Recipe
🥗 STARTER
Gazpacho Andaluz
The cold soup of the Spanish south: ripe tomatoes, cucumber, and pepper blended silky-smooth with olive oil and sherry vinegar.
Spanish (Andalusian) · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 0 min
~104 cal · 5g protein · 21g carbs · 2g fat · 6g fiber · 11g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Gazpacho is the drinkable lunch of the Andalusian summer, invented by field workers who needed to eat and cool down at once under a punishing sun. Long before tomatoes arrived from the Americas, it was stale bread, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and water pounded together in a wooden bowl, a way to turn hard bread and a little oil into a reviving meal.
The bright red tomato version the world knows is the modern face of a much older, humbler dish, and in Andalusia it is a staple rather than a novelty: a jug of it lives in nearly every fridge in Seville and Cordoba through the hot months. Blended smooth and served ice-cold, it is as likely to be drunk from a glass as spooned from a bowl.
It is nutrition and cool relief in one: raw vegetables, good oil, and acidity that wakes up a heat-dulled appetite. Its paler cousin, ajoblanco, made with almonds and garlic, tells the same story from the days before the tomato ever reached Spain.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2.5 lbs very ripe tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1/2 green pepper (Italian frying type)
1 small clove garlic
1 thick slice stale white bread, crusts off
1/3 cup, plus more to finish extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1.5 cups cold water
1 tsp fine salt
a small bowl diced cucumber, to garnish
a small bowl diced pepper, to garnish
a small bowl croutons (picatostes), to garnish
Instructions
1
Soak the bread in a splash of water. Roughly chop the vegetables.
2
Blend tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, garlic, bread, vinegar, salt, and the cold water until completely smooth, 2 full minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Andalusians argue about two things here. Onion divides households: many families never put it in the blender and only offer it finely chopped as a garnish. And the pepper should be green Italian frying pepper, not red, whose sweetness cuts across the flavour. A pinch of cumin is a common family touch.
3
With the motor running, stream in the olive oil so the soup emulsifies and turns a shade paler and silkier.
4
Pass through a sieve for restaurant-smooth texture (optional but Andalusian).
5
Chill at least 2 hours. Serve very cold with the garnishes, or simply drink it from a glass like Seville does.
Sevillian summer tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Andalusia. Andalusia, sun-baked and Moorish-influenced, gave the world gazpacho, fried fish (pescaíto frito), and the tapeo culture of tapas. Olive groves, sherry, and jamón define southern Spain's table.
🗺️
Spain. Spanish clocks explain Spanish menus. Lunch is a proper sit-down affair at two or three in the afternoon and dinner rarely begins before nine or ten, with a merienda in between to bridge the gap. The sobremesa, the stretch of talking that follows a meal with nobody clearing the table, is counted as part of the meal rather than the end of it.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Spain
Paella de Verduras (Valencian Vegetable Paella)Saffron rice cooked wide and shallow until it forms the prized socarrat crust, loaded with market vegetables.
Tortilla EspañolaThe potato-and-egg omelette that anchors every Spanish bar, flipped whole, argued about forever.
MarmitakoA Basque tuna and potato stew built on choricero pepper pulp, fishermen’s food, cooked on the boat between catches.
Browse all Spain recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Blender.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Spain meal
SangriaDrink
Tarta de SantiagoDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Tarator (Cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup)Bulgaria
Šaltibarščiai (Cold Beet Soup)Lithuania
KholodnikBelarus
Soupe au PistouMonaco
RibollitaItaly
SpasArmenia
Frequently asked questions
What is Gazpacho Andaluz?
The cold soup of the Spanish south: ripe tomatoes, cucumber, and pepper blended silky-smooth with olive oil and sherry vinegar.
Where does Gazpacho Andaluz come from?
Gazpacho Andaluz is a Spanish (Andalusian) dish from Andalusia, Spain.
Can Gazpacho Andaluz be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Gazpacho Andaluz recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Gazpacho Andaluz safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Gazpacho Andaluz take to make?
About 20 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.