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I have been wanting to make dill pickle soup for as long as I can remember, since my mom mentioned to me in passing that she loved a certain dill pickle soup from a diner in central Alberta. This desire was rekindled when I saw a picture from a fellow Albertan food writer about her dill pickle soup this summer.
I was intrigued by people’s response to it. Loved it? Favorite soup? Gross?
Say what?
Yes indeed, dill pickle soup elicits a love or hate reaction from people, there is no in-between.
When Mike ate this – with his nose wrinkled up in disgust at the mere thought of dill pickle soup- he exclaimed after a few bites “This is just like eating dill pickle chips! Oh my God, this is amazing!”.
So if you are a lover of dill pickle chips, this soup is absolutely for you. If you love pickles, you may not love it like Mike did but I think that you should definitely try this soup. Fair warning, this may not be kid friendly.My daughter wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole and my son told me “It’s good in small amounts, but then it was overpowering.”
He’s absolutely right; this isn’t something you eat to fill up. You are going to need biscuits or bread with it as it’s a very potent soup. Delicious, but potent.
I riffed on the Western Producer recipe that was posted this summer and made a few tweaks. I didn’t use flour, I didn’t use celery (it’s my least favorite item in soups) and I’ve upped the pickles and juice for a better flavor. Cream always makes a soup better, you use less and it gives the soup a much richer flavor.
The most important thing with this soup is to get the vegetables chopped as small as possible. It’s not supposed to be a chunky soup and even though chunky soups are my absolute favorite, this is definitely not the soup for it. It needs to be creamy with small bits of pickles and vegetables.
So about that celery; I honestly don’t think that flavorwise it needs to be there. Texture-wise I’m completely grossed out even thinking about it but if you are a celery lover and you feel that this soup needs it, then go for it. If I really thought it needed the flavor I would have used some celery seed but in all honesty this was perfect for us. I won’t tweak this recipe, change any amounts ever and that is a rare thing for me to say.
You can make a few changes, like adding cornstarch to thicken at the end (try not to use flour, am I the only one who can taste it in soups sometimes?) and adding more cream if the soup is a little too strong for you. Taste test and add what you need.
I highly suggest pureeing the soup at the end instead of using thickeners and you have a lovely gluten free soup (make sure that your pickles and vegetable broth are gluten free). If you chop your vegetables small enough those potatoes are going to fall apart and thicken the soup for you and that’s the best way flavor-wise.
So.
Who’s on board with trying this soup? Yay or nay? Will you trust me enough to give it a whirl?
Love,
Karlynn
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Dill Pickle Soup
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 8 hours
- Total Time
- 8 hours 15 minutes
- Course
- Soup
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 6
- Calories
- 147
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 6 cups strong vegetable broth
- 1/2 white onion
- 12 baby carrots
- 2 peeled medium to large russet potatoes cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp dried dill
- 1 cup chopped pickles
- 1 cup pickle juice
- 1 cup half and half warmed
Instructions
- Pour the vegetable broth into a crockpot and set on low.
- Take the potatoes, carrots and onion and using a food processor, grind until the vegetables are in small chunks. Alternatively, chop up your vegetables as small as you can. This soup should be a smooth soup, not chunky.
- Place into the crockpot and add the dill.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours until the vegetables are tender and falling apart.
- Around half an hour before serving, add in the pickle and the pickle juice. MAKE SURE that your vegetables are cooked or the acid can stop the cooking process (just like it does in pickling!) and you will have hard vegetables. Add in the pickle juice slowly and TO TASTE. You can have different strengths of pickle juice! Add it in until you are happy with the taste.
- Take a hand blender if you have one and blend about 1/3 of the soup before serving. This thickens the soup without flour and I think this adds to the taste; there's no flour taste in the soup, just pure pickled goodness. I try to avoid flour whenever I can in soups.
Stir in the WARM half and half cream a few minutes before serving.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
The cream being warmed helps to prevent curdling of the soup.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!
