This post may contain affiliate links. See my privacy policy for details.
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
(P.S, if you still need to use up some pickles, try making some Fried Pickles!)
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 tablespoons 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
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.
Made this recipe?
Share a photo of what you made on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thekitchenmagpie or hashtag it #thekitchenmagpie.
Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!
Learn to cook like the Kitchen Magpie
A Very Prairie Christmas Bakebook
Cookies, Candies, Cakes & More: Vintage Baking to Celebrate the Festive Season!
Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky
A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts
The Prairie Table
Suppers, Potlucks & Socials: Crowd-Pleasing Recipes to Bring People Together
PIN THIS RECIPE to your DINNER RECIPES Boards and Remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!
Di Stengels Brown says
I’m intrigued but I would rather someone make it for me! \U0001f60c
Kelly Pretty says
LOVE this recipe and make it often all winter!
The Kitchen Magpie says
I am ready for winter soups!
Dianne Trenaman Zarrelli says
I have tried one – love it
Crystal Carlson says
Dill pickle soup is soooo good!
Tracy Cook says
This is the best soup ever. Ever.
The Kitchen Magpie says
I can’t wait to be home and make it!! Craving it!
Jean Regamey-Gagnon says
My son loves pickles bet he’d like it \U0001f604
Leanne Bohme says
We love this one! Just had it again last week 🙂
Athena Raypold says
I’m so happy to see this!! I love dill pickle soup!
Emily Janz says
Haley Balewicz this sounds like something you would like
Courtney Fudger says
Tamara Lee, you might like this!
Brittany Lynne Munk says
I’ve already saved the recipe
Char Becker says
Love this soup!
Crystal Carlson says
So good! A specialty at Sister’s Bistro in Montmartre, Sask.
Janet Shum says
Stupid question. So do I just use the juice that comes with the pickles as the pickle juice?
Marguerite Friesen says
I was just printing the recipe off to share with my co-workers and noticed that.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Whoops! I’l fix that!
Marguerite Friesen says
Cook time is marked as 8 minutes on the top. It is a bit more than that. Lol
The Kitchen Magpie says
Woohoo glad that you liked it!
Marguerite Friesen says
Made this today. Every bit as good (if not better) than Continental Treat’s! Definitely a success!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Let me know what you think!
Christina Barr Clouse says
Oh I will!! Love dill pickle soup!!
Susan Schofield says
Well I will try your recipe and let you know…. Lol
The Kitchen Magpie says
BUT I keep hearing it’s amazing!
The Kitchen Magpie says
I rarely go for something that I can make at home well, I love mine so it’s hard to go and pay to eat somewhere else I’m so cheap lol!
Susan Schofield says
Have you ever been to Continental Treat on Whyte, they make the best dill pickle soup!!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Awesome!!! It is SO good and yes, people who love this soup, REALLY love it! You are either a big fan or hate it! Actually, I’ve never met a hater yet….
Margaret Kufuor-Boakye says
I have not tried this but will because I have heard people raving about it!!!
Homemade & Yummy says
I have NEVER hear of this one….will have to pin this for sure!!
John Kudryk says
I agree about the taste. Had some at Huckleberry’s Cafe in Wetaskiwin and Continental Treat. Yum!
The Kitchen Magpie says
OH I hope that they like it!! Just tell them it’s your recipe lol!