The Ultimate Gazpacho
This gazpacho recipe is the best! It's a refreshing chilled summer soup, perfect for your garden tomatoes and cucumber. Vegan and gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on May 5, 2025
Gazpacho! The chilled, raw tomato and vegetable soup from Andalusia, Spain. Ever had it? Love it? Hate it? I can’t say I’ve always loved it, but if you get it right, gazpacho can be so good.
At its best, gazpacho is super refreshing and bursting with fresh-from-the-garden summer flavors. At its worst, gazpacho tastes like chunky cold salsa or thin tomato juice, neither of which do I particularly enjoy. I wanted a texture somewhere in between the two, with far superior flavor.
Through trial and error, I discovered that the trick to making the best gazpacho is to blend half of the ingredients into creamy oblivion. Then, add the other half and blitz until they break into tiny pieces. You’ll end up with a delicious, rich base, with tiny pieces of tomatoes, cucumber and pepper adding intrigue.
Gazpacho Ingredients
This healthy recipe offers classic gazpacho flavor. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make it:
- Ripe red tomatoes: Tomatoes form the base of this raw soup—make sure they’re top summer quality. Because tomatoes contain so much moisture, we don’t need to add any liquid before we blend the ingredients together. We’ll even reserve some fresh tomato seeds to garnish the soup (they’re so pretty).
- Sweet yellow onion: Onions are both savory and sweet. Don’t worry if the onion flavor seems overwhelming straight out of the blender. It mellows considerably as the soup chills in the fridge.
- Cucumber: Juicy cucumber adds another layer of fresh flavor.
- Red bell pepper: Gazpacho wouldn’t be complete without crisp, sweet bell pepper. Feel free to substitute an orange or yellow bell pepper for the red.
- Fresh basil: Basil makes this soup taste even more summery and irresistible.
- Garlic: You’ll just need one large clove.
- Olive oil: Extra-virgin olive oil is always the way to go.
- Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar: A small splash of vinegar makes this soup come alive.
Watch How to Make Gazpacho
My Best Gazpacho Tips
Don’t add bread
Traditional gazpacho blends in white bread for body, but I found that it diluted the flavor. I also didn’t enjoy straining the gazpacho through a fine sieve afterward. Blending up the produce with olive oil produces a rich, creamy emulsion that has plenty of body, no sieve required.
That means that this easy gazpacho recipe is gluten free and full of good-for-you fiber thanks to the unfiltered vegetables.
Blending options
If you’re in a hurry or want a totally smooth gazpacho, by all means, blend everything together at once (see the recipe notes for details on this shortcut).
I prefer my gazpacho with some texture. That’s why the recipe instructs you briefly blitz some of the ingredients into the soup instead of blending them all together at once.
If you love chunky gazpacho, you could just barely blend them into the soup.
Gazpacho needs time to chill
All good gazpacho needs time to rest before serving, so plan to make it at least two hours in advance. This gives the flavors time to fully develop, and the soup time to chill completely. Gazpacho should be served cold, or close to it.
Recommended garnishes
Chop and reserve some of the ingredients for garnishing the soup later (see steps 1 and 2). It’s an extra step, but it’s worth the trouble if you want the beautiful gazpacho you see here.
I was all googly-eyed over the food and plating in Madrid a couple of months ago, so I wanted to present Spanish gazpacho in its full glory.
Gazpacho Serving Suggestions
Make a light summer meal by serving your gazpacho with crusty bread, cheese, Marcona almonds, fancy olives like Castelvetranos, and veggies like sliced cucumber and bell pepper. Perhaps you’d like it with a cold glass of crisp rosé or white wine, like Albariño or Sauvignon Blanc.
The acidity of the gazpacho makes it a natural pairing with seafood, and it could also be lovely with grilled main dishes or vegetables. Add a green salad like my Super Simple Arugula Salad to round out your meal.
Please let me know how you like this gazpacho in the comments! Your feedback keeps me going, and I hope you love this gazpacho recipe as much as I do.
Ultimate Gazpacho
This gazpacho recipe is the best! It’s a refreshing chilled summer soup, perfect for your garden tomatoes and cucumber. Be sure to make it in advance so the soup can chill for at least 2 hours. Recipe yields 5 cups, enough for 4 servings.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ pounds ripe red tomatoes (about 4 large or 9 small)
- 1 small Vidalia or sweet yellow onion (½ pound), peeled and cut into rough 1-inch chunks
- 1 small cucumber (½ pound), peeled and seeded
- 1 medium red bell pepper, cored and seeded
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, plus extra for garnish
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- To prepare your veggies, place your blender bowl, a medium serving bowl, and a small bowl on the counter. Core the tomatoes and cut them into rough 1-inch chunks. Reserve about ¼ cup of the juicy tomato seeds and place them in your small bowl (we’ll use them as a garnish later). Add half of the tomato chunks to the blender, and the other half to your serving bowl. Add all of the onion chunks to the blender.
