Beet Gazpacho- a simple, delicious chilled beet soup with cucumber, avocado, and fresh dill – healthy and low calorie! Vegan and Gluten free!
This luscious Beet Gazpacho is simple and easy to make and full of healthy fresh summer ingredients. A chilled beet soup, it’s topped with diced avocado, crunchy cucumber, onion, beet and fresh dill and a very optional drizzle of olive oil or swirl of yogurt. To my palate, the beets are so silky naturally, they need no additional fat, but try it for yourself and see.
Though it may appear complicated, it is actually a snap to make easily made in 15 minutes if the beets are precooked. The finely diced veggies give it a wonderful texture and delicious fresh flavor. I find that it is easiest to cook the beets the night before and let them chill overnight in the fridge so they are cold when you go to make the soup the next day.
How to Make Beet Gazpach0|a 30-second Video
These lovely guys were part of my CSA from Urban Eden Farm this month. What’s so satisfying about being a part of a CSA is that when you are literally invested in a farm, not only are you truly supporting your local community, you get to know the growers… and for some reason, I swear, it makes your food taste better! I’d like to believe it’s because the plants are treated with such care and respect, that somehow this affects them on a cellular level. Why not? At least that’s what I’d like to believe.
Have I ever told you that both my grandfathers were farmers? My Finnish grandfather and my Egyptian grandfather, both growing what they could given their unique and different geography. Pavo and Gaballah. I’ve never met them, they left this world before I arrived, but I think of them often, working the soil, caring for the plants, harvesting and selling their produce. Not an easy life. Because of this, I have a tender spot for farmers, who labor mainly out of love.
After the beets are cooked and chilled, the soup comes together in minutes – simply blend it up! And for the record, it really is this color, with no color editing in photoshop – a bright and gorgeous fuchsia!
Hope you love this as much as I do!!
Beet Gazpacho
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
- Yield: 4
- Category: Chilled Soup, Vegan, Soups, Gluten free
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: greek
Description
Beet Gazpacho- a refreshing and delicious cold beet soup with cucumber, avocado, and fresh dill. Vegan and Gluten free.
Ingredients
- ¾ lb beets ( 4 medium beets, smaller than a tennis ball, 3 inches in diameter)
- ¼ cup red or sweet onion, finely diced, divided
- 1–2 garlic cloves ( 1 large or 2 two small)
- 3 small turkish cucumbers, divided
- ½ C fresh dill, divided
- 2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon fresh pepper
- Garnishes- avocado, diced cucumber, diced beet, finely diced onion, chopped dill, baby nasturtium leaves, olive oil or yogurt or sour cream
Instructions
- Place beets in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer until fork tender all the way through, about 45- 60 minutes. Chill beets and their cooking liquid.
- Once beets are cold, slip off their skins using your hands. Slice and place 3 of the 4 beets ( saving one) in a blender with 2 Cups of the cold cooking liquid ( or use ice water, or cold veggie stock). Add the half of the chopped onion( about ⅛ cup) , 2 garlic cloves, 2 sliced turkish cucumbers ( saving one) salt, pepper, vinegar and about ⅔ of the fresh dill ( saving some for garnish). Blend until very smooth. Taste and adjust salt and vinegar. Place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Prep the garnishes. Finely dice remaining beet, cucumber, avocado and chop the remaining dill. Pour chilled beet soup (the colder it is, the better) into bowls. Top with with the garnishes. Drizzle with a little olive oil or a swirl of yogurt or sour cream if you like. Serve immediately!
Keywords: beet gazpacho, gazpacho, gazpacho recipe, cold soup, chilled soup, beet soup, beet soup recipes,
This soup looks amazing. I am wondering if it is possible to substitute a 15 ounce can of beets and 2 cups of liquid in the can for the fresh beets and hen continue on with the recipe. Looking forward to your thoughts
I bet that would work Marsha, but I havent tried. Perhaps make sure to taste the liquid before using? If it tastes strange use water?
I make a summer borscht but this gazpacho is much simpler and really delicious. I love the use of sherry vinegar for the acid, it works beautifully with the beets. I added yogurt which upped the creamy factor and paired it with your naan recipe and goat cheese for dinner at the end of a hot summer day. Thanks for another great recipe that didn’t have me in the kitchen all afternoon or heat up the house!
★★★★★
Great to hear you enjoyed this Sarah!
