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Pickle with pickled cucumbers, rice and cabbage

Rassolnik Soup with Pickles, Rice, and Cabbage

Tasty, hearty, and rich — perfect for lunch or dinner. This rassolnik (Russian pickle soup) with rice, cabbage, and cucumbers can be made with plain water or vegetable broth for a meatless version. A spoonful of fresh sour cream goes wonderfully with it.

Pearl

Recipe author

Pickle with pickled cucumbers, rice and cabbage

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Chicken

500

Rice

Potatoes

450

Cabbage

100

Carrot

Onion

Pickled cucumbers

Water (or slightly more)

1.5

Vegetable oil

Tomato paste

Salt

Garlic

Fresh herbs

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 31 % 4 g

Fats 31 % 4 g

Carbohydrates 38 % 5 g

73 kcal

GI: 60 / 40 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make rassolnik soup with rice, pickles, and cabbage? Gather all the ingredients. You can use either pickled or salt-brined cucumbers. For the soup I used a chicken soup pack (backs and bones), which makes a rich, flavorful broth.
Step 2:

Rinse the chicken under running water. Put it in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Skim off the white foam, lower the heat to moderate, and simmer the chicken, covered, until fully cooked — 30 to 50 minutes, depending on its size.
Step 3:

In a separate pot, boil the rice until done, then drain it in a colander and rinse under running water. Why cook the rice separately? If you boil it in the pot with the potatoes, the broth turns cloudy.
Step 4:

Meanwhile, prep the vegetables. Peel and rinse the onion, carrot, and potatoes. Remove the cabbage's outer leaves and core.
Step 5:

Grate the carrot on the coarse side of a box grater, shred the cabbage into thin strips, and cut the onion and cucumbers into small dice. Cut the potatoes into cubes or batons, whichever you prefer.
Step 6:

Sauté the onion, carrot, and cucumber in a skillet with a little vegetable oil.
Step 7:

Once the onion and carrot are golden, add the tomato paste and minced garlic (if using). Stir and cook over low heat until the cucumbers soften (about 5 minutes for me).
Step 8:

Lift the cooked meat out of the broth. Add the potatoes and cabbage to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to moderate and cook until the vegetables are tender, 15 to 30 minutes. If you're using tender young cabbage, add it at the very end so it doesn't go mushy.
Step 9:

Add the tomato sauté and the rice to the soup. Season with salt to taste, keeping in mind that the soup will get a bit saltier as it sits, thanks to the pickles. Turn up the heat and bring back to a boil.
Step 10:

Add the fresh herbs, let the rassolnik simmer a couple of minutes, and take it off the heat.
Step 11:

Let the soup rest a while, then serve.
Step 12:

Offer everyone a pinch of ground pepper and a dollop of sour cream for their bowl.

You can stir the cooked chicken into the soup at the very end, or serve the meat separately on a plate. Enjoy!
Tip: whether or not the recipe specifies an amount of water, it's best to go by your own preference (thick or brothy soup), the size of your pot, and the ingredients you're using. If you're making it for the first time, don't cook a whole pot at once — make a small test batch for one or two people. Scale all the ingredients down to 1–2 servings and figure on about 1 cup of water per serving for a very thick soup, up to 1.5–2 cups for a brothier one, remembering that some liquid boils off as it cooks. Tasting that small batch lets you fine-tune both the liquid and the ingredient proportions to your liking. After that, like most experienced cooks, you'll be able to eyeball the water and ingredients.