Creamy potato soup is simmered up with tangy dill pickles, tender veggies, and fresh dill to create this unusual, but totally delicious, vegan dill pickle potato chowder.
It’s been a weird week. Is anyone else feeling this? Between having a holiday on Monday, followed by a bunch of cold rainy days that don’t quite feel right for this time of year (it’s technically still summer), my head is in a bit of a funk. Not that I’m complaining about holdays or cold rainy days! I love both! But I’m definitely a little discombobulated. I’ve had to ask my husband at least three times what day it is.
So today I’m sharing a weird soup. I’ve been hanging on to this one for a while, precisely because of its weirdness.
Last winter at some point dill pickle chowder was on the menu at a local takeout place. My husband shocked the heck out of me by ordering it. It wasn’t vegan. I always thought I was the more adventurous one, and diary or not, I would’ve turned my nose up at such a thing. But apparently it was awesome, and curiosity got the best of me, to the point that I had to whip up a dairy-free version at home.
I did a little research, and apparently dill pickle soup is a Polish thing. I’m not sure how close my version comes to an authentic polish version, except I’m pretty sure the inclusion of soy or almond milk is pretty darn inauthentic. It is however, delicious.
Another reason I held off on this recipe was because I wasn’t sure how well it would go over with you guys, weirdness and all. But couple of weeks ago I shared a recipe video for dill pickle hummus on my Facebook page and everyone flipped out over it. So maybe you’re all down with a little pickle-y weirdness after all? I hope so, because you really need to try this soup!
This dill pickle chowder is a lot like my mom’s potato soup that I ate growing up, but with dill pickles. If you like creamy soup, and you like dill pickles, you’ll love this.
All in all, I’m glad things got a little crazy this week. It’s the perfect excuse to share what I consider to be a pretty off-beat soup.
Vegan Dill Pickle Potato Chowder
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 1/2 cups diced carrots 2-3 carrots
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups unflavored soy or almond milk
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 medium Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped dill pickles
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill plus extra for garnish
- 1/2 cup dill pickle juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and carrot. Sauté until the carrots begin to soften and the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and sauté about 1 minute more, until very fragrant. Then add in the flour and stir to coat the veggies.
Stir in the milk, broth, potatoes, pickles, and nutritional yeast. Raise heat and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and stir in the pickle juice and the dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve, optionally with a few pickle slices for garnish and a sprinkling of fresh dill and parsley.
Hi Alissa, In my neck of the woods (Michigan) Dill pickle soup is very popular as are fried dill pickles. Can’t wait to try your version. Especially since the temperature here has been dropping.
I had no idea this was a thing until just recently! I’ve been missing out! I hope you enjoy my version. :)
This looks amazing! I grew up eating dill pickle soup on Christmas and cannot wait to try this. Thank you, Alissa!
Thanks so much Sarah! I hope you enjoy it!
This post made me so happy. I LOVE LOVE LOVE pickle soup, ever since having it in a tiny Polish cafe. I tried a few recipes I found online, then a friend from Russia gave me a recipe for “rassolnik,” the Russian version, which her mom had always made dairy free. I pour in a nice healthy splash of the pickle brine :) :)
Ohhh…I just Googled rassolnik and it sounds awesome! I’m going to have to give a vegan version of that one a try next. :)
Do you use kosher dill pickles and juice or regular?
I used regular, but I bet it would be delicious with Kosher! I made a mental note to try that next time. :)
Made this tonight. I love pickles, but wasn’t sure if this would work. Delicious! Thanks for a great recipe.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
O.M.G!!! Sooo good!!! My husband and I kept going back to the stove while it was simmering, taste-testing 100x and oooing and aaaing all the while! ^_^
Absolutely delicious, thank you so much for sharing!!! This will be made often in our kitchen from now on! ;)
Yay!! I’m so happy you both enjoyed it! Thanks Val!
Looking to make this soup for a group including DF and GF folks. Wondering about the flour, with the starch from the potatoes, would I be okay omitting it? Or something you would suggest in its stead?
You might be okay omitting it, but if the soup seems too thin without it you could try making a slurry with the broth and a bit of arrowroot powder. I hope you enjoy!
What about almond flour?
I’ve seen recipes that call for almond flour as a thickener, so I think it would work. I’ve never tried it myself though, so I can’t be 100% sure!