- Cut off about one-fourth of the cucumber. Finely chop that piece and place it in the small bowl. Slice the rest of the cucumber into rough 1-inch chunks, and divide them between the blender and the serving bowl. Cut off about one-fourth of the bell pepper, finely chop that piece, and add it to the small bowl. Slice the rest of the bell pepper into rough 1-inch chunks and divide them between the blender and the serving bowl.
- To the blender, add the basil, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and about 10 twists of black pepper. Securely fasten the lid and blend, starting on low and increasing to high speed, until the mixture is completely smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Pour the contents of the serving bowl (the remaining chunks of tomato, cucumber and bell pepper) into the blender. Fasten the lid and blend for just 10 to 20 seconds, until the ingredients are broken up into small pieces. Stop there, or blend a little longer if you prefer smaller pieces.
- Add a small pinch of salt to the small bowl of garnishes, stir, and store it in the fridge. Chill the soup for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- Before serving, taste, and add additional salt (I sometimes add another ¼ teaspoon) and/or black pepper if necessary. To serve, divide the soup into small bowls or cups, and top with the reserved cucumber and bell pepper. Top with a few tiny or torn basil leaves and a light sprinkle of pepper. Leftover servings keep well, covered and refrigerated, for 3 to 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This is the best recipe. Period.
Great, Kyler!
do you need a blender or can you use cuisinart?
(Haven’t made it yet to review)
Do you mean a food processor? It should work with a food processor, too!
I like the multi-bowl instructions for reserving ingredients. This is my first time making my own gazpacho, but it tastes great!
I’m happy you like it!
This looks so good! Really looking forward to making it but, need more tomatoes. I’m also thinking of thinning out the leftovers with veggie broth or water and trying it as a completely veggie smoothie….
I’m not sure how this would go as a veggie smoothie, but I would be interested to hear your take!
Couldn’t get the Vidalia onion which I love, but substituted a sweet onion, the result I fear was too much onion. I used a cubanel pepper all in the first blend saving no small pieces. This seemed to work. Dried basil instead of fresh leaves. Apple cider vineger instead of sherry or red wine. I fear I strayed too far from your recipe, but have yet to try it to see how it tastes after it sits in the Fridge. I really regret not having a vidalia. I fear I’ll have to look for a satisfying store bought Gazpacho, which so far I cannot. Recipe is fine, but I’m not.
Thanks for sharing! I’m sorry you didn’t have the ingredients to really make the flavors shine.
Made this last night, minus the red pepper since we didn’t have it on hand. It was amazing! My kids were skeptical (9 and 12 years old) but ended up drinking it from the bowl! I blended it all up in the vitamix.
I love that they ate it right up! Thanks for your review, Jennifer.
I am making this today and love the idea of half smooth base and half slightly chunked. Wanted to mention that olive oil can get bitter in certain blenders when blended at high speed. My Vitamix is one of them. I either use a food processor or switch to a different oil.
Thank you for sharing, Susan. That is something I haven’t experience.
I just made this recipe for Gazpacho for a paella dinner tomorrow night for 12. I tasted it unchilled and it was fabulous! I can’t wait until tomorrow night to eat/drink it cold. I bet it becomes the highlight of the evening. ¡Mil gracias por esta receta tan rica!
You’re welcome, Barry! I love the Spanish dinner idea.
Tastes ok but not the color pictured.
it came out more pinkish red. Disappointed.
I’m sorry you were disappointed. Sometimes vegetables can range in color. Thank you for your feedback!
How lovely and refreshing is this! Visited a farm yesterday and purchased lovely ripe tomatoes. Made this today, however, I only have a food processor on the small side, so made it in three steps. Divided the tomato, cucumber, pepper and other ingredients in two. Poured the first half into a glass bowl, pureed the second half and poured half into the glass bowl. Added the serving bowl ingredients into the half left in the food processor and blended. In the fridge for a few hours and finished as written. Incredibly filling for fresh veg!
Thank you for sharing, Pam!
I omitted the bell pepper, because I have problems with them . Everything else was included. Used my fresh basil and heirloom tomatoes. It was outstanding. Thanks for recipe. Tanya Long
You’re welcome, Tanya!
I made the gazpacho for friends and they loved and so did I …thank you
You’re welcome, Patty!
We’ve been getting gazpacho at a local restaurant but had never made it at home ourselves until trying this recipe last night. My husband and I give it 2 (4?) thumbs up! Super light and refreshing with wonderful flavor. We will be making this again! Thanks for an awesome recipe !
You’re welcome, Caitlin!
