This comforting and Hearty Pickle Soup is packed with wholesome ingredients like tender chicken breasts, nutritious potatoes, and flavorful grated carrots. Enhanced with the unique tang of pickle juice and seasoned with salt, pepper, and Vegeta seasoning, this soup is sure to become a family favorite!

This variation of pickle soup, or Rassolnik, as it's called in Russian, is courtesy of my mother-in-law. She came to visit us for a couple of months and made this soup and this Mazurek Shortcake Dessert. What I loved most about the soup is that she used pickle juice instead of actual pickles, like most other pickle soup recipes I've tasted. Aside from its health benefits, pickle juice adds subtle pickle flavor, whereas I find that adding actual sliced or grated pickles is less gentle on the palate.
Like this Meatball Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash or my Simple Seafood Soup Recipe, this soup is easy to make, filling, and nutritious!
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Why we love this recipe
- Easy and convenient: Like my Cauliflower and Pumpkin Soup, this soup is really simple to make, with no complicated ingredients. So convenient too! Make it on a weekend and it can last you the work week; you won't get sick of it ๐
- Hearty and Nutritious: the chicken, potatoes, and barley make the soup so satisfyingly filling and hearty! Plus, it's healthy: protein, grains, and veggies.
- Unique: the unusual use of pickles in a soup makes this recipe an interesting and unique choice! Sometimes we just want something different.
Ingredients
- Olive Oil: we'll need this to sautรฉ the onion and carrot.
- Onion: yellow onion will add aromatics and depth of flavor!
- Water: our soup base.
- Chicken: skinless chicken breast or thighs will add heartiness to the soup.
- Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes work great. They don't fall apart as easily as some of the other potatoes when cooked in the soup.
- Barley: choose pearl barley because it cooks quicker than other types of barley.
- Pickle juice: the star of the dish! It is of course what makes pickle soup pickle soup.
- Seasoning: salt, ground black pepper and some Mrs. Dash or Vegeta seasoning.
see the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities
Substitutions and Variations
- Chicken: You can substitute the chicken breasts with turkey, pork, or even beef. I also like using veal. Just adjust the cooking time accordingly to ensure the meat is fully cooked.
- Water: More often than not, I use water as my base for soups, but you can also use vegetable stock or chicken stock. Or, you can use half 50% water and 50% stock.
- Pickle juice: You may also like to grate some pickles and add them when sautรฉing your onion and carrot. Depending on how tart you like the soup, you can also add the pickle juice after adding the water or stock base.
- Add Celery: adds aromatics. It's usually added to soups along with the onion and carrot, but it's optional for this recipe.
- Make it vegetarian: Replace chicken with chickpeas or white beans and add them during the simmering step.
- Make it Creamy Pickle Soup: Stir in one cup of heavy cream, or sour cream, at the end of cooking to add richness and a creamy texture.
Preparation
STEP 1: Parboil the meat
Place the chicken into a large pot and cover it with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the water has boiled and the foam has risen to the top, drain it and rinse the meat. Transfer the chicken onto a cutting board and set aside to cool down.
STEP 2: Sautรฉ the vegetables
In the same pot, add the chopped onion and grated carrot. Sautรฉ until the onion is translucent and the carrot is tender
(about 5 minutes), and stir in the salt and ground black pepper.
STEP 3: Add diced chicken
While the onion and carrot are cooking, dice the slightly cooled chicken and add it to the pot once the carrots and onions have cooked.
STEP 4: Add the remaining ingredients
Add the diced potatoes, rinsed barley, pickle juice, Vegeta seasoning and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the barley and potatoes are tender, and the chicken is fully cooked. Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings as needed with additional salt, pepper, or pickle juice.
Top Tips
- Use high-quality pickle juice from your favorite pickles. The flavor of the pickle juice will significantly impact the taste of your soup.
- Parboil the meat and drain the murky water to achieve a clearer broth and remove excess fat and impurities from the chicken.
- Barley triples in volume and absorbs a lot of the liquid it is cooked in, so make sure to use a large pot!
