Polish Pickle Soup Recipe

Pickle soup is a familiar part of traditional Polish food. This homemade soup combines fermented cucumbers with vegetables, stock, sour cream and dill.

Ingredients

5 fermented cucumbers
4 potatoes
1 carrot
1 parsley root
1.5 litres stock
100 ml sour cream, 18% fat
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons dill
Salt and pepper

Step-by-step method

Dice the potatoes and grate the carrot and parsley root. Add the vegetables to the stock and cook until tender.
Grate the cucumbers and cook them gently in the butter for a few minutes.
Add the cucumbers to the pot only once the potatoes are tender. Cook for about 10 minutes more.
Mix the sour cream with a few spoonfuls of hot soup in a bowl, then pour it into the pot and stir.
Season with pepper and salt if needed. Sprinkle with dill and serve.

Time and servings

About 40 minutes; serves 5.

Tips and variations

Fermented cucumbers vary in saltiness, so add salt at the end.
A little cucumber brine will sharpen the sour flavour.
Warming the sour cream with hot soup helps it blend into the pot.

Cucumbers and cooking order

Choose fermented cucumbers whose flavour you enjoy. Taste a small piece before grating: some are mild, while others are very sour or salty. Grate them coarsely with the skin on if it is soft. If the skin is particularly tough, peel it first. Reserve the brine separately so you can gradually adjust the soup at the end.

Dice the potatoes evenly and grate the carrot and parsley root. Cook them in the stock until tender. Only then add the gently cooked cucumbers, because acidity can slow the softening of the potatoes. Simmer everything together for a few minutes, then taste the broth. If it needs more acidity, add a little reserved brine. Wait until the end before adding salt.

Sour cream, serving and storage

To temper the sour cream, add hot soup to it one spoonful at a time, stirring thoroughly after each addition. Once warmed, pour the mixture into the pot, stirring constantly. Heat the soup gently. If you prefer it without sour cream, simply leave it out; the cucumbers and vegetables will still give the broth plenty of flavour.

Chop the dill and add it just before serving. Stir from the bottom to distribute the vegetables and serve with bread. Cool leftovers quickly in a shallow container and refrigerate covered. Reheat the portion you need, stirring gently and heating thoroughly. If it thickens, add a little water. Taste before adding more salt, as the cucumber flavour may be more pronounced.

Balancing the sour flavour

It is easier to add sourness gradually than to tone it down, so do not pour in all the brine at once. After adding the grated cucumbers, bring the soup to a boil, stir and taste. If the flavour is too mild, add a little brine and taste again. If the cucumbers are very strong, start with fewer and add the rest after cooking. If the broth is too sour, add a little unsalted stock or water and heat again.

To cook the cucumbers in butter, melt it in a pan, add the grated cucumbers and stir for a few minutes over medium heat. They do not need to brown. Transfer them and their liquid to the pot once the potatoes are soft. You can also omit the butter and add the cucumbers directly to the broth. The flavour will be slightly different, but the cooking order remains the same.

Planning the cooking

Prepare all the vegetables first, then put the stock, potatoes, carrot and parsley root on to cook. While they simmer, grate the cucumbers and cook them gently in a separate pan. Measure the sour cream into a bowl and chop the dill just before serving. This order keeps each ingredient ready when needed. If the soup needs to wait, keep the dill separate and sprinkle it over each reheated portion.