Classic Spanish Gazpacho is the perfect summer soup – chilled, savory, and full of rich, robust, garden-fresh goodness. (And no cooking!)
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Why You Will Love this Recipe
This classic garden-fresh gazpacho is a surprisingly rich and savory no-cook, chilled soup; with slightly sweet undertones and more body than you might expect from something made up almost entirely of raw, blended vegetables, spices, and fresh herbs.
Like the perfect BLT, gazpacho is a late-summer luxury. The best time (read: only time) to make traditional tomato-based gazpacho is in the waning months of summer, when gardens and farmers' markets are overflowing with warm, fat, vine-ripened tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.
If you are hoping to make something fresh and delicious with an armful of sweet tomatoes warm from your garden or farmers' market, then this is the gazpacho recipe you're looking for!
What Goes into this Recipe
The image below shows a single day's harvest from our small summer garden. Thanks almost entirely to Mr B's dedicated gardening skills, we are flush with a wide variety of tomatoes, cukes, and peppers! Perfect for making a big batch of gazpacho!
DO NOT make this soup with hot house tomatoes. They simply do not have the depth of flavor or sugar content to make the effort (however small) worthwhile.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
For this recipe, ingredients include:
- Vine-ripened tomatoes: In Spain, Roma tomatoes are the first choice for making gazpacho, but you can use any ripe summer tomato with good results.
- Cucumbers: In the US, English cucumbers are your best bet. Peel and seed the cucumber before using.
- Bell peppers: Use whatever color peppers you have on hand.
- Jalapeños: Take care when you dice these up. Remove the seeds for a milder soup; leave the seeds in for a little heat.
- Onions: Since this onion in this soup is never cooked, a sweet onion is the best choice. We prefer to use a yellow sweet onion if possible.
- Fresh basil: Use fresh basil for gazpacho; never dried.
- Garlic: Four garlic cloves really is enough. I know you want to add more, but don't: it will overpower the flavor of all those fresh tomatoes.
- Lime: Remember to zest the lime before you squeeze it!
- Olive Oil: Use your favorite olive oil.
- Bread: Traditionally, bread is blended into the soup at this point to thicken it slightly and give it body, although this is optional. For the best results, use a soft baguette or leftover white bread. Crusty breads will not blend in as well. Remove the crusts before using.
Additional pantry ingredients: Sugar, salt, sriracha, chili powder, cumin, oregano, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.
TIP: We recently started subbing in a teaspoon of our Spicy Dry Rub for the chili powder. Totally awesome - highly recommend it!!
How to Make this Recipe
In a large mixing bowl, combine Tomato Mix 1 ingredients: diced tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, jalapeno, onion, basil, garlic, salt, cumin, oregano, Sriracha, and pepper.
Toss Tomato Mix 1 thoroughly to combine.
In a countertop blender, combine Mix 2 ingredients: Rough chopped tomatoes, olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, balsamic, and Worcestershire sauce.
Puree Mix 2 until smooth.
Pour Mix 2 into bowl with Mix 1 and stir to combine.
Using an immersion blender, puree the two mixtures together until it reaches the desired consistency. If you like your gazpacho very chunky, you don't need to do this step.
Soak the slices of bread in the blended mixture for about 5 minutes, and then use the immersion blender to break it up and blend it in a bit. (Optional)
Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.
Serve cold. Garnish with additional diced veggies, avocado, and/or sour cream.
Blender Note: We prefer using an immersion-blender for the last steps because it allows for better control of the final product. However, if you don't own an immersion blender, you can complete the last step using a countertop blender. In this case, puree about half the total mixture in the blender and then remix everything together.
Expert Tips & FAQs
You do not need to peel tomatoes for gazpacho. You should core them to remove any hard white core, but leaving the peel on is fine. Nevertheless, from year to year, our garden tomatoes occasionally have rather thick skins. In that case, we do think it's a good idea to peel them.
Acidity levels vary wildly when it comes to tomatoes. If you feel as though the soup is a little too acidic, you can counteract this by adding a pinch of baking soda.
Serve gazpacho with crusty rustic bread and a panzanella salad or a slice of quiche for and easy summer meal.
Yes, they are! Marigolds have a slight citrus flavor, and can range from spicy to bitter, tangy to peppery, making them perfect for summer salads and savory dishes. They make a great garnish for gazpacho, too!
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Garden Fresh Gazpacho
Equipment
- 1 Stand Blender
Ingredients
Tomato Mix 1
- 4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes peeled & diced ¼"
- 1 pounds cucumbers peeled, seeded & diced ¼"
- ½ pounds red orange, yellow or green bell peppers, seeded & diced
- 1-2 whole jalapeno peppers seeded and diced ⅛"
- ½ pounds onion diced ¼"
- 15-20 large fresh basil leaves chiffonade
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1-3 teaspoons Sriracha or other hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder optional
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Tomato Mix 2
- 1 lb tomatoes roughly chopped (or cherry tomatoes)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 lime juice & zest
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Optional
- 2 slices leftover white bread crusts removed
- thinned sour cream or crème fraîche
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine Tomato Mix 1 ingredients: diced tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, jalapeño, onion, basil, garlic, salt, brown sugar, cumin, oregano, Sriracha, and pepper. Toss Tomato Mix 1 thoroughly to combine.
- In a blender jar, combine Mix 2 ingredients: Rough chopped tomatoes, olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, balsamic, and Worcestershire sauce. Puree Mix 2 until smooth.
- Pour Mix 2 into bowl with Mix 1 and stir to combine.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the two mixtures together until it reaches the desired consistency. If you like your gazpacho very chunky, you don't need to do this step. (See Blender Note below)
- OPTIONAL: Traditionally, bread is blended into the soup at this point to thicken it slightly and give it body. For the best results, use a soft baguette or white sandwich bread. Crusty breads will not blend in as well. Soak the slices of bread in the blended mixture for about 5 minutes, and then use the immersion blender to break it up and blend it in a bit.
- Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.
- Serve cold. Garnish with additional diced veggies, avocado, and/or sour cream.
Notes
Nutrition
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Brittany says
Oh yum! I've always wanted to try my hand at making this. It always seemed so hard but now I have to try this one!