Golden Gazpacho

The white beans replace the bread that most gazpacho recipes use as a thickener and body builder. The result is the same smoothness, but with protein that makes this a more substantial bowl than the classic version typically offers. Everything goes into the blender raw, the bell pepper could be roasted first to add a smokier depth, and it is worth knowing that option exists, but the unroasted version is brighter and more vivid in flavor, which suits the yellow palette of this soup. Sherry wine vinegar is the acid that sharpens everything and keeps the sweetness of the yellow tomatoes and pepper from going flat.

Chill it well before serving, even overnight if you prefer. Gazpacho is at its best very cold, which is also when the flavors are most distinct. Two bowls, no stove, and a soup that can be made ahead and kept in the fridge until you need it. In the height of summer, when turning on the oven feels like a personal failing, this is the recipe that makes dinner genuinely easy.

Why Would You Love This

Raw vegetables blended without cooking retain a brightness that heat destroys. Yellow tomatoes and yellow bell pepper at peak summer ripeness have a sweetness and snap in their raw state that disappears the moment they go in a pot, and that freshness is what makes gazpacho worth making rather than just opening a carton of soup. The white beans are doing structural work: they give the soup body and protein without bread’s starchiness, and their neutral flavor stays entirely in the background. Sherry wine vinegar is the acid that keeps all that sweetness from going flat, it sharpens the soup without adding heat or bitterness. Time in the fridge is the final ingredient: the flavors are distinct immediately after blending but become cohesive and more complex after a few hours, and properly cold is when this soup is at its best.

_{This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.}

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.

• Yellow tomatoes – you can select small tomatoes or heirloom tomatoes.
• Yellow bell pepper
• Sweet onion
• Cucumber
• White beans
• Garlic
• Sherry wine vinegar – you can also use white wine vinegar
• Olive oil

How to Make Golden Gazpacho

Step 1 – Cut bell pepper and onion in chunks. Peel and seed the cucumber and cut in pieces.

At this point you can pour the mixture through a strainer or food mill or leave as is. I personally prefer to keep it as is. By straining the soup, you’re straining out all the texture, all the fiber as well. Keep the soup in a container in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours, but preferably overnight. This way all the flavors will marry into one cohesive delightful soup.

Finish the soup with tomato halves, freshly cracked pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Alternatives & Substitutes

• It goes without saying that you can make a more traditional gazpacho by using red tomatoes instead of yellow.
• Add some green tomatoes for more tang.
• Use white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar instead of sherry vinegar.
• You can roast the bell pepper first and remove the skin before you add it to the blender. It adds a slightly smoky flavor. Read this to see how to roast and remove the skin from bell peppers.
• Add some corn to the soup to add sweetness.

Other Tomato Soups to Try