These no-cook, chilled gazpacho recipes will cool you down on steamy hot summer days. Made with fresh and flavorful ingredients, these gazpacho recipes will refresh and restore your energy on those sluggish dog days of summer.
Gazpacho Basics
Use the freshest ingredients
The ingredients in gazpacho recipes are not cooked, so using the freshest and best ingredients possible is a must. Gazpacho is mostly made with seasonal vegetables like tomatoes and peppers and occasionally fresh fruits like watermelon or mango. So when shopping for ingredients for these gazpacho recipes, make sure you purchase seasonal items with the most flavor. Don’t use poor quality or under ripe vegetables because then the quality of the gazpacho will suffer, it’s better to substitute for different ingredients than use low quality ones.
Use good olive oil
Just as you need to use fresh vegetable and herbs, using good olive oil is very important. Usee extra virgin olive oil and taste it before hand to make sure it has a delicious, fruity flavor. The olive oil is the base of the soup so good olive oil will make a great gazpacho.
Choose pureed or chunky
Gazpacho can either be fully smooth and pureed or a little chunky with some texture, the choice is yours. Either way, you should blend half the mixture at a time so the flavors blend well.
Let the soup settle
Because gazpacho is served raw, the flavors need some time to sit and blend so it should be made a few hours or even a day in advance. Gazpacho should sit for at least 3 hours before being served in order to get the best flavors.
Garnish and serve well chilled
The whole point behind gazpacho is to serve it very well chilled so chill the bowl and spoons before serving so it stays cold. Garnishing the soup will also give it extra flavor so top it with a dollop of sour cream, some diced red bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, or cilantro, a drizzle of good olive oil, some homemade croutons, tortilla chips, or hot pepper sauce for a dash of heat.
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