If you’ve never had gazpacho before, it’s basically a soup for people who, like me, would like nothing more than to eat salsa with a spoon. Okay, maybe that’s just my definition of it, but you get the idea. Lots of yummy vegetables puréed into a deliciously fresh soup.
There are red gazpachos and green gazpachos and about a million ways to make each one. This is my second go at green gazpacho this week and I think I hit the nail on the head this time. My first attempt used bread to add body and a little buttermilk to brighten things up. It was just “meh.” This version uses avocado to add body and a little lemon juice to brighten things up, and it’s much better (gluten free and vegan, too!). This cold soup is fresh, light, and 100% summer. Love it!
The other reason I love this soup is because it takes advantage of the fresh, inexpensive produce of summer. People who have gardens often have an abundance of cucumber and bell pepper in particular, so try to befriend someone with a green thumb. Promise to make them some of this yummy soup in exchange for some of their extra produce! ;D If you can’t find any freebies, all of these ingredients are usually fairly inexpensive in the summertime, so you can eat this gazpacho to your heart’s content.
Let it chill in the fridge and then serve it along side your favorite grilled meats or vegetables and add a big chunk of crusty bread for dipping. That right there, my friends, is what I call a meal!
Have I mentioned how much I love summer?
Green Gazpacho
Green Gazpacho
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 medium cucumbers ($1.00)
- 1 medium white onion ($0.81)
- 1 medium green bell pepper ($0.50)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1 medium avocado ($1.19)
- 1/4 bunch fresh parsley ($0.19)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro ($0.19)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.06)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Remove the ends from the cucumber and slice it in half lengthwise. Scrape the seeds out with a spoon and then chop the cucumber into chunks. Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and also cut it into chunks. Dice the onion. Add the cucumber, bell pepper, onion, and garlic (peeled) to a food processor. Process until the vegetables are minced.
- Pull the leaves from about 1/4 of the parsley and cilantro bunches. Add the leaves to the food processor along with the olive oil and the flesh from the avocado. Purée until smooth.
- Add the water, one tablespoon of lemon juice, and one teaspoon of salt. Purée until smooth again. Taste the soup and adjust the salt or lemon juice if desired.
- Serve immediately or chill until ready to eat.
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Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
This is the fresh produce that I used… I got a great deal on everything because just about all of it is in season right now. Cucumbers and bell peppers were both 2/$1. Parsley and cilantro are pretty inexpensive year round – they were $0.75/bunch today. Vidalia onions would also be great in place of the white onion.
You’ll want to remove the cucumber seeds as they won’t blend up well in the soup. Just slice the cucumber in half and then scrape them out with a spoon. I did not remove the skin of the cucumbers. Chop the cucumbers into small chunks before adding to the food processor.
Also chop the bell pepper and onion. You can add the garlic whole (but peeled). The processor was pretty much full at this point, so I processed until the vegetables were minced, just to make room for more ingredients.
Just a preliminary mincing of the veggies…
Next, add a handful (or about 1/4 bunch) of each parsley and cilantro. Scoop the avocado flesh from the skin and add it as well. I also added the olive oil at this point. The avocado makes it creamy and adds body. If you don’t add it the soup will just be a bunch of vegetable fiber floating around in juice… not nearly as cohesive (or appetizing).
The soup is almost done at this point, but it definitely needs a little sprucing up. I added a little lemon juice for brightness and just a little salt to help the flavors pop. I also added a cup of water to help it blend into a smoother texture and make it more soup-like.
See? Much smoother now… and DELICIOUS! Make sure to taste it and give it some adjustments. The amount of salt and lemon juice you will need will depend greatly on the size and flavor of your vegetables. They’re quite variable, so each batch will probably need some tweaking.
Yesss… dip some sour dough or focaccia bread in there. Mmmm.
Gorgeous!
What food do you recommend pairing with this soup to make a meal? I’ve calculated it at about 150 calories per serving and ideally I’d like to get to about 300. I was considering getting some crusty bread. Do you have any other recommendation?
Thanks Beth!
This would be a nice starter to any type of grilled meat. :)
Ehm, This recipe sounds great and I was very keen to try it. Tonight goes down as Take 1 unfortunately… The cucumbers I bought weren’t ‘fleshy’ enough and the avocado could have done with one more day next to the bananas… The soup ended up bitter and lumpy rather than creamy… Adding a little bit of agave syrup helped a little bit to solve the bitterness , but still I wasn’t happy with the result.
