When the weather outside is frightful, there’s nothing like a hot steaming bowl of soup. But did you know that summer is a smart season for soup?
In fact, there are plenty of radiant summer soup recipes just right for cooling off on a sweltering day. The best part? They’re packed with the season’s tastiest fruits and veggies. Let’s count down eight of our favorite summer soup.
1. Watermelon Gazpacho
Nothing says summer quite like watermelon, but watermelon soup? Yes, please! This Martha Stewart recipe puts a tasty twist on classic gazpacho by using watermelon as its primary ingredient instead of the traditional tomato.
Puree a combination of watermelon and cranberry juice in a blender, pass through a fine sieve, and layer in cucumbers, celery, bell pepper onion, herbs, lime juice, vinegar and jalapeno for a bold finish.
The best part? This sweet, scrumptious summer soup is entirely guilt-free! Not only that, but there’s no actual cooking involved so your kitchen will stay cool, too.
2. Chilled Peach Soup with Fresh Goat Cheese
With a five-star rating after more than 2,100 votes, this recipe from Chef Jason Franey of Seattle’s Canlis may well qualify as the best soup of all time. For starters, it’s incredibly unique.
After all, what other soup pairs peaches, diced cucumber, yellow peppers and apricots with goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic? The crunch of freshly made croutons, meanwhile, is the perfect finishing touch. While this fruity soup is indulgent enough on its own, accompanying it with a glass of Champagne — Food and Wine suggests a Brut — takes it to new levels of luxuriousness.
3. Cool Cantaloupe Soup with Basil Cream
They had us at “basil cream.” This Country Living recipe combines cantaloupe, lemon juice, zest, and mint leaves for brightness in every bite.
This recipe will give your food processor a workout, but it’s worth it. For a sophisticated presentation, serve in champagne flutes or pilsner glasses instead of conventional soup bowls.
4. Summer Corn Soup with Fresh Herbs
This simple summer soup includes just a handful of ingredients, but is delicious proof that less is more — at least when you’re cooking with the very best ingredients, such as fresh-off-the-cob corn kernels.
An immersion blender is the trick to getting this soup to a smooth, lump-free consistency. Chopped fresh basil and thyme highlight the sweet corn flavor for a luscious yet light summer meal.
5. Creamy Cucumber Soup
This refreshing recipe from Fitness Magazine pulls off a near-impossible feat: It achieves a silky texture while still qualifying as “healthy.” How? Through the clever combination of pureed avocados and yogurt.
Another reason we love this chilled soup? It’s a wonderful way to put our plethora of garden cucumbers to good use!
This incredibly versatile soup can be served hot or chilled. (Leave it to Alton Brown!) Sure, it’s loaded with heavy cream and buttermilk, but that’s one of the reasons why this soup is such an interesting departure from the season’s more refined offerings.
7. Cold, Curried Summer Squash Soup
While butternut squash may come to mind for fall soups, summer gardens are brimming with seasonal varieties, including yellow summer squash and zucchini. Warm curry, cumin, cayenne and turmeric add zing, while Thai basil deepens the flavor profile of this unexpected soup from Saveur.
And speaking of unexpected — did we mention the inspired Thai basil leaf and lime juice ice cubes?
8. Chilled Spiced Strawberry Soup
Hosting a garden party this summer? Don’t even think of planning it without including this elegant addition to any menu courtesy of Taste of Home.
This whimsical soup is fruity, fanciful and festive — not to mention packed with flavor, including strawberry, apple and cinnamon. Cloves add just the right amount of kick.
While we may associate soup with cold weather, there’s no reason to wait for the thermometer to drop to start slurping.
In fact, the breadth and depth of types of soups and soup ingredients make it an appetizing option four seasons out of the year. So what will be cooling in your fridge and simmering on your stovetop this fall, winter, summer and spring?