Dill Pickle Soup (Stove Top or Ninja Foodi)

Dill Pickle Soup may sound a bit odd and, honestly, I wasn't sure it would be something I would enjoy. However, I am happy to report that I LOVE it, and if you are a pickle lover, I think you will too!

The soup base is a spin-off of creamy potato soup with the addition of dill pickles, but that isn't all this recipe adds in! While I love creamy soups, I also enjoy a little texture in the soup, so I add some beer brats! Not only do the sausages add flavor to the soup, they provide a meaty texture that I love. 

Of course, my "extras" are completely optional, and you can make a more traditional creamy dill pickle soup just by skipping the sausage and chopped pickles that I add to the dill pickle soup. 

I would describe this pickle soup as a comforting soup with a creamy broth that reminds you of a good potato soup with an extra pop of flavor. It is truly delicious, and I can't wait for you to try it! 

There are different variations of dill pickle soup. The Polish dill pickle soup (Zupa Ogórkowa) doesn't usually blend the vegetables. Instead, they are grated or very finely chopped, and the broth is thinner than the American version. The Polish pickle soup is made from the same basic ingredients: broth, sour cream, potatoes, carrots, celery, and, of course, pickles. The traditional Polish Soup looks absolutely delicious; I will definitely have to try it soon. 

​I made this dill pickle soup recipe in my Ninja Foodi OL501, which is the new version of Ninja Foodi that only has one lid and I used a function called Steam/Bake, which worked perfectly for this recipe and was the easiest way to get everything done in one pot at the same time. However, you can use the two-lid model of Ninja Foodi, OR a pot on the stove works just fine. The soup is very easy to make so don't let the appliance I use deter you from making it, the two lid NInja Foodi and Stove Top directions are included.

Suggested Kitchen Tools for Dill Pickle Soup

• Ninja Foodi, Instant Pot, or Large Pot for the stove-top version
• Immersion Blender or Regular Blender
• Sharp Knife
• Vegetable Peeler
• Cutting Board

Ingredients & Substitutions

Simple ingredients come together to create a delicious creamy soup that is perfectly balanced in flavor and texture!

*I also use cream cheese and sour cream not pictured below.

​Thin Liquids ( Broth & Pickle Juice)

I used a combination of chicken broth (or chicken stock) and dill pickle juice for the thin liquid that makes up the base of the soup. You can also use vegetable stock if you want to make a vegetarian version and of course skip the bacon and sausage. You also could use water if you didn't have any broth available, but you would want to increase your seasonings to taste since the broth and pickle juice does impart some flavor into the soup. If you want a milder pickle flavor, definitely skip the pickle juice and increase the broth to a total of 5 cups. 

Keep in mind that store-bought broths are different from homemade broth and, if you are using your own homemade broth, you may need to add more or less seasoning depending on how you make it. If your broth is well seasoned, then don't add in any salt and pepper in the beginning and you can always add extra salt or pepper at the end to taste. 

Vegetables

I used onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, and small dill pickles in this recipe. 

Pickles: In Polish pickle soup they use Polish pickles, but I can't find them near me so I used regular dill pickles that you can find in any American grocery store. I will say that I made it with several different brands of pickles and my favorite was Mt. Olive Baby Kosher Dills. You will need one 24 ounce jar of dill pickles for this recipe. From what I understand, Polish pickles have more of a peppery flavor than American Dill pickles, but the American dill pickles paired with the peppercorn bacon worked beautifully to create an amazing flavor in this soup. If you have a Polish grocery store near you, try it with Polish dill pickles and I'll bet it will be amazing! 

I use whole pickles in the soup base which get blended with an immersion blender or regular blender, and then some get sliced and added in chunks to the soup and I also use some pickle slices as garnish on the top of the soup. It is called dill pickle soup for a reason! Surprisingly, though, the soup is not overpowering with pickle flavor. It is perfectly balanced and delicious. 

Potatoes: The first time I made this recipe was during a LIVE cooking show that I do on Facebook and YouTube and all I had were small round yellow baby potatoes that came in a bag. I used those the first time and threw them in whole without peeling them and they worked great! However, they are more expensive, so I switched over to using golden potatoes or Yukon gold and sometimes I peel them and sometimes I don't. It doesn't really make a difference as long as they are chopped into about 2" pieces. 