Since the mixture was packed with healthy ingredients I had a big glass anyway and put the rest into the fridge. for breaakfast. However, there will be a Take 2 soon and I am sure it will be as tasty and creamy as your recipe is meant to be and also worthy serving to my friends in the Netherlands.
I’ve tried a bunch of green gazpacho recipes this summer but this one is by far my favorite! Thank you so much!
The proportions in this were absolutely perfect! I don’t love cilantro, so I added it sparingly at first, but then decided to add the whole amount after tasting it. I was hoping to make it for my office’s charity bake sale (which is very loosely defined, obviously) this week, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it in a large enough batch to make it worth it. Saltine toffee candy it is, then! https://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/06/saltine-toffee-candy/
Thanks, Beth!
I’m trying to make a high-calorie soup for a friend after jaw surgery. Is there anything I can replace the water with, like milk or cream?
You could probably add a splash of cream, but I don’t think I’d add a lot. It would probably overpower the flavors. This, by nature, is a light and fresh soup.
ad a cocked potato and replace the water with yoghurt or sour cream….buttermilk works as well. switch from cilantro to dill… server cold with a drizzle of sun flour oil … it is delicious and filling … a true german (Berlin) recipe..
Can you suggest a substitution for the green pepper? I can’t eat nightshades, which includes all peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant. Looks delicious tho!
I think I’d simply leave them out and not worry about a replacement.
i added in fresh in season peas- was delish and could be a good sub for the peppers
I recently visited a restaurant in Washington DC named Bus Boys and Poets. I had the most amazing green tomato gazpacho there. Naturally, I immediately went work searching the internet for a way to recreate it and this recipe was an excellent base. I only used one cucumber and added 4 green tomatoes, 1jalapeno with seeds and ribs removed and replaced the water with 1/3 cup vinegar. Tasted almost exactly like what I had there ;)
I’ve made this a few times, and it’s great! Very refreshing for summertime. I like adding a bit more garlic and a jalapeño (plus some of the juice from a jar of pickled ones). It’s good with a dollop of yogurt mixed in, too.
What a lovely recipe!
I had an old tomato in my refrigerator and a jalapeno, so I decided to toss those in as well. Jalapeno created a little heat and a slightly smokey flavor.
My fiance has never had gazpacho, so I knew I had to make the best version possible and this has to be it!
Oh, I also made some homemade garlic, Parmesan, olive oil croutons, yum yum. They paired well and he is thoroughly enjoying the dish! Thanks a bunch for sharing.
Mmmmm….I’m enjoying this right now with some roasted garlic ciabatta and a veggie burger. Its the perfect end-of-summer celebration meal! Quick, easy, and no stove.
I actually used a blender no problem with unequal consistency and barely added any water (thank you cucumbers). However, I have a high end model (Breville) so results are going to vary.
I made a double batch of this for a dinner party and have a ton leftover. Any tips for how to use the extra? I’m a bit tired of eating it plain as a meal.
I wonder if you could mix in some sour cream and make it into a sort of dip or dressing for pasta? It might be okay to freeze for later, too. Try freezing one serving, then thawing it to see if it holds up.
Emily, cucumbers can be bitter sometimes. In fact, I just made a salad at my mom’s house today and I picked the cucumbers fresh from her greenhouse. I made sure to taste them and a few were quite bitter, they especially tend to be bitter at the ends, so as you cut off the end of a cucumber, touch the end to your tongue before discarding it to check for bitterness. Some, I had to cut down quite a bit to get rid of the bitter.
when you cut the ends of, rub them at the cut…a white juice will appear…wash it of and than peel the cucumber and no bitterness will occur
My soup came out a bit bitter – any ideas as to what might have done this? Maybe I didn’t scrub my cukes enough? I’m thinking perhaps it was some pesticide residue…
Adding more salt and lemon juice brightened it up but the bitterness was still underlying.
Hmm, it could have been the cilantro or just some of the other vegetables that were unusually bitter (cukes can sometimes be bitter if they’re not so fresh). A touch of sugar or honey can sometimes help cancel out that bitterness.
rub the cut ends with the cucumber and wash of the white juice which causes the bitterness
this looks great! can you make it ahead of time or will the avocado brown?
Mine stayed fresh and bright green for a few days at least :) The acid from the lemon juice and onion keeps the avocado from turning brown. Supposedly if you put a cut onion in a container with a sliced avocado that will also keep it from turning brown!
This was delicious! We took out the cilantro because we don’t like it, and didn’t miss the additional flavor. Would make it exactly as is (minus the cilantro) again. Thanks Beth for yet another great meal!