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.

Red Borscht Recipe with Dollop of sour cream and dill

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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.

Classic Borsch served with sour cream

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.

Ingredients for Beet Soup Borscht including beets, carrots, potatoes, chicken broth, beans

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.

  1. Use a paper-towel to blot off any excess juice.
  2. Run cold water over the opposite/under side of the fabric to push the stain out.
  3. 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.

How to Make Borscht

Watch Natasha Make Classic Borscht:


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Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Classic Borscht Recipe (Beet Soup)

4.95 from 747 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Our family's go-to recipe for Borscht (Red Beet Soup). It's best to have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go which makes this soon super easy and care free. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or real mayo.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 10

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.
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian
Keyword: Borsch, Borscht
Skill Level: Medium
Cost to Make: $

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?

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  • Avery
    October 5, 2015

    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.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 5, 2015

      Avery, thank you for the great review and nice job on improvising :D.

      Reply

  • Samia
    September 15, 2015

    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

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 15, 2015

      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!

      Reply

  • Vadim
    September 8, 2015

    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.

    Reply

  • Sanya
    August 21, 2015

    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.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 21, 2015

      Oh yum – I haven’t tried it with sweet potatoes but I do love sweet potatoes. Thank you for sharing your modifications!

      Reply

  • Lena
    August 19, 2015

    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 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 19, 2015

      I love how you modified it to make it even healthier. I’ll try your version next time! Thanks Lena 🙂

      Reply

  • Annie
    August 13, 2015

    Thanks for the awesome recipe. Didn’t see “Bouillion paste” in list is ingredients. What can I use as a substitute?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 13, 2015

      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.

      Reply

  • Amanda
    August 12, 2015

    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!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 12, 2015

      That is very exciting! I hope it’s everything you remember and more 🙂

      Reply

  • Rod
    August 9, 2015

    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

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 9, 2015

      Thank you so much for sharing your healthy substitutions! 🙂

      Reply

  • Dorine
    July 27, 2015

    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 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      July 27, 2015

      Thank you so much for sharing that awesome review with me! 🙂 Yes, that is a huge compliment! I’m so happy you liked it 🙂

      Reply

  • Mark
    July 24, 2015

    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

    Reply

  • Michael Garrison
    July 23, 2015

    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

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      July 23, 2015

      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.

      Reply

  • Juli
    July 13, 2015

    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!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      July 13, 2015

      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 :).

      Reply

  • Oleksandr
    June 22, 2015

    Could you change name of post. It is Ukrainian dish. Thank you very much.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      June 22, 2015

      I got it updated :).

      Reply

  • Jim
    May 26, 2015

    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.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 26, 2015

      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 :).

      Reply

  • Fred Jaecklein
    May 25, 2015

    5 stars. Simple and unbelievably good, served cold after sitting in fridge for a couple of days.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 25, 2015

      Fred, thank you for such a great review, I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it :).

      Reply

  • Maciek
    May 14, 2015

    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 .

    Reply

  • karin
    May 10, 2015

    Ketchup is not russian/ How about the kidney beans? I was looking for an authentic russian recipe. Makedo recipes I can find everywhere.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 10, 2015

      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?

      Reply

      • Bob
        August 10, 2015

        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

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          August 10, 2015

          Hi Bob, Thanks for sharing your version.

          Reply

  • Andy
    April 30, 2015

    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?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 30, 2015

      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 😉

      Reply

      • Andy
        May 1, 2015

        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.

        Reply

  • Michael
    March 29, 2015

    It looks wonderful! but… ketchup? Really? I dislike ketchup, just sugar and salt. Can I omit it completely?

    Thank you

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 29, 2015

      Yes, you could. It does add some good flavor, but it’s not absolutely necessary 🙂

      Reply

      • Michael
        April 1, 2015

        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?

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          April 1, 2015

          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 🙂

          Reply

  • Christiane
    March 23, 2015

    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.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 23, 2015

      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 🙂

      Reply

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