Roasted Garlic Gazpacho
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Instead of raw onions, this gazpacho is made with mellow, sweet roasted garlic.
Gazpacho is a cold Spanish-style soup made from tomatoes, olive oil, wine vinegar, and other vegetables. It’s typically loaded with raw onions and garlic, so every time I see it on a restaurant menu, I have an inner dialogue weighing how much I love it against how much I’ll regret eating it later. I wanted to come up with a recipe that was flavorful but without sharp and lingering aftereffects, so I replaced the traditional raw onions and garlic with lots of mellow, sweet roasted garlic. It turned out vibrant and full of robust tomato flavor—and you can eat it ’til your heart’s content because it goes down smooth.
What You’ll Need to Make Roasted Garlic Gazpacho
Step-by-Step Instructions
Gazpacho is incredibly easy to make. Aside from the roasted garlic in this recipe, everything is raw. You simply blitz all the vegetables in a food processor, then stir in the liquid ingredients and seasoning.
Begin by roasting the garlic cloves over medium heat in a small dry pan. When the skins are browned and the cloves are soft, they’re done.
In the meantime, chop the vegetables into large chunks.
Peel the roasted garlic and scrape off any char.
Add the peeled cloves to the bowl of a food processor and blitz to purée, then add the chopped tomatoes and pulse until coarsely chopped. Be careful not to overmix; you want the soup to be slightly chunky.
Transfer the tomato mixture to a bowl, then add the chopped bell peppers and cucumbers to the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
Add the vegetables to the bowl with the tomatoes, then pour in the tomato juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and seasoning.
That’s all there is to it. Cover the soup and refrigerate until ready to serve — the longer it sits, the better it tastes. I love it simple and ungarnished, but you can also top it with croutons, sliced avocado or chopped hard-boiled eggs.
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Roasted Garlic Gazpacho
Instead of raw onions, this gazpacho is made with mellow, sweet roasted garlic.
Ingredients
- 8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 English or hothouse cucumber, halved, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks (do not peel)
- 5 cups tomato juice, such as Campbells's (not the low sodium)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, best quality such as Colavita or Lucini
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar, best quality such as Pompeian Gourmet
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Tabasco (optional)
Instructions
- Place the unpeeled garlic cloves in a small skillet over medium heat; cook, turning occasionally, until soft and blackened in spots, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool, then remove skins (they should slip right off) and scrape off any char.
- Add the peeled roasted garlic to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse, scraping down sides as necessary, until garlic is finely puréed. Add the chopped tomatoes and pulse until coarsely chopped. Do not overmix; the soup should be slightly chunky. Transfer the tomato mixture to an extra large bowl. Add the red bell peppers and cucumbers to the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped; add to the bowl with the tomato mixture. Stir in the tomato juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and Tabasco. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and chill until ready to serve. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. Serve cold.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 164
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Sugar: 13g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
- Sodium: 612mg
- Cholesterol: 0mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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We are actually beating the squirrels to our heirloom tomatoes! Made this in my blender— 15 minutes total! The roasted garlic is a game changer! Great gazpacho– thanks, Jenn!
Carol H B
Jenn, can’t wait to make this. I buy garlic with the cloves already peeled. Can I roast them in the over\n and how would I do that
Hi Carol, I’ve never roasted peeled garlic, so I looked it up and found this on the kitchn: Heat oven to 375ºF. Line a pie pan or baking dish with foil. Put the garlic cloves in the center then drizzle olive oil on top. Fold up the foil packet and seal tightly. Bake for about 45-60 minutes or until soft. Hope that helps and that you enjoy the gazpacho!
45 minutes was perfect, any longer and they turned black. I have been making gazpacho for over 50 years, a similar recipe, but with onions and raw garlic. Can’t decide which I liked better, maybe this one. I added sliced chives and tore up some good ciabatta rolls to make garlic croutons, Have been eating it for the last few days. So easy, so good.
Hi Jenn,
I can’t wait to make this soup tomorrow for my husband and I as we’ve LOVED all of your gazpacho’s we’ve tried (starting with the golden orange gazpacho with basil from your first cookbook…amazing)! I was wondering if you think balsamic vinegar could stand in here in place of the red wine vinegar. I loved that combo in your chilled roasted red pepper soup and thought it might work well here also. Any thoughts are appreciated and thanks for all you do to help us home cooks keep our families well fed!
Thanks for your kind words – so glad you like the recipes! You can use balsamic vinegar; just keep in mind that it will give the soup a sweeter flavor than the red wine vinegar. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Thanks for the speedy reply Jenn! I’m serving it with the savory tapenade bread from “The New Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day”, and thought a little sweetness would go nicely with it. I’ll let you know how it comes out!
Hello Jenn,
One additional thing that I discovered on this recipe was roasting garlic. I have friends who buy the roasted garlic pre-made in the container at the grocery. I recently bought a pound of raw just for the pleasure of roasting it. That pound ended up filling an recycled empty jar of about 16oz. The roasting, the smell, the peeling and stickiness of garlic is a great experience good enough to inspire future kid chefs.
My question is how to use the roasted garlic as an appetizer? Do you have a sauce recommendation?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Keith, So glad you enjoyed the roasted garlic! Here are some ideas:
– Spread it onto crusty bread drizzled with olive oil and add fresh herbs
– Blend it into hummus
– Mix it with softened butter and herbs, then spread on bread
– Use it with tomatoes and basil for bruschetta
– Spread it on toasted baguette slices, top with brie or camembert, and broil until the cheese is melty
This recipe is delicious and refreshing. I gave some to neighbors who became fans.
After Jenn told me that 4 large tomatoes equaled about 2 pounds, I used to enormous heirloom tomatoes from a neighbor. I followed the recipe with only the following exceptions:
V-8 instead of tomato juice (smaller bottle than the tomato juice)
A yellow and purplish pepper that I had
Eliminated the additional salt (I didn’t think it needed it.)
I will definitely make this again. Thanks Jenn for yet another recipe added to my Jenn collection!
What is the average weight of the 4 large tomatoes you use? The reason I’m asking is that my neighbor just gave me 2 heirloom tomatoes that together weigh about 2 1/2 lbs.
Thanks
Hi Susan, it’s a guesstimate but I’d say each tomato weighs approximately 8 ounces, so 4 of those would be the equivalent of two pounds. 🙂
Thanks. I’m making it today.
Ola Jenn,
Thank you once again for another super tasty and fun recipe. I will confess to channeling some Fernand Petiot and used spicey Bloody Mary mix instead of the tomato juice! Good to the last drop to borrow another tagline.
It’s been a million degrees where I live and my house doesn’t have a/c, therefore I’ve been living off this delicious, cold soup for over a week now! Healthy, refreshing and easy to make. Thank you for having a perfect recipe for every season 😊