🥒 Dill Pickle Soup with Homemade Pickles 🥒
It seems almost everybody is skeptical when they first hear about this soup. Myself included. Dill Pickle Soup? Hmmm…
Polish in origin and dating back to a time before refrigeration when pickling was a common way to preserve food, this now trending soup is simultaneously creamy and tangy, compelling and comforting. The interesting flavor combination and various textures make for one unique bowl of deliciousness. And, yes, you can enjoy zupa ogórkowa in the summer. The Poles do.
Dill Pickle Soup with Homemade Pickles Recipe
“Refrigerator” Dill Pickles
Ingredients:
- 5 Persian aka mini cucumbers
- 1 c. white vinegar
- 1 c. water
- 2 t. sugar
- 1 ½ t. sea salt
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 t. peppercorns
- 1/8 t. chile flakes
- 1 t. whole grain mustard
- several fresh dill sprigs
- 1 red fresno chile, sliced
Wash and slice cucumbers in half lengthwise. Place cucumbers in a clean sterilized glass container.
Boil vinegar, water, sugar, salt, garlic, peppercorns, chile flakes, and mustard for one minute. Add dill and fresno chile then continue to boil an additional 30 seconds. Stir occasionally.
Let brine cool slightly for 10 minutes. Pour brine over the top of the cucumbers to submerge. Let come to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate. The pickles will be ready the next day. Consume within 1 month.
Note: The pickles in this soup had been refrigerated for 5 days. All the pickles and brine will not be needed for the soup recipe.
Dill Pickle Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 T. butter
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion, sliced (approx. 6 oz.)
- 2 large carrots, sliced (approx. 8 oz.)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 c. chicken bone broth, no salt added (or vegetable broth for vegetarian soup)
- 16 oz. baby red potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
- 10 oz. dill pickles, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 c. strained pickle juice, or more to taste
- 1 c. sour cream, full fat
- 2 T. flour
- fresh dill
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Method:
For presentation, chop the potatoes, carrots, and pickles in roughly the same size pieces.
Melt butter and olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until lightly golden. Add carrot and stir in the garlic and cook for two more minutes.
Add broth and potatoes, increase heat and gently boil until the potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes. Then add pickles and pickle juice.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, stir flour into one cup of sour cream. Temper by whisking a small amount of hot soup liquid into the sour cream. Add a little more liquid at a time to get a pourable consistency.
Add tempered sour cream mixture to the soup. Boil gently for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring the sour cream into the soup. Add chopped dill.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To Plate:
- fresh ground pepper
- fresh dill
- olive oil
- sour cream
Ladle hot soup into warm shallow bowls. Top with several grinds of black pepper, lots of fresh snipped dill, a generous drizzle of good olive oil, and a dollop of sour cream.
Serve with beer and bread.