I'm excited to share my Spanish family's recipe for authentic gazpacho andaluz with you! This traditional Spanish gazpacho from Andalusia is easy to make, super healthy, bursting with flavor, and absolutely delicious! Whether you enjoy a small bowl of it as an appetizer, or in a glass as a drink, it hits the spot on a hot day!
If you want to try some fun variations of this Spanish favorite, try my recipes for melon gazpacho and cherry gazpacho.
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Introduction
The first time I tried gazpacho was when I was studying abroad in Granada. My host mom, Josefina, gave me a big glass of orange gazpacho. Although she claimed to have owned a restaurant in the past, I could see why Josefina wasn’t known for her culinary skills after taking a sip of the lukewarm concoction. I wanted to like gazpacho, but it tasted like bland, boring tomato juice.
About five years later, I had become obsessed with gazpacho's creamy cousin salmorejo, and thought it was about time to give traditional gazpacho another chance. My Spanish friends would swear by the stuff as the best cure for a cold, flu, hangover, break-up…whatever is wrong, gazpacho will fix it!
After reading at least 20 different Spanish gazpacho recipes from my cookbook collection and favorite Spanish recipe sites, I blended a few different versions to create the best traditional Spanish gazpacho recipe. This gazpacho can be eaten from a bowl with delightful toppings, or sipped from a glass like vegetable juice.
Ingredients
Wondering what you need to make this traditional gazpacho from scratch? Fortunately, it takes simple, easy-to-find ingredients you may already have in your fridge and pantry! Let's talk about the key ingredients.
- Tomatoes: Obviously, this is one of the most important components of a great gazpacho. Use ripe tomatoes for the best results.
- Pepper: The traditional choice is a long Italian green pepper, which is more commonly known as a Cubanelle pepper.
- Olive Oil: Use good quality extra virgin olive oil for the very best flavor.
- Aromatics & Seasonings: Enhance the gazpacho with onion, garlic, vinegar, and salt.
- Croutons/Stale Bread (Optional): Like in salmorejo, one of my favorite Spanish soups, blending some stale bread or croutons into the soup will help thicken it. Feel free to omit this if you want a thinner gazpacho.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
There are many variations of gazpacho, so experiment and find what you like best. Try my more modern gazpacho recipes, like green gazpacho and watermelon gazpacho, for some fun ideas!
- Cucumber: Many people omit the cucumber, but I personally love it.
- Red Pepper: Sometimes I use red bell pepper instead of the more traditional green Cubanelle (Italian) pepper.
- Thickening: My mother-in-law often thickens her gazpacho with a chunk of stale bread or even carrot.
- Olive Oil/Water: Some people use more or less olive oil, as little as a few tablespoons, and others add more chilled water at the end to make the texture lighter and more watery.
How to Make
If you’d like to see the full ingredients and instructions, scroll to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe card.
- Roughly chop the tomatoes. Depending on how powerful your blender is, you may need to chop them smaller.
- Cut the pepper into smaller pieces.
- Quarter the onion.
- Peel and halve the garlic, removing the center core, which can add bitterness to the gazpacho.
- Add the tomatoes to the blender first since they have the most juice and will make it easier for the blender to combine the ingredients.
- Next, add the pepper.
- Put in the onion and garlic.
- Add the cucumber if you're using it.
- Blend until smooth and well combined.
- Season with salt first.
- Add the sherry vinegar next.
- While the blender is running, slowly incorporate the olive oil so it emulsifies.
- Finally, check the taste and texture and add some ice-cold water if you want.
- Pour the gazpacho into glasses, or serve it in bowls with toppings on the side. Don't forget a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt right before eating!
Recipe FAQs
The key ingredient in gazpacho is ripe tomatoes. This traditional recipe also includes green pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil, sherry vinegar, and salt, along with the optional addition of cucumber.
It's believed that gazpacho originates in the south of Spain, where temperatures in summer can go up to 48°C (118°F). A cold soup is necessary to stay hydrated and refreshed during such hot weather. That said, before refrigeration gazpacho would have been served at room temperature (but never warm/cooked).
Gazpacho is a very healthy food, and here in Spain people will drink gazpacho when feeling sick or hungover. It's a puree of lots of raw vegetables, so is packed with vitamins and minerals. It's very hydrating, and when made with extra virgin olive oil it also has healthy monounsaturated fats and antioxidants.
Gazpacho can be enjoyed any time of day! Many people start their day with a glass of cold gazpacho, especially when feeling under the weather. More typically, you'll start your lunch or dinner with gazpacho in a glass or in a small bowl with toppings.
