This traditional gazpacho recipe is a refreshing no-cook cold soup, featuring a mix of fresh veggies and tomato-based vegetable juice for a perfect blend of smooth and chunky textures.
Traditional Gazpacho
This easy gazpacho recipe is a classic, no-cook Spanish soup and the iteration we’re familiar with today is a bit different from the original. Some food historians say gazpacho dates back somewhere between the 8th and 13th centuries. Back then, it was made with garlic, salt, bread, olive oil, and vinegar (no tomatoes!). It wasn’t until peppers and tomatoes arrived in Europe in the 16th century, that the soup evolved, and those ingredients were added.
I have recipes for Bloody Mary Gazpacho and a Mango Gazpacho, but there’s something in the simplicity of plain old tomato that always works for me. What makes this soup extra simple to make is using a mix of fresh tomatoes and vegetable juice like V-8. I’ve tried making this with spicy V-8, but prefer the regular so I can adjust the heat to my liking. Gazpacho can run the gamut from silky smooth to chunky, just like a salsa. I prefer mine well blended but with a bite, with just enough chunk to make me feel like I’m eating something instead of sipping.
Eat this gazpacho cold or at room temperature, or chill it in the fridge for at least an hour, for super refreshing results. I spoon a swirl of thinned sour cream into the soup for a little tang. A chilled bowl (or glass) of gazpacho on a hot summer day always hits the spot.
What Is Gazpacho Usually Made Of?
Here’s what’s in this traditional gazpacho:
- Tomatoes
- Tomato juice, plain or spicy like V-8 vegetable juice (or both, in this case!)
- Celery
- Cucumber — you can use run of the mill cucumbers but I prefer the Armenian or hot house seedless cucumbers. If you do use regular cucumbers, be sure to cut in half first and use a spoon to remove all of the seeds before chopping.
- Red onion
- Garlic is usually an ingredient I apply the old “the more, the merrier” treatment to, but guess what? Less is more here. Stick to the 2 cloves and you’ll be much happier, trust me.
- Olive oil — a good quality extra virgin olive oil is important here
- Vinegar or sherry (I love using red wine vinegar)
Is Gazpacho Really Healthy?
Chock-full of healthy fruit and veggies (that maintain all of their nutrients since this soup is raw), gazpacho is teeming with fiber, minerals and vitamins A, C and E, as well as plenty of carotenoids (antioxidants that can help prevent cancer), like beta-carotene and lycopene.
There’s no question this summery soup is an excellent (and delicious) way to get those veggies in. Not to mention it’s a stellar way to put peak summer produce to good use!
How to Make Gazpacho From Scratch
The best thing about this traditional gazpacho recipe is it’s super easy to make from scratch. You can whip it up in your blender or food processor in a matter of minutes, and it’s no-cook! Let me tell you, I live for a summery recipe that doesn’t require me to turn my stove or oven on when it’s sweltering hot.
Blend some of it up. Using a blender or food processor, simply blend half of your veggies with the tomato juice, olive oil and seasonings until smooth.
Pulse once or twice. Add the other half of your veggies, only pulsing once or twice, that way you’ll have the perfect amount of chunk to your gazpacho, for an extra satisfying texture.
Chill. Put your gazpacho in the fridge for at least an hour (while your gazpacho chills, you should chill too). Letting your soup hang out in the fridge for a while allows time for the flavors to get happier, and your soup will be ultra satisfying and refreshing once cool.
Garnish and serve. Mix a bit of water with some sour cream to thin it out and drizzle over your gazpacho for the perfect amount of creaminess (tomatoes and sour cream are a match made in heaven, after all). Top with freshly chopped chives.
What to Serve with Gazpacho
- Garnish with a bit of sour cream thinned down with a little water.
- Top it with grilled shrimp and chunks of avocado and fresh snipped chives
- Mediterranean Orzo Salad
- Grilled Flatbread with Peaches and Arugula Pesto
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a 
star rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Traditional Gazpacho Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 1 seedless hot-house cucumber with skin on diced
- 1 zucchini diced
- 3/4 whole medium red onion diced
- 4 cups tomato juice such as V-8
- 2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons Chohula hot sauce or other hot sauce to taste
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 6 cocktail or campari tomatoes diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- Fresh chives for garnish
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine half of the celery, cucumber, zucchini, red onion and 2 cups of the tomato juice with the pressed or minced garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, hot sauce, celery salt, and garlic salt.
- Pulse all of ingredients until well blended. Add the rest of the tomato juice and pulse to mix.
