Borscht Recipe

5 from 4 votes

This brightly colored Borscht Soup is a classic recipe from Belarus. Made with beets, potatoes, tomatoes and more, it is best served with sour cream, dill, and, if you’re feeling adventurous, even a hard-boiled egg!

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Belarus

Prep Time 50 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Servings

Calories 133kcal

Author The Foreign Fork

Equipment

1 Large Pot

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
½ tbsp garlic minced
1 yellow onion diced
4 medium beets (about 1 lb) peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
2 cups shredded green or red cabbage
3 carrots peeled and shredded
1 tsp granulated sugar
¼ cup tomato paste about ½ of a 6 oz can
6 cups vegetable broth
2 medium russet potatoes peeled & cubed
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp fresh dill
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp pepper
½ cup canned tomato sauce
Sour cream for garnishment
Fresh dill weed for garnishment

Instructions

In a large pot, add the oil over medium heat. Cook garlic and onion in the oil until translucent, or about 5 minutes.
Add the beets and carrot and saute again for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and add the tomato paste. Mix again to combine.
Add the cabbage to the pot along with the vegetable broth.
Cover the pot and bring the broth to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Stir in potatoes, vinegar, dill, salt, and pepper. Cook, covered for about 20 more minutes, until the soup reduces and gets a bit thicker.
Add the tomato sauce and cook for about five more minutes, uncovered.
Serve and enjoy! Garnish with sour cream, freshly grated garlic, and fresh dill.

Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For personal or educational use only.

Beets: I like to cut my beets to matchstick size, but you could also grate them if you have a machine that will make that job easier.
Vegetables: Carrots, onion, red or green cabbage and potatoes make this soup hearty and filling. You could even add additional vegetables if you’d like.
Tomato Sauce: Tomato sauce and vegetable broth make up the base of the soup, along with a splash of white vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar.
Fresh Dill: Fresh dill on top is the perfect addition! It is not traditional to use dried dill.
I made my Vegetarian Borscht Recipe with just vegetables, but many people add beef or beans to the soup as well. Kidney beans, pinto beans or white beans work well in borscht.
You can add any vegetables you want to this stew. Turnips, parsnips, zucchini, celery and bell peppers are sometimes added.
If your beets came with leaves, you can chop up the leaves and add them to the soup in the last few minutes of cooking.
One recipe I found mentioned roasting your vegetables before adding them to the soup. This is an extra step that would dirty up a roasting pan but it adds another level of flavor that you may like to try.

Nutrition