Serve
Gazpacho is great any time of year, but is especially refreshing in the summer! It's the perfect starter for a paella feast, or as part of a tapas spread. It's something you can eat (or drink) any time of day; I always have a big pitcher in the fridge!
The traditional way to eat gazpacho is to drink it from a glass, but I love eating it from a bowl with toppings! My favorite topping is Granny Smith apple, since the tart apple compliments the gazpacho.
Other garnish ideas include marinated cherry tomatoes, avocado, tart cherries, diced nectarine, strawberries, red onion and cilantro, raw red bell pepper, cucumber, raw onion, croutons, or hard boiled eggs.
Store
Leftovers: Refrigerate leftover gazpacho in a sealed container for up to 4-5 days.
Freezing: Gazpacho can be frozen in an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag for up to 6 months.
Defrosting: Thaw it overnight in the fridge and re-blend before serving if it has separated. Keep in mind that defrosted gazpacho will not have the same texture as when it is freshly made.
Expert Tips
- Use the best, ripest tomatoes you can find. Avoid using ones that are mealy or under-ripe.
- Make sure to use a powerful blender for the smoothest gazpacho, and pass it through a chinois strainer for the best texture.
- For a very cold gazpacho, refrigerate for a few hours before serving. You can also add ice instead of the water if you prefer a quick fix!
- Don't worry if the gazpacho separates in the fridge. This is normal, and you simply need to give it a good stir or shake before serving.
- If desired, serve with a variety of garnishes, such as Granny Smith apple, marinated cherry tomatoes, avocado, tart cherries, nectarine, strawberries, red onion and cilantro, raw red bell pepper, cucumber, croutons, or hard boiled eggs.
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Authentic Gazpacho Recipe
Ingredients
- 6-7 medium tomatoes vine-ripened if possible
- 1 green Cubanelle pepper also called Italian pepper
- 1 cucumber
- ½ of a small white onion
- 1 medium clove garlic
- ¼ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling
- 1 splash sherry vinegar Vinagre de Jerez
- 1 pinch salt plus extra for garnish
- toppings such as diced green apple, onion, pepper, croutons, or hard-boiled eggs optional
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash and dry the vegetables.
- Peel the tomatoes if desired, then coarsely chop them.
- Split the pepper in half lengthwise and discard the seeds and membranes, then cut it into a few smaller pieces.
- Peel the garlic, cut it in half lengthwise, and remove the core. This part of the clove can add bitterness when the garlic is eaten raw.
- Peel and quarter the onion.
- Peel the cucumber and cut it in half. Add half to the blender and save the other half for a topping.
- Add the tomatoes to a powerful blender, then add the pepper, garlic, onion, and cucumber. Blend on low speed until the vegetables are mostly chopped, then blend on high speed until it is puréed.
- Season with the salt and vinegar. Keep the blender running on a slow speed and slowly add the olive oil until it's emulsified.
- Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar to taste. Thicken as desired with stale bread or croutons, or thin it down with ice-cold water.
- Pour the gazpacho through a chinois strainer to remove any tomato skins or small lumps, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until ready to serve. It will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- Serve the gazpacho cold in glasses or in small bowls garnished with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, or with other toppings.
Notes
- Use the best, ripest tomatoes you can find. Avoid using ones that are mealy or under-ripe.
- Make sure to use a powerful blender for the smoothest gazpacho, and pass it through a chinois strainer for the best texture.
- For a very cold gazpacho, refrigerate for a few hours before serving. You can also add ice instead of the water if you prefer a quick fix!
- Don't worry if the gazpacho separates in the fridge. This is normal, and you simply need to give it a good stir or shake before serving.
- If desired, serve with garnishes, such as Granny Smith apple, marinated cherry tomatoes, avocado, tart cherries, nectarine, strawberries, red onion and cilantro, raw red bell pepper, cucumber, croutons, or hard boiled eggs.
Nutrition
Photography by Giulia Verdinelli
Vilkas
I just made this. It’s in the fridge. I only had two tomatoes so I used more red peppers and cucumbers, no salt and extra garlic. I’ve tasted and adjusted some cilantro and parsley I added, I hope you don’t mind. What a wonderful recipe. Thank you.
Karen
This looks good. I’ve also made gazpacho with some spicy tomato juice in addition to the other ingredients. I use lemon juice rather than the sherry vinegar. It’s likely that gazpacho, like so many dishes, has as many versions as cooks!
Giulia
This is so refreshing, perfect for a bbq!
