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.
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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 made this today, substituted the broth with 2 parts chicken and 1 part onion. I also changed the ketchup to diced tomatoes and didn’t use beans, as I had none so I added a bit more of my diced tomatoes to make up for the lost liquid. I also added a bit of cumin, really just a bit, a pinch or two, for seasoning purposes.
It was AMAZING soup! Thank you for the recipe and excellent guidelines.
Avery, thank you for the great review and nice job on improvising :D.
Hi there, I absolutely loved the borscht, wow it tasted fantastic. I followed your instructions and the exact ingredients, however I was out of chicken broth and didn’t use any garnishing and it tasted like heaven. I am going to make this more often, but I need some help here regarding its nutritional value. Natasha, will you be able to provide that?
Thanks for sharing this recipe
Hi Samia! I’m so happy you enjoyed the borsch 🙂 I don’t typically include nutritional values, but if you go to caloriecount.com you can plug in the ingredients and servings and figured out pretty easily that way. I hope that helps!
This is indeed best soup ever made. But, where meat is? As i`m concrerned it has to contain beaf or pork or all together. My Mom has always coocked it with meat.
I have a beef version here: https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/02/08/borscht-recipe-with-meat/
We usually make it without because it’s faster and stays fresh longer in the fridge and it still tastes great 🙂
I also made it tonight and liked it a lot. I was a little concerned, because my beets looked so much smaller. I made 2/3 the recipe and still had so much!!
I also made substitutions based on what I had on hand: sweet potatoes instead of potatoes, vegetable broth instead of chicken, tomato paste for ketchup, & oyster mushrooms for kidney beans.
Oh yum – I haven’t tried it with sweet potatoes but I do love sweet potatoes. Thank you for sharing your modifications!
This is SO GOOD. I added more lemon juice, cut down the ketchup and added a garden tomato to the carrot/onion stir fry and used home made bone broth instead of chicken broth. I LOVE the acidity of it! Perfect perfect perfect. Thanks Natasha 🙂
I love how you modified it to make it even healthier. I’ll try your version next time! Thanks Lena 🙂
Thanks for the awesome recipe. Didn’t see “Bouillion paste” in list is ingredients. What can I use as a substitute?
Sorry about that – I agree the list wasn’t too clear. I put broth, but is should read 6 cups chicken broth. I use Bouillon paste and mix it with water to basically make my own chicken broth. You can use any kind of chicken broth/stock and it will work well. If you have bouillon cubes, go by the package instructions to make 6 cups of broth.
I can’t WAIT to try this!!! Last week, I traveled to NYC, and my brother, who used to live in Russia, had me try a borscht. It was A-MA-ZING! If your recipe is as good as what everyone is saying, I’m going to be in heaven!! I’ll update with my rating after I’ve had a chance to make it!
That is very exciting! I hope it’s everything you remember and more 🙂
I love this! I make this recipe all the time and have it for lunches. Things I change is I use salt reduced chicken stock and only 3-4 cups instead of 6, I don’t notice the difference. I use thick greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I use mostly tomato paste and a bit of tomato sauce instead of all tomato sauce. I add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and 2 cloves of garlic while the onions and carrots are cooking, use only 2 tbs of oil instead of 4. Also add 2tbs white vinegar and less lemon if I have it at the end…So a fair few changes but its to reduce the fat and salt content of the dish but that’s ok because I add a few other flavours and I think it actually better! Thanks tasha
Thank you so much for sharing your healthy substitutions! 🙂
This soup was quick and easy to make, and really delicious, I loved that it had pieces of vegetables in it rather than pureed,the colours are spectacular, the only thing I did differently is roast the beets in the oven, a couple of days ago and had them in the fridge ready to go, not knowing what I will make with them I saw your recipe so I cooked the pieces of potatoes in chicken stock and water added some vegetable and chicken cubes, and then did everything thing else the recipe said except i only had dried dill. Thank you so much Natasha I am in Melbourne Australia and it is July the whether is cold!! so it was perfect…my husband said it was the best soup he has ever had, and I have made plenty of soups over the past 40 plus years coming from a European back ground!! so how is that for a compliment 🙂 Hey every one out in computer land this would be spectacular for a dinner party !! Thank you again Natasha 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that awesome review with me! 🙂 Yes, that is a huge compliment! I’m so happy you liked it 🙂
Thank you Natasha for your recipe. Be sure to prepare at their leisure. Good luck to you in promoting your blog. I am constantly reading it
A local deli also lists ‘Allspice’ as one of the ingredients. What do think of that, and would it ‘clash’ with the ketchup?