- Add the celery, cucumber, zucchini, and the diced tomatoes and pulse once or twice. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and adjust the hot sauce to taste.
- Chill the soup for at least 1 hour before serving.
- Serve the soup with a drizzle of the sour cream that has been thinned with a bit of water. Top with fresh chopped chives.
Nutrition
More No-Cook Summer Eats
- Cucumber Salad with Dill
- How to Make THE BEST Chimichurri Sauce
- Greek Chickpea Salad
- THE BEST Caprese Sandwich
- Dreamy Creamy Mango Pops
- How to Make THE BEST Creamy Coleslaw
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Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
haha, imagining you rambling on to yourself in the closet is hilarious!!! But hey, you’re a grown-ass lady and can do what you want. I definitely need to get on this yummy recipe! Especially before it gets cool outside!
Gaby Dalkin says
haha! love imagining you talking into your phone in a closet! the things we do when inspiration hits. storing this classic gazpacho recipe forever, in love with the colors!
Lauren Gaskill | Making Life Sweet says
These gazpachos are so beautiful! Love all the colors. I’m like you — if I don’t get down a thought when it pops into my head, I could lose it forever. I talk ideas into my phone all the time!
N @ Clean Eating Recipes Blog says
They all look mouthwatering but I must say that the tomato-watermelon combo looks most interesting — and colorful too :)
Cheryl Patterson says
There is something amazing about Gazpacho on a hot sunny day and these recipes have got my tastebuds on the go. I like mine with a bit of a kick, but not too chunky – The Thai Spicy Tom Yum Goong Tomato Gazpacho sounds aboslutely mind blowing and the colour of the Beet Cilantro Gazpacho is fantastic. Thanks for sharing these ideas.
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Prettiest gazpacho ever!
Rebecca says
I just made your gazpacho tonight… Perfect on this hot summer night. Delicious! Thank you
Andy says
Just made the classic version for dinner. Was really great. Now I’m curious to try to the other versions. Thanks!
Laurie B says
Rats, I am looking fora recipe using tomatoes vs. tomato juice. Reason being, V8 had a boatload of sodium and I need to watch my intake. I’m going to use this as a base and get back to you. Just have to figure out how many darm toms! :-)
tibbs says
Just use low sodium V8 juice , at least you reduce your sodium content. Do you think tomato juice has no sodium?
Juicer reviews says
I love your recipes!
Alamia says
gazpacho recipe very testy, thank you for your gazpacho recipe tutorial.
Juicer Beets says
Thanks for sharing
Really like it…
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Kathy Bair says
I’m visiting my daughter who wants to make my version of gazpacho. She lives in Washington state and I live in Indiana. Having not brought my recipe (which is hand-written), I jumped onto Pinterest and you popped up. The only difference in our recipes is I add thinly sliced green onions, which float on top and add more fresh to the mix! My form of heat is tabasco. Thanks for coming to my rescue!!
BTW, I make triple batches so I can freeze individual servings, because I eat this all year long!
tibbs says
When fresh vegetables are frozen without prepping them for freezing,they get mushy when thawed.
Irene says
Please, don’t call this aberration gazpacho. This is a tomato-based cold soup, which is fine, but it is not gazpacho. Neither are those other recipies that you liked.
Stop cultural appropiation!
J says
Looks nice and it’s not a bad recipe, but this is nowhere near a classic gazpacho, at all. All you need for a gazpacho is tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, red or green pepper, garlic, water, olive oil, bread,a bit of vinegar, salt and cumin, that’s it. Half the stuff you added would never go on a classic gazpacho.
J says
We’d appreciate it if you’d stop calling it classic, call it a twist if you’d like. I’m sure the recipe is nice and has a good kick to it, but don’t call it something it’s clearly not
Mary says
I made this for my husband’s birthday lunch last week, gazpacho is his favourite. Everyone loved it!!! I found it a bit salty and think next time I might add 3/4 tablespoons of garlic and celery salt. I was in a bit of a rush so didn’t think to add 1/2 and adjust to my taste. It was very delicious nonetheless!
sabrina says
thank you for all of these gazpacho recipes, like the beet one especially, and thank you for linking this and other suggested pairings with your caprese pasta salad recipe
D george says
Recipe says to dice everything and then put it in the cuisinart. Shouldn’t it be diced by the cuisinart??
Heidi says
I like to roughly dice or chop the ingredients first so the ingredients only need to be pulsed in the food processor and not macerated.
Stacy says
Wow! This is exactly the gazpacho recipe I’ve been looking for! It is SO DELICIOUS. Thank you!!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush says
Thank you! Enjoy!