We love the Spanish Gazpacho and how nutritious, and fresh it is. This Watermelon Rind Soup is a twist that will blow your mind.
Surely, after trying this recipe you will never throw your watermelon rinds again! You won't even want to make compost out of them!
This is by far our favorite from the watermelon rind recipes out there! So, after you finish using the pulp for your watermelon and ginger smoothie, you know how to put the rinds to work!

Watermelon Gazpacho is a popular beverage, soup consumed during Summer Season.
We love serving it with fresh Mediterranean dishes like the Catalonian Escalivada and next to small platers of dips like the roasted bell pepper dip, Eggplant Babaganoush Spread, and a nice Pagnotta Bread Loaf.
This was inspired by my Andalusian Gazpacho recipe on this site. It is the perfect way to make the best out of watermelon rind and hard bread. Nothing goes to waste!
Check out how to make the best out of your leftovers!
Ingredients
This watermelon rind recipe used very simple ingredients. The whole idea is to make good use of ingredients that otherwise would be going to the bin.
- Watermelon rind
- Cucumber
- Tomato
- Onion
- Garlic
- Basil
- Almonds
Optional: hard bread, olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Avoid if WFPB.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Since you won't be using much of the watermelon pulp, make sure you try our watermelon and passion fruit juice, or the watermelon smoothie, both are home favorites!
Instructions
Soak bread in water for 5 minutes.
Wash. Thoroughly wash all your vegetables, and rinds. Roughly cut your watermelon rinds into small pieces.
Soaking hard bread Chopped Watermelon Rind
Roughly chop the onion and cucumbers.
Chopped Cucumber Chopped Onion
Blend. Add the water, watermelon rind, cucumber, and basil leaves to the blender.
Ingredients in blender Blend Ingredients
Blend the rest. Continue adding all the tomatoes, garlic, onion, almonds, olive oil, salt, and vinegar to a blender (except for bread), blend for 2 minutes (let the blender rest for a minute if it tends to overheat).
Add the soaked bread little by little until you reached the desired consistency. You don't need to use all of it.
Add tomatoes almonds and garlic Add soaked gazpacho
Garnish. Use freshly cubed watermelon, whole basil leaves, sliced almonds, and black pepper to garnish.
Garnishing with basil leave Garnishing with watermelon cubes
Hint: In case your blender does not grind produce until it is creamy and chunk-less, or you want a silkier texture, we recommend passing the gazpacho through a colander.
Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.
Substitutions
If you are following a Whole Foods Plant-Based diet, you can exclude olive oil and salt from the recipe. We have tried it and can say that it will be delicious as well.
- Almonds - if you have a nuts allergy you can replace the almonds with sunflower seeds. You can also exclude the almonds from the recipe, altogether.
- Breadcrumbs - use gluten free breadcrumbs instead of regular breadcrumbs to make this gluten-free.
- Tomatoes - you can use any kind of tomatoes, just aim for the same volume. Use 3 plum tomatos, or 8 cherry tomatoes or 4 Roma tomatoes.
Variations
- Spicy - garnish with freshly ground black pepper.
- Milder - to obtain a more delicate flavor, remove the garlic's germ (the internal part, as the flavor is perceived as more pungent). In regards to the onion, you can leave it soaking in water and vinegar for a couple of hours, so it loosed its intensity. This way the onion will become sweeter and more digestible.
- Kid friendly (sweeter) - you can make this gazpacho sweeter, simply leaving more pink flesh on the watermelon rinds. You can also use red onions instead, which have a sweeter less intense flavor.
Equipment
You can choose to use either a food processor or a high-speed blender. Our recommendation is to use the most powerful one, as it will be able to deliver a smoother and silkier watermelon rind soup.
Look at the Watts. Let's say your food processor operates at 700 watts and your blender at 1500 Watts, go with your blender.
We used here our high-speed blender and worked very well.
Storage
Store your gazpacho in a bottle with a lid. It stays well for 2-3 days.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
Top tip
Gazpacho is generally served as a cold beverage. After blending it, allow for it to cool in the fridge for one to two hours prior to serving.