I have not tried this recipe with Russet potatoes and, while I am sure it will work, the soup base will be slightly different in texture. The gold potatoes create a thicker soup base that is velvety and very creamy. 

Carrots: I use carrots in this recipe in two ways. Some of the carrots get cooked in the broth and blended with the other vegetables to create the creamy base of the soup and I cook 2 additional carrots to slice and add to the soup after it is blended. This is totally optional and I do it simply for added texture and I like the appearance of the soup with the sliced carrots. If you don't like carrots or don't have them on hand, you can omit them in the recipe completely and increase the amount of potatoes you use by about 1 cup. 

Celery: I used chopped celery in the base of the soup to provide flavor and balance to the creamy soup base. You can omit the celery and replace it with about a cup of extra potatoes. 

Onion: The onion is used to flavor the base of the soup, it can be omitted and replaced with about ½ cup of potatoes or another vegetable. Any kind of onion can be used. I used sweet onions because that is what I had on hand, but yellow onions or white onions are fine to use. You can even use a red onion, but your soup base may be a different color. 

Dairy

I tried several different variations of dairy and liked the combination of cream cheese and sour cream the best. This is just my preference, and you don't have to use either or both of them if you don't want to. The only purpose of the dairy at the end is to add to the soup's creaminess and lighten it up some. The sour cream does add a little sour balance, and the cream cheese thickens the broth even more and adds a touch of sweetness, but the soup is very good without either of these ingredients.

Sour Cream: You can easily replace the sour cream with heavy cream or Greek yogurt. If you want a dairy-free version, simply omit it. It does not need to be replaced with anything. 

Cream Cheese: You can replace the cream cheese with more sour cream or Greek yogurt or even heavy whipping cream or simply omit it. The soup will not be as thick, but it is still delicious. 

Meat

The meat in this recipe is totally optional and not usually found in dill pickle soup. I happen to love it this way, but it is completely up to you if you add it or not. 

Bacon: I use thick-cut peppered bacon from ALDI, but you can use any kind of bacon you like or have on hand. It doesn't matter if it is thick cut or regular cut. I use about 6 ounces in the soup base and then another 3-6 ounces that I crisp up as a garnish. If you omit the bacon, you may want to increase the pepper in the recipe, but you can add that to taste at the end of cooking. 

Sausage: I use cooked beer brats that I slice and add to the soup after it is blended. This adds flavor and texture to the dill pickle soup that I absolutely love, but you can certainly omit the sausage or use whatever kind of sausage you like. 

If you prefer ground breakfast sausage, you can use that, but you would want to cook it separately and add it to the soup after blending.

If you don't like sausage, but want to add some meat into the soup you can use some shredded rotisserie chicken which would go nicely in the soup. 

Seasonings

The seasonings for this soup are very simple; salt, black pepper, and a bay leaf. As with any recipe, you can adjust the seasonings to your liking. I recommend starting out with a very small amount of salt in the beginning because the pickle juice is salty, you can add additional salt to taste after the soup is done. Same with the pepper, especially if you are using peppered bacon. 

To spice things up a bit, you can add some cayenne pepper or chipotle pepper if you want a smoky heat. 

How to Make Dill Pickle Soup using Steam Bake on the Ninja Foodi

Mise En Place (prep for recipe)

• Take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator.
• Cut both ends off the onions, peel the outer skin and quarter them. You want about 1½ cups.
• Peel and chop 2-3 carrots into 2" chunks. You want about 1½ cups.
• Chop the celery into 2" chunks. You want about 1½ cups.
• Chop 4 slices of thick-cut bacon or about 6 ounces of any kind of bacon you like into 1-2" strips.
• Measure out the other ingredients and spices.

Making the Dill Pickle Soup

Add the raw chopped bacon to the inner pot and turn the sear/sauté function on high. Once the bacon starts to sizzle stir it around and let the fat render for about 2-3 minutes. You do not need to fully cook the bacon or crisp it up.