Hey I just made this soup! I love the flavors but my potatoes are not getting soft and I had no idea why. According to the article below if you cook potatoes in an acidic environment they wont get soft! The vinegar from the pickles is probably the culprit. So I would maybe pre boil the potatoes next time or add the pickles and juice after they cook! Thanks for the recipe :)
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/article/why-arent-my-potatoes-softening
Oh wow! I had no idea! I’ve updated the recipe to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else. Thanks Michelle!
I made this for dinner last night and I can’t stop thinking about how delicious it was! I’m going to be making it again very soon. I was wondering if you think it’s freezable? Thanks!!
I’m so glad you liked it!! I’m not sure, but I have heard that freezing potatoes changes their texture, so that’s something to watch out for. If you do give it a try please let me know how it works out!
Just copied your recipe for this pickle chowder, sounds yummy. When you stir in the broth, potatoes, milk and pickle juice, did you mean pickles not juice? At the end of the recipe you wrote again stir in pickle juice and dill.
I did! Thank you for catching that!!
This recipe sounds wonderful, will be trying it soon!
I hope you enjoy it!!
Haha, Dill pickle Soup isn’t weird! For many people this is a comfort food. Thanks for sharing your Vegan take on this classic :)
Lol! I’ve leared that since posting this – I had no idea! I can see why it’s so popular though. :)
Absolutely wonderful, I can’t wait to eat this more tomorrow :)
Yay!! I’m glad you like it! Enjoy!
I tripled this recipe for a potluck! It was super yummy and I will definitely make this for myself again! Thanks for the great recipe :)
That’s awesome!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This soup is so YUMMY!! I really need to double up recipe next time I make it!!!
I’m glad you like it!!
SO I made this tonight and it is absolutely amazing. Love it <3
Yay!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Made this today for lunch and it was great! I used water instead of vegetable broth, so I had to be generous with the salt and pepper and added an extra splash of pickle juice. I also threw in a can of chickpeas to make it more hearty. Turned out great!
Chickpeas sound like a delicious addition! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank Rachel!
Thought this sounded odd. Made it. It is amazing! The flavor of the broth is absolutely incredible! Added more dill than what was called for because…dill. Recommending this to everyone I know.
I was shocked myself! So glad to hear you enjoyed it though! Thanks Christine!
A very good recipe, however, I think I’ll use coconut milk next time, I wasn’t a fan of the soy flavor in this chowder. But it didn’t ruin the dish, was still very tasty just personal preference!
Glad you enjoyed it! I think any unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk should work here – coconut milk should give you a nice creamy soup!
Probably really dumb question but do you need to use nutritional yeast? This looks incredibly yummy! Thank you!
It adds a cheesy flavor, but I’m sure the soup would still be delicious without it! :)
I made this based on other good reviews, but I definitely did not like it. Almond milk made the broth taste sooo weird, and mixed with the pickle juice made it even worse. Maybe soy would have worked better. Even my husband who likes dill pickle soup could eat it. Maybe it was just a difference of preference, but I would not reccomend the soup if you are even a little unsure if you’ll like the flavour.
I’m sorry to hear that! It could be the brand of almond milk you used. Make sure you’re not using something with added flavors or sweeteners – that will definitely make it taste weird.
I just had the ‘Dilly Dilly Potato Chowder’ from Zoup and am looking for a clone of their recipe. Do you or anyone know how this tastes in relationship to Zoups version? Theirs was delicious! Thank you ahead of time.
Pickle soup isn’t a thing I had ever tried, pickles don’t get the credit they deserve in the UK. I could live on this soup all winter, I always make a huge batch to last a few days but I end up finishing it much faster. Thanks for the recipe, I’m sending it to every gherkin fan I know!
That’s so nice to hear! I’m glad you’re enjoying it – I’m itching for the weather to cool down so I can make a big batch myself. :)
My family loves this soup. My husband and sons go to an annual living history event. This past May the 15 year old cooked in the field for the first time. He made this soup. The other guys were going crazy smelling it. They were so surprised that he could cook and that there were pickles in the soup. Next year they are buying in so our son is going to plan, shop, and prepare the soup (and other meals) for everyone in their unit.
That’s so cool! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Hi, I want to make this soup but don’t have fresh Dill… Do you think dried Dill flakes work???
I think so! You’d need to cut down on the amount quite a bit though – start with just a couple of teaspoons.
Super yummy but next time I will add more pickle and pickle juice. Definitely worth buying really authentic dill pickles. Yummy!
I didn’t even know it was possible to curdle soy milk until I made this recipe. Ew.