Chłodnik ogórkowy is a Polish cold cucumber soup. It´s made with buttermilk/kefir, cucumbers, radishes, and it´s served with mashed potatoes and boiled eggs. It may sound not like much, but it is so so delicious and all you could want to eat on a hot summer day!
Polish cold soups
I think the most popular cold soup is a Spanish Gazpacho. Polish cold soup – Chłodnik is just as good and it should be more known!
Polish people love to eat cold soups in summer. We have two popular cold soup types in Poland – chłodnik botwinkowy, also known as chłodnik litewski (Lithuanian chłodnik), which is a cold soup made with young beets and their stems and leaves (similar to this botwinka soup – young beet greens soup but in a cold version) and chłodnik ogórkowy – cucumber cold soup.
I love both of them but make cucumber soup more often because it´s difficult for me to find beet greens where I live.
I have a whole post about Polish soups with lots of photos and recipes!
Ingredients
Below you will find information about the ingredients and how to prepare the recipe. For the measurements and detailed instructions scroll down to the printable recipe card.
Here´s what you need to make this easy recipe:
- English cucumber
- Radishes
- Buttermilk or Kefir – you could also use plain yogurt and sour cream instead but I prefer the buttermilk/kefir version.
- Herbs – dill (a must) and chives (or scallions).
- For flavoring – lemon juice and fresh garlic.
- Topping – diced vegetables, sprouts (optional).
To serve – mashed potatoes (I used a modified version of these sour cream mashed potatoes) and hard-boiled eggs.
Mashed potatoes and boiled eggs are just sides but for me, they are an integral part of this recipe and I never eat my chłodnik without them, so they are included in the recipe and ingredient list.
You can use any leftover mashed potatoes that you have on hand, you don´t need to follow this recipe.
Step-by-step instructions
Make mashed potatoes: cut potatoes into large chunks and add to a large pot. Add cold water and salt the water well. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Drain the potatoes and pour with cold water to cool them down (for this particular recipe we don´t want the mashed potatoes to be hot).
Cut butter into small cubes and add to the pot where the potatoes were cooking. Mash the potatoes using a potato ricer or mashed directly into the pot. Stir to melt the butter. When the butter is melted add sour cream, milk, and garlic powder. Season well with salt and pepper, stir to combine. Set aside to cool down.
Cook eggs: Add eggs to boiling water, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Drain the hot water and immediately brake the shells by shaking the pot, immediately add cold water. Set aside for a minute or two to cool down slightly then peel the eggs. Cut the eggs into wedges.
Make chłodnik: Peel the cucumber. Shred 3/4 of the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater. Sprinkle with salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze out excess water (don´t do this very thoroughly).
Note: If you´d like a chłodnik that has a thinner consistency, you don´t need to drain the excess water from the cucumber.
Cut the remaining 1/4 cucumber and all the radishes into small dice. Chop dill and chives. Grate the garlic on small holes of a grater.
Add buttermilk to a large bowl. Add all the shredded cucumber, 1/2 of the diced cucumber, 3/4 of the diced radishes, all the dill, chives, and garlic. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Assemble: Laddle cucumber soup into two bowls, add a large dollop of mashed potatoes to the bowl. Top each bowl with egg quarters. Sprinkle the remaining diced cucumbers and radishes. Garnish with sprouts, season the eggs lightly with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!
You can serve chlodnik in small bowls and put mashed potatoes and eggs on the side or you can serve everything in one bowl as shown on the photos.
Storage
Keep the chlodnik separate from the eggs and mashed potatoes.
You can keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
It keeps well and it´s delicious the next day.
You can serve it cold straight from the fridge or at room temperature.
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
Chłodnik Ogórkowy (Polish Cold Cucumber Soup)
Ingredients
for the chłodnik:
- 2 cups (480ml) buttermilk or kefir
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 English cucumber
- 6 radishes
- 1 small bunch dill
- 1/4 cup chopped chives
- 1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
for the sides:
- 1 pound (450g) starchy/mealy potatoes such as Russets
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 eggs
- sprouts to serve
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Instructions
- Make mashed potatoes: cut potatoes into large chunks and add to a large pot. Add cold water and salt the water well. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Drain the potatoes and pour with cold water to cool them down (for this particular recipe we don´t want the mashed potatoes to be hot). Cut butter into small cubes and add to the pot where the potatoes were cooking. Mash the potatoes using a potato ricer or mashed directly into the pot. Stir to melt the butter. When the butter is melted add sour cream, milk, and garlic powder. Season well with salt and pepper, stir to combine. Set aside to cool down.
- Cook eggs: Add eggs to boiling water, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Drain the hot water and immediately brake the shells by shaking the pot, immediately add cold water. Set aside for a minute or two to cool down slightly then peel the eggs. Cut the eggs into wedges.
- Make chłodnik: Peel the cucumber. Shred 3/4 of the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater. Sprinkle with salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze out excess water (don´t do this very thoroughly).
- Cut the remaining 1/4 cucumber and all the radishes into small dice. Chop dill and chives. Grate the garlic on small holes of a grater.
- Add buttermilk to a large bowl. Add all the shredded cucumber, 1/2 of the diced cucumber, 3/4 of the diced radishes, all the dill, chives, and garlic. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Assemble: Laddle cucumber soup into two bowls, add a large dollop of mashed potatoes to the bowl. Top each bowl with egg quarters. Sprinkle the remaining diced cucumbers and radishes. Garnish with sprouts, season the eggs lightly with salt and pepper.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- You can serve chlodnik in small bowls and put mashed potatoes and eggs on the side or you can serve everything in one bowl as shown on the photos.
- Storage: Keep the chlodnik separate from the eggs and mashed potatoes. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. It keeps well and it´s delicious the next day. You can serve it cold straight from the fridge or at room temperature.
- Instead of buttermilk/kefir, you could use 2 cups of plain yogurt and 1/4 cup of sour cream, but I prefer to use buttermilk/kefir for their refreshing flavor and not too thick consistency.
- You can use any leftover mashed potatoes that you have on hand instead of this recipe.
- If you´d like a chłodnik that has a thinner consistency, you don´t need to drain the excess water from the cucumber.
- Calories = 1 serving (1/2 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!
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