A pickle soup?! Yep. This recipe is for Slavic folks or pregnant ladies:) However, if you’ve never heard of such a bizarre concept as a pickle soup, I would encourage you to give this a try. If you’re Russian, you probably grew up eating this soup, and don’t see anything unusual about it. Rassolnik brings back warm, nostalgic memories for me, and since I like my pickles, it’s one of my favorites.

Rassolnik is very comforting, since it has potatoes and creamy barley in it, but it also doesn’t taste heavy at all. I feel light and happy after I eat a bowl (or two), which is awesome.

When we still lived in Belarus, my Mom was pregnant and had an extreme craving for Rassolnik. There was one problem though. Cooking and all the different smells in the kitchen made her really nauseous. My Dad doesn’t know anything about cooking. He grew up with his Mom bringing the food to the table and then got married and had my Mom waiting on him hand and foot. Even though he had no idea what he was doing, my Dad decided to make the soup for Mom – he’s such a sweet guy!

He had to go into her room for every. single. step. And half step of the process. Mom thought it was really funny, because he really had no clue what he was doing. However, he had plenty of determination and lots of love in him. He finished the soup, served it to my Mom and she absolutely loved it. I’m sure part of it was due to the fact of how touched she was by his hard work but it tasted great too.



Bring the chicken broth to a boil. (You can start this soup by cooking a quick chicken broth using chicken wings, a quartered onion, some garlic cloves, a bay leaf, peppercorns and some salt. Cook until the chicken is cooked and the broth is very flavorful. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve lined with a cheesecloth or a paper towel.) You can also use beef broth or pork. Use whichever meat you like for the broth. Or make this soup as a vegetarian option. Omit the meat and use vegetable broth.

Add the potatoes and barley to the soup.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and keep the soup covered as it cooks. Meanwhile, heat 1/2 Tablespoon of butter in a skillet. Add the onion and carrot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until they are softened. Add to the soup. Shred the pickles on a box grater and add to the soup. You can also add a bit of the pickling brine to the soup. It gives the soup a nice zip. Cook for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes and barley are cooked through. Garnish the soup with some finely minced herbs, parsley, dill, scallions, etc. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.