This recipe is a keeper. I will definitely make it again. Here’s why: Gazpacho is my favorite soup. I have eaten a full range at restaurants – from terrible to great. I particularly like a gazpacho from a local Spanish restaurant that has a slight hint of sweetness. After making this recipe, I understand why- ingredients include red pepper not green pepper and sherry vinegar.
If you don’t like the tomato juice tasting Gazpacho, try this recipe
Thanks for sharing all the reasons you love this recipe, Shellie!
I love gazpacho and this is a fabulous recipe!! So fresh and delicious! It is a perfect balance. I live in Georgia and love the Vidalia onions!! I did not have any basil but will add next time. This will be my new go to gazpacho recipe on hot summer days!
A great one for a Georgia summer! Thank you for your review, Stephanie.
Absolutely delicious!!!! As good as any we had in Spain and a wonderful way to use up my loads of tomatoes and cucumbers when the veggie is in full production mode. This recipe is a definite keeper!
That’s just the comment I was looking for! Compared to Spain. :)
I still find the act of straining the soup worth the effort. The resulting liquid is closer to the Andalusian style.
Thanks for sharing, Mark!
I always add like a 1/2 teaspoon of grounded cumin.
It gives the gazpacho an unique flavor!!!!
Thanks for sharing!
Delicious!
I added lemon zest, a little celery, quarter of a crumbled bay leaf.
I could have this every week!
Nice starter gazpacho recipe, but not ‘ultimate’ (except from the cook’s perspective). I would never peal a vegetable whose skin is edible, b/c most of the nutritional value is in the SKIN, but that being the case I would buy those vegetables from the organic bin. I would also add organic celery, a dash of tumeric, and not any olive oil, but a tablespoon (or 2) of avocado oil or coconut oil. I don’t like the taste of vidalia onions so I’d use red onion & chop a bit ‘fine’ for garnish. I’d exchange parsley with cilantro (either you love cilantro or you don’t), I would also add a sidedish of roasted asparagus with lemon. Oh, and I would squeeze lemon into this soup too. So I think MY recipe is ‘ultimate’ but hey that’s the beauty of cooking. You cannot copyright a recipe b/c it’s formula btw. Change one ingredient, it’s a new formula. PS I would also add lemon or orange zest as a garnish.
Sorry you didn’t love it! Thanks for your review and feedback.
You can’t call that a gazpacho, Annie. That sounds like something a cow would order for its last dinner in the Death Corridor.
I love gazpacho but my wife hates cucumber (the smell, the taste)
Is there any way to make this without the cucumber? Any substitutions? Thanks
Hi Tina! Sorry, to make this traditional you really need cucumber. I don’t think its overpowering. It really blends with the other flavors. Maybe this one isn’t for your family.
My mom just had a real rough encounter with the dentist – I decided I will try with room-temp Gazpacho which will be both nutritious and hopefully gentle on the mouth. Not sold on the room-temp part, but circumstances are what they are! Looking Forward to giving this recipe a go. Will be substituting your lovely sweet onion (not available in Switzerland) with spring onions. Hurray! Will accompany with thin pecorino-arugula toast on the side for those who don’t have trouble chewing :D
I have lots of cucumbers in my garden this year and I received tomatoes from my friend. I’ve been blending them in my vitamix like a smoothie but then I realized it was more like a chilled tomato soup. I just need to add more flavors. I really would like to try your recipe!
I have been making gazpacho on a weekly basis all summer. Instead of the bell pepper i use the long, pointy light green pepper (cubanelle or Anaheim) which adds a bit of kick. Great tip on the cumin – tomorrow i will try adding it. I agree that the bread doesn’t belong.
We eat it with hummus on whole wheat bread – it’s like a complete meal. Can never get tired of it.
I made the Ultimate Gazpacho today with gorgeous end of summer heirloom tomatoes. I did not have access to any Vidalia Onions but had carmelized a batch of onions in the slow cooker 2 days before. I substituted the carmelized onions and I don’t think I will ever make gazpacho without them again! The depth of flavor is amazing! Thanks for the GREAT recipe and I always love a “happy accident”in the kitchen…
I made the Ultimate Gazpacho today with gorgeous end of summer heirloom tomatoes. I did not have access to any Vidalia Onions but had carmelized a batch of onions in the slow cooker 2 days before. I substituted the carmelized onions and I don’t think I will ever make gazpacho without them again! The depth of flavor is amazing! Thanks for the GREAT recipe and I always love a “happy accident”in the kitchen…
That sounds amazing, Evelyn!
I had so many fresh garden tomatoes I was trying to use and they tasted so good in this recipe. I had never tried gazpacho before but my husband and I love it. Perfect when we are trying to eat clean and use up garden veggies!
I discovered this recipe less than two months ago and already making it for the third time. Everyone in the family loves it. I tried making Gazpacho years ago using another recipe and nobody liked it. Thank you for sharing!
I love this recipe! It is nice, my wife didn’t leave me because of this! Cheers!
