Cold soups for hot days. (Who wants to stand over a stove?)

Whew! It has been a hot summer–the air conditioner has been working overtime–so the last thing we want is to stand over a hot stove. But fear not. There’s a delicious solution that will keep you cool, nourished, and out of the kitchen: cold soups.

In this article, we share some of chilled soups that we’re making on those scorching summer days, the super stars of my recipe files. From the crisp coolness of cucumber to the earthy sweetness of beets, and from a (not quite) classic gazpacho to surprising melon and corn concoctions, these recipes offer a tasty escape from the heat.

These no-cook or minimal-cook options are not only refreshing but also packed with nutrients to keep you energized. So as Month Python might say, bring our blender! Let’s dive into these easy, elegant cold soups that will become your new summer staples.

Chilled Beet and Buttermilk Soup

Beets may seem like a winter vegetable, but when combined with cool buttermilk and a few sprigs of dill, beets are transformed into a satisfying soup that’s a summer staple in Lithuania, Poland, where it’s called chłodnik. In other Eastern European countries it might be called borscht.

This recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Restaurant Favorites cookbook is a slimmed-down version of the traditional that does not sacrifice flavor for simplicity. I used a 4 oz. container of applesauce instead of apple juice (for no other reason than I didn’t have any juice; it worked) and added a splash of lemon juice. Chilled beet soup is traditionally served with hard boiled eggs, halved or roughly chopped, and a few sprigs of dill. Get the recipe from newtonfarm.pbworks.com.

The New York Times’ Chilled Melon Soup

I have been making this soup since it first appeared in The New York Times magazine in 1996. It seemed like such an unusual way to eat melon and was quite radical in its day. The number and variety of fruit soups has exploded over the past decade, but this remains my favorite. I made some tweaks (improvements) to the Times recipe, which Blue Hare published in 2019. You’ll the recipe in Chilled Corn and Melon Soups to Savor the End of Summer.

Cold Cucumber and Yogurt Soup with Fresh Herbs

The originator of the expression “cool as a cucumber” must have had this soup in mind. So simple to make and refreshing to eat. This cool, refreshing cucumber soup from Andrew Zimmern, by way of Food & Wine magazine, gets body from a healthy portion of cucumbers, tang and creaminess from Greek yogurt, and big, summery flavor from lots of fresh herbs–parsley, dill, and tarragon.

I made this as written and it was luscious, but might be heavy on thee herbs for some. Adjust as needed to suit your tastes. Fresh tarragon may be difficult to find; the recipe will work without it. The recipe is at foodandwine.com.

Zesty Lazy Blender Gazpacho

The recipe for this flavorful soup comes from the most unlikely place: Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Cookbook. Published in 1961 it was the first cookbook my mother gave me. The cookbooks I’ve added to my library since then take up five shelves in three bookcases and include venerable names like Julia Child and Marcella Hazen. But Amy’s book has recipes that have remained my favorites, including this one for gazpacho.

Cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers, with the help of some garlic, olive oil, and sherry vinegar metamorphose into a layered mix of flavors with just a little bite provided by a dash of Tabasco sauce. I made a few minor changes to the original recipe, which was written when ingredients such as sherry wine vinegar were all but unknown in the United States, and few slices of white bread, which thickens the concoction and is a standard in Andalusia. My final, major departure is to throw everything into a blender instead of manually cutting all of the ingredients into fine dice by hand.

Garnishes for gazpacho can be minced cucumbers and tomatoes or crispy garlic croutons. See the recipe at the bottom of this article.

Chilled Corn Soup

It was a scalding hot day and I was hankering for something cold. And didn’t require cooking. That’s when cold corn soup came to mind. I found a recipe in The New York Times that looked close to, but not exactly, what I wanted. The original recipe called for basil, but I wanted the pure, sweet taste of corn to come through. For the same reason I left out the garlic, and I added half of an avocado, which added body but did not interfere with the corn flavor.

My final departure from the original recipe was to skip straining it at the end. I welcomed some chewiness and was not averse to skipping a step. It was hot. I was lazy.

In the end the soup was exactly what I’d been craving. Cold and sweet and creamy, with a slight buttery undertone, even though there was no butter. It reminded me of carnivals and roller coasters and summer. Find the recipe, which we originally published in 2019, in Chilled Corn and Melon Soups to Savor the End of Summer. The recipe will be perfect with fresh-off-the-stalk corn.

Jamie Oliver’s Summer Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

While sitting in front of the fan a few weeks ago I was watching Jamie Oliver’s cooking show on the Roku channel. If you are familiar with Jamie Oliver you’ll know that he regularly presents 30-minute meals. (Thirty minutes for him; two hours for me.) But I digress. On this day he made what he called “Chilled Summer Soup,” as if it were one of a kind. I renamed it so you would have some idea of the ingredients involved: tomatoes, sweet red peppers, and some seasonings.

Preparation lives up to Jamie’s quick-as-a-bunny promise. Cut, clean the the ingredients, toss them into the blender, add some water or ice, and whir away. The soup is loaded with flavor despite its simplicity. The recipe from Tesco (a British-based multinational grocer and retailer) also includes a white bean bruschetta that is an optional accompaniment. You’ll find the recipe on Tesco.com.

Recipes

Lazy Blender Gazpacho

A Blue Hare Cooks original, inspired by a gazpacho recipe in Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Cookbook (1961).

Ingredients

1 garlic clove
2 shallots, peeled
2 1-inch slices day-old bread (like baguette)
2 cucumbers, medium size, peeled and seeded
2 Roma tomatoes, peeled
1/2 green pepper, seeds removed
8 oz. tomato juice, like Sacramento
8 oz. vegetable or chicken bouillon (from concentrate OK)
1/4 C. sherry wine vinegar
1/3 C. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 t. Tabasco sauce
1 t. salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Wash, dry, and chill all vegetables. Cut garlic in half. Rub the inside of the blender with cut side of garlic.
Briefly soak bread in cold water. Remove and squeeze to remove most liquid.
Chop garlic, shallots, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers into large chunks. Put them in the blender with the bread slices and blend until fine, about 1 minute. Add tomato juice, bullion, vinegar, oil and Tabasco to the blender, then blend the mixture until smooth. Taste. Add salt and ground pepper to desired taste.
Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow flavors to mingle. Taste before serving to adjust seasonings. It may need more salt or vinegar as those flavors are diminished by cold temperatures.
Serve cold with a splash of extra virgin olive oil.

Makes about 64 ounces.

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