Thank you,
Mike
To be honest I have not tried it with allspice. I think it’s worth experimenting. Let me know how you like it with the allspice.
It’s 85 degrees today and THIS is what I was craving!? t is the best borscht recipe I have yet made. We have cut unhealthy meat out ofout diet so the beans were a perfect addition. The ketchup gave a very nice flavor and because of it I didn’t need to add sugar, which I’ll usually sneak in. I am impressed!
It’s very easy and fast too cook if you are experienced in the kitchen. Prep time was only about 10 minutes, the test inactive. I will certainly put this on the menu in the cafe. Thank you so much!
Juli, thank you for such a great review, my hubby actually made some few days ago and that’s what we had for lunch today :).
Could you change name of post. It is Ukrainian dish. Thank you very much.
I got it updated :).
My wife and I tried your borscht in 2014. We have it now all the time. We even put it into Parkay containers and freeze it so we always have it. It freezes well too. This year we grew lots of beets and cabbage in the garden and we plan on freezing lots of it for the winter. It is absolutely delicious and we will never be without it. We tried other recipes and some with various meats but this vegan recipe of yours is best.
Jim, thank you for such a great review, I’m honored :). My mom also planted beets and cabbage in the garden and I like the idea of freezing it. Thanks for the tip :).
5 stars. Simple and unbelievably good, served cold after sitting in fridge for a couple of days.
Fred, thank you for such a great review, I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it :).
Hi natasha.
I would like to say , that isn’t really a “classic borsch” . Its looks more like a polish “Barszcz” because , actually , i’ve not really seen beets in real recipe, but in Polish barszcz , yes . And in classic Russian borsch there’s meat , no ?
But anyWay it’s a good recipe for vegetarians .
I couldn’t imagine a borsch without beets – maybe you’re thinking of a different borsch? I do have a meat version here which is also very good: https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/02/08/borscht-recipe-with-meat/. I’ll have to look up that polish Barszcz that you mentioned. Sounds interesting! 🙂
Ketchup is not russian/ How about the kidney beans? I was looking for an authentic russian recipe. Makedo recipes I can find everywhere.
Every family makes theirs differently and we use the ingredients that are available here and that enhance the flavor of the borsch. This is how our family makes it and it tastes great! How do you make yours?
Natasha
There are beet soup recipes online everywhere. They’re all called Borscht. Vegetable soup with beets thrown in for color is not borscht. It’s red vegetable soup. Certainly not “Classic” borscht. Beets enhance the flavor of borscht, they are the dominant component, the ratio is about 8 to one. 8 cups beets, one cup potato, one cup, carrots, one cup green beans, one small onion, two cups shredded cabbage, two tbs kvass or lemon juice, 1/2 cup tomato juice, garnish with sour cream. Put it in a pot put in enough stock to just cover and simmer till there vegetables are tender. This is spring borscht. Not my families version. Not the latest internet red soup, this isn’t something that my grandmother passed down, although she did make it this way. Borscht tastes like beets and if you don’t like beets maybe you shouldn’t be making it
Hi Bob, Thanks for sharing your version.
Natasha, I made your borscht and loved it!! I was wondering if it could be made using golden beets as a variation? Also, I ran out of sour cream before I ran out of soup. I put a spoonful of apple cider vinegar in the bowl for that little kick of acid and it was great. Have you ever tried this?
I haven’t tried either to be honest. I’ve never even eaten golden beats. Do they differ in flavor? I’ve tried adding mayo and love the flavor it adds, but I hadn’t thought to use the apple cider vinegar – it’s definitely a healthier option than mayo 😉
Golden beets are milder and a little more sweet. They are definitely worth a try. I like them with a little black pepper and garlic and a drizzle of olive oil.
It looks wonderful! but… ketchup? Really? I dislike ketchup, just sugar and salt. Can I omit it completely?
Thank you
Yes, you could. It does add some good flavor, but it’s not absolutely necessary 🙂
Lesson learned…
My wife suggested that the 1st time one uses a recipe it should be followed exactly!
I di and included the ketchup and the results are outstanding!
One question:
No salt?
I’m so glad you liked it! The broth, ketchup and lemon juice added enough flavor that ours didn’t need the salt, but you can definitely add it to taste if you like it saltier 🙂
This was excellent. Thank you so much. I used tinned beets that I had on hand and it was still delicious. I miss my babushka’s meat borscht – this is a lovely variation and brought back lots of memories. A real comfort food.
I’m so happy to hear it brought back memories for you :). The canned beets work well when you’re in a time crunch. I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