Polish dill pickle soup isn’t your average cold-weather comfort food. Also known as zupa ogórkowa, it’s creamy, filling, and unique.
It’s also much more flavorful than other classic soups. It perfectly blends tangy, savory, and earthy flavors. It’s an exciting soup that defies conventions and captivates tastebuds.
Its creamy texture and rich flavor make it the perfect cool-weather meal.
Plus, dill pickle soup comes together easily in 30 minutes or less. That alone is reason enough to try it!
Dill Pickle Soup
You’ve had dill pickles and dill pickle chips. You’ve probably even had dill pickle pasta salad and the dill pickle slush from Sonic. But what about dill pickle soup?
It’s just as flavorful and delicious as all the other dill pickle products, but it’s far less well-known.
It’s a traditional Polish soup (zupa ogórkowa) often served with baby gherkins and Polish bread. It’s thick and creamy with loads of tangy flavor from the pickles and pickle juice.
Some recipes for dill pickle soup contain a variety of extra veggies. This particular one sticks solely to pickles. It adds loads of herbs and seasonings for additional flavor.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make it:
- Butter and flour – Together, these ingredients combine to make a roux. That’s how you’ll start your soup. Everything else builds off this roux. All-purpose flour works best, but you can go with salted or unsalted butter.
- Chicken broth – Substitute vegetable broth to keep the soup vegetarian-friendly.
- Dill pickles – Add both finely chopped pickles and pickle juice to this soup. They’re its defining ingredients. So be sure to use a brand of pickles that you enjoy.
- Sugar – Pickles are the primary ingredient in this soup. They add a ton of sour, tangy flavor. Adding sugar helps cut through the sharpest edges of those sour notes.
- Worcestershire sauce -I add a dash of Worcestershire sauce to most of my soup recipes. It has such a robust, flavorful taste. It adds a nice depth of flavor to any soup.
- Herbs/seasonings – Add onion salt, minced garlic, dill weed, curry powder, white pepper, and bay leaves to the soup for more flavor.
- Milk – Be sure to warm your milk before adding it to the soup. Add it at the end when the soup is just about finished. If it’s cold, it’ll cool your soup down.
How to Make Dill Pickle Soup
Follow these steps to make your soup:
1. Make a roux. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Then, whisk in the flour until it forms a pale beige roux. (You’ll need to whisk for 1 to 2 minutes.)
2. Add the broth. Next, whisk in the chicken broth. Whisk it for an additional 2-3 minutes or until it’s thick and smooth.
3. Make the soup. Add all remaining ingredients (except the milk) to the stock pot. Increase the heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the milk. Once the soup starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 5 more minutes, whisking frequently. Then, remove the stockpot from heat and whisk in the milk.
5. Serve. Once the milk is incorporated, remove the bay leaves from the pot. Then, transfer the soup to individual bowls, serve, and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Soup
Check out these tips for even tastier soup:
- Give it a boost. As I mentioned, many dill pickle soup recipes contain other veggies. Potatoes are common, as are onions, carrots, and celery. If you want extra veggies, saute them in the butter before making the roux. You can also add browned hamburger meat, cooked chicken, or Polish sausage.
- Keep it chunky. You want to have several nice chunks of pickles in the soup. So, don’t cut them into too small pieces, and don’t grate them.
- Make it extra creamy. Use an immersion blender in the soup once it’s ready. Doing so will ensure it’s ultra-creamy.
- Dial down the salt. As written, the recipe yields a salty soup. If you’re sensitive to salt, you can make a few changes. Reduce the amount of onion salt you add. You can also eliminate it in favor of onion powder and add a dash of table salt instead. Additionally, use unsalted butter and low-sodium broth.
- Garnish it up. Don’t forget to top the soup off with your favorite garnishes. Chives, green onions, bacon bits, croutons, sour cream, etc.
- Make it keto-friendly. Simply use keto-friendly flour and milk and eliminate the sugar.
Serving Suggestions
Dill pickle soup pairs best with sandwiches, salads, pasta, and bread. Try some of these recipes when looking for things to serve with it:
- Dill pickle pasta salad
- BLT pasta salad
- Grilled cheese sandwich
- Chicken Waldorf salad
- Squaw bread
- Pimento cheese sandwich
How to Store
If you have leftover dill pickle soup, you’ll want to try and keep it fresh.
To Store: Dill pickle soup tastes best after it’s first made. However, you can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours. It won’t keep much longer than that.
To Freeze: Let it fully cool first. Then, pour it into freezer-safe Ziploc bags. (Leave about an inch of space at the top.) Remove as much air as possible from the bag, then seal it. Lay it flat in the freezer. It should keep for up to 6 months.
To Reheat: Let it thaw in the fridge overnight when you want to serve it. Then, reheat it over medium heat on the stove.
Polish Dill Pickle Soup (Zupa Ogórkowa)
8
servings5
minutes15
minutes104
kcalDill pickle soup or zupa ogórkowa is Polish comfort food! It’s creamy, tangy, savory, and will warm you up from the inside out.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup finely chopped dill pickles
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 teaspoons onion salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 large bay leaves
2 cups warm milk
Instructions
- Add the butter to a large stockpot. Set the heat to medium, and give the butter time to melt. Once it does, add the flour and whisk constantly for about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Once the flour/butter mixture turns pale beige, add the chicken broth. Whisk continuously for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture thickens and is smooth.
- Add all of the other ingredients EXCEPT the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high, and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir occasionally.
- Once the mixture starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 5 minutes, frequently whisking. After 5 minutes, remove the soup from the heat source and add the milk. Whisk constantly and vigorously until incorporated.
- Remove the bay leaves, then transfer the soup to serving bowls. Add desired garnishes if desired. Enjoy!
