A vegan version of Polish pickle soup, or zupa ogórkowa. Savory, sour, and full of flavor, pickle lovers will rejoice for this cozy soup.
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This dish is the meeting of two of my all-time favorite foods: pickles and soup! Here’s a plant-based spin on Zupa Ogórkowa, a hearty Polish soup with potatoes, pickles, and fresh dill. It’s perfect if you’re craving a comforting bowl of soup, but you want to mix it up from your classic chick’n noodle.
Why you’ll love pickle soup!
- Flavorful. It’s got the familiar flavors of a classic chicken soup (onion, celery + carrot), but with an extra zippy flavor boost from the pickles, pickle brine, and fresh dill.
- Nourishing. It’s packed with veggies, and the potatoes make it hearty & satisfying.
- Budget-friendly. A simple whole food, plant-based recipe that calls for simple ingredients you might already have in your kitchen!
Ingredients for Vegan Pickle Soup
- Olive oil or vegan butter. To sauté.
- Onion, celery, carrot: A classic aromatic base for our soup.
- Potatoes: I recommend a waxy variety, like Yukon golds. They hold their shape better when boiled.
- Veggie broth: I’m a big fan of chicken-style veggie bouillon for soups (to make them more savory). But for this recipe I actually prefer a classic vegetable broth. It allows the flavor of the pickles (and brine) to really shine.
- Pickles + pickle brine: Use a good-quality pickle — the flavor is key! Preferably something fermented (rather than brined in vinegar) for the best flavor. I love using lacto-fermented Kosher dill pickles (like Ba-Tampte or Bubbie’s).
- Vegan sour cream: Use a store-bought dairy-free sour cream substitute (there are options from Kite Hill, Tofutti, Follow Your Heart and more). Or, whip up your own homemade cashew sour cream. (Just blend soaked, raw cashews with a squeeze of lemon juice and enough water to get it ultra-smooth.)
- Fresh dill: This is key, in my opinion! Stir some into the soup and then garnish with even more. It adds a bright and fresh flavor that compliments the tangy flavor of the pickles.
How to Make Vegan Pickle Soup
- Sauté the aromatics. In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil (or vegan butter). Add diced onion and celery and sauté 3-5 minutes, until onion is translucent. Add in carrot and sauté for an additional minute.
- Add the potatoes. Add in cubed potatoes and cover with vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low or medium-low to establish a gentle simmer. Let the soup simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are very soft and easily pierced with a fork.
- Pan-fry the pickles. In the meantime, heat a small skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegan butter. Add in the grated pickles and pan-fry, stirring regularly, for about 3-5 minutes. I pull mine off the heat when the extra moisture in the pan cooks off.
- Add the pickles. Once the potatoes are very tender, add the cooked pickles to the soup, along with the pickle juice. (Make sure you aren’t adding the brine before the potatoes are soft, as the acidity will interfere with the potatoes cooking.)
- Temper the sour cream. Measure the vegan sour cream into a small heat-proof bowl. Add a few ladles of the hot broth from the soup into the bowl and whisk it together. (This will help prevent the cream from curdling once you add it into the hot soup.) Pour the mixture back into the pot of soup and stir to combine.
- Finishing touches. Stir in the chopped fresh dill. Give the soup a taste and add more salt if needed. (Each brand of veggie broth varies a little in terms of sodium content.)
- Serve it up and garnish with extra fresh dill. I love to enjoy this with a slice of sourdough bread.
Sarah’s Recipe Notes
- Don’t use vinegar pickles! Make sure to use lacto-fermented pickles for this soup. This is super important for how your soup comes out. Vinegar pickles don’t have the right flavor and you’ll end up with a subpar vegan zupa ogórkowa. Lacto-fermented pickles are usually found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.
- Add your pickle brine in at the right time. Like I mentioned in the step-by-step process, it’s important that you don’t add your pickles in brine into your soup before the potatoes are soft. This is because the acidity of the pickles prevents the potatoes from fully cooking, leaving you with firm, disappointing potatoes.
Storage and Reheating
Vegan dill pickle soup is easy to store. It’ll stay good in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days and you can freeze it for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply heat it on the stove over medium-low heat or in the microwave.
More Cozy Vegan Soups
Vegan Pickle Soup
A vegan version of Polish pickle soup, or zupa ogórkowa. Savory, sour, and full of flavor, pickle lovers will rejoice for this cozy soup.
