunkier part for more texture. Chill for a few hours before serving. Garnish ideas are in the gazpacho recipe at the end.
How to Serve Gazpacho
- By the bowl for lunch, a light meal or a snack
- Pair it with grilled chicken or shrimp for dinner
- Team it up with a quesadilla
- Pour it into shot glasses and serve as gazpacho appetizer shooters
Gazpacho can be enjoyed many ways. Make it once and enjoy several ways. Add cooked shrimp or hard boiled eggs for a little protein. Try it with avocado slices as garnish. A batch keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Gazpacho Nutrition
Packed with vegetables (tomatoes are technically a fruit), gazpacho is truly summer in a bowl. Summer tomatoes are a great source of vitamins A, B2, C, and K, important minerals and an excellent source of phytonutrients like beta carotene and lycopene which gives tomatoes their red color.
Lycopene is thought to help prevent heart disease as well as promote bone and eye health. It has been shown to reduce the risk for many cancers. All from pretty, tasty tomatoes. For more reading on the health benefits of tomatoes, read this great article from LiveScience.
Special Dietary Notes and Swaps
- Skip the breadcrumbs to keep it grain-free
- For GF I use homemade gluten-free toasted breadcrumbs. Here is how to make them
- For vegan - Skip the egg to keep the soup vegan and thicken with either almond meal or GF vegan breadcrumbs (homemade is best), and use vegetable broth.
- For grain-free, use almond meal or skip thickening
- For paleo, skip the breadcrumbs, start with the hard boiled egg, add almond meal if desired.
If the soup shooter idea looks fun (and it is), try these asparagus soup shooters too. They are terrific chilled.
Refreshing Summer Gazpacho
Equipment
- Blender, food processor or stick blender
Ingredients
Tomato Gazpacho Soup
- 1 hard boiled egg peeled and chopped (skip for vegan)
- 2 ½-3 pounds ripe tomatoes
- 3 small Persian cucumbers or 1 large English seedless cucumber
- 2 large garlic cloves chopped fine
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 lime juiced
- 6 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
- 24 ounces low sodium chicken or vegetable broth 3 cups, preferably homemade
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- ¾ cup plain gluten-free breadcrumbs or â…“ cup almond meal
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
- 2 tablespoons molasses optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle powder optional
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Optional Garnishes
- Avocado slices
- Lime wedges
- Cucumber slices
- Chopped cilantro
- Cooked shrimp
Instructions
- To prep tomatoes, cut them lengthwise into quarters and cut out the seedy centers, then chop. Do the same with the cucumbers.
- Place tomatoes and cucumber in a blender or food processor and add add garlic, red onion, olive oil, citrus juices, vinegar, broth, tomato sauce, breadcrumbs, herbs and molasses. Add the hard-boiled egg, and chipotle powder if you like a little heat. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.
- Puree soup in a blender (see notes below) for about 1 minute to smooth it out. You may need to do it in two batches. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight for flavors to blend.
- Note - For a chunkier soup, pulse, don’t blend, until you reach your preferred consistency, or puree half and leave half chunky to stir together. Soup will keep 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Make a batch Sunday and enjoy all week.
Gloria Valenzuela says
Hello Sally, made your Gazpacho Soup recipe today, loved your version, it was delicioso!! Having company over tomorrow to wish our niece’s daughter good luck as she is going off to college next week. A perfect soup for these sweltering summer days!! Ed’s cousin grew tomatoes this summer and I used his super-sweet tomatoes for this recipe. Abrazos Hasta El Cielo, Gloria Valenzuela
Sent from my iPhone
Sally Cameron says
Thanks Gloria! Yes, it really is good in the heat of summer. I bet it was extra good with home grown tomatoes. Abrazos back!
Theresa says
Hi! I have to make gazpacho for a project in Spanish class. We have to make about 30 small servings (about 4 ounces). How many times should I multiple the ingredients to make it to 30? Thank you!
Sally Cameron says
Hi Theresa, wow your fellow students are in for a tasty and healthy treat! You will have plenty if you double the recipe. If you feel safer with extra, go 2 1/2 x. And with leftover, people can have another helping or you can enjoy it at home for a few days. I'd love to hear how it goes! Please report back. 😉
Patti Williams says
Just wondering if anyone knows if gazpacho still safe to eat after I accidentally left out over night in jar.. was still cool to touch..
