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?
When we were in Lithuania we were served borscht with mashed potatoes rather than sour cream or mayo. Have you heard of that?
That’s interesting! I have not heard of that served with! How did you like it with mashed?
I loved this recipe! It was so tasty. The vinegar and dill make for great flavor. I made this for my girlfriend and my roommates and everyone loved it. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that Niko! Thank you for sharing that awesome review with me!
Mayo?? Never! Sour cream only. My Ukranian grandmother made borscht for us all the time, and it was also homemade stock. There was never mayonnaise involved (yuck). That being said, thank you for your video and it looks good.
Thank you, Margaret, it is preference-based! I hope you try our borscht recipe and try it soon.
I no longer buy sour cream, havent for years, but I usually have plain greek yogurt, I just had the archived traditional version of this recipe with the yogurt and it was delicious!
This is a wonderful recipe, perfect for the Seattle rainy season. In the event that we might want to freeze part of it, I grated the potato (since potato chunks don’t freeze well.) The beans are a great addition. Thanks, Natasha!
Great idea! Thank you for sharing that with me!
You mentioned wanting a tip for tear-free onion cutting. Keep your onions in the refrigerator. It works for me.
Thank you for that great tip Theresa!
I love love Russian food. I was an exchange student in Russia 10 years ago and could not get enough of the food! Hot borscht was my favorite. This took me back and it was so simple to make! My hubby loved it!!!
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m all smiles
Hello
Am from India , made it for the first time . With vegetable broth . And it was fantastic. The taste was further elevated by the dollop of sour cream .
First tym tasting a Russian/Ukrainian dish and its a 5 star ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank u
Awesome! Thanks for your perfect feedback, so glad you loved this recipe.
best way to remove beets stains is make a paste using baking soda and a small amount of water
Hi Natasha, I’m looking forward to making your borscht! Two questions: would dried dill work? I use it in soups often and never have a problem. Also, why is the mire poix sautéed separately? I am tempted to sautée everything with the beets in the beginning, to save work and an extra dirty pan! Normally I would go ahead and not ask, but you seem so thorough in your recipe and comments that I thought I’d ask. Thank you so much!!
Hi Shannon, dried dill should work great! I haven’t tried sauteeing it all in the beginning but that may work. If you experiment I would love to know how you like that!
Hello! I am making this as I type … making ahead for Saturday to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving … how long can the Borscht keep in the fridge and can the leftovers (if any) be frozen!
Hi Linda, this will keep well in a jar/bowl refrigerated up to 5 days. It should only be stored in the refrigerator though and not at room temperature.
OK, so I cut my ginormous beet in two. After peeling and trimming, half was 1 pound. Grated it was nearly 4 C. I then made the recipe as is except for only using 4 cups of water instead of 6. It could have used a bit more beet…I’d say 1.25-1.5 pounds or a generous 4 Cups grated if you need to measure another way because your beet is a mutant! Very good…thank you.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Francie!
I have one one really enormous beet. It’s probably more than three medium beets. Can you tell me in weight how much beet you use in this recipe?
Hi Francie, I wish I had measured it that way! I recommend taking a look at the images in our recipe post, there you can see the size for reference compared to a can. I hope this is helpful!
Great recipe. Is there a way to modify this for a slow cooker or instant pot?
Hi Dina, I haven’t tried this in an instant pot but now I sure want to experiment!! If I come up with something awesome, I will be sure to share it.
Made this last night for the first time and it was delicious. I followed the recipe exactly. If you are making this, be sure to include the vinegar and ketchup – I see how it completely transformed the flavour (in a good way!). I made this for a vegetarian friend so we used vegetable stock. I will make again this week and try adding some bacon and. using chicken stock. Served with home made rosemary bread it was to die for. Really happy to have found this recipe – I will be using it regularly to get more beets into my diet.
Hello, Jen. Thanks for trying out this recipe, I am glad you loved it!
The only changes I made were leaving out the red pepper (don’t like peppers), used russet potatoes (because that’s what I had) and I rinsed the beans before adding because of the sodium content. We loved it.
I have about 1/4 small cabbage which I’ll be adding this time because I need to use it up and I still have beet tops in the garden so I’ll add some. Great to make in the winter also with frozen shredded beets.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Kathy!
hold a stick of celery or carrot between you back teeth, hold firm while chopping. No tears.
Thanks for sharing that with us, Lynn!
Partially freeze your onion before cutting. Helps me.
Great tip! Thank you for sharing that with me!
My boyfriend and I love, love, love your borscht recipe. I do continue to make the original recipe that uses cabbage, dark kidney beans and lemon juice. I do now grate the beets instead of chopping into matchsticks (so much faster) and I love the extra dill. Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s delicious, nutritious and affordable and I’m obsessed with it.
Hello Victoria, you are most welcome! That sounds awesome too, I think this recipe is versatile and it’s just up to you to decide what you can add or omit. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Our Ukrainian Beet Borscht has a couple of variants from yours: Shred Beets and cook in 6 cups water for 10 mins.
We omit red peppers because of allergies. We shred the carrots and add 2 large parsnips shredded. We braise the onions with the parsnips, 4 cloves of garlic and3 tbsp margarine. The potatoes (small cubed) and the carrots are boiled together in 3 cups water until done. Cabbage finely shredded is cooked in 3 cups of water for 20 mins. Put all ingredients in a large stock pot with 4 cups of LOW SODIUM chicken broth and spices . We use 1 tin of tomato soup, 1 tsp pepper, 3 tbsp LOW SODIUM Soy Sauce, 4 tsp chopped fresh dill, 4 tbsp sugar, 4 tbsp white vinegar, generous splash of white wine, 1 tsp each basil, thyme and rosemary. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours. Serve hot with sour cream. We have made this for over 10 years and got the recipe from an article in a local paper. Enjoy
Thank you so much for sharing that with us Roy! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I had the pleasure to eat this soup in Kiev when I visited last summer to see what it should like.
I made this recipe–and included the dollop of sour cream and homemade sourdough bread. It was so tasty.
I live in Washington State so I used Walla Walla sweet onions and fresh organic beets.
I slowly simmered the soup in a crock pot-perfect!
I really enjoy Slavic flavors and your blog is excellent in the way you explain and make it look easy. The videos and photos are a great way to compare the finished product!
Hello Keith, thank you so much for sharing that with us. Thank you for giving this recipe a try and I am also glad that you liked it!
Yyeeaaah giirrll YOU GOT IT! i threw in some chicken and cabbage also but altogether fantastic and just as i remember. Perfect. Fantastic. Thank you for your recipe. Tastes like home.
You’re welcome, Anastasia! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!