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Rassolnik is a strange and classic soup made with barley, beef, pow-taters, carrots, and… pickles? You mean cucumbers, right? Nope, pickles as in dill pickles in a jar. That’s right! I just devoured a large bowl of this pickle soup goodness. It’s hearty and the beef was tender and oh so satisfying. It’s strangely good with the pickles.
Did you know Rassolnik has existed for more than 500 years :-O! And more than a few of you love it since you’ve been hammering me about posting a good rossolnik recipe for the past couple years. I finally caved and I’m glad I did!
Everyone except the little guy enjoyed this, but he also doesn’t like sorrel soup. Something about the sour in soups doesn’t mesh well with him so he ate vareniki instead ;). I tell you what, this pickle soup is definitely a comfort food; my Mom’s favorite.
Ingredients for Rassolnik Pickle Soup:
12 cups water
1 lb lean Beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup barley, rinsed
1/2 Tbsp salt + more to taste
3 medium potatoes, diced
1 carrot thinly sliced into rings
6 baby pickles (about 1 1/2 cups diced)
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 carrot grated
1 onion, finely diced
2 celery sticks, finel sliced
1 Tbsp tomato paste or Ketchup
2 Tbsp dill, optional, but very nice
2 Bay leaves
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Sour cream and extra dill to serve
How To Make Rassolnik Pickle Soup:
1. In a large pot, partially cover with lid and cook 12 cups water, beef and barley with 1/2 Tbsp salt (30 min). Skim off any impurities that rise to the top to keep your soup clear.
2. Sautee pickles with 1 Tbsp oil for a few minutes on medium/high heat. Add pickles, potatoes and sliced carrots to the pot and cook for an additional 10 min while making your Mirepoix “zazharka” in step 3.
3. Mirepoix/Zazharka: Add 3 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet and sauté onion (2 min), then add grated carrot and sliced celery and continue to saute until carrots are soft (5 min). Stir 1 Tbsp tomato paste or ketchup into the pan and add this mixture to the soup pot.
5. Toss in 2 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 Tbsp dill and more salt to taste. Continue to simmer for another 2 minutes or until your potatoes are fully cooked and can be easily pieced with a fork.
Enjoy! Some people eat it with a dollop of sour cream, but I didn’t think it needed it. I’ve tried both ways and I like the lighter taste without the sour cream. I hope you love it!!
Beef, Barley and Pickle Soup (Rassolnik)
Ingredients
- 12 cups water
- 1 lb lean Beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/4 cup barley, rinsed
- 1/2 Tbsp salt + more to taste
- 3 medium potatoes, diced
- 1 carrot thinly sliced
- 6 baby pickles/ 3 adult pickles, or 1 1/2 cups diced
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 carrot grated
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finel sliced
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste or Ketchup
- 2 Tbsp dill, optional, but very nice
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Sour cream, optional and extra dill to serve
Instructions
- In a large pot, partially cover with lid and cook 12 cups water, beef and barley with 1/2 Tbsp salt (30 min at a light boil). Skim off any impurities that rise to the top to keep your soup clear.
- Sautee pickles with 1 Tbsp oil for a few minutes on medium/high heat. Add pickles, potatoes and sliced carrots to the pot and cook for an additional 10 min while making your Mirepoix a.k.a. "zazharka" (step 3).
- Zazharka: Add 3 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet and sauté onion (2 min), then add grated carrot and sliced celery and continue to saute until carrots are soft (5 min). Stir 1 Tbsp tomato paste or ketchup into the pan and add this mixture to the soup pot.
- Toss in 2 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 Tbsp dill and more salt to taste (I added another 1/2 Tbsp salt). Continue to simmer for another 2 minutes or until your potatoes are fully cooked and can be easily pieced with a fork.
Notes
So good! I did add a dollop of sour cream, because I genuinely think a dollop of sour cream in a soup can fix most of the problems 🤣 Delicious soup!
Thank you, Natasha!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Evgeniya!
Hello just a quick question why is it you use water not broth would that take away from the flavour your looking for
Hi Tracy, the beef adds plenty of flavor to the broth as well but you could sub some of the water with more stock and just add salt to taste. I’m sure it would have a richer flavor.
Hi! I just finished reading The Briar Club and can’t wait make this soup. It sounds delicious!!!
You’re very welcome, Judy! Can’t wait for you to try it. Let us know how it turns out.
Question: In this recipe you do not brown the beef 1st?
I am concerned the beef will have an unappealing appearance that will make my family not want to eat this soup.