Brenda says
Tried this recipe as I was a big fan of the Continental Treat version and love anything pickled. I only had chicken broth, not veggie and right off the bat it tasted and smelled too chicken-y. Still thought it might be ok at that point. I warmed my cream and drizzled it slowly into the mixture, but it curdled instantly. Fail. Guess I’ll stick with the restaurant after all.
Janet says
Just found this. I am intrigued and will try it. I’m not hearing about it in Ontario. You are leading the pack!
David Roach says
The soup tastes ok. I love the culinary arts and love to make my own adaptations to recipes. I followed this recipe to a tee. The soup was not creamy even with blending the vegtables. As soon as the cream and pickle juice mixed it seperated and made an unpleasant consistancy. I am not a fan of this recipe compared to others big time.
VS says
When adding cream to a soup that has acid, such as the pickle juice or tomatoes to cream of tomato soup or even oysters to oyster stew, heat your acid product separate on low then add about 1/2 tsp. of baking soda . The baking soda will neutralize the acid, then you can add it to your cream/milk broth . Simple no more curdling ?
Pam Mansveld says
I’ve made this and it is GOOD!
Keri Nelson says
Is that diner in Didsbury by chance? Our local place has dill pickle soup every week
Lizz Poustie says
Every other Monday!!!
Diane Alena says
Still too often
Lizz Poustie says
She’s missed two Monday’s in a row. It’s been glorious.
Keri Nelson says
I still don’t have the courage to try it
The Kitchen Magpie says
It’s so good!!! And yes , pretty sure that’s where my mom tried it!
Keri Nelson says
Hahahaha! That’s amazing!
Lizz Poustie says
Goodness. Our stolen recipe has been stolen.
Diane Alena says
Ummmm….admittedly I must add….that is how we got it
Diane Alena says
The idea for it anyway. The recipe was a creation of love inspired by a stolen idea
The Kitchen Magpie says
Continental Treat here in Edmonton has made it for years upon years as well, and a big US food blogger made it go mainstream as well. It just keeps getting stolen lol!
Erika Boyer says
I am thinking of trying it with some lite sour cream instead of half and half.. what do you think????
Karlynn Johnston says
It would add more tang but would be creamy and rich!
Erika Boyer says
ok, today is the day! had this saved forever but now have 2 leftover baked russets, and everything else to make this!
Sabine Dumdei Vanderkley says
I have made this recipe and loved it!!!!
Karlynn Johnston says
I really need to make it again…
Mary P Hoffman says
Interesting. I think Id try it at least once!
Danielle Braim says
I made Dill Pickle Soup once, admittedly it was not the recipe you posted. The lone reviewer, other than myself, stated “It tastes too pickley”.
Go figure
I loved it though. Soooo good.
Karlynn Johnston says
Hahahah too pickley!!! \U0001f602\U0001f602
Natalie Tremblay says
Will give this a try on the weekend! And I’m not even prego! :p
Crystal Carlson says
This is delicious!
Karlynn Johnston says
It’s a surprise, isn’t it! Who’da thunk pickle soup was so good!
Crystal Carlson says
A specialty at Sisters Bistro in Montmartre Sk.
Joy Leeb says
I love Dill Pickle Soup. My son introduced me to this soup when he went away to university and frequented that classic diner in central Alberta. I came up with a chunky version that my family enjoys but I might give your version a try. Dill Pickle soup is a family favourite, especially in the winter.
Dianne Trenaman Zarrelli says
Have made it – love it!
Steven Forsythe says
Karlynn; Love your innovative recipes but, your website is so packed with ads, it takes forever to load! …just sayin’ 😉
The Kitchen Magpie says
It’s not the ads, it’s the theme and we have a new design coming this week! I’m with the same ad company that most bloggers have.
Steven Forsythe says
Good to hear. Thx!
Flo Johnson says
It very good. Made it a while back.