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegan butter divided
- 1 small white onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 4 medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1" cubes
- 5 cups vegetable broth or more if you prefer a thinner soup
- 1 cup grated dill pickles
- 1/2 cup pickle brine
- 1/2 cup vegan sour cream see notes for recommendations
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill plus extra to garnish
- salt and pepper to preference
Instructions
- In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoons olive oil or vegan butter.
- Add diced onion and celery and sauté 3-5 minutes, until onion is translucent.
- Add in carrot and sauté for an additional minute.
- Add in cubed potatoes and cover with vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low or medium-low to establish a gentle simmer. Let the soup simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are very soft and easily pierced with a fork.
- In the meantime, heat a small skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegan butter. Add in the grated pickles and pan-fry, stirring regularly, for about 3-5 minutes. I pull mine off the heat when the extra moisture in the pan cooks off.
- Once the potatoes are very tender, add the cooked pickles to the soup, along with the pickle brine. (Make sure you aren't adding the brine before the potatoes are soft, as the acidity will interfere with the potatoes cooking.)
- Measure the vegan sour cream into a small heat-proof bowl. Add a few ladles of the hot broth from the soup into the bowl and whisk it together in order to temper it. (This will help prevent the cream from curdling once you add it into the hot soup.) Pour the mixture back into the pot of soup and stir to combine.
- Stir in the chopped fresh dill. Give the soup a taste and add more salt if needed. (Each brand of veggie broth varies a little in terms of sodium content.)
- Add extra fresh dill to serve, if you like! I love to enjoy this with a slice of sourdough bread.
Notes
- Vegan sour cream: You can either whip up a homemade sour cream to use in this recipe or buy a premade one from the grocery store. Lots of brands make vegan sour cream, such as Kite Hill, Simple Truth (Kroger), Violife, and Follow Your Heart.
Did you make this recipe?We’d love for you to leave a review on the website! You can also share a photo on IG and tag @sarahsvegankitchen_ or #sarahsvegankitchen.
Looks delicious! How many servings does this make? Thanks.
This soup was AMAZING! Don’t even think twice, just go make it because it truly is so easy to make yet so flavourful and complex.
Easily one of the best soups I’ve made. Thanks Sarah for always creating approachable recipes.
should i use salted or unsalted broth?
bc the pickles are salty and all
okay thank you 😊
It was really good!
I felt out of my comfort zone with this recipe as it didn’t utilize my everyday spices of garlic or Italian seasoning 😂! I’m so glad I tried it because it was really good! Definitely keeping this recipe to make again.
Yum! I ended up mashing about half the potatoes because I wanted a thicker texture, but otherwiseI think I kept everything else about the same. This is going into my soup rotation for sure.
Absolutely outstanding! Delicious recipe, I’m so glad I gave it a try. I’ve been attempting to reignite some passion for cooking, and I figured a winter soup was a good place to start. Boy, did I make the right call 🙂 Very approachable and realistic, I followed the recipe exactly and was very happy with the results. Thank you, Sarah! If anyone is contemplating making this, you won’t be disappointed!
FAMILY LOVED IT
Will be added to our rotation of winter meals .
Loved it! Very simple and easy to make and I already had all the ingredients. I used unsalted vegetable broth, but found the flavor definitely needed more salt so I added it at the end and it was perfect. Also added baby spinach and kale to wilt in at the end
This is delicious!! Thank you! You know you’re in good hands when a recipe involves tempering.
Made this today & even the doubters were impressed with the flavor. Very good! Thank you for the recipe.
You can have ALL the stars hands down. I was intrigued, and I’m definitely glad I took a chance on it. Only swap was homemade plant yogurt instead of the sour cream, and I water sauteed frozen chopped veggies and pressure cooked mine 5 minutes instead of stovetop, adding pickles and yogurt after a quick release. Super comfy, and tastes a little junky w/o being unhealthy! This is definitely going into rotation, and will likely increase the recipe for more leftovers for lunches!
Made this today. I followed the recipe exactly but I wanted more protein and fiber, so I subbed the sour cream for 1 cup soaked cashews + 1 15oz can white beans + 3 tbsp lemon juice blended into a cream consistency. It turned out awesome!
Second time making this and it’s phenomenal! I used a homemade cashew sour cream (raw cashews, lemon juice, vinegar, salt) and used the refrigerated grillos dill pickles 😋 wouldn’t change a thing