Add in the chopped onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Add the minced garlic and stir everything around.

Add the salt and pepper, mustard, whole pickles, pickle juice, and chicken broth. Give everything a good stir.

Place the rack that came with your Ninja Foodi in the high position over the soup. Place the sausages, carrots, and bacon on top. You can cover the carrots with the bacon, but you don't want to cover the sausage or they won't brown up.

Close the Ninja Foodi Smart Lid and move the slider to the center position. Select the Steam & Bake function. Make sure that you aren't on Steam & Crisp because that will not provide the steaming for long enough to cook the soup.

Set the temperature to 375℉/190℃ and the time to 15 minutes. The Ninja Foodi will go into preheat mode where it heats from the bottom and will begin to cook the soup. On steam & bake this preheat process lasts about 20 minutes and then it will switch over to the bake function and start to brown the sausages.

In the video I set the time to 8 minutes, but had to increase to 12 minutes to brown the sausages on both sides. To avoid that, set your time to 15 minutes.

Once the preheat has finished and the countdown starts, you want to leave the lid closed for a total of 8 minutes.

The time on the display will read 7 minutes remaining when it is time to open the lid and remove the carrots, flip the sausage, and reposition the bacon so it finishes crisping up.

The carrots should be fully cooked and can be removed from the rack, this will allow you to reposition the bacon so it crisps up better. Flip the sausages so they brown on the other side and close the lid.

At this point, the soup and sausages are fully cooked and the only goal is to crisp the bacon and brown the sausages on the other side. You can open the lid as many times as you want to check on things and stop the baking process when the sausages are browned to your liking and the bacon is crispy.

This can take anywhere from an additional 4-6 minutes. If your time runs out and you still want to brown the sausage and crisp the bacon more, don't set the steam & bake function again. Instead, move the slider to the far right position and use the bake function at 375℉/190℃ to finish cooking them to your liking.

Remove the sausage and place it on your cutting board. Remove the bacon and place it on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess grease.

Remove the rack and the bay leaf.

Use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency.

If your immersion blender has a metal end, you may want to transfer the soup from the ceramic coated pot into a metal pot or other deep bowl before using the immersion blender, so you don't scratch the pot.

I recommend adding the cream cheese and sour cream before blending the soup to get it all incorporated and smooth.

I didn't do that in my test recipes or in the video and ended up with some chunks of cream cheese that took forever to dissolve.

Blend until smooth. A few small chunks are fine!

The pictures are out of order because I added the cream cheese and sour cream after blending, but adding them before blending is easier.

Slice up the carrots and sausage into whatever size pieces you want and add them to the soup. Add about 5 sliced pickles.

Stir the soup and taste for seasonings. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with crispy bacon, pickle slices, and fresh dill if desired. Serve with soft pretzel bites or pretzel rolls!

I use about ¼-½ piece of crispy bacon per bowl and 2-3 pickle slices.

How to Make Dill Pickle Soup using the Two-Lid Ninja Foodi

The prep and setup for the dill pickle soup in the two-lid Ninja Foodi models is the same as using the OL series, except you will need to switch lids. Please see the above section for all the directions.

Once you have the soup base in the pot and the rack set up with the sausage, bacon, and carrots on top. Put the pressure lid on and turn the valve to vent. This is very important because you don't want to go under pressure.

Select the steam function and set the time for 12 minutes. The pot will take about 8 minutes to preheat before the timer starts so this will be equivalent to 20 minutes of steam time.

Once the time is up, remove the pressure lid. If the pin is up, you will have to wait for it to go down, but this will only take a minute or two.

You can check the carrots and see if they are done to your liking and remove them if so. The carrots should be soft enough to cut, but not super soft. If they aren't done to your liking, keep them on the rack and proceed to the baking step.

You can use the bake function or the air crisp function for the next step, but I recommend using the bake function because the fan speed is slower and the bacon won't fly around as much once it starts to crisp.

Close the crisper lid. Set the bake function to 375℉/190℃ and the time for 15 minutes. Flip the sausage after about 6-8 minutes and remove the carrots if you didn't earlier. Move the bacon around so it gets crispy all over. Continue to bake until the sausages are nicely brown and the bacon is done.

