This watermelon rind gazpacho is a refreshing dish for hot days. It’s bright, fresh, flavorful, and comes together in 5 minutes flat! Thank you to The Watermelon Board for sponsoring this post.
Even though it has cooled off a little bit here as of today, I’m still in love with light and summery dishes. If it involves fresh, crisp veggies and herbs – and especially watermelon – count me in! This gazpacho covers all the bases – it’s beyond easy to make, packed with fresh flavor, and looks almost too pretty to eat.
Plus, it makes use of the watermelon rind! If you’ve never cooked with watermelon rind before: 1) that means you missed out on my watermelon rind coleslaw, so you should go make that ASAP! and 2) you’ll love how easily it blends into this soup, adding a cucumber-like freshness while cutting back on food waste.
You’ll find cucumber in most gazpacho recipes, but I swapped it out here for watermelon rind. They’re pretty similar in terms of texture and flavor – both are crisp and hydrating with a mild flavor. Watermelon rind also brings some pretty impressive nutrition stats to the table, adding vitamin C, vitamin B-6, and citrulline (which gives your blood and cardiovascular health a boost) to the mix!
Gazpacho is seriously one of the easiest dishes you can make. Just roughly chop everything (or don’t, depending how good your blender is) and toss it in a blender or food processor – et voila, you’ve got soup!
This soup is delicious on its own, but the garnishes really take it to the next level texture-wise! I suggest adding finely chopped watermelon and red onion for crunch, diced avocado and a drizzle of olive oil for creaminess (and to cut through the zingy red onion and jalapeno flavors), and basil for color and freshness. So good!
Here’s the full recipe!
Watermelon Rind Gazpacho
This watermelon rind gazpacho is a refreshing dish for hot days. It’s bright, fresh, flavorful, and comes together in 5 minutes flat!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups diced watermelon rind, green skin removed
- 1/2 large or 1 small red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed
- 4 heaping cups diced watermelon
- 1 large tomato, roughly chopped
- 5-6 leaves fresh basil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- for garnish: finely diced watermelon, red onion, and avocado, fresh basil leaves, olive oil
Instructions:
- Place the watermelon rind, red onion, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until finely chopped.
- Add the watermelon, tomato, basil, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Blend again until mostly pureed, with a little texture left. You can also puree until completely smooth if you'd like!
- Refrigerate to save (this tastes even better the next day), or pour into bowls, garnish, and enjoy.
Can’t get enough watermelon recipes? Here are a few other easy and tasty recipes I’ve made in partnership with my friends at The Watermelon Board:
Have you ever made gazpacho? How about watermelon or watermelon rind gazpacho?
