Give Creamy Soup A Tangy Boost With This Unexpected Topper

The warm comfort of a creamy bowl of soup on a cool evening is tough to beat. Thick, rich, and hearty, it heats you from the inside and fills in all the gaps. Like any soup, though, steamy creamy bowls are at their best when topped with something that provides a touch of contrast. Crunchy bits like croutons might be the go-to, but especially for recipes on the richer side, there's one surprising garnish you're going to want to explore this soup season: pickles.

Among the many common ways to garnish soup, pickles might seem like a strange choice, but the more you think about it, the more sense it makes. What does soup need, really? It loves a bit of texture, and pickles add some crunch. It needs plenty of salt, and pickles have that too. Most of all, creamy soups benefit from something to cut through the fat, and the acidity of a pickle does that beautifully.

It may not be the case that every soup pairs perfectly with every pickle, but there are certainly plenty of combinations that make a lot of sense. There is nothing more obvious, perhaps, than a loaded cheeseburger soup. For that one, pickles seem like a given — along with sesame seed bun croutons, of course. However, really just about any creamy soup fits the bill. The acidity balances the fat, all while the thick texture of the soup keeps the pickles floating at the top where they add a pop of color as well.

Whether we are talking about finely diced dill pickles or the kind of tangy chips you might toss on a burger, there are plenty of soups that these run-of-the-mill, sour and salty cukes might fit in well with. Most potato soup recipes are begging for a touch of tang, for example, and they'd even go great in a rich and creamy chicken cordon bleu soup. Other pickle varieties have their place on this soupy spectrum too. 

A spicy pickle would add a unique angle to a creamy white bean and tomato soup, whereas a sweet bread and butter pickle could add an interesting accent to a creamy vegan roasted acorn squash soup. It may be the case that there's a right pickle for every creamy soup. And this may be especially true if we open the door beyond the realm of the cucumber. 

Just like how cheeseburger soup is a clear target for a few dill chips, a bowl of creamy taco soup could really benefit from being garnished with a handful of pickled jalapeño peppers. Similarly, the richness of marry me chicken soup — from bacon, olive oil, butter, and cream — might benefit from a little bit of traditional Italian giardiniera.

No matter what creamy soup it is in the pot, pickles are worth considering as a garnish. You can keep the crunchy croutons, but a bit of acidity can really balance out the bowl. And for those that just can't get enough, it might be time to make them the star of the show with a crock full of hearty dill pickle soup.