Rassolnik Pickle Soup
Rassolnik has one trap you usually learn the hard way: add the pickles at the same time as the potato and the potato stays stubbornly hard. The acid simply stops it softening. So the order here is not a formality — grain and potato first, pickle brine and pickles afterwards.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 h
- Total
- 1 h 25 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 290 kcal
Ingredients
Broth
Soup
-
What to use instead
No barley? Use rice and add it with the potato — it cooks much faster.
Makes: a 3 l pot, 6 servings
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
-
Step 1: Make the broth
Cover the meat with cold water, bring to a boil and skim. Add the whole onion and bay leaves and simmer gently for 50 minutes.
-
Step 2: Soak the barley
While the broth cooks, cover the barley with boiling water for 20 minutes — it then cooks twice as fast and won't cloud the soup.
-
Step 3: Add the grain
Lift out the meat and onion and strain the broth. Add the barley and cook for 20 minutes.
-
Step 4: Add the potato
Add the diced potato and cook for another 10 minutes, until almost tender.
-
Step 5: Fry the base
Fry the chopped onion and grated carrot in the oil for 7 minutes, add the julienned cucumbers and give them 3 minutes together.
-
Step 6: Combine
Tip the fried vegetables into the pot, pour in the brine and return the meat, pulled into pieces.
-
Step 7: Finish
Cook for 10 minutes more, then season. Salt only now — the pickles and brine have already added plenty.
-
Step 8: Serve
Let the soup stand for 10 minutes and serve with sour cream and dill.
Tips & variations
-
Tip
Use brined or salted cucumbers, never vinegar pickles, or the whole pot tastes of vinegar.
-
Variation
The classic version uses beef kidney, but chicken broth with rice instead of barley is excellent too.
-
Swap
No barley? Use rice and add it with the potato — it cooks much faster.
-
Storage
Better the next day, though the potato softens further. Keeps up to 3 days.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 290 kcal | 1,740 kcal |
| Protein | 16 g | 96 g |
| Fat | 13 g | 78 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g | 162 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
Cooked it? Rate the recipe
No ratings yet — yours will be the first.
