A warm comforting bowl of sour pickle soup is a healthy gut-friendly lunch that will keep you full.
Sour Pickle soup is a traditional Polish soup that is not very well known elsewhere. This soup had the perfect balance of flavours, it’s healthy and vegetarian.
We use the most common soup ingredients with a sour pickle twist so it’s really not very complicated. I also believe that you will like this soup even if you’re not a pickle fan.
Since we are using sour pickles, as opposed to dill pickles, there is no strong vinegar flavour, in fact, there is no vinegar flavour at all. The delicate taste of the fermented pickles will appeal to many!
Preparing Sour Pickle Soup
Ingredients
Produce
Mirepoix: Onion, celery and carrot, cooked (usually for a longer period) without being browned is called mirepoix. The juices and flavours released by the onion, carrots and celery, add so much flavour to the soup.
Potatoes: I use yellow flesh potatoes in this recipe. Yellow potatoes are a bit more sweet and softer so overcooking them will make them mushy quickly. White flesh potatoes are a bit more starchy and will hold their shape better so feel free to use white flesh potatoes instead.
Parsley: Parsley is a dark green herb that is used as a garnish or as a flavouring. The two varieties that are most common are flat-leaf and curly parsley. They are very similar in flavour however their leaves and texture are different. As the names suggest, flat-leaf parsley has flat leaves that are very similar to cilantro, whereas curly parsley has rougher and curly-looking leaves. Both are very rich in vitamins C and K and antioxidants, among other nutrients.
Pantry
Vegetable Stock: I use vegetable stock in this recipe because of its mild flavour. It also makes this soup vegetarian. Vegetable stock is made by cooking vegetables and some spices to release the flavours. The liquid is the broth or stock that is then used for other means, such as the base for this cauliflower soup.
Sour pickles: Made using saltwater brine to ferment the cucumbers. Sour pickles are often made with the addition of garlic, horseradish, dill and other pickling spices these pickles have a very deep sour flavour with a kick of saltiness.
White rice: Basmati and Jasmine rice are both types of long-grain rice as well as American long-grain white and brown rice. Long-grain rice stays fluffy when cooked and separates nicely.
Dairy
Butter: Butter is churned milk or cream and is high in fat. It is solidified when refrigerated, holds a semi-soft, spreadable consistency at room temperature, or can be liquefied when heated.
Half and Half: Half and half cream is called half and half because it is equal parts cream and milk. The fat content of the one I use is 10% but it can vary up to 18%.
How to Make Sour Pickle Soup
As you should expect by now, this recipe is quite simple. We use our usual soup base with some pickles added. Anyone can
make this soup!Step 1: Make the Soup Base
Start by preparing all of the ingredients. Wash and chop the celery, peel and dice the carrot and onion.
Next, add the stock, carrots, rice, celery and onion to a medium-large pot and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, peel and dice the potatoes into ½ inch cubes.
When the timer is up on the veggies, add the potatoes to the pot and continue to boil for another 15 minutes.
Step 2: Cook the pickles
While the veggies are cooking, grate the sour pickles on a coarse grater.
Then add butter to a small pot and melt it on medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted and begins to bubble add the grated pickles and simmer them until the time is up on the veggies and rice.
After the potatoes are cooked, transfer the simmered pickles to the large pot with the veggies and cook everything for another 5 minutes.
Step 3: Final Touches
In the last 5 minutes of simmering, measure out ¼ cup of cream in a glass measuring cup and add about a 1/3 to ½ cup of the liquid from the soup to the measuring up. Use a ladle to roughly measure out the amount of liquid. Whisk the cream with the liquid from the soup until it’s well combined. This will prevent the cream from curdling.
Now, pour this cream mixture into the large pot, add salt and pepper and stir vigorously until it’s well combined.
Last but not least, wash and finely chop some fresh parsley and add it to the soup. Stir to combine and turn off the heat.
Substitutions
Butter: If you prefer not to use butter you can use a neutral oil instead. Try canola or vegetable oil to cook the pickles in.
Half and Half: You can use heavy or whipping cream instead of half and half in the same quantity.
Serving Polish Sour Pickle Soup
Pickle soup is perfect all on its own. You can top it with some more freshly chopped parsley or with nothing at all.
A fresh baguette or bun with a little butter is also an excellent pairing with this delicious Polish Sour Pickle Soup.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for dinner ideas? Check out our recipes:
Vegetarian Polish Sour Pickle Soup Recipe
Equipment
- Medium pot
- Small pot
- Knife
Ingredients
- 900 ml vegetable stock
- 225 g sour pickles
- ½ small onion
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 carrot large
- 1 lb potatoes
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
- ¼ cup white rice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup half and half or heavy cream
Instructions
- Start by preparing all of the ingredients. Wash and chop the celery, peel and dice the carrot and onion.1 celery stalk, 1 carrot large, ½ small onion
- Next, add the stock, carrots, rice, celery and onion to a medium-large pot and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.900 ml vegetable stock, ½ small onion, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot large, ¼ cup white rice
- While the veggies are cooking grate the sour pickles on a coarse grater. Then add the butter to a small pot and melt on medium-low heat. Once melted add the grated pickles and simmer until the time is up on the veggies and rice.225 g sour pickles, 1 tbsp butter
- In the meantime, peel and dice the potatoes into ½ inch cubes.1 lb potatoes
- When the timer is up on the veggies, add the potatoes to the pot and continue to boil for another 15 minutes.1 lb potatoes
- Next, transfer the simmered pickles to the large pot with the veggies. Cook for another 5 minutes.225 g sour pickles
- Measure out ¼ cup of cream in a glass measuring cup and add about a 1/3 to ½ cup of the liquid from the soup to the measuring up and whisk once again. This will prevent the cream from curdling.¼ cup half and half
- Pour it into the large pot, adding salt and pepper as well and stir vigorously until well combined.1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper
- Last but not least, wash and finely chop fresh parsley and add it to the soup. Stir to combine and serve.1 tbsp fresh parsley
