This creamy Tomato Gazpacho is served with luscious shrimp and crusty bread to make a refreshing, well-rounded summer meal.
Why You Should Try This Gazpacho
This is my twist on a traditional gazpacho or Spanish chilled soup. If you enjoy a smooth and creamy version, rather than a chunky one, you’re in the right place. Adding a little bit of bread helps thicken it perfectly.
My version gets a kick of acidity from the vinegar, but only uses a small amount of garlic, as to avoid overpowering the flavor of the other vegetables. Adding shrimp and bread creates a filling, nutritionally balanced meal that’s perfect for a warm day.
Ingredient Notes
Tomatoes: Using good quality, ripe tomatoes is the most important part of this recipe. Large, heirloom varieties are ideal, but beefsteak tomatoes also work well. For the topping, grape or cherry tomatoes are great choices.
Onion: I prefer to use shallots for their mild flavor, but you can use any white, yellow or red onion you prefer.
Cucumber: Any type of cucumber is fine, but I tend to use English cucumbers, because they have fewer seeds.
Shrimp: Of course, the fresher the better. You could also skip the shrimp and serve the gazpacho on its own.
Recipe Steps
To achieve an extra smooth gazpacho, peeling the tomatoes makes all the difference. I simply score a small ‘x’ on the bottom of the tomatoes (photo 1) and place them in boiling water for 15-60 seconds or until the skin just starts to peel away.
Then, place the tomatoes directly in ice water (photo 2). Once cooled, remove from the water, pat dry and remove the skin (photo 3). Chop tomatoes into chunks.
Next add the tomatoes, remaining vegetables, bread and olive oil to a blender and process until smooth (photos 4-5). Add vinegar and salt to taste. Eat immediately or refrigerate at least an hour or two for the best results.
Before serving, cut and season the tomatoes for the topping (photo 6), warm up some bread and cook the shrimp (see below).
Recipe Tips and FAQs
- If your tomatoes are very firm, allow them to ripen on the counter for a few days before making the gazpacho.
- To save time, prepare the gazpacho the night before you plan to eat it. Take it out of the fridge about 10 minutes before serving so it’s not too cold.
- If you find great yellow, heirloom tomatoes for the soup base, try using those with a yellow bell pepper to make a yellow soup.
- To start add 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Taste it and add more, as desired.
High quality ingredients make a good gazpacho. Use ripe, sweet tomatoes, plenty of good extra virgin olive oil and a good quality sherry or red wine vinegar.
Gazpacho tastes best after it chills in the fridge for an hour or two after blending the ingredients. You can refrigerate leftovers for about 4-5 days.
Related Recipes
- Salmorejo (Gazpacho with ham, egg and croutons)
- Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
- White Gazpacho with Cucumbers and Grapes (Ajo Blanco)
- Creamy Pea Soup with Pancetta and Croutons
- Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas
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Gazpacho with Shrimp
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This creamy Tomato Gazpacho is served with luscious shrimp and crusty bread to make a refreshing, well-rounded summer meal.
Ingredients
Soup:
- 2 pounds large, ripe red tomatoes, preferably heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes
- ½ medium shallot, roughly chopped, or 2 tablespoons of any onion of your choice
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed in garlic press
- ¾ cup peeled and chopped cucumber
- 1 medium red bell pepper, stems and seeds removed, chopped into chunks
- ½ cup white bakery bread, crust removed, chopped into large chunks
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
Toppings:
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail attached if desired
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 cup cherry or grape heirloom tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
- Crusty bread, for serving
Instructions
- Blanch and peel tomatoes (optional): Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Use a pairing knife to score an ‘x’ on the bottom of each tomato. Place ice and cold water in a large bowl. Blanch tomatoes for 15-60 seconds in boiling water or until peel starts to pull away. Shock in ice water. When cool, remove from water, pat dry and remove skin. Chop in large chunks.
- Blend: Add tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, shallot, garlic and bread to a blender, and process until smooth. Stream in olive oil while blending until emulsified.
- Season and Chill: Add salt and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Taste and add more salt and vinegar, as desired. Eat soup right away, or chill for at least 1-2 hours for optimal results.
- Cook shrimp: Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, followed by shrimp. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Prepare topping: Place halved cherry tomatoes in a bowl, season with salt and stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Serve: Ladle soup into bowls. Top with a couple shrimp, tomatoes, chives and fresh cracked pepper. Serve with remaining shrimp and crusty bread for dunking. Enjoy.
Notes
- 2 pounds is about 4 very large heirloom tomatoes or 5 beefsteak tomatoes.
- ¾ cup chopped cucumber is about 5 ounces. I usually use an English cucumber. Scoop out the seeds if you’re using a standard cucumber.
- You need about 1 ounce of bread. I often use sourdough or Italian bread from the bakery section of my grocery store.
- 1 cup of cherry tomatoes is about 5 ounces
- For a smoother gazpacho with less bitterness, remove the seeds of the tomatoes before placing them in the blender.
- Prep Time: 55 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: Spanish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 oz shrimp + ¼ of soup
- Calories: 490
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 190mg
- Fat: 37g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 32g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 26g
- Cholesterol: 180mg
Sounds good gonna try this one!
Great 🙂
Such a pretty and flavourful summer soup! And I love those heirloom tomatoes.
Thank you, Angie!
The bread is a nice touch, haven’t seen it used before in gazpacho either. Living in the tropics means even though it’s technically winter in this part of the world I have loads of beautiful fresh tomatoes to play with, thinking this recipe may just have to join the weekly meals.
That’s awesome, Anna! I hope you like it!
I’ve never had anything like this before so this looks great to try. Love the colours in your photos as well. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, Karl!
Lovely post – beautiful photos! It looks so delicious I want to put my spoon right through the computer and eat it up!
Hahah. Thank you, Julie 🙂