10 Cold Soups for Hot Summer Nights

By Caroline Lange

What do we love about cold soups? Well, just about everything—especially in the summer, when the prospect of turning on the oven feels like one of the bigger challenges of the day. Aside from a little roasting and scorching, you can get most of the work for these soups done in a blender, saving you the extra heat of the oven or stove. Tonight, make a low-temperature, low-stress dinner in the amount of time it takes to whirl together a smoothie.

Here are 10 chilled soups to help you keep your cool:

Chilled Roasted Beet and Carrot Soup with Parsley Lime Cream by Merrill Stubbs

More: How to make a great smoothie without a recipe

Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup with Mango Salsa by Gena Hamshaw

More: Two summer menus to make for two (or just for you, with leftovers)

Eleven Madison Park’s Strawberry Gazpacho by Genius Recipes

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Green Gazpacho with Chili Cumin Shrimp by Culinary Enlightenment

More: A spicy summer soup for your leftovers

White Gazpacho by Sonali aka the Foodie Physician

More: 8 summer soups

Watermelon Gazpacho with Feta and Mint by Heather Morris

More: 9 summer cocktails that are better than air conditioning

Chilled Cantaloupe Soup by Chef Gwen

Chilled Tomato Peach Soup by Beth Kirby | {local milk}

Justin Burdett’s Chilled English Pea Soup with Garlic Cream and Pickled Ramps by Genius Recipes

Yogurt Soup with Cucumbers and Walnuts (Tarator) by Nicholas Day

Yogurt Soup with Cucumbers and Walnuts (Tarator)

Serves 4-6

2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts
2 slices of country bread (soak briefly in water and then wring out the water)
¼ cup olive oil
2  cups yogurt (whole)
4 small Persian cucumbers (or 1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small bunch dill or mint

1. Crush the garlic and salt to a pulp, using either a mortar and pestle or the side of a large knife. Reserve a few walnuts. Using a food processor (or a mortar and pestle, if you want), briefly pulse the rest of the walnuts and then the bread. Transfer to a bowl.

2. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the paste and then all the yogurt, whisking well. Add the lemon juice. Grate and add the cucumbers.

3. Let cool in the fridge for an hour or more, if you have it, and then add enough very cold water to make it into a spoonable soup. Chop the reserved walnuts and use for a garnish, along with the dill or mint, some lemon wedges and the olive oil.

Photos by James Ransom, Sarah Shatz, Mark Weinberg, Beth Kirby | {local milk}.