10 minute gazpacho
If you’ve got summer veggies bursting out of the garden right now, then you are in the right place! Read on to find out how to turn garden-fresh tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, peppers and more into a delicious bowl of gazpacho in just 10 minutes.
My older daughter is one of those true natural born foodies who starts thinking about her next meal while still eating the current one. She will often blurt out “what’s for dinner?” while we are still eating lunch. I try not to scold her, as I know she can’t help but being food obsessed. It’s in her nature. She has been that way since she was born. I have no idea how I survived on-demand-nursing that kid.
This time of year, August, puts me into her frame of mind. But it’s not so much for the simple pleasure of eating. It’s because I’m worried about getting in as much gorgeous garden-fresh produce into every meal as possible, and it all needs to be planned out and strategized or there will be wasted bites. Or cucumbers left to grow out of control in the garden.
If you go out into my garden right now, there are three tomato plants (one of which is actually taller than me), a sweet pepper plant, two cucumbers and three zucchini. It gives me a bit of anxiety as we speak just thinking that there may be a hidden zucchini under those giant leaves that I haven’t caught in time before it grows to Volkswagen Beetle size.
I can’t believe I am actually saying this, but I am glad the center raised vegetable bed was taken over by rampant purslane, and I had to rip out all the seedlings before they actually got going. It would have been just too much of a good thing! Sort of.
One of the “necessity is the mother of invention” recipes I turn to at this time of year is good old fashioned pureed gazpacho. I can use up a lot of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers all at once. I add in onion and garlic (of course) and some flavor boosters, jalapeno, basil, cilantro and a splash of vinegar to brighten it up.
I use fresh bread in my gazpacho. I favor using sourdough because it is neutral tasting (not wheaty) and it has natural tanginess to it that pairs well with the tomatoes and vegetables. The bread gives the gazpacho body and makes the texture less watery. You can also use foccacia or Italian bread if you like.
I like to add in olive oil as well. This is traditional, and I can really taste the difference. It adds richness and helps to give it a better mouth feel too.
Then since it only takes about 7 minutes to make the gazpacho (since all you have to do is peel and quarter the veggies) I like to spend a tiny amount of extra time to doll it up with some garnishes. Like a swirl of mascarpone cheese (thin it with milk so you can drizzle it) or creme fraiche. Even full-fat yogurt is nice. Other toppings that serve as a contrasting addition are microgreens, chopped herbs and toasted nuts or seeds (try hemp seeds!)
MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE WITH AUGUST PRODUCE
Rainbow Panzanella it’s made with Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Basil and Onions (vegan)
Simple Heirloom Tomato Salad with Anchovies
Green Beans with Basil Vinaigrette (vegan and gluten-free)
Low Carb Grilled Stuffed Summer Squash (vegetarian and gluten-free)
No-Cook Zucchini Noodles with Pesto (vegetarian and gluten-free)
ALSO READ MY PRODUCE GUIDES
The Ultimate Guide to Tomatoes
The Ultimate Guide to Cucumbers
Thanks so much for reading! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
Print10 minute gazpacho
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 7 1x
Description
This 10 Minute Gazpacho recipe will help use some of your tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers from the garden. Customize it how you like with fresh basil or cilantro. Add a kick with jalapeño pepper. And make it a bit fancy with garnishes like sliced cherry tomatoes, microgreens and mascarpone cheese.
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into quarters (about 1 ½ pound)
- 1 cucumber, cut into quarters
- 1 red or green bell pepper, cored and cut into large chunks
- ½ red onion, peeled, cored and cut into quarters
- ½ to 1 clove garlic, to taste, chopped
- 1 cup water
- 2 slices sourdough bread
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- additional flavor boosters: 1 small handful basil or cilantro leaves, 1 jalapeno chili, stemmed.
- Optional garnishes: greek yogurt, crème fraiche or mascarpone. Microgreens, chopped cilantro or basil. Sliced cherry tomatoes and diced avocado. Toasted seeds or nuts.
Instructions
- 1. Set up work area with chopped vegetables, blender and a large bowl or pitcher for the final product.
- 2. Add about half of the ingredients (1 tomato, ½ cucumber, ½ bell pepper, ½ of the onion, garlic, ½ cup water, 1 slice sourdough, ¼ cup oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper) to the blender. If using additional flavor boosters add half of them to the blender. Pulse until the mixture liquefies, then run the motor continuously until desired smoothness. Transfer the gazpacho to the bowl or pitcher.
- 3. Repeat with the remaining ingredients and process to desired smoothness. Thoroughly mix the two batches together in the pitcher to ensure even distribution of the flavors. Chill if desired.
- 4. Divide among 4 bowls and top with optional garnishes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: soup
- Method: small appliance
- Cuisine: Spanish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 184
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 340
- Fat: 16 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
Keywords: gazpacho,gazpacho with bread,blender gazpacho
This has a amazing “just picked from the garden” taste. So delicious and a good way to use my abundance of tomatoes finally coming in. thanks for sharing this article.
Excellent! My husband doesn’t even like gazpacho and he loved this. I used a small amount of fresh basil (he doesn’t care for basil much) and yellow onion instead of red (what I had available), but only used half the amount of onion. Also used two jalapeno peppers as we like spicy! Everything else exactly the same. Wonderful recipe. This will be my go-to in the future. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
I love it! I subbed garlic salt and added cooked squash and it was delicious!
Hi Sheila. I am so happy you liked it! Thank you for letting me know!
This has a amazing “just picked from the garden” taste. So delicious and a good way to use my abundance of tomatoes finally coming in.
★★★★★
This Gazpacho looks perfect and I can’t believe how quick it is to make!
★★★★★
Wish this was my lunch! Love gazpacho!
Thanks so much Suzy! I am glad you think it looks good. Have a great day.
So quick and easy! And when the fresh veggies it is amazing!
It’s such a life saver!
This looks like my mom’s gazpacho! Perfect in every way!
★★★★★
How funny! My mom makes hers in the blender as well. I love it this way.
I have never had this and by the ingredients it sounds like something my whole family will enjoy I need to make this healthy soup!
I hope you fall in love with it. It’s a summertime staple here.
I LOVE pureed gazpacho and your versions looks AMAZING! I love the vegetables you used and the bread too! Yum!
Really? That’s great to hear. I prefer it pureed myself. It’s what I grew up with, so I Iike the smoothness better than chunky versions. Plus it’s so easy to just blast it in the blender!
What a quick and easy way to enjoy the garden produce! I love simple recipes like this.
Well there is a lot of it rolling in from the garden now, so I am so glad to have it at the ready!
That is such a beautiful colour soup. This would be great to feed a crowd at a summer party.
The color depends on the tomatoes and ratio of ingredients used. in this case it came out so orangey red from the tomatoes I used.
Gazpacho looks so flavourful and easy to prepare. I love this kind of easy quicking, I need to make this one soon. Thanks for sharing.
It can definitely be really flavorful depending on the additions. Plus the olive oil and vinegar help.