Made this recipe and was delighted with it. But I also misread the recipe and put the avocado directly into to blender, not on top as a garnish. And wow, was that a great mistake. It smoothed out the flavors, accented somehow the dill and made for a wonderful cool soup.
★★★★★
Love it Jean! Sometimes mistakes are the best!
I love this it’s easy to make and also very yammy. Should try it.😍
thanks- glad you enjoyed!
I enjoyed this soup – and it is beautiful! – but like another commenter found the garlic overpowering the bright fresh flavours of the cucumbers and beets. I would leave it out completely next time.
★★★★
Good to know, thanks Kathryn!
This was a very nice change from the usual tomato gazpacho—thanks! I pressure cooked the beets for speed and added a splash of balsamic vinegar to the chopped beet used for garnish because I wanted abit more complexity, and balsamic vinegar + beet is a great flavor combo. I also added a squirt of sriracha to the soup for a little heat. My nasturtiums aren’t ready but I had chive blossoms—so pretty and yummy. Really Silvia, I hope you are writing a cookbook—you have become a trusted palate!
★★★★
Bri, thanks and such a great idea to pressure cook the beets- do you remember how long? Whole or cut? I’ll note the recipe. 🙂
Lovely! Wish I had nasturtium leaves for the full impact but delicious without. Borscht-like but more delicate. I was looking for the perfect recipe for the local organic beets I just bought, and this is perfect! Next time I will try it with the easy-peasy packaged, cooked, peeled, chilled beets from the grocery store. They’re pretty good!
★★★★
Love this recipe! Looks fancy and healthy! Perfect for summer dinner!
★★★★
This was so good!!! My husband loved it! My second recipe from your site this week and they were both amazing!! So glad I found you!
★★★★★
Thanks I’m so glad you liked it!
I love beets . Perfect for summer you can also add in mayonnaise or sour cream. With cucumber is the best.
★★★★★
Spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really easy to make and so delicious and healthy! All at the same time. I didn’t have any sherry vinegar, so I used rice vinegar instead.
doubled the recipe, waay too much garlic. it was spicy with garlic that lingered for a while after eating.
substituted balsamic vinaigrette for sherry vinegar which might have also attributed to the spicy after taste.
besides that very refreshing and nice beet flavour.
★★★
I just made this, and it’s fantastic! I can’t believe the beautiful, deep, rich, red color; it actually surprised me. I garnished it with everything except the nasturtium, and swirled in a little Greek olive oil – delish!!!! I didn’t have sherry vinegar on hand, so I substituted champagne and balsamic. Such a WOW factor, I’ll make it for company for sure. I hope all of you Sylvia fans make this; it’s easy, fast, delicious, gorgeous and absolutely delicious. Thank you Sylvia, you’re amazing – every week!!
★★★★★
Aww… thanks Nanci, appreciate this!
I thought beets had iron in them? 🙁 I want this recipe to have lots of iron to make me strong and vital! Perhaps I shall use my powers of denial to produce the desired amounts of iron 😉 Seriously, I kove beets and alwats feel good after eating them. It would be really pretty to make 2 batches, one with red beets and one with yellow, and swirl them together, but the red us just so pretty! Thank you Sylvia! Enjoy Amsterdam & Berlin!
★★★★★
The Nettle soup has lots of iron!
I don’t have sherry vinegar… Can I use balsamic or apple cider vinegar instead? This looks so beautiful!
Yes, apple cider would work fine!
This turned out so great! The perfect summer recipe. And the colour was luscious!
Thank you!
★★★★★
Im so glad!
I have been searching for a good beet gazpacho for a while now. I first tried it at a restaurant called Root Down and fell in love with it. The restaurant no longer serves it so I have been looking for a suitable recipe so I can make it on my own. After many failed attempts, I think I have found the recipe! Thank you for sharing, I love it! I made a few minor changes just for my own personal taste (only used 3 beets, only used 1/4 cup dill because that is all I had, added more vinegar, added 8 oz Greek yogurt, and garnished with pumpkin seeds for texture). I bet the flavor just gets better with time too! Thanks again!!
★★★★★
You are so welcome Heather! so glad you like it!
How much vinegar?
2 Tablespoons and more to taste
Made it tonight. It turned out lovely. Thanks a lot !
★★★★★
Love this simple recipe (4 ⭐️) but I’m still torn… the BEST gazpacho I’ve ever had was with roasted beets!
