pickle soup slay

WE CAN EAT SOUP NOW

I know I wasn’t ready for all things fall last week, but this is a new week.

And I was just sick for a whole week straight where all I wanted was a bowl of soup. During that time, I took my position as a sick person to my advantage and thought about every soup I would want to eat in that very moment. Pickle soup was one of the top contenders. What’s happening to the rest of the soups you may ask? You’ll get them.

In my new series called….

SOUP SLAYS!!!

Because soup..slays. And sometimes you make a soup and you’re just like..slay.

So we’ll be covering alllll soups of alll types, even soups I haven’t tried before!!! I will be eating a lot of soup these next few months. And so will you. I’m excited.

And I have previously shared this recipe but I put it in a very hard place to find with a confusing titles so here she is again WITH easier to read and less dish use instructions. Now that is a slay in itself.

If you’re wondering what pickle soup tastes like: it does not just taste like hot pickles. That is unappealing even to me: a wild pickle lover. The soup is finshed with sauteed pickles and brine towards the end of cooking so the broth takes on a light, briny, salty flavor that gets absorbed by the potatoes + chicken meatballs for such a good bite.

This actually comes from the traditional Polish soup called ogórkowa. It doesn’t usually include meatballs but I think they’re the best addition ever and it’s more of a meal.

Some notes:

* do not use vinegar based pickles, the vinegar will make your soup taste like kaka. look for dill pickles with water and salt as the main ingredient. so that means no Grillo’s. Bubbies is a good brand that I love for this soup.

*do not season the soup as you go with salt, the pickles will really salt your soup at the end. only salt your meatballs then see what’s missing towards the end.

*if you choose to use pearl barley as mentioned in the recipe, add 1/2 the amount of potatoes. or, just add more broth as the barley and potatoes together will pull a lot of water from the soup.

pickle soup:

• 1 cup of dill pickles grated (NOT vinegar based)

• 1 cup pickle brine (add another 1/2 cup if you want a stronger pickle taste at the end)

• 3 large carrots, grated

• 3 celery stalks, finely sliced

• 1 small leek, finely sliced

• 1/2 small white onion, finely sliced

• 4-5 medium gold potatoes, cubed

• 1/2 cup pearl barley (optional but suggested!)

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 4 tbsp butter

• 64 oz chicken broth (can supplement 1/2 with water)

• 2 bay leaves

• handful of dill

chicken meatballs:

• 1 lb ground chicken

• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

• 1 shallot, finely grated

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1/3 cup milk

• 1 egg

• 1/2 white onion, finely grated

• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

• sprinkle of dried dill

• salt ‘n pepper

1. for the meatballs: make these first as they’ll chill in the fridge while you make the rest of the soup. in a large bowl, pour the milk over the breadcrumbs and allow it to absorb for a few minutes. then, add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix gently to combine. if they’re wayyyyy too sticky you can add another sprinkle of bread crumbs, but they will be pretty sticky regardless, don’t worry this makes them super fluffy. cover the bowl and pop in the fridge to firm up as you get going on the soup.

2. for the soup: melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a large pot (I like to use a dutch oven) saute your onion and leek until softened and golden about 5-7 minutes. add the celery, potatoes, carrots and saute for another 1-2 min.

3. add your broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. add your pearl barley if using. simmer until your vegetables are still a bit tender (not mushy but can be picked through with a fork) about 15-20 min.

4. in the meantime: remove meatball mixture from the fridge and using oiled hands, form 1/2 tbsp meatballs.

5. heat a pan to medium heat and add 2 tbsp butter + a tiny bit of avocado oil. once melted, saute your meatballs until browned and gorgeous. they’ll finish cooking in the soup.

6. once your vegetables are fork tender, add the meatballs to the soup and simmer for about 10-13 minutes until they’re fully cooked inside.

7. while the meatballs cook: in the same saucepan you used to saute the meatballs, add your garlic, another 2 tbsp of butter and the bay leaves - saute until aromatic. don’t burn the garlic!!! add the grated pickles and continue to cook on medium heat until they’re softened, about 7 minutes.

8. pick the bay leaves out and add the pickle mixture to the soup along with 1 cup of the pickle brine. add a big handful of chopped dill and give everything a good mix. take off heat and let sit for 10 min. taste for more salt and add if you want!

9. serve with a dollop of sour cream on top, more chopped dill + black pepper. so daaayummm good!

HOPE YOU HAVE A DILL-ICIOUSSS SUNDAY!! tag me if you try it!!

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