Winter

Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup with Mango Salsa

August 21, 2013
4.5
6 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

This is one of my favorite cold soups for the summer. If cucumber's not your thing, you can prepare this soup with zucchini, tomato, celery, or a combination of all of those vegetables. Avocado is a perfect base for an easy soup like this, and it will give you a canvas that is endlessly adaptable. —Gena Hamshaw

Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
  • Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup
  • 2 large cucumbers, peeled and cut into rough slices
  • 1 large Haas avocado, halved, pitted, and flesh scooped out
  • 2 scallions, green and white parts included, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
  • Mango Salsa
  • 1 cup Ataulfo mango, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup tomato, 1/2 inch dice
  • 1/2 cup shucked corn kernels (raw)
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, loosely packed and finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • sea salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Blend all soup ingredients together in a blender till smooth, adding enough water to achieve a perfectly creamy texture (about a scant half cup, but use your judgment).
  2. Toss the salsa ingredients together in a small bowl.
  3. Transfer soup to four serving bowls. Top each with a half cup of the mango salsa, and serve.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

27 Reviews

W J. June 29, 2022
Made this on the fly yesterday to serve to a guest as a starter for our meal. Terrific! It was a hit. Simple, quick, and delicious.

For those who found it to be bland, perhaps it was owing in part to under seasoning. Be generous with lime juice and salt as needed. It makes a big difference.

The soup base came together in a minute or less in the blender. I approximated the recipe as it is/was too cumbersome to try to measure volumes. However, as I usually do, I did record weights (more accurate and precise, if and when I want to make this again).

Here's what I used (4 servings of ~150-160g each-):

Soup
123 g Avocado (1 - could have been riper)
470g Cucumber (1.5 large, peeled)
22g Scallion (~3)
30g Lime juice (just over an ounce.)
3 g Salt
1 g black pepper

Mango Salsa
217g Atauflo mangoes (2 - peeled and chopped)
128g Tomatoes (cherry, store bought)
124g Raw, sweet corn kernels (1 ear)
14g Extra Virgin olive oil
23g Lime juice
34g cilantro chopped
~1g salt
I used about 50g of the salsa in the middle of each soup serving. Quite an attractive presentation.

I had most of the salsa (~390g) left over, and am using it in other dishes. There was no soup base leftover.
Azize T. August 3, 2020
Made this last night. Used leek instead of scallion. It was very refreshing in a hot summer day and was so delicious. Did not have cilantro or corn but still worked out great. Thanks for the recipe
Karen V. July 31, 2019
Had a bunch of cucumbers in my garden so I decided to make this on this very hot spell we are having. The only changes I made was that I added 1/2 a yellow pepper, an orange tomato, a poblano pepper and a tomatillo - only because they were all from my garden as well. There were no ripe mango's in the store so I switched it up to a papaya. Yummy!!! Thank you so much for this great recipe.
Margaret L. July 8, 2019
This recipe looks like it was inspired by Martha Stewart's Avocado-Cucumber Soup with Shrimp, which was published in 2004. That one includes cilantro and jalapeno in the soup and more sour notes are provided by yogurt, which may address the blandness some have mentioned. Combing the two recipes by using sauteed shrimp AND the mango salsa would be heaven.
Wprawlings June 22, 2019
I added a tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar and used about 1/2 a cup of grapefruit juice to thin to the right consistency and it was delicious. Glad to have another way to use all my garden cucumbers!
Wauzo September 3, 2016
I love the ingredients but end product is too blah. Alas.
Martha August 15, 2016
How is this recipe 4 servings?? For Thumbelina maybe - not for humans.
jaime J. August 3, 2016
This was a bust for me. It was boring and just...odd. I tried blending in some cilantro and a little cayenne but still blah. Kind of like soupy guacamole. Looks beautiful but unfortunately we don't even like it enough to finish the batch.
Jeremy L. March 13, 2016
I added 1/2 of cilantro the soup before blending which everybody liked.
Chef D. November 12, 2015
sounds like a great soup, I love all those ingredients separately so why not as a soup
Brenda N. August 16, 2015
I made this last night, and unfortunately, this wasn't a winner for us. I even attempted to add another avocado and some spices/herbs to make it work. But in the end, we just didn't like the taste of it.
lloreen August 11, 2015
I've been making this all summer now since my cucumber crop is insane. I also tried adding a tub of soft tofu. It makes it even more creamy and becomes a complete summer lunch! I also throw in a handful of mint and basil. It's a new favorite.
Jennifer July 30, 2015
Avocado soup is one of my favorites. Doubled the avocado count and made this last night. It's a good variation from my usual recipe which has a chicken or vegetable broth base, garlic, and buttermilk. This one is lighter - nice change.
Skiingstella July 28, 2015
I love how simple but flavorful this concept was. I'll definitely serve again for guests as a starter.
lloreen July 20, 2015
I have a bumper crop of cucumbers this year and I have been trying different cucumber soups. This is my favorite by far! I added a little cayenne pepper to give it a subtle bite. Delicious - I'm making it again!
girlwithaknife May 10, 2015
Just wow. So much flavor for so little time. Love it when each ingredient brings something to the party.
Laney P. August 12, 2014
The perfect thing I was looking for...have all the ingredients in my fridge!! Thanks and happy summer!
Alexis S. July 30, 2014
Can one freeze the soup?
Della T. July 11, 2014
The perfect hot weather dish. So fresh. Added a splash of mango white balsamic into the salsa.
Lkw1080 July 8, 2014
Delicious! It was perfect for a steamy summer night! Thanks Gena!!