Six hours in the slow cooker and twenty minutes of work, most of it dicing. There is no salt in the ingredient list at all, which is unusual and deliberate.
Half a cup of dill pickle brine goes in with the broth, and brines vary enormously between jars. The recipe's fifth step is an instruction to taste before adding any salt, and it is there for exactly that reason.
Why This Recipe Works
- Yukon Golds hold their shape over six hours where a floury potato would break down into the soup.
- Pickle brine as part of the cooking liquid puts the sourness right through the soup rather than only in the pieces.
- Whisking the cream cheese, sour cream and flour with a cup of hot soup first tempers the dairy so it does not split when it goes back in.
- Flour whisked into the dairy rather than the pot thickens the soup without lumping.
- Fifteen to twenty minutes on HIGH afterwards brings it back to steaming hot and lightly thickened.
Ingredient Notes
- Dill pickles and their brine
- A cup of pickles and half a cup of brine. The pickle is the defining component of this soup, and the brine is a cooking liquid rather than a seasoning.
- Yukon Gold potatoes
- A pound and a half, diced. Waxy enough to still be diced potato after six hours.
- Cream cheese and sour cream
- Four ounces and half a cup, whisked with flour and hot soup before they meet the pot. More sour cream is kept back for the bowls.
- Fresh dill
- For the top. Dried dill is in the pot; the fresh frond on the surface is the visible herb.
How to Make It
Everything but the dairy
Add potatoes, onion, celery, broth, pickles, pickle brine, dried dill, pepper, butter, and carrot to a slow cooker.
Low and slow
Cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or HIGH 2 1/2 to 3 hours until potatoes are tender.
Temper the dairy
Whisk cream cheese, sour cream, and flour with 1 cup hot soup until smooth.
Back in, and hot again
Stir the dairy mixture back into the slow cooker and cook on HIGH 15 to 20 minutes until creamy and slightly thickened.
Taste before you salt
Taste before adding salt because pickle brine varies greatly.
Pickle, cream, dill
Ladle into bowls and top with sliced pickle, sour cream, and fresh dill.
Six Hours, Twenty Minutes, One Taste
A long unattended phase, a short careful one, and a decision. The middle phase is where a slow-cooker soup with dairy in it usually goes wrong, and the last one is why this recipe lists no salt.
Stage 1 of 3
Unattended
Steps 1–2 of 6
1 1/2 lb of diced Yukon Golds with onion, celery, 4 cups of broth, 1 cup of pickles, 1/2 cup of pickle brine, 1 tsp dried dill, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 tbsp butter and 1/2 cup shredded carrot. LOW for 5 to 6 hours or HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3, until the potatoes are tender. Nothing dairy goes anywhere near the pot in this phase.
- Everything but the dairyAdd potatoes, onion, celery, broth, pickles, pickle brine, dried dill, pepper, butter, and carrot to a slow cooker.
- Low and slowCook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or HIGH 2 1/2 to 3 hours until potatoes are tender.
Stage 2 of 3
Careful
Steps 3–4 of 6
4 oz of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream and 2 tbsp of flour whisked with ONE CUP OF HOT SOUP until smooth, and only then stirred back in. Cold dairy into a hot pot splits; tempered dairy does not. The flour rides in with it, which is also why the soup thickens smoothly rather than lumping. Then HIGH for 15 to 20 minutes to bring it back to steaming hot.
- Temper the dairyWhisk cream cheese, sour cream, and flour with 1 cup hot soup until smooth.
- Back in, and hot againStir the dairy mixture back into the slow cooker and cook on HIGH 15 to 20 minutes until creamy and slightly thickened.
Stage 3 of 3
Decided by taste
Steps 5–6 of 6
Taste, then salt - or do not. There is no salt in this recipe's ingredient list because 1/2 cup of pickle brine may already have supplied all of it, and jars differ enormously. Finished with sliced pickle, more sour cream and fresh dill, all three of which are visible in the bowl.
- Taste before you saltTaste before adding salt because pickle brine varies greatly.
- Pickle, cream, dillLadle into bowls and top with sliced pickle, sour cream, and fresh dill.
Success Tips
- Temper the dairy properly — a cup of hot soup whisked in first is what stops it splitting.
- Taste before you reach for salt. Some brines make it unnecessary entirely.
- Keep back some pickle slices and sour cream for the bowls rather than stirring everything in.
Serving Ideas
Six white bowls of the creamy pale-green soup with the diced potato through it, each topped with sliced pickle, a dollop of sour cream and a frond of fresh dill.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there no salt in the ingredients?
Because half a cup of pickle brine already brings a lot, and how much varies by jar. The recipe asks you to taste at the end and decide.
Will the dairy curdle?
Not if it is tempered. Whisk the cream cheese, sour cream and flour with a cup of hot soup until smooth before it goes back into the cooker.
Can I use any potato?
Yukon Gold is what the recipe calls for. A floury potato will disintegrate over five to six hours, and the finished soup is meant to show diced pieces.
