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.
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?
Wow! This is my new favorite borscht recipe!!!!
I’ve been craving beets and decided to search the internet for a new recipe and your recipe popped up. I halved the recipe and improvised with what I had on-hand – canned garden beets and lime juice – nonetheless it turned out absolutely fantastic!
Thank you for sharing!
Woohoo! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I should halve the recipe; I’m so used to making giant pots of soup 😉
Very good!
But Borscht is 1000% Ukrainian.
“Russian borsch” sounds like american balalaika 🙂
I’ll take it! Since I am Ukrainian! 🙂
I searched Borscht recipes and yours comes close to what my Grandmother made. Originally from Romania, to Germany and Austria before coming here. I just have to chuckle with all the different ethnicity who call the soup their own. Russian, Polish, Jewish etc. all have a common thread. The use of beets and sour cream is universal. Some go with Matzo, potato, carrot’s beans and more. I come to conclusion that this soup was made with whatever was available. The basic vegetable soup that happens to be red. My 97 year old grandmother was making this soup my whole life. The stuff she used varied upon her harvest or what was available at that moment. I enjoyed you site.
Thanks Bob. I enjoyed reading your common. I completely agree; most people in those areas were poor and used the basic ingredients that they had, but were able to make amazing recipes with them!
All of the ingredients in this soup are so healthy and tasty! I’ve been meaning to make borscht for a while now and would love to use your recipe!
I love the name of your site; how fitting that beets are a root vegetable 🙂 P.S. I love your blog. Great photos and I look forward to checking out more 🙂
What is the tool that you use to cut the cabbage? I’ve been searching for an easier way to cut cabbage with no luck.
Are the beats store bought or you guys grow them youreslve? I’ve never seen this kind in the stores.
I make my borsh the same exact way))) Except for some difference in techniques, but the ingredients are pretty much the same 😀 I also love beans in my borsh.
My mom grows the long beets; her favorite! 🙂
Borscht never gets old in my house, thank you for the recipe :).
Same here Nadya :).
Hi Natasha,
Thanks for posting this. I love borscht, but I use a different recipe every time I make it. I found yours and I am excited because I am a vegetarian, and I will use the Better than Bouillon vegetable broth. The beets are boiling right now and I am super excited. I think this might by my future recipe!
I hope you LOVE it 🙂
I did love it! I think it is now my permanent borscht recipe. Thanks so much.
YESSS! Now that is a very good report. Glad you loved it 🙂
I made Boscht when I was a student (cold winters and no heating meant needing lots of hot soup being made to warm me and my friends up!)
The thing I remembered doing was peeling the potatoes, beets, carrots and slicing up the end of the cabbage then boiling them all in the water for half an hour meaning you got all the nutrients out of them. Then I would sauté all the other vegetables together with the beef, add the filtered vegetable after the beet chunks etc were soft and blitz it all with a hand bender. It was a good way of getting nutritious soup without the extra time or losing any of the nutrients by throwing the peelings away.
You have a lovely blog and I will enjoy trying some of your other recipes! xxx
Welcome to the site, I hope that you will find some new favorites 🙂
My husband begged me to make some borscht. He found your recipe and loves it!! Thank you so much for posting it. It was a bit time-consuming, but according to my husband and two daughters it was sooooo worth it. 😀
So glad you all enjoyed it 🙂
Hi Natasha!
I came across your site looking for a good borscht recipe and this one looked the best. I’m going to try it today. I also checked out your “about”section and I see you live in Idaho. I’m chuckling because here I am, a native-born Idahoan, bsu graduate, searching for a borscht recipe from my home in Moscow, Russia, and the one that catches my eye comes from Idaho! What are the chances?
It’s a small world Megan :). Welcome to the site, I hope that you will find some new favorites.
Just made this recipe for my family and it was a complete success. The only change I made was replacing the chicken Better than Boullion with the veggie version because I’m vegan. A++
Awesome! I’m glad that you have been able to tweak the recipe to your preference :).
Hello there! I want to make this borscht tonight, it sounds delicious! But I hope you’ll answer my question in time. In Europe we don’t work with cups but I found out one cup is 225 ml. That means 16 cups is 3,6 liter!? Is this right? Sounds like a lot of water for soup to me.
Hi Emma, that is correct! 🙂 It does make a big pot of soup, but you can easily cut everything in half and make a smaller pot of soup. I can’t help it; every time I make soup, it’s a big pot. 🙂
I’ll post it in about an hour or two.
my borsh is usually gone in two days.
i can share a recipe if that’s ok)
Borsch has many variations and I would love to try yours especially when its gone in two days :D. Please be specific on the ingredients so that I can make it just like yours 😉
good recipe, but what happened to beef?)
I was suprised at how good it tastes without beef, but you can definitely add it if you wish and you probably won’t need bouillon if you add beef. It seems to stay fresher for a longer period of time in the fridge without the meat.
Aloha!! 🙂 Just made this for dinner & kept going back for more from the pot! It was so good!! Thank you for posting! 🙂
You’re welcome. I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
borsh bez myasa? eto je ne borchsh… u have have meat in there.
I was a little skeptical at first too since I grew up with meat in my borscht, but this is my favorite recipe for borscht. The beans provide protein and it tastes perfect.
Yummm. I love Borscht. When I make it I too use some ketchup and golden sugar. I use canned beets, and sauerkraut instead of cabbage! Go figure!
Growing up in Shanghai, there were many Ukrainian & Russian restaurants. Strangely, an American restaurant (called The Chocolate Shop!!) made excellent Borscht!!
We used to get Piroshky, tasty buns stuffed with ground meat, hard boiled eggs and cabbage.
The only place I’ve ever had it since leaving China was once in San Francisco at a Russian bakery.
Your version of borscht actually sounds quite good. I’ll have to try golden sugar and sauerkraut in the future. Thanks Helga!
i add sugar to my borsch. have you ever come upon any borsch recipes with sugar? its delicious
That sounds good! Some of the beets i’ve used in the past weren’t as sweet as others; it probably would have helped to add a little sugar.