I am one quarter Polish and spent most days with my two Polish Great Aunts and Polish grandmother until I was six and we moved further away from them. They swore to my mom that I understood Polish and spoke it to them but now I only remember about six words and one is a curse. They cooked all sorts of traditional foods but I don’t ever recall a pickle soup (zupa ogórkowa in Polish) although we ate a lot of pickled things. I stumbled upon a few recipes but veganized a version and although it’s probably not super authentic, it’s dill-liscious. If you’re a pickle lover then you should definitely try this.
What you’ll need:
- Fermented dill pickles. These are water and salt brined pickles not ones pickled with vinegar. You can find brands in stores like Bubbies, Sonoma Brinery (now part of Cleveland Kitchen) and some store deli varieties. These are the kind we used to buy on the lower east side in New York City and the kind served in delis.
- Vegan sour cream. There a quite of few brands out in stores now so use your favorite but I prefer Tofutti brand.
- Vegan broth. I like to use a vegan powdered broth (I used Osem brand, and it gave the soup a golden hue. I find it Walmart or you can use the link to my Amazon storefront at the bottom of the post to see it there) or you can use a your favorite prepared vegan veggie broth. I like the powdered bouillon as I can control the strength of the flavor.
A few recipes chopped the veggies and some shredded them so I did a combo of both for texture and a food processor definitely was the easiest way to accomplish that. This recipe also uses some of the pickle brine to really punch up the pickle flavor. If you want a thicker soup you can always puree a few cups of the soup in a blender then add it back. I might do that next time although I enjoyed it as-is.
I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I did and I fondly thought of my Polish grandmother as I sipped each spoonful. I think she’d be surprised and proud that I’ve shared food but I don’t think she would have understood the vegan angle. I don’t think I would have told her if I served it to her and would have kept that a little secret. Don’t forget to rage and review if you try it!
Vegan Polish Dill Pickle Soup
8
servings15
minutes20
minutesA creamy and pickleliscious soup!
Ingredients
2 Large carrots, scrubbed clean
2 large celery stalks, washed and trimmed
1 medium yellow onion, peeled
1 large leek, trimmed, and cut open and washed well to remove any sand
1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed clean
4-6 whole fermented dill pickles (made with salt and water brine, not vinegar brine)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons vegan butter
6 cups vegan vegetable broth (from a can or container or made with veggie bouillon)
1 1/4 cups brine from the pickles (1 cup needed first and 1/4 cup to finish soup)
2 bay leaves
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 cup vegan sour cream
Directions
- Prepare all of the vegetables. You can either shred some of them like the carrots, pickles and potatoes or dice them all small. I did a combo of shredding all the carrots and some pickles but dicing the potatoes, onions, celery and a few pickles. I sliced the leeks finely after really cleaning them well. They’re often grown in sandy conditions so best to slice open and wash well between the layers to remove any silt. You can use some of the green part at the top but not the really woody portion. A food processor with the shredding and slicing discs helped make quick work of this task but it can all be done by hand as well.
- In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, melt the vegan butter then add the carrots, celery, onion, potatoes and leeks and sauté for 5-6 minutes on medium heat until they start to soften slightly. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
- Add the pickles, vegetable stock, 1 cup of the pickle brine and the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20
minutes. - Taste for salt. Depending on how salty your stock and pickle brine was will affect the salt level. Add some if you feel it needs it about 1/2 teaspoon at a time until it tastes good to you. Add the black pepper, remaining pickle brine and the vinegar and cook for a few minutes.
- Remove one cup of the stock and place in a bowl and whisk in the vegan sour cream until well blended then add back to the soup pot with the chopped dill and turn off the heat. Serve immediately with more sour cream and chopped dill and refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.
Recipe Video
Notes
- If you want a thicker soup, remove 1-2 cups of it and blend using a blender or immersion blender then return to the pot and stir.
- Use your favorite vegan sour cream. I prefer Tofutti brand.
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