★★★★
Sounds amazing but why is fat count so high?
Hello, this looks delicious.
Have you ever tried to freeze it and eat later?
Thanks, and no I’ve not tried freezing. Let us know how it turns out if you do….thanks!
Absolutely delicious! I ‘cheated’ and used pre-cooked beets, veggie stock and an English cucumber. My husband raved about the recipe. I love beets and go through periods of eating beet salad several times a week. This is a tasty alternative to a salad. Thank you Sylvia!
★★★★★
Love that you adapted and made this recipe even easier! Pre-cooked Beets! Great idea! Thanks for sharing Eve!
Is there something I can sub for the sherry vinegar? I can’t have vinegar. Maybe lemon juice?
Yes Hanna, try lemon!
Never had this before, tried it on a whim and it turned out fantastic, tastes way better than I was expecting!
thanks that’s awesome David, glad you like it!
nice yammy
i love this really
★★★★
I love the way this looks! The photography looks great. Thanks so much for sharing, I can’t wait to try it at home!
★★★★★
I made this last night for a dinner party and it was a hit. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks!
★★★★★
Thanks Ashley- glad you enjoyed and thanks for letting us know!
I made this last night for a dinner party and it was an absolute hit. I will definitely be making this again.
★★★★★
Sounds very interesting Sylvia, thank-you for sharing! I’ve never seen anything like this.
★★★★★
To save time, could I use canned whole beets?
You could….but trust me, it’s worth the time to use fresh!
What is a Turkish cucumber? I can’t find a description anywhere on the internet. The soup sounds delicious and I would like to make it!
Sometimes they are called Persian cucumbers…they are the really small thin cucumbers with thin, edible skin, usually about 5 inches long and 1- 1 ½ inches in diameter. If you can’t find them,not a big deal, you can always sub English cucumber.
Im going to make this soup tonight! However, I think im going to roast the beets and use vegetable stock in place of the cooking liquid. Im planning on storing the leftovers, in mason jars in the fridge, as this is going to be made as meal prep. Cant wait to taste it! Maybe ill roast the garlic too! 🙂
This looks delicious! But I only just found it now, and don’t know if I can pull off Gazpacho in the 35 degree weather. Do you think this would work as a warm soup, and if so do you have any suggestions/modifications?
Thanks!!
Yes, I think this may be more of a summertime soup…and I’m not sure about heating this one?? Maybe better off finding a borsht recipe? You could puree it if you wanted to, like this one, but serve warm?
I miss traditional gazpacho since I’m now allergic to tomatoes so this looks amazing. If using precooked beets, would I still need 3/4 lb, or does the weight stay relatively the same post-cooking?
You, know, that is a great question!! And I honestly don’t know. My guess is keep with the same amount, or perhaps slightly less?
This was delicious! I didn’t use dill, but used a little chopped fennel and fennel fronds in the soup and fronds for the garnish. I loved the texture of the diced avocado and the soup together.
Thanks Lynn! Fennel is a GREAT idea! Love it!
I love what you wrote about the food changing at a cellular level if it has been grown with love. It made me think of this experiment conducted in the 90’s, when a researcher literally changed the molecular formation of ice crystals when he sent various types of thoughts to them. When he said loving and kind phrases, the crystals would form into beautiful patterns. But if he said negative or angry words, the crystals would be misshapen and ugly. Of course, there are a million variables that could have gone into play there, but the idea is so interesting. And if thoughts can affect the structure of ice crystals, what sort of difference can a loving intention make for farmed food? It’s interesting to think about 🙂
(PS – here’s a great article on the experiment: http://www.highexistence.com/water-experiment/)
Sarah, coincidentally that is the exact research study that I was thinking about when I wrote this post. It convinced me this is possible with food too! Pretty fascinating. Thanks for the link– I wanted to post it myself but couldn’t find it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto#Scientific_criticism
I love that shockingly bright beautiful color! This looks so delicious.
Thanks Mary Frances…the color really is amazing. This really is its color, no photo editing on it!
Love the vibrant pink color of the soup! This beet gazpacho is bit like a modern version of Russian borscht soup 🙂
Yes, It is like a summer borscht!
What are Turkish cucumbers?
Tiny little cucumbers with thin edible skin. 5 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Also called Persian cucumbers. You can also sub english cucumber! or