Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (2024)

Beat the heat with this easy gazpacho recipe! Made with summer veggies, vinegar, and olive oil, this cool soup is rich, tangy, and refreshing.

summer / soupsJump to recipe

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (1)

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (2)

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.

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (3)

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.

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (4)

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.

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (5)

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!

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (6)

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!

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (7)

Gazpacho

rate this recipe:

4.97 from 155 votes

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 2 hours hrs

Total Time: 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Serves 4 to 6

Save RecipePrint Recipe

This gazpacho recipe is super easy to make - just blend and chill! Cold, complex, and refreshing, it's perfect for a hot summer day.

Ingredients

  • 1 English cucumber
  • 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
  • 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.

Easy Gazpacho - Love and Lemons (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Cheryll Lueilwitz

Last Updated:

Views: 6413

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (74 voted)

Reviews: 81% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Cheryll Lueilwitz

Birthday: 1997-12-23

Address: 4653 O'Kon Hill, Lake Juanstad, AR 65469

Phone: +494124489301

Job: Marketing Representative

Hobby: Reading, Ice skating, Foraging, BASE jumping, Hiking, Skateboarding, Kayaking

Introduction: My name is Cheryll Lueilwitz, I am a sparkling, clean, super, lucky, joyous, outstanding, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.