Salmorejo cordobés is a smooth and velvety Spanish cold tomato soup, perfect for hot summers day. This rich and creamy soup is traditionally served chilled or at room temperature as a light meal, appetizer or aperitif. Made with just a handful of fresh, high quality ingredients such as ripe tomatoes, white bread, olive oil and garlic, this chilled salmorejo soup is a classic Spanish recipe with big flavor.

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What is salmorejo cordobés?

Salmorejo soup is gaining popularity across Spain, appearing on the menus of more and more restaurants throughout the country. This chilled tomato soup originates from Andalusia, in southern Spain, more specifically from the city of Córdoba, hence its name salmorejo cordobés or Cordovan salmorejo.

One reason for its growing popularity is how simple it is to prepare. With just a few seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, salmorejo is both easy to make and incredibly refreshing during Spain’s hot summer months. It also offers a delicious alternative to its more famous cousin, gazpacho.

Salmorejo vs gazpacho

Most people have heard of gazpacho, often described as a cold tomato soup from Spain. It’s still the more popular and internationally known cold Spanish soup, especially outside of Spain. But is there a difference between gazpacho and salmorejo? The simple answer is, yes, they both differ in texture, ingredients and taste.

Gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup made with tomatoes, but also onion, peppers, cucumbers, onion and garlic all mixed into a light vegetable soup. It has a light, liquid consistency which makes it perfect to serve as a refreshing drink in a glass, or even as a starter in a bowl. You can try this authentic gazpacho recipe.

On the other hand, salmorejo is made only with tomatoes, bread, garlic and olive oil which is blended into a thicker and creamier consistency. Because of the higher amount of bread and olive oil, it has a much richer texture. Traditionally, Salmorejo is served in a bowl and topped with Spanish ham and hard boiled eggs.

In conclusion, while both soups contain similar ingredients, served cold and incredibly refreshing, they offer very different experiences.

Which ingredients to use

• Tomatoes: Use any tomatoes that are in season, ripe and full of flavour. However, the best tomatoes for salmorejo are Roma/plum or vine tomatoes. They are very meaty, filled with flavour and will give a great consistency and taste after blending.
• Olive oil: Use a good extra virgin olive oil as it is an important ingredient in this soup.
• Bread: In Andalusia they often use ‘pan de telera’ which is a white oval shaped bread. As an alternative you can use thin crusted white bread like any regular sandwich or toaster bread.
• Garlic: Adding a clove of garlic is key to making salmorejo, but as you will be using raw garlic don’t add too much in the beginning. Rather start with a small clove and add more after blending if you think the soup needs extra garlic. Use a young and fresh garlic clove if possible. If the garlic is older, try removing the inner germ by cutting the clove in half and taking out the inner sprout which might taste bitter.
• Vinegar: A teaspoon of vinegar is added to intensify and amplify the flavour of the soup. Traditionally a splash of good quality sherry vinegar is used (originating from Jerez de la Frontera, also in Andalusia), but if you have no sherry vinegar at home, feel free to use red or white wine vinegar as a good alternative.

Optional garnish

• Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs are finely chopped and added just before serving.
• Cured ham: Use any cured Spanish ham like Serrano or Iberico ham, finely sliced.

How to make salmorejo

Salmorejo has this typical smooth and velvety texture which is only obtained by discarding the seeds and the peel of the tomatoes. This can either be done before adding the tomatoes in the blender or after, of which the latter is my preferred way of making it. Both methods are described here below. Choose what works best for you.

• Prepare the tomatoes – Method 1 : Bring a pot of water to the boil. Cut a shallow X shape at the bottom of each tomato and place them in the boiling water. Let them boil for 20 seconds. Carefully remove the tomatoes from the boiling water with a spoon or soup ladle and start peeling them using a paring knife. The skin will come off quite easily. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and remove the seeds. Place in the blender and blend into a juice for 30 seconds. 
• Prepare the tomatoes – Method 2 : Remove the hard core and coarsely chop the tomatoes. Put them in a blender or food processor and blend on high for 30 seconds. Transfer the blended tomatoes to a fine mesh sieve and collect the juice in a separate bowl. Make sure to push all the tomato juice through the sieve and collect until only the seeds and skins remain. Pour the tomato juice back into the blender.

• Soak the bread: Leave the bread to soak for a couple of minutes in the tomato liquid. It will help to soften the bread which will then mix better in the salmorejo.
• Mix all the ingredients: Add the rest of the ingredients (garlic, salt and vinegar) and start blending at low speed, then slowly increase to a medium/high speed. While blending, slowly pour in the olive oil. Make sure to pour the olive oil slowly to give it time to emulsify while blending. Blend for a few minutes at medium to high speed until the soup gets a thicker and creamy consistency.
• Chill and serve: Put the blended soup in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve cold with finely chopped hard-boiled eggs, sliced cured Spanish ham and a drizzle of olive oil.

TIP: Use a powerful blender to make the soup as smooth and creamy as possible. Here are some examples of powerful blenders to use for making soup.

Interesting tips & tricks

• Storage: Store salmorejo in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2, max. 3 days. When taking it out of the fridge, give it a good stir and serve immediately.
• Storage: Store the cold tomato soup without the toppings which will otherwise become soggy. Prepare the toppings in advance and store them separately in the fridge only adding them just before serving in separate bowls.
• Make it gluten-free: Replace the white bread with a gluten-free alternative for a gluten-free salmorejo.
• Make it creamy: To get the best consistency while blending make sure to very slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Definitely don’t add it all at once otherwise the oil will not get the chance to emulsify properly. You can compare it with making mayonnaise which uses the same method of adding oil.

Serving suggestions

Salmorejo is best served cold as a light lunch or as an appetizer. In Spanish restaurants you can often find it as a first course on a menu del día, and mainly during the summer months.

When serving salmerjo as a light meal add more toppings and serve with crusty bread. As an appetizer, just add fewer toppings and serve a smaller portion. Serving Spanish tomato bread to the side is always a great idea.