After several requests for my borscht recipe, here it is. Ukrainian Borscht… everyone knows what it is and many people around the world have fallen in love with this iconic beet soup.
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I love the deep ruby color of this borsch! It’s so healthy and nutritious; packed with beans (protein), beets (iron), carrots (carotene), potatoes (vit C, potassium, Vit B6), oftentimes cabbage is added (vit K, vit C, fiber, etc…). It feels so good serving this to my family.
Our Family’s Borscht Recipe (Beet Soup)
This is our family’s version of classic borsch and it’s one of the two soups my children absolutely love (Mom’s Meatball Soup being the second). Borscht is definitely on the regular rotation at our house!
This version keeps better because it is a meatless version but doesn’t lack in flavor because it uses good quality chicken broth.
Ingredients for Classic Ukrainian Borsch:
It’s best to have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go which makes this soup super easy and care free. Start by peeling, grating, chopping, slicing and dicing all of the vegetables for borscht.
Once your potatoes are peeled and sliced, transfer them to a bowl of cold water to keep them from discoloring until ready for use.
Note on Using Cabbage:
We used to add cabbage but our children prefer it without so for years now we’ve been making it just like this without cabbage. If you prefer cabbage, add 1/4 to 1/2 small head of cabbage, thinly shredded, adding it when the potatoes are halfway cooked.
How to Peel and Cut Beets:
- Use gloves when handling beets or your fingertips will stain red for a couple of days.
- To peel beets, use a simple potato peeler like this one.
- You can slice the beets into matchsticks but it is way way easier to grate and children don’t mind the texture of grated beets. We love our food processor for this task as it grates more coarsely than on a hand grater so the beets still have some texture. It also keeps the counter and your hands clean (beat juice can be a pain to get out of clothing and porous surfaces).
How to Remove Beet Stains:
When you eat borscht often, you learn quickly to pace a napkin in your lap and bibs on children. If you do get beet juice on your clothes, address the stain right away.
- Use a paper-towel to blot off any excess juice.
- Run cold water over the opposite/under side of the fabric to push the stain out.
- If the stain persists, apply a stain removing agent (I have found that dish soap works well in a pinch) and launder clothing as usual.
Watch Natasha Make Classic Borscht:
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Classic Borscht Recipe (Beet Soup)
Ingredients
For Borscht:
- 3 medium beets, peeled and grated
- 4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 8 cups chicken broth , + 2 cups water
- 3 medium yukon potatoes, peeled and sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
For Zazharka (Mirepoix):
- 2 celery ribs, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped, optional
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 4 Tbsp ketchup or 3 Tbsp tomato sauce
Additional Flavorings:
- 1 can white cannelini beans with their juice
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 Tbsp white vinegar, or to taste
- 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 large garlic clove, pressed
- 3 Tbsp chopped dill
Instructions
- Peel, grate and/or slice all vegetables (keeping sliced potatoes in cold water to prevent browning until ready to use then drain).
- Heat a large soup pot (5 1/2 Qt or larger) over medium/high heat and add 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add grated beets and sauté 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until beets are softened.
- Add 8 cups broth and 2 cups water. Add sliced potatoes and sliced carrots then cook for 10-15 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.
- While potatoes are cooking, place a large skillet over medium/high heat and add 2 Tbsp oil. Add chopped onion, celery and bell pepper. Saute stirring occasionally until softened and lightly golden (7-8 minutes). Add 4 Tbsp Ketchup and stir fry 30 seconds then transfer to the soup pot to continue cooking with the potatoes.
- When potatoes and carrots reach desired softness, add 1 can of beans with their juice, 2 bay leaves, 2-3 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 pressed garlic clove, and 3 Tbsp chopped dill. Simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes and add more salt and vinegar to taste.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
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So, which camp are you in? Do you love that dollop of sour cream at the end or the flavor that real mayo adds to borscht?
I just made this soup for the first time. Glad I did, its great. Thanks for recipe.
You’re welcome Ken! I’m happy to hear how much you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Can this be made ahead of time and stored in a mason jar. My father-in-law is polish, we are visiting them at Christmas and I thought I would make a gift basket as put this in the basket, but curious how long it keeps
Hi Kat, this will keep well in a jar refrigerated up to 5 days. It should only be stored in the refrigerator though and not at room temperature.
This recipe is the only one I trust. All other styles are bland and not very home-like. Thank you. This is my holiday traditional soup. My husband’s Polish and he gobbles this up. I’m German and I just take his portions. 😀 hahahahaha I kid I kid. …almost.
I’m glad the recipe is a HIT in your home! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your excellent review with other readers!
As a third generation Ukrainian I wanted to continue the beautiful traditions for January 6th Christmas Eve after my mother passed away and made this borscht recipe last year. It was a huge hit and will be on the menu every January 6th Christmas Eve. Thank you.
You’re welcome Stephen! I’m sorry to hear about your mother. I’m glad you and your family enjoy this recipe and can continue family traditions! God Bless
Was craving Borscht, so I made my first batch using this recipe. Excellent recipe, made cooking Borscht much easier than I thought! Freezes well.Thanks!