In fact, during this time the flavors will consolidate better and your gazpacho will be richer.
More Spanish dishes
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag a photo #ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!
Recipe: Watermelon Rind Soup (Gazpacho)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 cherry tomatoes or 2 plum tomatoes
- 35 oz watermelon rind chopped in cubes (about half medium watermelon's rind)
- 2 cucumbers roughly chopped
- 1 garlic roughly chopped
- ¼ onion coarsely chopped
- 1 oz almonds
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar red wine vinegar works as well
- 3 oz hard bread loaf whole bran bread
- 5 basil leaves
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil optional, Avoid if you are following a WFPB diet.
- 16 oz water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt optional, Avoid if you are following a WFPB diet.
Optional (to garnish):
- watermelon cubes
Directions
- Soak bread in water for 5 minutes.3 oz hard bread loaf
- Wash. All your veggies and watermelon rinds.35 oz watermelon rind, 2 cucumbers, 8 cherry tomatoes
- Roughly chop the watermelon rind, onion and cucumbers.35 oz watermelon rind, 2 cucumbers, ¼ onion
- Blend. Add the water, watermelon rind, cucumber and basil leaves to the blender.35 oz watermelon rind, 2 cucumbers, 5 basil leaves, 16 oz water
- Blend the rest. Add all the tomatoes, garlic, onion, almonds, olive oil, salt and vinegar to a blender (except for bread), blend for 2 minutes (let the blender rest for a minute if it tends to overheat).8 cherry tomatoes, 1 garlic, ¼ onion, 1 oz almonds, 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Add the soaked bread little by little until you reached the desired consistency, you don't need to use all of it.3 oz hard bread loaf
- Serve. Gazpacho is better when served cold. We recommend reserving it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour before consuming it.
- Garnish. Use freshly cubed watermelon, whole basil leaves, sliced almonds, and black pepper to garnish.watermelon cubes
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Food safety
We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience, that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.
Freya
This was such an unusual way to use up watermelon rind and so refreshing!
Gus
I know! I love making the best out of my veggies, using things such as broccoli stems for stews. When I learned about this way to use the watermelon rinds, I couldn't help but try it, and it arrived at our kitchen to stay!
Anaiah
I've fallen in love with gazpacho and all the different ways to make it. This watermelon rind soup is definitely unique and sits at the top of my list. Loved this so much! Thanks for sharing.
Gus
It is so cool you liked it! It is truly a unique way to use what would be a discard in everyones' kitchen.
Kayla DiMaggio
Wow! I had no idea you could do something with the watermelon rind! What a great way to use every part of the fruit!
Gus
I know!Eye-opener! Until now I had only been composting it, not anymore!
Natalie
Watermelon rind in gazpacho? Oh wow, that sounds so interesting. I have to give your recipe a try. It sure looks delicious 🙂
Gus
I am glad you found it interesting! Recycling 2.0! ??
Julia
Wow! I'd never have thought of using watermelon rinds like this. What an amazing idea, chilled soups are so nice when the weather is hot outside. I love that it's full of really healthy things. I can't wait to try it... just need to go find a watermelon. Thank you for sharing.
Gus
Crazy! isn't it? I was sooo happy to try this and nos is a staple summer cold soup at home! Other rinds are going to be part of my compost, not watermelon's! ? Get the watermelon and have another great idea for you: watermelon and ginger smoothie!
Emily
I love this unique twist on Spanish Gazpacho. This Watermelon Rind Soup is so fresh and delicious. Brilliant use of watermelon rind!
Gus
Thank you Emily! Yep! Gaspacho is a wonderful beverage/soup, I am thrilled you enjoyed it as much as we do!
Hannah
This is so perfect for my family - my 3 year old is watermelon obsessed so this is a great way to use up some watermelon rind! I'm in love with it. Thanks for sharing!
Gus
I fully understand your toddler! I am obsessed with watermelon too! So, I just figured I needed to do something with all those rinds apart from composting! 🙂 I am glad you found it helpful!