Sally Cameron says
Oh Patti, I hate it when I do things like that. From a food safety perspective, the unfortunate answer is no. After two hours foods must be refrigerated. Here is a good link to keep on hand about what is called "the temperature danger zone". Interestingly enough, they still have 140°F as the top temp but it was revised years ago down to 135°F. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/danger-zone-40-f-140-f/ct_index
Nancy says
Sally,
I just wanted to tell you, I ran across this recipe in 2012, and printed it, and drink it EVERY DAY because I love it so much!!! It's fabulous! I have to tweak your recipe a bit because I'm diabetic and try to keep my carbs low, so I omit the breadcrumbs and molasses, and add 1/4 c. of hot sauce for a bit of a bite! And I up the hard boiled eggs to 6 to up the protein since it's my complete meal. 🙂 I was wondering if you have the nutrition information on this recipe? (calories, carbs, protein, etc.) I realize my version would be slightly different than yours, but was wondering nevertheless.
Thanks for an awesome recipe!!
Sally Cameron says
Wow, Nancy, amazing! Thanks for telling me! Nice changes to fit your personal needs. On the nutrition info, you can run a report yourself with one of the online nutrition calculators to give you an idea. Type 'recipe calculator' into a search engine and you will see a variety of options. Hope that helps.
Paul says
Interesting post and recipe. I've had gazpacho on the mind as a starter for a rosé tasting party. A nice little add for a really lush gazpacho is to really puree the soup then at end pour in couple Tbsp of good fruity EVO and blend a little longer. Makes for a silky luxurious soup. I also think in Spain they use almonds sometimes as alternate to bread to add some underlying body. I think I will be using your recipe with maybe a tweak or two. Thanks!
Sally Cameron says
Hi Paul. Sounds like a fun party. Rose is so refreshing in the hot summer. I use EVOO at the start of the recipe and it does give it a nice richness, but do what works for you. Yes, in Spain they sometimes use almonds. They also do white gazpachos. All good! One of these days I will get to Spain and really taste the real thing. Happy cooking!
Denise says
This is fabulous gazpacho! Amazing recipe! Thank you!
jules says
I was caught by your delicious photo on tastespotting and recognized the little skewers (I helped you at SLT in Newport)...what a fabulous post and beautiful site. Can't wait to browse more and try some of your goods.
Sally Vargas says
I am right in the middle of making gazpacho as I write this! I will have to try your version, Sally, since it is slightly different and I get tired of my same ol' recipe after I revisit it once in tomato season. Could eat gazpacho every day!
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Mmm, that looks delicious! I actually haven't tried gazpacho yet but I can't wait to!! I'm waiting for the produce in my garden to be ready.
Lisa Foto says
I just finished making the soup and it is amazing. I don't have the tajin seasoning but I ordered some from amazon.com like you recommended so I'll have it for next time. I tossed the shrimp in some lime zest so that will have to do for this go round but it tastes wonderful already. Can't wait to serve it to my family tonight with our dinner. I used my stick immersion blender too instead of dragging out the food processor and it blended up great. Less dishes to wash is always a plus. I'm so excited to have found your blog and website. This is right up my alley! Thanks to Anne Krumm, I found you!
Sally says
That's great lisa! I love to hear what people do and if recipes are a success. You will love the Tajin when it comes. Thanks so much for commenting! The immersion blender is an excellent idea. I often forget about them and will update the directions.
Maggie @ Loaded Kitchen says
As usual, Sally, everything you put out there sounds simply amazing.
I tried gazpacho once, in Spain, during my "picky-eater" days and didn't like it. This recipe may have just changed my mind. Since it's supposed to be 100Ëš here this weekend, I think I've got dinner settled!
Michelle K says
Beautiful! Yes, cold soup does sound good and is something I rarely think to make or have much experience with. Love the shot glasses, cute!
Question on the ingredients being I am a novice at cooking... I love that you are specific with them, but wondering since I am growing fresh vegetables this time of year, would it matter if I use other tomatoes? (beef steak for one, the rest not sure, just know they are not Roma's and I do wonder if they might be jucier?) For the cucumbers we are growing Japanese cucumbers - could I use those, what will change from not using Persian? THANK YOU!!!
Sally says
If you have beautiful home grown tomatoes, absolutely use them! I'm sure the flavors of your home grown will shine. And yes on the cucumbers too! Roma tomatoes tend to be meatier which is why I like them and don't have room to grow my own. You can play with the recipe Michelle. Taste it as you go and if you need to add more tomatoes or cucumbers, do. Next time I make it I will measure quantities and revise the recipe. That should help everyone.
Cute little shot glasses from Sur La Table.