PS We have LOVED all your recipes that we have tried to date.
Hi Pam, no, there’s no need to brown it for this recipe. I hope you love it!
Sweet pickles or dill pickles ?
Which is better please? I want to know which is preferred before I try this. Thank you.
Hi Mike, we used dill pickles!
Do you have a recipe for pea soup?
I love your recipes and I would like to make your recipe but I see you don’t have one. If you do, can you please send. Thanks.
Hi Lila, I have a Split Soup recipe HERE. I hope you love it!
I used this recipe for my second time ever making Rassolnik. It was excellent, I only wish I had used more pickles. I’d probably 1.5x or 2x the amount!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Mike!
Can this be done in an instant pot? Looking to try out this recipe, may be easier in that.
Hi Suzanne, I have not tested this in an instant pot to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Hi Natasha, very curious about this soup but I’m a vegetarian/pescetarian. Do you think a white fish could be substituted for the beef, or would that be too delicate a flavour/texture? Any other suggestions to bring flavour/texture and hardiness to this soup in absence of beef? Thanks!
Hi Alanna! I have not tested this recipe with fish to advise on the outcome. It would depend on the type of fish but it seems as if it may be too delicate and break apart easily in the soup. Some of my readers make this with chicken. You’d have to experiment with it. I think the soup will still have great flavor without the beef.
This recipe came out really well! My husband had asked for borscht and after we tried this soup, it satisfied his craving 🙂
I did want to say, the best flavor came when I made the zazharka REALLY flavorful 🙂 I add a TON of tomatoe paste (like the whole small, little can size) after the veggies have sauteed, add a tablespoon of sour cream after the tomatoe paste has cooked for a bit, and then season with a bit of salt and sugar before adding it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients. An important person in my life gave me this tip and it works EVERY TIME!!
Thanks for sharing, Natalya!
Hi Natasha, I have just made Rassolnik soup, exactly as your recipe, and it tastes beutiful. I will have a big bowl tonight and freeze the rest for another day.
That sounds perfect, great to know that you loved the recipe!
In a lot of the traditional recipes you also add the pickle juice into the soup. I was wondering if there was a reason this version didn’t have it?
Hi Sasha, I guess that’s a great way to use the juice which would get poured down the sink otherwise
Im a filipino chef working on a vessel with russian and ukrainian crew and your recipes really helps me alot for me to cook them and they love it very much. Huge thanks to this website and NATASHA!
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles
Love to cook. You bring out só much beauty in sll you cook. Always learning more each day. I am a chefe cook in Portugal and Belguim. But i love what i do un the kitchen. My family come first and your receipy changed my ingredients for better for my family meals. Thank you.
Do you have a book on cooking? You should.
Wow! That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing that with me, Rene! I don’t have a cookbook out yet, but it’s on my list of life goals, and I recently signed with an agent to get a book out there for you all! Stay tuned!
Hello Natasha. I have one question, does the barely have to be soaked and rinsed or no? I know some do some don’t.
Hi Alexa, yes, like the recipe says, we used “1/4 cup barley, rinsed” I hope that helps.
Hello Natasha,
I love your blog.
I have a question: you said “sautee pickles with 1 Tbsp oil for a few minutes”. What is the purpose of it?
I cook Rassolnik but never did it.
Hi Oleg, I think it takes out some of the tanginess. This is my Mother’s method and I’ve always followed it. I’m not sure how it would affect the flavor without that step.
I made this soup weekly during my pregnancy. My husband, who’s Canadian and didn’t understand the concept of “pickle soup” ended up loving it and even requesting it lol.
Thank you
So nice to know that you both enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for sharing that with us, Lena.
Our whole family loves this soup. I’ve made it countless times. I almost double the recipe, add more barley and pickles and add the brine too. Soooo good! I love making recipes from your site.
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m all smiles
I don’t know what to went wrong. I followed the recipe to a T, except i added to a bit more meat because my husband loves beef. At the end it tasted like watered down vegetable water. It smelled great while cooking but the end result was a tasteless soup. I added a beef bouillon to add flavor, dill and only with sour cream was it eatable. My husband said all that work, for such a poor result.
Hi Adrianna, this normally has alot of flavor. Did you substitute any ingredients? Adding more meat should add more flavor so that wouldn’t be the culprit.
I completely agree! Just made this and it’s watered down veggie water here, too. Followed the directions exactly! So bummed
It sounds like you forgot the salt. If it smelled great but didn’t taste like how it smells, then the general rule of thumb is it needs more salt.