Summer Gazpacho
Summer Gazpacho is a cold soup filled with all of the most delicious summer produce including tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and basil! This easy gazpacho recipe isn't complete without some homemade croutons made with French bread.
There are usually only a couple of months out the year that I lose my soup mojo. Typically during May and June I get pretty excited about "summer cooking", but then July rolls around and even though it's still hot (and usually muggy here in Minnesota), I start craving soup again. I'm not against making a big hot pot of soup in the middle of July, but I've always learned to embrace the cold soup - gazpacho! I typically just throw a bunch of the typical gazpacho ingredients in a blender and eyeball it, but I knew it was time to refine my recipe and actually write it down to share.
While I have my favorite green gazpacho on the blog, today I'm sharing my tomato based summer gazpacho recipe!
Ingredients in Summer Gazpacho
Tomatoes - this time I used Roma tomatoes but honestly, any kind will work! Obviously they are best with ripe summer tomatoes, so I'd definitely recommend going that route.
Bell Peppers - this recipe uses a green bell pepper and an orange bell pepper but, again, if you only have a red and a yellow - use those!
Cucumbers - one peeled cucumber adds a bunch of flavor and water to this recipe.
Garlic - you know I love my garlic!
Red Wine Vinegar - this adds a little acidity to the gazpacho.
Avocado Oil or Olive Oil - you can use either in this recipe and I usually just use whichever one I have on hand.
Water - just a little bit of water is needed to thin out the consistency of the gazpacho.
Salt and Pepper - to bring out the flavors.
Butter - butter makes the croutons buttery (duh!) and extra delicious!
French Bread - my favorite bread for making croutons.
How to Make Easy Gazpacho
The thing that I love about summer gazpacho is how incredibly fast and easy it is to make. It is just a matter of putting all of the ingredients into a blender, and letting the blender do the work. I do love serving gazpacho topped with homemade croutons, which require a little bit of cooking.
To make the croutons, simply melt butter in a skillet, add cubed French bread, and cook until golden brown. The croutons are so buttery and delicious!
This easy summer gazpacho recipe is perfect for a weekend lunch, a light dinner along with a salad, or a picnic any time of the day. Gazpacho can be packaged and brought along on a picnic so easily. I once brought it to a friends house and served it in cups, making it drinkable!
Summer Gazpacho
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 2 lbs tomatoes
- 1 green bell pepper seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 1 orange bell pepper seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 1 large cucumber diced
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar vinegar
- 6 tablespoon butter
- ~5 cup cubed french bread
Instructions
- Add everything except the bread and butter to a high powered blender.
- Blend until well pureed. This may take a little while and you'll want to eventually put it on the highest power to get everything well pureed.
- Chill until ready to serve.
- To make the croutons, place the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Once melted, add the cubed bread and cook until golden brown on most sides. Serve and enjoy!
