Nutrition: 80 Calories | 6.2g Net Carbs | 1.4g Protein | 4.5g Total Fat
Need a cool and refreshing recipe for the summer? This Homemade Gazpacho with V8 is packed with vegetables and tons of flavor, and it’s easy to make too.
I’m so excited to share with you one of my family’s favorite summer recipes. When it gets hot out, this is a recipe we all look forward to. We were first introduced to gazpacho one hot summer evening, when a neighbor invited us over for a chilled dinner. A chilled dinner might sound kind of odd, but it’s just what you need when it’s so hot out you don’t feel like eating. The meal included cold chicken salad, some chilled salads and fruit, and gazpacho.
Gazpacho is a chilled vegetable soup. I couldn’t believe how refreshing and flavorful it is. After my family couldn’t stop talking about it, I had to get the recipe. This homemade gazpacho with V8 is so simple to make. It has a bunch of vegetables chopped up very small, and the kids eat them all. Just another reason to love this recipe. I usually make a large batch of the chilled soup so we can have it for a couple meals. I’ve even brought it camping; I store it in a large beverage pitcher with a lid. It’s the perfect snack to cool down after after playing outside all day.
Dice Bell Peppers
The bulk of the prep work for this recipe comes in the form of cutting vegetables. So, we’ll start with bell pepper. I usually use a yellow or orange bell pepper to add more color to the soup. However, you can use any color you choose. Red, yellow and orange bell peppers have a sweeter flavor than the green variety.
Start by cutting the pepper into large pieces, cutting downward instead of into rings. Discard the stem and seeds. Next, cut the large pieces into thin sticks called julienne. Lastly, cut the sticks into very small pieces. Check out the video below to learn the fastest way to cut a bell pepper. You should have about one cup of diced peppers when you’re done. Add them to a large mixing bowl.
Chop Some Celery
After the bell peppers, we’ll work on celery. The goal is for the celery pieces to be the same size as the pepper. After washing your celery, cut it into long this strips. They should be about 1/4 inch thick. I was able to get 4 thin sticks out of the smaller celery above. You might be able to get more sticks out of a larger piece of celery. After cutting your sticks, it’s time to chop the sticks into small pieces. Put the finely diced celery in the mixing bowl.
Dice Cucumbers
Next on the chopping list is cucumbers. For this recipe, the thin skinned varieties work the best because you don’t have to peel them and the seeds are easy to eat. They also are less bitter and have a sweeter flavor than regular cucumbers. I used small snacking cucumbers, but English cucumbers work great too. If you can only find regular cucumbers, peel them and scoop out the seeds first. There’s a video in This Post to show you how to remove the seeds.
To cut up your cucumbers, start by removing the ends. Then, cut them into long sticks, and dice the sticks into small pieces, just like you did with the celery and peppers. The goal is to have equal amounts of pepper, celery and cucumber that are all similar sized pieces.
Time for Tomatoes
Next in our recipe is tomatoes. You will have the more tomatoes than the rest of the vegetables, about 2 cups. Roma tomatoes work best for this recipe because they have a lower water content. Another time saving tip is you don’t have to peel the tomatoes. Peeling is good for some recipes because the skin can come off the tomato flesh and gives the dish a strange texture. This happens when the tomatoes are heated. Since the gazpacho is a chilled recipe, there’s no need unless you want to.
Start preparing the tomatoes by slicing off the top where the stem attached, and get rid of it. Next, put the flat side of the tomato on the cutting board, and cut it into thin slices. You can probably guess the next part. Cut the slices into sticks. Then, dice the sticks into small pieces. Add your chopped tomato to the mixing bowl.
Dice a Small Onion
Dicing an onion can be a bit tricky. The best way is to keep the root in tact while you’re cutting to hold the onion together. This makes the cutting faster. It’s also safer because the slippery onion isn’t moving around on you. Check out the video below to understand the steps better.
First, cut off the top of the onion, and cut it in half through the root. Then, peel the onion, and get rid of the skin. Place the flat side of the onion on the cutting board. Make slices in the onion parallel to the cutting board, but don’t cut through the root. Next, cut down through the onion in thin slices with the knife pointing toward the root. At this point your onion should still be connected by the root. Finally, hold the onion together and slice downward to the cutting board with the knife parallel to the root. Now you should have finely diced onion.
Mince Fresh Garlic
When cutting fresh garlic, start by removing the papery skin. Then, you have a couple options. You can use a garlic press if you have one, and add the pressed garlic to the bowl. Another option is to mince the garlic by hand as I did here. Start by cutting a garlic clove into thin slices. Cut the slices into sticks. Lastly, mince the sticks into very small pieces. Transfer the minced garlic to your mixing bowl.
Add Fresh Parsley and Green Onion
The last items to cut up are fresh parsley and green onion. So, remove the leaves of the parsley from the stems. Then roughly chop up the parsley leaves into small pieces. Next, thinly slice the green onions. Use the greens only, and save the whites for another recipe. Add the fresh herbs to your bowl.
V8 and a Few Other Seasonings
Once all the vegetable cutting is done, it’s time to add a few more ingredients to your mixing bowl. You’ll need 4 large cans of V8. Also, grab extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Add all your ingredients to the bowl. Then, give it a good stir to mix everything together.
I use regular V8 for making this recipe. You can also use the lower sodium version if you need, or try spicy V8 if you prefer a little kick. If you have another vegetable or tomato juice that’s your favorite, give that a try instead.
Refrigerate and Serve Chilled
After mixing the gazpacho, cover the soup and move it to the refrigerator. You’ll want the soup to be completely chilled. It will take at least four hours, but I usually let it chill overnight. Keep the homemade gazpacho with V8 in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. Add some croutons on top for a fun crunch and flavor if you like.
Other recipes to check out: Easy Layered Mediterranean Dip, Effortless Broiled Tomatoes with Pesto, and Easy Pickled Cauliflower Salad.
Simple Homemade Gazpacho with V8 – Chilled Vegetable Soup
Enjoy a delicious chilled soup filled with vegetables and delicious flavor. Homemade Gazpacho with V8 is perfect for those hot summer days and easy to make too.
Total Time: 4 Hours 25 Min
Prep Time: 25 Min
Inactive Time: 4 Hours – Overnight
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Finely Chopped Roma Tomatoes, about 4
- 1 Bell Pepper Finely Chopped, about 1 cup
- 3-4 Celery Stalks finely Chopped, about 1 Cup
- 1 Cup Finely Chopped Cucumber, about 2 mini cucumbers
- 1 Small Onion finely chopped, about 1/2 cup
- 4 tsp Minced Parsley
- 2 tsp Minced Chives or Green Onions
- 2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
- 6 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
- 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Worcestershire
- 4 Large Cans of V8 Vegetable Juice, 46oz
- Optional: Croutons for Garnish
Directions
- Finely dice all the vegetables, and add them to a large bowl.
- Add the vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and vegetable juice to the bowl.
- Stir all the ingredients together. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- When you’re ready to serve, give the soup another stir. Then, ladle the soup into bowls and top with croutons as desired.
Nutrition:
Yield: 12 Cups
Amount Per Cup: Calories: 80, Total Fat: 4.5g, Saturated Fat: 0.7g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 553.9mg, Carbohydrates: 7.9g, Fiber 1.7g, Sugars: 5.3g, Protein 1.4g
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