I just made the gazpacho…. waiting for it to chill now. Initial taste, delicious!!!!
Hi
Is it okay to freeze the soup?
I want to make it for 65 guests this summer
Best regards and thanks
I haven’t tried freezing this, but let me know if you do!
This was an excellent base. I made per recipe an I tweaked it to my taste. I saw fresh cilantro next to the basil so I added a little, a dash of cumin, a dash of Worcestershire, and a combo of garlic salt, celery salt and seasoned salt. This was excellent. Thank you very much!!!!
I’ve tried many of your recipes, with no pictures as evidence but GIRL! You ROCK! My boyfriend and friends love it every time. I’m not great with following recipes ( I tend to add my own twist to every single recipe for some reason. They taste good but I know they can taste better so I add my own twist) but you’re my favorite blog to get inspiration from and you are the only person whose recipes I sometimes follow verbatim :) haha. This Gazpacho is as proper as gazpacho can be!!!
I Thank you and Cookie for all the yummy-licious treats :) Have a great day
Really appreciate this blog. This is the best gazpacho i have ever made. The vidalia onions were a nice touch (i think i always used red onions in the past.) But yeah didnt change a thing on the recipe and was surprised how good it tasted without a lot if the extras that are iften added to gazpacho.
Hi, I didn’t have a vinegar so done it without it. But after few hours it went very bitter. Any idea why? Thank you
Hi Dabs, I’m sorry to hear that! The vinegar really makes the flavor more lively. If you have a lemon, you might like a squeeze of lemon juice. To cut your bitterness, try adding a bit more salt (salt counteracts bitter flavors). Hope that helps.
Made this yesterday
Absolutely scrummy-perfect for a starter when rest of meal is BBQ
I am someone who finds recipes as needed but doesn’t really pay attention to the origin of the recipe. But Cookie and Kate has gotten me to pay attention. I love you recipes!
Hi!! I am made it for yesterday for lunch.. Helped me beat the tropical Indian heat… Going to repeat if frequently .. Thanks…
Just made this. Simple, quick and totally delicious! Thank you
So good! Someone did the shopping for me so I only had yellow onion and I used heirloom tomatoes and dried basil. After blending I decided to add cumin for that “Moorish” influence, it reduced the acidity perfectly. So deeeeelish! I will definitely make it again <3
I am wondering why the gazpacho cups in the recipe photo are so yellow-ish? Following the recipe, exactly mine is very red. I suppose yellow tomatoes would achieve it but they can be hard to find.
Hi David! Yes, the tomatoes can vary and your other ingredients based on their ripeness/variety. As long as it tasted great, that’s what matters!
This is the first time I have ever made anything like this.at first, I made it exactly like you said but, it was a little too chunky and acidic for me. so I had to add the bread and added a little sugarbto even out the acidicness
I made this just a little bit ago and now it’s chilling. I followed it as written and just the few little tastes pre-chill tells me this is going to be my go to Gazpacho recipe from now on.
This recipe is by far the best, and easiest gazpacho ever! When the outdoor temperature reaches near 100 in the Pacific Northwest, this is my go to recipe for a cool, refreshing chilled soup.
I use a combination of fresh modern and heirloom tomatoes along with Walla Walla sweet onions, Vidalia onions are not available in our region. Other than these substitutions, I follow the recipe as outlined and am happy with the results each time I’ve made it.
When serving, I chill two bowls in the refrigerator along with the soup and toast sliced baguette to mop up the remaining soup in the bowl.
Quite possibly the greatest lazy recipe I’ve ever cooked (I did the make it quick method). So quick and so good. Reminds me of being in Spain.
That’s just what I wanted! Thank you for sharing, Alicia.
This is my go to recipe for Gazpacho. I’ve made it three times. The last time I made it I substituted 1 large and 1 small can of tomatoes. I think 1 large can would be enough. I also only had a green bell pepper. I reduced the salt to a scant 1/2 tsp since the canned tomatoes had salt added. It turned out great! Yea! Gazpacho in the winter! Next time I want to add an avocado. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
A go-to, I love it LeAnn! Thanks for sharing.
thanks for the recipe….. I might have missed it (quite possible) but in your video, there doesn’t seem to be any garlic that goes in… but it’s in your ingredients list, so assuming it does?
Yes, there is garlic.
It hasn’t made it to the frig yet and it’s the best Gazpacho I’ve ever had. Thanks so much for sharing!
Carole O.
Wonderful soup! Sweet and naturally spicy. I didn’t even have enough basil (which I love) and sadly had to use some dried and it was still delicious. I haven’t made gazpacho in years and wasn’t sure how. When I saw the recipes for straining the vegetables I thought no way. Then I found this. It’s in my saved file!
Try this gazpacho! It’s so fresh and authentic. And easy. Just waiting for more of my tomatoes to ripen so I can make it again.