When I first made ogórki kiszone (cucumber preserved in brine), my friend, Chris who used to write a blog called Kielbasa Stories, suggested that I try making Ogórkowa, a well-known soup in Poland (and Lithuania) made with these natural Polish pickles.
While well knows in Poland, Ogórkowa or Zupa Ogórkowa can be found in Polish markets or delis in other countries, but is not something widely known in the United States. I do suspect that my sister, who had a passion for pickle sandwiches as a child, will love this soup.
The thought of a pickle soup seemed unusual to me, but no more unusual that horseradish soup or mustard soup, both of which are now part of my soup lineup.
I feel like I can make a soup out of anything after living in Poland. With my brother and sister on their way to our home for lunch recently, I pulled a bag of turkey broth and the meat I’d picked off the bone out of the freezer, threw it in a pot with a bay leaf while I sautéed a diced onion with a bunch of carrots, julienned kale and a couple of cloves of garlic. The cooked veggies were added to the broth. It was all served over some leftover angel hair pasta in red sauce that I placed in the bowls. Voila! Delicious soup from what happened to be in the fridge. I must have been out of pickles, LOL!
I’ve read the recipe for Ogórkowa in a Polish cookbook in English, From a Polish Country Kitchen, which you can find via my affiliate link, and also on Allrecipes Polska.
This is a combination of the two. The American version has you dicing vegetables and them blitzing them, but not until completely smooth. The Polish version, which I’ve gone with in the instructions, has you grating the cooked vegetables.
I have to say, I saw the grater used so often, in so many ways, in Polish kitchens. It was sometimes used in ways that wouldn’t have occurred to me. Need breadcrumbs for a recipe? Just grab last night’s baguette and grate it!
Ogórkowa is complex soup with many layers of flavor. As you can see from the ingredient list, it’s so much more than just pickles.
Smacznego!
Lois
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Ogórkowa (Polish Sour Pickle Souo)
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 60 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients
- Pork or chicken bones
- 1 leek, the white and light green parts, trimmed and rinsed
- 2 carrots, trimmed and peeled
- 1 parsnip, trimmed, and peeled
- 1 stalk celery, trimmed
- 1 onion, trimmed and outer layer removed
- 3 allspice (whole)
- 1 quart (900 ml) sour pickles
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Instructions
- Add the bones, leek, carrots, parsnip, celery, onion and allspice to a large pot
- Add 6 to 8 cups of water, or use broth, (chicken or vegetable) if you don’t have soup bones in hand
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes
- While this is cooking , removed the pickles, reserving their liquid, grate the pickles and simmer in a small amount of water for 20 minutes, drain
- Add the garlic and potatoes to the soup and cook about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender
- Remove the bones, leek, carrots, parsnip, onion, and allspice from the soup
- Grate the carrots, parsnip, and celery, and return to the soup
- Season with marjoram, salt and pepper
- Add the grated pickles and juice to the soup
- Just before serving, stir in the heavy cream and chopped dill
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Kuba
I’ll have to try this. I canned pickles last year and I’m sure they will work in the recipe.
Thanks for posting it. Can’t remember when I had this soup last. Maybe a spoon of sour cream and some vinegar can be addes 😉
★★★★★
polishhousewife
Thanks for taking time to comment, Kuba. I hope you enjoy it!
Nancy Erikson
Lois, thank you so much for your posts! My step daughter made fasolka po bretanski when we were in KrakowI. I love it. Do you have the recipe for vegetable salad with peas carrots and mayonnaise? Also I am trying the pickle soup next–a staple on Polish restaurant menus!! Your fan, Nancy
polishhousewife
You are too kind, Nancy! I look forward to getting acquainted over our favorite Polish recipes.
This is the closest dish I have made to the peas and carrots salad you mention. I think you could prepared frozen veg or used canned and dress it in a similar style. You might mince in a little shallot, maybe decorate your molded creation with sliced hard boiled eggs or thin slices or radish and chives. The presentation in these salad is always so impressive!
https://polishhousewife.com/salatka-warzywna-vegetable-salad/
Diane
are there translations for the recipes?
polishhousewife
On Allrecipes Polska? You would have to copy and paste into a translation app.
Jon
The Google Chrome browser will translate web pages. Look for a small icon in the address bar near the “star” for saving book marks. The translations are not perfect. It appears that they are literal translations and that does not necessarily work well; literal translations do not account for idioms and that may cause some ‘unusual’ sentences and odd grammatical / syntax structuring.
It does work well enough to understand the meaning, though, and it is just fine for recipes.
And thanks for the pickle soup recipe; it is a little different from the one I have used but I will try it soon.
polishhousewife
Pleasure, Jon. Thanks for the Chrome tip.
Lorene Wedeking
Like pickle soup a lot.
Renee
Could this be done in a slow cooker? How long?
polishhousewife
In rereading the recipe, Renee, I think you could make it in a slow cooker; I’m just guessing but I think 6 to 8 hours should be good.
Becky
I married a pole and now I’m having to learn to cook all the new foods. I followed the recipe and the soup was amazing! Just like the one my husband’s grandma makes 🙂
★★★★★
Lois Britton
I’m so happy to hear that, Becky. Happy cooking!
Tom
In Poland we use parsley root never parsnips.
They are similar in look but not the same in flavour.
Jenny Little
I live alone – Sometimes get given fresh vegies – (supermarket stuff is crap!). All meals posted are too complicated for me & the amount produced only suitable for freezing for use in winter dishes. Are there any instant Polish dishes using the vegies (i.e. beets) which take just minutes to prepare?
Patricia Mart
Love polish foods was brought up on Polish foods
polishhousewife
Thanks for your comment, Patricia. Let me know if there are favorites you’d like to see!
Rick
By juice do you mean all the brine or the juice from cooking them?
polishhousewife
The brine that you’ve reserved from the jar of pickles. Thanks for helping me clarify, Rick!
Jody
How do you grate the vegetables after they are already cooked and soft?
Dianne
Hi Lois. Can you recommend a type of purchased pickle to use in this recipe? I am intrigued. It looks so good.
polishhousewife
I would use Claussen’s Dill.
Sharon
Hi! Question about the pickle soup. I just bought the ingredients to make this. The recipe says to add the juice…how much? What is the measurement?
polishhousewife
Sorry, Sharon, I’m going to cop out on you and say “to taste.”
Cella Purcell
Thank you so much for posting this! I’m a young chef and I love exploring new cuisines. This soup has made me so excited about trying some more polish dishes. SO SO tasty. 🙂
★★★★★
Mary Jeanne
Super delicious soup, The directions need to be more clear. Read the directions carefully. We accidentally threw out all the vegetables and had to start over again. No need to cut up the vegetables to make the broth.
★★★★