Easy Gazpacho

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

best gazpacho recipe

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 recipe ingredients

Gazpacho Recipe Ingredients

As I mentioned above, bread is often used as a thickener in Andalusian gazpacho. For my taste, the soup is plenty creamy 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 Spanish 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.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, peppers, and cilantro in a blender

Best Gazpacho Recipe Tips

  • Good tomatoes are gold. This gazpacho recipe calls for a whole lotta tomatoes: 2 1/2 pounds! They make 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.

gazpacho in a blender

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, socca, or avocado toast. For a heartier meal, serve this easy gazpacho with grilled vegetables and romesco sauce, your favorite protein, or a summer veggie frittata. Enjoy!

gazpacho

More Favorite Tomato Recipes

If you love this gazpacho recipe, try one of these summer tomato recipes next:

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Gazpacho

rate this recipe:
5 from 35 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Chilling Time: 2 hours
Serves 4 to 6
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 cilantro, plus more for garnish
  • 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Cherry tomatoes and 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 with the reserved diced cucumber, fresh herbs, drizzles of olive oil, and freshly ground black pepper.

109 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Bigote
    08.18.2023

    For a very different taste, include honeydew melon chunks and don’t blend, leaving it chunky like a salsa. The sweet melon contrasts with the spicy pepper. My family finds it delightful.

  2. Marlene
    08.18.2023

    Do you remove the skin from the tomatoes?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.22.2023

      Hi Marlene – I don’t.

  3. Maya Schafer
    08.13.2023

    I made this and it separated, curdled. What would cause this?

  4. C Mrs Russ
    07.31.2023

    5 stars
    This was my first experience with gazpacho, making it or eating it. We really like it! Just so fresh. That being said, my cilantro has bolted so I cut some oregano,, and it is quite tasty. (Of course, I have no basis for comparison.) I think the hot pepper addition would be very good; we had red bell pepper. Thanks for a great summer recipe.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.01.2023

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  5. Leslie
    07.31.2023

    5 stars
    This is a great recipe for Gazpacho. My other recipe did not call for Olive oil so that was a surprise. It really changed it up. My kids noticed right away and like it. I added a whole large bell pepper and 1 jalapeño.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.01.2023

      Hi Leslie, I’m so glad it was a hit! I think olive oil is pretty essential in gazpacho 🙂

  6. Moriarty
    06.26.2023

    I made this soup today for my family. We all loved it.

  7. Maria Cisneros
    06.06.2023

    Love all your recipes 🥰

  8. Paimon
    05.01.2023

    5 stars
    This is the first time I’ve ever had, and made Gazpacho. This was honestly amazing and pretty simple to make! I owe t one for this recipe! Now it’s heating up to be another hot summer in New Mexico this will be perfect!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      05.05.2023

      I’m so glad you loved it! This recipe is SO great for hot summer days. 🙂

  9. Kristin
    09.18.2022

    5 stars
    Sweater weather is happing up north but here in Florida it’s still warm and this soup is so refreshing. It’s so easy to prepare and absolutely delish!!!!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.19.2022

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

      • Kristin
        02.14.2023

        5 stars
        Do you happen to know the nutrition information including calories etc.?

  10. Jenni
    09.16.2022

    5 stars
    This was an amazing recipe that brought me back to my study abroad days in Barcelona. This was the perfect recipe to use up my bounty of tomatoes and cucumbers. I left out the cilantro but that was the only substitution I made. Great, easy recipe.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.21.2022

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  11. Linda
    08.10.2022

    5 stars
    Fantastic and easy. We made some substitutions. Used a t of dried Cilantro, a mixture of olive oils including Shallot and garlic and plain and ancho chili powder because we don’t like black pepper. It is great!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.12.2022

      I’m so glad it was a hit!

  12. Lana
    08.08.2022

    5 stars
    I love this recipe. I switch out the cilantro for dill, because I use this as a ‘Bloody Mary’ mix. So delicious

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.10.2022

      That sounds delicious!

  13. Jessie Achterhof
    07.31.2022

    5 stars
    Perfection!
    I followed the recipe except I omitted the cilantro and added some basil instead just due to preference. I split into two batches in order to process it in my Vitamix. It came out super creamy—almost foam-like but in the best way possible. 10/10!

  14. Judee from realfoodblogger.com
    07.23.2022

    This sounds perfect for the heat wave that we have been having. I certainly don’t feel like cooking. Your gazpacho looks great.

    • Vickey
      07.24.2022

      I just made it for the exact same reason. It is HOT here in Virginia Beach..

      • Jeanine Donofrio
        07.25.2022

        I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  15. Miriam
    07.01.2022

    I want to make this as a small appetizer in cocktail glasses. The recipe says: 4-6 servings. Is this 4-6 large bowls?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.02.2022

      Hi Miriam, 4 large bowls or 6 medium ones. In cocktail glasses, it’ll make more servings than that.

  16. Helena
    10.23.2021

    5 stars
    This is quite simply the best gazpacho ever. Tastes just like the actual stuff I was hooked on in Spain recently. I taste tested many different makes. I have just made two batches using Sherry vinegar and experimenting with using less garlic. This recipe is so good. Just watch the garlic content, easy to overdo it. I’d add less than more. I will start to batch make and freeze! I sieved it as I don’t like particles. Am planning to gift bottles of this stuff. It’s so healthy.
    Thank you! Ps I left out the cilantro.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.24.2021

      I’m so glad you loved it!

    • Rachel
      07.05.2022

      4 stars
      Fully agree on the garlic. I regret using raw garlic. Very easy to overdo it. Probably overdid the cilantro, too.
      Our first attempt ended up tasting like blended salsa, and a bit harsh due to too much garlic. Might make it again, but with this in mind. Thanks for the recipe.

  17. Tammy
    09.02.2021

    5 stars
    I have never made gazpacho before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it came out amazing! I can’t wait to to serve it tomorrow as part of my meal! Thank you for the great recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.03.2021

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  18. Joan
    08.21.2021

    Looks delicious and different from the one I usually make (Ina Garten’s Greek gazpacho). Can you freeze this?

    • DIANE LIEBERMAN
      05.27.2023

      I use a 4-serving mold of 1 cup Souper Cubes, then pop out when frozen, wrap in saran, and then 4 cubes in a freezer safe ziplock. Works great! Making it again tomorrow! I also “garnish” with ingredients to make it a full meal, like shrimp, sometimes a bit of leftover rice, sliced avocado, even a bit of roasted asparagus or whatever veg I need to use up. It’s not traditional, but it’s yummy! I use the gazpacho as my base.

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.