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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
Made this earlier today and it was very delicious! My whole family loved it and there was no more soup left after that. Only minor adjustment was instead of adding the cubed beef straight to the pot, i sautéed the beef with a little oil and sprinkled a little bit of Vegeta seasoning with a chopped garlic clove..just enough for the outside to be browned and inside still juicy and not tough 🙂
Liz, I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us 😀.
I’m eating this as I type! very very good, followed your recipe exactly
That’s awesome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Made this soup for the first time tonight. Wow, it was really good! The pickles give it a very subtle and interesting taste. My mother used to cook soup using pickles; said that her mother back in Ukraine also did so. This is a keeper!
I’m so happy you liked it! It is a traditional Ukrainian soup. 🙂
Hi Natasha! I also make a soup rassolnik but I make it as my grandma made it! She is polish so I’m not sure if that can be a difference for my recipe. I buy an organic free range whole chicken . ( I find the broth muchhh more tasty and flavorful) I simmer the chicken for about 3 hours and lightly sale in the last half hour. While that’s simmering away I cook the barley separately . To make zajarka add some olive oil and sautée an onion and 1 medium grated carrot. Sautéing 1 at a time. Then I grate the pickles on a big grater, meaning for the pieces to be bigger and add them to the onion+carrot. I sauté everything under a lid. Then I add about 3-4 tablespoons of sour cream and continue sautéing under lid till its all creamy. Maybe 15 min? Done. After the chicken is done I put the broth through a strainer and add the barley and zajarka to the broth. One the whole chicken is cool I pick off the bones and skin and shred the meat adding it to the soup.salt and pepper. Don’t add any extra spices. Keeping it original! 😉 I would give this soup a 10 out of 10!!! Our favorite. I hope you try it and let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that with me! My husband is going to be excited about this one too! I appreciate all the details. I am printing this to try it soon :).
Thinking of making this soup for dinner. Was wondering if searing meat before adding to water would bring out that “searing flavor” in the soup. I’m thinking to give it a try 🙂
I think you could. Let me know how it turns out. I’m curious! 🙂
Would cooking time be the same if I cut the recipie in half?
Yes, the cooking time will still be the same. Barley takes time to soften.
Natasha. This is amazing. I moved to Canada when I was little and was never a big fan of Russian/Ukrainian cuisine. But your recipes are top notch with many healthy options. Looking through your website, brings back many cherished memories that i never thought i had.This soup… mimosa salad… peach cake… cherry perogies… I forgot those things existed and these recipes bring back so many childhood memories. Thank you
That is so great to hear! I’m happy my blog and recipes brings back sweet memories for you 🙂
Your rassolnik was such a hit, Natasha! My husband, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, loooved it. Most amazingly, my very, very picky 8 year old ate several bowls. This one’s definitely going in the rotation 🙂
I’m so happy your family loved it! Thanks so much for the great review 🙂
Never had this soup before, but come next week it will be cooked! Looks amazing. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome! It’s unusually but very very tasty 🙂
Did you see your soup made it on to BuzzFeed :))
I was scrolling through then was like hey! I’ve seen that before!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/tashweenali/delicious-russian-foods-for-your-sochi-olympics-party?s=mobile
Awesome!! Thanks for sharing that with me Olga 🙂
I make it just like this but I add a whole celery root at the beginning.. it adds a lil something .. makes it very yummy thought I’d share with you if you ever want to try it.
Thank you for sharing your version Erica, I’m always up for improving recipes, and will give this a try next time :).
Oh how I love this soup. Never had it with beef though, my mamma always made it with seasoned pork and well that’s how I do mine as well. Will give beef a try:0)..
And I will have to give pork a try. Pork always tastes great in soup too! 🙂
This is one of my favorite soups. I have to be honest and admit that I ALWAYS have more than one bowl whenever I make it:). I love making a pot and taking it with me to work.
That’s what I do as well, so nice to have a bowl of it at work :).
I thought I would try making this soup even with the pickles. It turned out really good! I have 2 very picky eaters and meal time has been appropriately changed to “puke fest” in our house. LOL! Even they ate this soup. The only thing they complained about was the pickles though 🙁
Keep up the good work!
I suppose you could take out the pickles, or grate them as someone mentioned so they wouldn’t notice them as much. Hmm… maybe that would work 🙂
Natasha, what we do in our family is grate the pickles and leave them separate on a plate and who ever wants some in their soup adds them. Works perfectly every time. : )
That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing Yelena 😉
Рассольник действительно странный суп, особенно с почками. Очень аппетитно!
I read up on the pochki and I just couldn’t go that route. lol Have you tried that?
I made this tonight, and my husband and I loved it!! We both went back for more. This is a keeper. Thanks for the recipe.
Yes!! Awesome! Strangely good, right? 🙂
I kept the secret ingredient secret. It really is a great wholesome winter soup.
Nice. lol. 🙂
I hated rassol’nik when I was a kid. I don’t blame him.:) I can’t imagine my kids eating it although they love borscht, vareniki etc.
All of the kiddos in our family love borscht too! 🙂
One of my Mom’s and my favorite soups. Instead barley we put rice.
Thank you for the recipe!
My Mom has used rice in the past. It’s one of my mom’s favorites as well. 🙂
One of my favorite soups! 🙂
🙂
Natasha, I have tried sauteing celery and still my kids would not eat it. I love it though, it gives a great flavoring to the soup. I guess I have to go with the flow, right? LOL…
Yeah, very true. My son loves chicken nuggets and mac & cheese the most. Oh well. lol