Dill Pickle Soup

One of the less common items that showed up on my parent’s dining table when I was young was a version of Dill Pickle Soup.  I know it sounds a bit bizarre but I loved it as a child and love it still as an adult.  It’s not something I normally make myself — I usually end up saving it as a special treat for evenings at a really good ethnic restaurant but I came across this version and it’s got all the right ingredients so I wanted to share it!

Recipe from: Created by Cathy Pollak

Serves: Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 5-1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1-3/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 cups chopped carrots (smaller dice)
• 1 cup chopped dill pickles (smaller dice ~ about 3 large whole dills)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups dill pickle juice*
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Garnish (optional)

• sliced dill pickles
• fresh dill
• black pepper

Directions

• In a large pot, combine broth, potatoes, carrots and butter. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add pickles and continue to boil.
• In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sour cream and water, making a paste. Vigorously whisk sour cream mixture (2 Tablespoons at a time) into soup. (This will also break up some of your potatoes which is okay. You might see some initial little balls of flour form, but between the whisking and boiling all will disappear. Don’t panic.)
• Add pickle juice, Old Bay, salt (*see below), pepper and cayenne. Cook 5 more minutes and remove from heat. Serve immediately.
• All pickle juice is not created equal. Some is saltier than others. Taste your soup after adding the pickle juice and final seasonings. It’s possible you will not need any salt or would prefer more or less.

You really need to serve this with a nice dollop of sour cream on the top that you can gradually blend into the soup at the last moment.

Enjoy — I know I do!

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Dill Pickle Soup