You’re welcome Ramon! I’m so glad to hear how much you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review!
Hi Natasha,
Not to take away from your recipe but is there a ketogenic version you could reccommend?
Hi Naureen, I don’t believe beets are on the ketogenic diet so that would be really difficult to substitute since it’s not borsch without them. 🙁 You could sub the potatoes for cauliflower and the ketchup for tomato sauce if needed but there’s just no simple sub for the beets.
Hi Natasha,
I am Polish and love all foods using beets cabbage ,etc. This is a wonderfull Borsch recipe and will make this ofen. My wife also loves the ethnic foods I cook and this will be a favorite . Thank You again for sharing.
Tim
It’s my pleasure Tim! I hope you both love the recipe! 🙂
Ahh, bortch is one of my favorite soups! This fall I’ve tried all sorts of slavic soups, yesterday made some rassolnik! 🙂
Otherwise very similar to my recipe, but beans!? No way! You do not live in Ukraine anymore, do you 🙂
And hi from Finland btw 🙂
Hi Marko! We add beans to incorporate some protein in the borsch, but you can absolutely omit them if you prefer 🙂
Made this and my husband and I both loved it. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome Jollean! I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing!
My husband and I agree this is the best borscht we have ever eaten! I am looking forward to the leftovers of this soup. All of the veggies I used were from my garden. What a great way to get some of them used up!
I’m happy to hear that Kathy! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Thanks Natasha for sharing this recipe.
Made it today for dinner for the wife and I, and still plenty left over. We both enjoyed it very much. Will make again.
Great recipe.
My pleasure Lorne! I’m glad to hear you both love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review!
do you have to put the kidney beans? I’ve never heard of this before. I’ve never eaten borscht with beans before either.
Hi Lucy, you can omit them if you wish, it is just a nice way to add protein to the borscht.
This recipe is just delicious! The best I have ever had
Oh wow, that’s quite the compliment! I’m glad to hear how much you love the recipe Karen! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Fantastic recipe, loved by all! (Well,
Most.. sadly my younger siblings demand MEAT in their meal, of which I eat little of.. is there any meat that could be incorporated with this dish??)
The only thing to note was that in the instructions is that I feel that the terms ‘sliced’, and ‘chopped’, could be swapped for one another 🙂
Thank you.
Hi Madeline, we do have a borscht with meat that you might enjoy :). Also, thanks for the tip! 🙂
I live in Catalonia, Spain, and all of my friends, local and foreign agree that they have never tasted a better borscht. The time investment is well worth while.
As a matter of fact, these days I’ll make a 20 liter pot because I’ve discovered it freezes beautifully. You have no idea about how many friends I’ll make happy.
Thank you very much!
You’re welcome! I’m glad to hear how much everyone enjoys the recipe! Thanks for sharing your excellent review! 🙂
Love this recipe but I can never get my beets clean enough to save the beet water. Should I use a brush or something? I scrub them and scrub them but always wind up with gross brown water with lots of dirt :\ I don’t want to peel them first as it’s so much more work than after boiling them but I’m almost inclined to to save the water.
Hi Kasey, I do use a brush to scrub the beets but you can also peel the beets before boiling if that is easier for you. It will still work 🙂
I always scrub my root vegetables with a stiff vegetable brush and it does the trick!
If you are not using young beets I can see having brownish broth; however, as to the dirt problem I would recommend first soaking the beets in cool water for an hour, scrub them with a brush, rinse and then cook. I would save the water the beets were cooked in regardless of the color. When you add the beets later the color will change.
This was delicious! I’ve made different versions of borscht before, but this one is the best. Only changes I made were to cook the beets in a pressure cooker so I didn’t have as much beet water. I made up for it with vegetable broth and also replaced the chicken broth with vegetable since we’re vegetarians. Good stuff!
Awesome! I’m glad to hear how enjoy the recipe Meg! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
You recipes are amazing! Do you happen to have a recipe for Shurpa?
Hi Kris, I don’t sorry!
Here you go Kris
http://momsdish.com/recipe/735/shurpa-soup-recipe
I’ve made Borsch quite a lot but the bay leaves and lemon juice I hadn’t used before and added a really nice flavour – thanks! One thing I do differently though is to peel and grate the beetroot before cooking – it cuts down the cooking time a lot! Not sure if this would make any difference to the flavour though?
There are a variety of ways to prep the beets and they all seem to work well. 🙂
I cook mine in the pressure then pull off skins
I cook mine in the pressure cooker then peel off skins. Leave a small piece of stem @ the top of the beet.
better to peel than have sand in your soup!
Can this soup be frozen?
Edna, I never tried freezing it but it should freeze just fine.
Hi I cant wait to try this recipe, this soup, other versions I’ve made freeze very well.
Please let me know what you think of the recipe Bob!
I have made borsch several times & this is by far my favourite recipe. Thank you so much for sharing all this goodness. The only change I make is omitting the beans.
I’m so happy to hear that Janna! Thank YOU for sharing your wonderful review! 🙂