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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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:
If you enjoy our videos, please and click the bell icon so you’ll be the first to know when we post a new video. THANK YOU for subscribing! We love spending time with you on our
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
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
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 was reading some of the reviews I am also looking for the borscht recipe that had kidney beans grated carrots cabbage can you help me or send me the recipe?
Hi Mary Ann, this is the same recipe, just improved slightly. Also, we took out the cabbage but kept the instructions for adding it in the recipe. I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha! I love your recipes and use them often. Just wondering if you could make this with pre-cooked beets?… Just grate or small dice them and add them to the soup
Hi Eva, that may affect the flavor a bit. It’s nice to use the water that you boiled the beets in to get more flavor and color into the soup. I’d love to know how you like it if you use precooked.
Loving your borscht ❤️
I’m so happy you’re enjoying that! Thank you for that great review!
I wear glasses when chopping onions. Also helps keep running water, but you have to be close to the faucet.
Thank you for that great tip!
I have a lit candle burning next to the onions when slicing. Seems to work.
I will have to try that! Thanks for the great idea!
Swim goggles or snow skiing goggles work great!
Thank you for sharing that, Bill!
I – like many of you – loved the old recipe but followed this one and it’s just as good! Keep the faith in Natasha lol
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thank you for the wonderful review 🙂 And yes, I would definitely never post something that was worse 😉
Hi! I used to make the vegetarian version all the time but never took a screenshot.. so sad you deleted it 🙁
Hi Daniela, this is the same recipe, just improved slightly. Also, we took out the cabbage but kept the instructions for adding it in the recipe. I hope that helps!
There are a lot of red cabbages around where I live in Britain. Last week my mum got one in her veg box delivery she has and there was another one cheap in the market last weekend and I couldn’t resist. Enjoyed making this recipe again, this latest batch I did a bit different as I didn’t have fresh dill around but used fennel, and had some natural yoghurt to use up so used that instead of sour cream.
Thank you for sharing this with me David! This recipe would be perfect for all of that cabbage!
thanks for the recipe I had to make borscht for my project on Ukraine
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hands down, the best borcht recipe ever! And, you can even take to work for lunch because there’s no cabbage 😏 The only thing I change, when I am watching my calories, I substitute potatoes, which I I love, with turnips. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Natasha – what happened to your other beet soup? The one with cabbage where the beets were cut – not grated? I can’t seem to find it and I liked that one. This one is completely different
Here are our Borscht archives Amanda
Unfortunately, all I am able to locate is a meat one and the superfood one. Not the old one I am referring to.
This is that same recipe Amanda. We had 2 borscht recipes on the site which was always confusing to readers to we removed that one and updated this (the original borscht) with a video and new photos. The only change was the cabbage and I have instructions in the post on when to add that if using. I hope that helps!
Well, unfortunately, it doesn’t help. It is not the same recipe at all. It’s ok though. I committed the old one to memory so I still have it. Thank you anyway. I may even try this method with the other ingredient list. Might work out well…easier maybe. Thank you.
I agree this recipe is rather different. I have made the “original” many times. The beets were boiled first, then grated. The beans were kidney beans, the cabbage was an ingredient, the grated carrots were added to the ketchup mixture, and I don’t remember any vinegar or bell peppers….
Do you happen to have the original “original” recipe still? I would have printed it if I knew it was going to be updated. Thanks a ton!!
Natasha, I’m also missing the ‘old’ original recipe on your website (as Amanda and Tony mentioned as well). I had it bookmarked and now it’s lost. Really loved that one! I’d really appreciate if you could ‘bring it back’.
Hi Miroslav, this is the same recipe, just improved slightly. Also, we took out the cabbage but kept the instructions for adding it in the recipe. I hope that helps!
I’m off to the farmers market to get all the ingredients so I can make this tomorrow. Will be serving it my friend who says she doesn’t like borscht (she’s only had the cold version). She didn’t used to like beets but I convinced her by preparing fresh beets – she’d only ever had canned. 😊 Wish me luck!
I hope you both love the borscht recipe! 🙂
I’m wondering if I did something wrong. I had small beets so I used almost six of them, still my soup doesn’t even look close to the color of yours. And seems WAY more watery. It seemed like a lot of liquid to me 4+6 cups but that’s what I used. Any thoughts of what I did wrong? Mine is orange and watery….
It may have been the beets themselves? Were they possibly old or a difference sort? The water should be fairly dark with that many beets. Did you change anything in the recipe?
I love your channel and will be trying some of your recipes this weekend 🙂
About the onion 🙂 i found that leaving the peeled onion with the bottom or top (or both) cut off for 5 min in cold water before chopping it make a difference 🙂
Thank you for sharing that with us, Anna!!
So tasty! Loved the use of beets in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you liked it!
An easy recipe for the best soup I’ve ever made, and I make a lot of soup!! Thank you so much for sharing this family favourite. It will definitely become one of ours.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Susan! That’s so great! It sounds like you definitely have a new family favorite!
Awesome with cabbage and a few shredded chicken tenders. It will become a semi-staple of my diet. Delicious
That’s so great!! Thank you for the wonderful review!
I found your recipe online over a year ago after my son had spent 4 months working with a Ukrainian woman in Australia. He asked if I could try to make Borsch like she had. I was so glad when I tried your recipe and he said it was as good as hers. Luckily I printed the recipe – because now I come back to your website and you have completely changed your recipe. Why would you do that? I would have been very upset if I had lost your first recipe.
Hi there Theresa! I’m so happy you found our recipe! We have several different borscht recipes posted are you looking at the same one? 🙂
I do not see the same recipe that you had earlier. It was called Classic Ukrainian Borsch Recipe.
Theresa, you will be able to find all versions following this link here. 🙂
I back up Theresa’s comments… I am not able to find your previous Borscht Recipe on the website.
The list of recipes you are giving the link to has the one, meat recipe, and superfood one. Would you be able to share again previous recipe???
Hi Mel, this is that same recipe. We had 2 borscht recipes on the site which was always confusing to readers to we removed that one and updated this (the original borscht) with a video and new photos. The only change was the cabbage and I have instructions in the post on when to add that if using. I hope that helps!
Unfortunately, this isn’t the same. This calls for the ingredients to be added at completely different times and has a handful of ingredients the other recipe didn’t call for. The other recipe had you cook the beets first and add them later and now, you are calling for them to be grated and everything added at the same time. Thankfully, I remember the other one from memory, so I don’t have to lose out on it completely, but it’s still frustrating.
Theresa, would it be possible for you to email your copy of that recipe? I know the ingredients, I just am unsure of the order. Thanks.
Hey Teresa, do you think you could email me a copy of the recipe you have printed or pictures? I would really like to have a copy of the original. I would really appreciate it.
i really like your recipe , nice work
for some amazing recipe visit here
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Hi Natasha, im cherrelyn, may i know how many Calories, Fats, Cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates of this recipe the borscht soup? I have presentation for my class and im gonna use this recipe but i need to know. Please and thank you.
Hi Cherrelyn! I love that you are using this recipe for you presentation! We are slowly working through all of our recipes to add nutrition info but it is a time consuming process as they have to be added one at a time. I recommend trying this nutrition analyzer Simply type in all of the ingredients you are using and it will give you the nutritional facts. I hope this helps!
Natasha this was a hit with my family! My daughter who usually doesn’t like borsch because of cabbage loved this. I myself couldn’t have enough of it. Thanks so much for this deliciousness! God bless.
Yes, This is so perfect for kids who normally wouldn’t enjoy cabbage in borscht!
Love this. So good and tasty.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!