Remove the sausage and place on a cutting board. Remove the bacon and place on a plate lined with a paper towel. See above section for pictures.

Remove the rack and add in the sour cream and cream cheese. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. If your immersion blender is metal-tipped, you may want to transfer the soup to a deep pot or bowl to avoid scratching the inner pot. You can also use a blender to blend the soup, but make sure you let it cool down first, or you can have it overflow the blender when you remove the lid.

Slice the carrots, sausage, and about 5 sliced pickles and add to the soup. Stir and taste for seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste. I have never needed to add more, but if you didn't use peppered bacon, you might like a little more pepper.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with crumbled crispy bacon and a few more sliced pickles. Enjoy!

How to Make Dill Pickle Soup Stove Top

Mise En Place (prep for recipe)

• Take the cream cheese out of the refrigerator.
• Cut both ends off the onions, peel the outer skin and quarter them. You want about 1½ cups.
• Peel and chop 2-3 carrots into 2" chunks. You want about 1½ cups.
• Chop the celery into 2" chunks. You want about 1½ cups.
• Chop 4 slices of thick-cut bacon or about 6 ounces of any kind of bacon you like into 1-2" strips.
• Cook the Brats & the Bacon for Garnish
• Slice and steam two carrots if you want to add carrot slices to the soup.
• Measure out the other ingredients and spices.

Making the Dill Pickle Soup on the Stove

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the cut raw bacon. Allow the fat to render for about 2-3 minutes. Add in the cut onions, (raw) carrot chunks, celery, potatoes, and minced garlic. Stir and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.

Add in the pickle juice, chicken broth, mustard, and whole pickles. Stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring all the ingredients to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium or until you have reach a constant simmer. Cover the pot, but tilt the lid slightly so steam can escape and you can prevent any boilovers.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all the vegetables are fall-apart tender.

Add in the cream cheese and sour cream and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Add in cooked sliced sausage, cooked sliced carrots, and about 5 sliced pickles. Stir and taste for seasonings. Adjust as needed.

Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with crispy bacon and few more pickle slices. Enjoy!

Storage & Reheating Instructions

How to Store Leftover Pickle Soup

Refrigeration

Store the pickle soup in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Freezer

Before freezing you want to make sure the soup has cooled completely. I recommend refrigerating the leftovers overnight before freezing.

If the food is warm when packaged for freezing, steam can be produced inside the container or freezer bag, resulting in ice crystals forming.

Air is another issue when freezing food, so make sure you choose a container that is the proper size for the amount of leftovers. You don't want a 3-cup container for 1 cup pickle soup or there will be too much air trapped in the container which can lead to decreased quality of the soup when reheated.

My preferred method for freezing is using a vacuum sealer which eliminates this issue, but can be more difficult when freezing soup. (affiliate link)My vacuum sealer has a pulse function that I often use when freezing leftovers that are liquid based.

How to Reheat Dill Pickle Soup

The easiest way to reheat the soup when it is thawed is to use a pot on the stove or the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi using sear/sauté.

You want to gently heat the soup while stirring frequently over medium heat until it is heated through.

From Frozen

If the soup is frozen, I like to use slow cook on high to thaw and heat the soup because it is hands-off. Simply put the block of frozen soup into the slow cooker (I use the Ninja Foodi slow cook function) with ½ cup of water and set it to high for 1-2 hours. It will take 60-90 minutes for it to thaw and heat through depending on how large the chunk of frozen soup is. Stir a few times during the cook time.

You can also use the steam function on the Ninja Foodi to reheat the frozen soup. Place your frozen soup into a pan and cover it with a (affiliate link)silicone cover or aluminum foil.

Place 2 cups of water in the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi and set the rack in the low position. Put the covered pan on the rack and put the pressure lid on (or close the lid on the OL series). Select the steam function and set the time to 15-20 minutes.

When it's done steaming, check the soup and give it a stir. You can steam longer if needed.

What to serve with Dill Pickle Soup

This hearty soup is a meal in itself, but you can't go wrong with some crusty bread or a side salad.

Personally, I think Dill Pickle soup goes perfectly with these recipes!