‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Melon Gazpacho Is a Healthy and Refreshing Summer Soup
Ree Drummond makes an easy fruity gazpacho soup that’s perfect for the hot summer months. The Pioneer Woman star combines melon, cucumbers, and avocado in the creamy chilled soup recipe.
Ree Drummond gives gazpacho soup a ‘fun twist’
Drummond made her gazpacho soup on an episode of The Pioneer Woman as part of a menu for her husband Ladd and daughter Paige. She didn’t assume Ladd would like the cold soup, however. “Now, a couple of things on the menu I know Ladd will love. A couple of things on the menu I know Paige will love,” she explained. “I am making melon gazpacho and it is definitely in the Paige category.”
The Food Network host continued, “It’s cool and refreshing. So many green things in this beautiful soup, starting with a big pile of honeydew melon. Usually, when I make gazpacho it’s more traditional with tomatoes, lots of herbs, and spices. This fruity version is so delicious — very, very different and very, very green.”
Drummond added melon, cucumbers, spinach leaves, basil leaves, and green grapes to a food processor and pulsed the mixture together. “I love this because the honeydew melons are so watery just naturally so they really help create that soup texture,” she said.
She added green serrano chile, sliced green onions, olive oil, champagne vinegar, and honey and blended everything together until it was smooth.
‘The Pioneer Woman’ star added an ‘unusual ingredient’
“The gazpacho already looks delicious but I’m gonna add a slightly unusual ingredient — avocado,” Drummond shared. She added half an avocado to the food processor. “It really doesn’t add a lot of flavor as much as just kind of creamy texture.”
Drummond added lime juice, salt, and pepper, and blended the soup one last time. “Wouldn’t this be great for a summer dinner party, just kind of as the introductory course?” she asked. “I think this may be my new favorite thing right here.”
The Pioneer Woman star poured the soup into a pitcher and refrigerated it. To serve, she put the soup into bowls with an avocado garnish, cilantro leaves, and a wedge of lime.
The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.
Ree Drummond makes a classic gazpacho soup
Drummond wrote about her more traditional gazpacho recipe in a 2009 blog post on The Pioneer Woman website. “Gazpacho is a raw, cold soup — it shouldn’t be considered a cooked tomato soup that’s served cold. No way! Gazpacho is fresh, textured, light, and such a delicious summer treat,” she wrote. “I love it more every time I eat it. It just feels good.”
Drummond pulsed garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, Tabasco sauce, salt, tomato juice, red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchinis, and celery in a food processor.
“Yummy! You’ll notice that we’re not going for a totally pulverized, smooth mixture; it’ll have a nice texture and pretty flecks of color throughout,” she shared. “I love the green flecks from the cucumber and zucchini. Healthy!”
Drummond poured the mixture into a bowl, added more tomato juice and chopped vegetables, then covered and chilled the soup for two hours. “Not only do you want the gazpacho to be very cold, you also want the flavors to have a chance to meld together,” she explained.
“Make this soon, my sweet friends,” Drummond noted. “Give Gazpacho a chance. In the hot summertime, it’s an absolute treat — particularly for company. It can be made several hours ahead of time, and aside from the chopping of the veggies, it’s an exceedingly low-effort meal.”
