The BEST Gaspacho: Easy and Refreshing Soup Enjoyed by All

Gaspacho is a wonderful cold tomato soup that can easily be served as the main course during hot summer months. It’s loaded with fresh vegetables, veggie juices, and aromatics like lime juice and garlic. Let’s be real – it’s basically salsa you’re allowed to eat by the bowl and we are so down with that.

Serves: 6 Time: 15 Cookbook: Kitchen Simple

Tomatoes are beloved in Spain and Portugal, and the classic gaspacho, or gazpacho, recipe is one of their national dishes. Master Chef James Peterson decided to take the elements that made Spanish gazpacho great and add a twist. Featuring creamy avocado, spicy chilies, zesty limes, and of course tomatoes, this is Peterson’s version of Portuguese gaspacho.

This delicious summer soup is so easy to make and it tastes amazing! You don’t even need to let it sit. Serve it up right away for a flavor-packed, delicious first course for 6 or full-sized soup serving for 4.

Jump Ahead:

• ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 🍅 Ingredients Needed to Make Gaspacho
• 🍴 Equipment Needed in the Kitchen
• 🥄 How to Make Gaspacho
• ♾️ Gaspacho Variations
• ❓ Gaspacho Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy: If you’re looking for easy recipes, you can’t get much easier than this. You only need one bowl for prepping (and even serving!). Everything gets chopped or diced, and combined. Voila. Soup is served.

Fresh: This drinkable salsa, I mean gaspacho, emphasizes fresh vegetables and aromatics in season. Fresh tomatoes, ripe avocado, fresh cilantro, fresh lime juice squeezed by hand… it all comes together to make the best, healthiest, and freshest cold vegetable soup out there.

Multi-Purpose: Turn salsa into soup or use this Spanish soup for your salsa. It works great and tastes amazing either way!

Ingredients Needed to Make Gaspacho

To make Gaspacho, you’ll need:

• Avocados: These should be perfectly ripe. Test ripeness by gently pressing on the skin. If ripe, it should give slightly.
• Tomatoes: You can use fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes, here. Either will give this soup a wonderful flavor. Our one note on tomatoes: make sure to get ripe heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes. If you use underripe store-bought tomatoes, this soup will not turn out nearly as delicious.
• Garlic: The recipe calls for one garlic clove, but you can certainly add more if you prefer a garlic-forward flavor.
• Raw Onion: You can use a white onion or a red onion for this recipe. Either one works well.
• Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce: Chiles in adobo sauce lend a deeply smokey flavor to this soup that you will definitely miss if it’s not there.
• Limes: Fresh lime juice is wonderful in this recipe. If you only have lemon juice on hand, that can work in a pinch. Just know that the flavor profile will be slightly different.
• Cilantro: You’ll want fresh cilantro for this.
• Ice Cold Water: You want the water to be very cold. Chill it in the fridge prior to incorporating it into the recipe.
• Olive Oil: This is used for garnish to drizzle on top. Extra virgin is always the best type of olive oil to use if possible.
• Pinch of Salt and Black Pepper: These are to taste and are very much a personal preference thing. Add a bit at the end. Mix, taste, and repeat as needed.

Equipment Needed In the Kitchen

Mixing Bowls

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Cutting Board

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Chef Knife

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• Large Bowl: You want one large bowl to combine all the ingredients for the soup. We found that a medium bowl is just a bit too small.
• Cutting Board: You’ll be chopping a lot so get a good solid cutting board out. We love our wood cutting boards.
• Knife: Pull out a good sharp knife. This recipe takes a lot of chopping, so a dull knife will only get in the way.

How to Make Gaspacho

This cold soup is perfect for a hot summer day. It’s refreshing, tastes great, and comes together fast.

Prep the ingredients

This is where the soup prep takes place. Complete the following steps:

• Avocado: Cut in half, remove pit, then scoop out flesh whole. Cut into 1/4-inch pieces.
• Tomatoes: If fresh, peel, seed, and chop fine.
• Garlic: Mince into fine paste.
• Onion: Mince.
• Chipotle Chiles: Seed and mince.
• Limes: Squeeze the juice of both limes.

Combine ingredients

Add the avocado, tomatoes, garlic, onion, chiles, cilantro, and lime juice to a bowl and mix well.

Finish and serve

Add water or tomato juice until you reach your desired soup consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle a touch of olive oil over the top to add some richness.

Serve chilled. If the soup isn’t cooled enough, place it in the fridge to chill before serving.

Pro tip: Want to serve something flavorful and warm on the side? We love serving a classic flavor-packed cheese quesadilla and some smoked sweet potatoes! They’re delish.

Gaspacho Variations

Gaspacho is a base recipe that can be tweaked and changed depending on your tastes, creativity, and food preferences. Here are a few of our favorites.

Blended: If you want a “soupier” soup, blend all of the veggies with the water in a food processor. You’ll still have small bits of vegetables, but you’ll have a more soup-y texture.

Smooth: For an extra smooth, creamy soup, strain the soup after blending it to remove any bits of texture from the vegetable pieces that didn’t fully puree.

Semi-Chunky: Want a semi-chunky soup? Blend half of the vegetables then add the blended mixture back into the bowl with the unblinded half. Give it a good stir and serve.

Gaspacho Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

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