Gazpacho

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities in the recipe below, divided by six servings.

Notable amounts: fat is almost entirely from the olive oil emulsified into the blend, and only about 2 g per serving is saturated. Fiber runs around 3 g per serving from the tomato, pepper and cucumber. No cooking is involved at any stage.

History

Gazpacho is a cold soup originating in Andalusia, in southern Spain, today made mainly from tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, garlic and stale bread, all blended with olive oil and a splash of vinegar. The oldest versions of the dish, predating the tomato’s introduction to Europe after the discovery of the Americas, were limited to a preparation of bread, water, garlic, olive oil and vinegar, with no red vegetables at all — eaten by Andalusian farm laborers to cool down and refuel during the summer heat in the fields.

The tomato, only introduced into the recipe in the 19th century, transformed the dish profoundly, giving it its characteristic red color and current flavor, while gradually pushing the original white version into obscurity (still made today under the name ajo blanco in some regions). Now widely consumed across Spain during the hot months and exported worldwide in ready-to-drink cartons, gazpacho remains above all seen as a refreshing symbol of Spanish summer.

Ingredients — for 6 people

• 1 kg (2.2 lb) ripe tomatoes
• 1 green pepper, 1 cucumber
• 1 garlic clove, 100 g (3.5 oz) stale bread
• 100 ml (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) olive oil, sherry vinegar
• Salt, cumin (optional)

Step-by-step Andalusian gazpacho recipe

1. Roughly chop the tomatoes, pepper and peeled cucumber.
2. Soak the stale bread in a little water for a few minutes, then gently wring it out.
3. Blend all the vegetables with the garlic, bread and vinegar until perfectly smooth.
4. Stir in the olive oil gradually in a thin stream while continuing to blend, to emulsify it well.
5. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove skins and seeds, if a perfectly smooth texture is desired.
6. Chill for at least 2 hours and serve very cold, garnished with a few diced raw vegetables.

Cooking method

Technique: cold blending with no cooking at all, the olive oil emulsified in gradually to bind the soup.

Traditional equipment: mortar and pestle in the oldest versions, a powerful blender today.

Benchmarks: always serve very cold, ideally after several hours of chilling; this is a dish enjoyed strictly ice-cold.

Economic context

Gazpacho’s original version — bread, water, garlic, oil and vinegar, with no red vegetables at all — was field-laborer food, designed to be as inexpensive as possible; the tomato-based version popularized in the 19th century remains built on similarly low-cost vegetables and bread.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Spain generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

Who this dish suits

What about you?

In your opinion, where’s the best place or restaurant to enjoy great gazpacho?

Also worth trying