This cold cucumber soup recipe is perfect for hot summer days. Creamy, cool, bright, and refreshing, it's a delicious, nourishing starter or side dish.
This cold cucumber soup is everything I want on a hot summer day. To make it, you don’t have to turn on the oven, the stove, or even the grill. Just toss the ingredients into a blender, puree, and chill! After a few hours in the fridge, this cucumber soup will be so creamy, cool, bright, and refreshing that you won’t be able to resist going back for seconds.
Cucumber Soup Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this cucumber soup:
- Cucumbers, of course! I love to use delicate, thin-skinned Persian cucumbers in this recipe. Don’t forget to save a few slices for garnish! They add a nice crunch to this cool, creamy soup.
- Greek yogurt – It gives the soup its delicious creamy texture and tangy flavor.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – For richness.
- Fresh herbs – I blend basil and dill into the soup and scatter more dill, fresh mint, or chives on top.
- Lemon juice – It makes the soup nice and bright.
- Garlic – It adds sharp depth of flavor.
- Honey – Don’t worry – the honey doesn’t make this recipe sweet. Instead, it offsets the tang from the lemon and the bite from the raw garlic, creating a flavorful, well-balanced soup.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Chilled Cucumber Soup
This cucumber soup recipe couldn’t be easier to make! Here’s how it goes:
First, blend! Add the cucumbers, herbs, yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, honey, salt, and pepper to a large blender, and blend until smooth.
Next, chill. When the soup is smooth, transfer it to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Finally, enjoy! Serve the chilled soup in bowls with a garnish of fresh herbs, thinly sliced cucumbers, and a generous drizzle of olive oil.
Cold Cucumber Soup Serving Suggestions
This cold cucumber soup is a wonderful starter or side dish. On summer nights, I often serve it as part of a light dinner with a substantial salad like my Mediterranean Chickpea Salad, Panzanella Salad, or Cherry Tomato Couscous Salad. For a heartier meal, serve it as an appetizer with these Stuffed Zucchini Boats, Grilled Vegetable Skewers with Tzatziki, or my Roasted Vegetable Pasta.
This cucumber soup is also a lovely starter for a spring or summer brunch. I love pairing it with a few salads, like my Carrot Salad or Simple Green Salad, and a savory main course like a Frittata or Breakfast Casserole.
Finally, this cold cucumber soup is a perfect lunch on a hot summer day. Enjoy it with a hunk of good crusty bread or focaccia, a slice of avocado toast, or a simple sandwich. A Caprese Sandwich, a Chickpea Salad Sandwich, or an Egg Salad Sandwich would be a great choice.
More Favorite Cucumber Recipes
If you loved this recipe, try one of these next:
- Easy Gazpacho
- Cucumber Gazpacho
- Greek Salad
- Cucumber Salad
- Dill Pickles
- Orzo Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Tzatziki Sauce
Cold Cucumber Soup
Ingredients
- 6 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced, reserve a few slices for garnish
- 1½ cups plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup fresh basil
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill
- 1 garlic clove
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon honey
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh mint, dill, or chives, for garnish
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the cucumbers, yogurt, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, dill, garlic, salt, honey, and several grinds of pepper and blend until smooth. Chill for at least 4 hours.
- Serve in bowls and garnish with the reserved cucumber slices, fresh herbs, drizzles of olive oil, and freshly ground black pepper.
I think I see basil leaves in that blender, but they’re not listed in the recipe. Are those basil leaves?
Hi Alan, the recipe calls for 3/4 cup fresh basil.
Oh jeez, that’s what I get for reading recipes late at night. Thanks for your response!
Do u cook the cucumbers first???? Before puting them in the blender??
Hi Donna, the cucumbers are raw in this recipe.
I intend to make this as a first course in a potluck dinner. Would it make a difference if I used plain, no-fat yogurt instead of whole milk?
Hi Paula, I think it would be fine.