I can almost taste all the good vitamins and minerals when I drink it!
Need to try the green one next 🙂
Naomi
How long will this keep for?
Lauren Aloise
3-4 days in the fridge
Florence Quinn
Your recipe was delicious. Mine didn't come out as red... Why is that?
Lauren Aloise
It really depends on the tomatoes! Also adding more olive oil makes it more orange than red.
Ken Swan
I live in White Rock, BC. Canada. Where can I buy Spanish gazpacho soup. Say, 6 Liters? Ferrer brand is nice.
Lauren Aloise
Since gazpacho is basically fresh vegetable juice, I wouldn't buy it pre-packaged, which means it will have been pasteurized and likely lose most flavor and vitamins.
Oskar
Oh yes and the 5 stars. Here.
Oskar
Thanks. I tried gazpacho a couple of times in Spain, and my experience was great. I actually like the lightness of it, but salmorejo sounds like an interesting thing to try. One question, why do you deseed peppers? I find the seeds give lots of flavour, and their being seeds should make them nutritious too.
Lauren Aloise
They are often very bitter in the peppers we get here - and could also make the texture to fibrous.
Gary
The recipe is so much. I made 2 litres of soup which is way more than what I needed. It was very good and would recommend to try it.
Petra
Was introduced to this wonderful dish earlier this year in Madrid and loved it.
Cold soup, it was new to me.
But I am hooked and when my neighbor gave me homegrown tomatoes last night with the mentioning they had to be eaten asap, I remembered your recipe.
And while I could not get the sherry vinegar, I replaced it with sherry wine and a bit of Balsamic vinegar.
It was just as I remembered, thnak you
Chris Nation
Better late than never.... An excellent recipe. How could it not be, being so simple.
My first batch was rather thick - I'd rather not strain out elements of the ingredients just to make it smoother/thinner - so added another 1/2 litre-worth of tomatoes when there was room in the jar. This worked well. As the blender was on the go, I added some big leaves of basil. Tomato and basil are soul-mates.
I went on to make another batch, again with basil and a mere splash of fino sherry.
With a couple of ice cubes and some garlic crountons, a big glass of this is a marvellous midday 'starter'.
Trevor Huxham
This recipe is wonderful. I’ve made your gazpacho twice for some friends and they all LOVED it. It ended up looking more like barf than the beautiful red-orange in your picture, but it still tasted extremely good. And I love your idea of garnishing it with non-chopped cucumber and granny smith apple; they’re a really nice sweet compliment to the savory soup.
Lauren Aloise
Thanks for commenting Trevor! If you want it to be even smoother, strain it before serving. Ahh, now I'm craving Gazpacho and it's midnight! Tomorrow...
Trevor Huxham
Ok, trying my hand at gazpacho one year later, and, after coring the tomatoes AND straining the whole soup through a fine sieve, I am happy to report that it no longer looks like barf! Very smooth and a lovely pale orange—just like the picture! Thanks for the tip to strain…that was the trick!
Lauren Aloise
Yes, unless the tomatoes are already watery and you blend for a long time, straining is usually necessary! Glad it worked this time!
jen hastert
I used to eat gazpacho at a local restaurant in Austin TX .... I believe their recipe was similar to this, however, they topped the soup with fresh lump crab and avocado. It was the best gazpacho I have ever eaten!
Lauren Aloise
That sounds incredible! They would be the perfect toppings. I actually made this last night and threw in a white peach and chunk of watermelon to cut some of the acidity I found in it (probably from using week old tomatoes!) It was delicious!
Jessica Alcorn
Made some this afternoon and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!!
Lauren Aloise
Awesome! Did you use the apple? I swear by it!
Christine
Perfect timing for this recipe...it's heating up down here!! Your version sounds amazing!
Cassandra
I need to try my hand at gazpacho again, it's just hard to get motivated since I prefer salmorejo!
Lauren Aloise
I also prefer salmorejo but sometimes gazpacho is great to change it up a bit!
Lauren
I've been thinking, I should make gazpacho again...I was thinking it would be good if your sick and then I read what Andaluz's swear by. Looks delicious!
Cat
made my first during feria....sooooo good!!
Jamie
Thanks Lauren - sounds so easy! I was always under the impression that Gazpacho had pan rallado in it, but this makes it even healthier. Thanks for posting this!
Lauren Aloise
Salmorejo has stale bread as a main ingredient and I'm sure some people add a little bit to their gazpacho, but it isn't necessary!
ChgoJohn
Gazpacho is a great Summer dish and your recipe here sounds delicious!