Cucumber Gazpacho

This cucumber gazpacho recipe is made with avocado and soaked cashews for a creamy texture highlighted with bright lime, basil and mint flavors. It’s the perfect refreshing chilled summer soup.

*This post is sponsored by Mary’s Gone Crackers. All content and opinions are my own.

My love affair with gazpacho started in 2002 when I spent a college semester living abroad in Málaga, Spain.

My host family served it for lunch at least 3 times a week and nothing was as delicious as that perfectly chilled soup during the hot days of September in southern Spain.

I remember trying to sneak peeks into the kitchen when the housekeeper was prepping it (she boiled the tomatoes first) to get a gist for the recipe.

But that was well before the days of food being what I make a living off of.

It’s one of my biggest regrets in life that I never fully wrote down the whole recipe.

Fast forward a few years and many trials later, I came up with my own version of traditional gazpacho. It’s not exactly the same as my host family’s but it definitely hits the spot.

Since then, I’ve made cherry gazpacho and this chilled melon mango soup that could pass a gazpacho of sorts.

I’ve also made cold avocado soup that while not technically gazpacho, hits the same way.

And today, I’m adding to the list with a creamy, smooth yet bright and refreshing cucumber gazpacho.

It’s another great way to enjoy a chilled soup during the summer months and if you have cucumbers growing in the garden, it’s the perfect use for them outside of homemade pickles!

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE CUCUMBER GAZPACHO

This is a raw, fresh gazpacho recipe made with cucumbers instead of tomatoes.

Naturally, gazpacho is gluten-free and vegan and I kept this recipe true to that as well.

It just swaps out cucumbers for tomatoes with a few “creamy” elements that make it more “soup” like than “smoothie” like.

• English cucumbers
• Avocado
• Soaked cashews
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Lime
• Basil
• Mint
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• Water
• Salt and pepper

HOW TO MAKE CUCUMBER GAZPACHO

Unlike my host family in Spain, I don’t cook the tomatoes before making my traditional gazpacho recipe.

I think part of the beauty of gazpacho is the ease of making it and so the only prep work to this cucumber gazpacho is roughly chopping vegetables and soaking some cashews, there’s no pre-cooking involved.

Step one is to soak plain cashews.

You can either do this overnight at room temperature or, use my preferred method of soaking in boiling water for 15 minutes instead – way quicker and no planning ahead necessary.

While the cashews soak, roughly chop and prep the remaining ingredients like the avocado, shallot, garlic and cucumber and add everything to a blender except the water.

Add the soaked cashews once softened and blend until smooth and creamy.

With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the water until the gazpacho is at the consistency you prefer.

I usually use about 1/4 cup of water to thin it out a bit.

Once it’s reached the desired consistency, chill the soup (either in the blender or poured into a bowl) for at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you have the time to give it a solid 1-2 hours in the fridge, even better.

HOW TO SERVE CUCUMBER GAZPACHO

Like a smoothie bowl, gazpacho is just as much about the toppings as it is the soup itself.

My family in Spain always served their gazpacho with pretzel looking breadsticks they called coquitos.

They taught me to break them apart into smaller pieces and sprinkle on top of the gazpacho with a healthy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to finish it off.

Let me tell you, those two elements made the soup.

So with this cucumber gazpacho, I thought long and hard about the toppings knowing I needed a good crunch factor to balance out the creamy base of cucumbers, avocados and cashews.

Enter Mary’s Gone Crackers super seed crackers.

I’ve long loved Mary’s as my gluten-free cracker of choice with their simple, straight-forward organic ingredient list.

It’s also a huge bonus that they don’t use any seed oils (not an easy thing to find in the gluten-free cracker market!) whatsoever.

Their crackers are just wholesome ingredients smashed together in cracker form.

And the super seed variety with added pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds and poppy seeds adds extra crunch making them perfect for topping the cucumber gazpacho.

Besides the crackers, some thinly sliced cucumbers (even better if you pickle them!), fresh mint and basil and a generous drizzle of olive oil finish off the gazpacho perfectly.

But the toppings options are quite endless.

Toasted nuts, seeds, edible flowers, even some beans or grilled shrimp to make it more of a meal are all great additions too.

Some pickled garlic scapes would be a lovely tangy addition chopped up on top as well!

Maybe even try a colorful spoonful of mango habanero salsa to bring some sweetness and heat or a dollop of pesto like my easy zucchini pesto recipe.

SHOULD I PEEL AND SEED THE CUCUMBERS?

My answer to this question is dependent on what type of cucumber you choose for the gazpacho.

The recipe calls for English cucumbers which by nature, have a very thin edible peel and small seeds.

If using English cucumbers as directed, peeling or seeding the cucumber is not necessary.

If you only have regular cucumbers on hand (which is fine!), I do suggest peeling and seeding first.

I’ve found many people (aka my dad) say they dislike cucumbers only to realize it’s the more bitter peel they dislike and not the actual cucumber itself.

HOW TO STORE GAZPACHO

This cucumber gazpacho recipe will keep for a few days in the fridge in an air tight container.

As the gazpacho sits, the water may separate from the soup a bit.

No worries, just stir well before serving to homogenize all the ingredients again.

I don’t suggest freezing it or keeping for much longer than 3 days in the refrigerator.

MORE TIPS TO MAKING THE BEST CUCUMBER GAZPACHO

– Make sure to use a small clove of garlic in the recipe. Since the garlic (and the whole gazpacho) is raw, the flavor is strong. If you don’t have a small clove of garlic, chop it in half before using. Trust me!

– To add a bit of spice, try throwing some jalapeño into the blender. I recommend starting off with a small amount of a seeded jalapeño and increasing from there depending on heat tolerance.

– If you want to try other herbs, cilantro is a great swap for the mint and basil that will also provide a nice “brightness” to the gazpacho.

– A good vegan alternative to using soaked cashews in the gazpacho for creaminess is a plant based yogurt (I like coconut yogurt). If dairy isn’t an issue, whole fat plain Greek yogurt or even a plain kefir can work. You’d likely not need additional water if subbing in yogurt or kefir for cashews. Coconut milk (like I use in my Thai pea soup) is another option but the flavor profile will definitely take on a “coconutty” tone and change the intended vibe of this refreshing soup a bit.

On those 90+ degree summer days when cooking is the last thing you want to do, I can’t recommend a chilled soup like this enough.

It’s a no-cook, 15 minute recipe that fits every dietary niche.

And, it’s a healthy, cooling, bright and fresh way to eat that we all sort of crave in summertime.

Enjoy it as a light entrée by itself or, as an appetizer to a larger meal.

If you love traditional gazpacho, I hope you give this cucumber version a try too.

I think you might find it even more refreshing than the classic!

MORE CUCUMBER RECIPES TO TRY:

Cucumber melon salad
Serrano cucumber margarita
Creamy cucumber salad with pickled red onions