- This recipe makes a hearty, thick, stew-like, soup. If you prefer a thinner soup, you may like to use a little less barley. Alternatively, you can cook the barley separately, and rinse it under cool water once it cooks. This will rinse off a lot of the starch that would thicken the soup. Once you rinse the barley, add it to the soup and allow it to absorb all the soup flavors.
Frequently Asked Questions
I adopted this technique from my mom. When cooking meaty soups, she first places the meat in a pot and covers it with water; just enough water to cover the meat. She then brings it to a boil and, as soon as the foam forms on top, she drains that water and rinses the meat. It's not a necessary step because you can just skim those impurities off, but, like my mom, I find that the soup/broth turns out more clear. It doesn't take much extra effort either.
I tried making this soup both ways: with grated pickles and just the pickle brine. Pickle juice adds a subtle pickle flavor, whereas I find that adding actual chopped or grated pickles is less gentle on the palate.
You can of course add both.
Yes, you can make this soup in a slow cooker. Sautรฉ the onions and carrots first, then add all the ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
Serving suggestions
Serve the soup hot or very warm! The pickle soup is great served in a soup bowl as a starter followed by a simple salad, such as our Chickpea and Crab Salad or this Citrus Avocado Salad Recipe.
As a side dish, try making these Healthy Turmeric Oven Roasted Vegetables or the Sautรฉed Cabbage with Mushrooms and Bacon dish.
If you're looking to serve meat as the main dish, these Stir-Fried Chicken Thighs or the Super Easy Sautรฉed Chicken Thighs will complement the soup well.
Storing and reheating
The soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days. But, because barley expands when cooked, I try to reheat only as much soup as I need for that meal, say, four people that evening.
Transfer only the amount of soup you will need into a small pot and warm on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Keep the remaining soup in the refrigerator for the next day.
To freeze the soup, transfer it to air-tight, freezer-friendly bags and store in the freezer for upto 6 months. To reheat transfer the frozen soup to a pot and cook until the soup is hot and fully thawed, stirring occasionally.
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Recipe
Hearty Pickle Soup Recipe
Equipment
- Large Pot or Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breast or thighs (about 3 breasts)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for sautรฉing
- 1 yellow onion medium, chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 medium potatoes peeled and diced - Yukon gold preferred.
- 1/2 cup pearl barley rinsed under cool water - if you like your soup thinner use 1/3 cup
- 1 cup pickle juice - pickle brine from a jar of pickles
- 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash original, salt-free or Vegeta seasoning
- 10 cups water
Instructions
- Place the chicken into a large pot and cover it with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the water has boiled and the foam has risen to the top, drain it and rinse the meat. Transfer the chicken onto a cutting board and set aside to cool down.1 lb. chicken breast
- In the same pot, heat oil over medium-high, then reduce heat to medium and add the chopped onion and grated carrot. Sautรฉ until the onion is translucent and the carrot is tender (about 5 minutes), and stir in the salt and ground black pepper.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 yellow onion, 1 carrot, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- While the onion and carrot are cooking, dice the slightly cooled chicken and add it to the pot once the carrots and onions have cooked.
- Add the diced potatoes, rinsed barley, pickle juice, Mrs. Dash or Vegeta seasoning and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the barley and potatoes are tender, and the chicken is fully cooked.3 medium potatoes, 1/2 cup pearl barley, 1 cup pickle juice, 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash, 10 cups water
- Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings as needed with additional salt, pepper, or pickle juice.
Notes
- Use high-quality pickle juice from your favorite pickles. The flavor of the pickle juice will significantly impact the taste of your soup.
- Parboil the meat and drain the murky water to achieve a clearer broth and remove excess fat and impurities from the chicken.
- Barley triples in volume and absorbs a lot of the liquid it is cooked in, so make sure to use a large pot!
- This recipe makes a hearty, thick, stew-like, soup. If you prefer a thinner soup, you may like to use a little less barley. Alternatively, you can cook the barley separately, and rinse it under cool water once it cooks. This will rinse off a lot of the starch that would thicken the soup. Once you rinse the barley, add it to the soup and allow it to absorb all the soup flavors.
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