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I call this Okroshka a summer soup because it’s served cold. It’s very refreshing to have chilled soup on a hot summer day.
I can eat three bowls of this on a hungry stomach. (A mom who chases after a 1-year-old gets hungry ok?!) It’s relatively guilt free; no butter or oils required. Easy, cheap and healthy; that’s my kinda meal.
Ingredients for Okroshka Soup:
8 cups cold water
1/3 cup sour cream
3 1/2 Tbsp Vinegar divided
2 1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp chopped dill (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup green onion, finely chopped
1/2 ham diced
3-4 medium cooked potatoes, peeled and diced
3 hard-boiled eggs, diced
3-4 cucumbers, diced
How to Make my mom’s Okroshka:
1. Peel potatoes and dice them into 1/4″ cubes (we used the Vidalia Chopper). Place diced potatoes in a medium pot and cover with water. Add 1 Tbsp vinegar and bring to a boil then continue boiling for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked, but not falling apart.
Drain well and set aside to cool. For quicker cooling, you can rinse potatoes with cold water. (This cooking potato method is thanks to one of my readers. Nadia thank you for sharing!).
2. While potatoes are cooking , boil 3 eggs and cooled them in ice water. Here is the link to make perfect boiled eggs.
3. Next, dice 3 eggs, 3-4 cucumbers, and 1/2 lb of ham. Also chop 3 Tbsp of dill and 1/2 cup of green onions. Place everything in a large pot.
4. In a separate large bowl, whisk together 8 cups of cold water, 1/3 cup of sour cream, 2 1/2 Tbsp of vinegar, 2 1/2 tsp of salt until combined. Pour the mixture in the pot with the rest of ingredients. Stir to combine and serve.
And I just realized I’m very much a part of this picture. Lets play, find Natasha…
Okroshka Recipe: Russian Summer Soup
Ingredients
- 8 cups cold water
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 3 1/2 Tbsp Vinegar divided
- 2 1/2 tsp Salt
- 3 Tbsp chopped dill, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 cup green onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 lb good ham, diced (we used black forest ham)
- 3-4 medium cooked potatoes, peeled and diced
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, diced
- 3-4 cucumbers, diced
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and dice them into 1/4" cubes (we used the Vidalia Chopper). Place diced potatoes in a medium pot and cover with water. Add 1 Tbsp vinegar and bring to a boil then continue boiling for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked, but not falling apart. Drain well and set aside to cool. For quicker cooling, you can rinse potatoes with cold water. (This cooking method is thanks to one of my readers - Nadia).
- While potatoes are cooking, boil 3 eggs and cool them in ice water.
- Next, dice 3 eggs, 3-4 cucumbers, 1/2 lb of ham. Also chop 3 Tbsp of dill and 1/2 cup of green onions. Place everything in a large pot.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together 8 cups of cold water, 1/3 cup of sour cream, 2 1/2 Tbsp of vinegar, 2 1/2 tsp of salt until combined. Pour the mixture in the pot with the rest of ingredients. Stir to combine and serve.
Nutrition Per Serving
we used to put buttermilk instead of water an sour cream .
love okroshka so much on summer days
Buttermilk is great option as well :). Sour cream and water just makes a lighter version. I can’t wait till we will have home grown cucumbers in the summer to try this recipe again.
I lived in Russia 50 years. Never ever I did not eat Okroshka with kefir or water. Real okroshka is cooked from kvas. Thanks Alla
Alla, I agree that athentic Okroshka is made from kvas, but this is my mom’s version with ingredients that are available on hand, without having to make kvass first. We tried with kvass and I prefer this version :).
So your reflection in the spoon is totally awesome! 🙂 I once ended up with a reflection of myself in a single cranberry which was garnish for a cranberry loaf. Coolest thing ever. I haven’t had okroshka in ages, mostly because I don’t have kvas but never thought of making it without. Thanks for the tip.
You are welcome Julia, sometimes the best pictures are taken by accident :).
We always used fresh squeezed lemons (like 4) instead of the vinegar and mayo instead of just sour xream.. We mixed the two.. And not ham… We used wieners or doktorskaya kolbasa from russian store… Try it, will eat no other way!!!
Thanks so much for sharing your methods! I’m looking forward to trying it 🙂
Hi Natasha,
isn’t it sad that summer is almost over? our family loves okroshka we add red radishes to ours if u want to u can try it out.
I’ve tried with radishes and liked it very much! I agree summer went by so quick!
Hi Natasha,
I have a question about your dicer. Do you slice the vegetables before putting them on the chopper, or does it actually dice it right away? I have ‘the sharper image chopper’, but I first need to slice the veggie, and then it “chopps” it into cubes.
Yes I slice them so they are even little cubes. 🙂
Growing up my parents would make this soup a lot but they had a different technique and a few different ingredients. Besides the ones you mentioned they would also add radish and They would first kind of crush the green onions and dill together In the bowl until it lets out a juice, then all the ingredients were added and instead of using water and vinegar they would only use the sour cream and a very thin buttermilk for the soup base. It is always BoMB! Also on the colder days my mom would leave out the potatoes and boil them fresh, and everyone would add the hot potatoes to the okroshka for a “warmer fill”.
I have tried it with radishes and it is very good! I also love the idea of using sour cream and thin buttermilk. Is there a brand of buttermilk you like best?
Hi Natasha, did u put away the recipe to that clam soup I forgot what’s it called
Clam chowder? Yes, here it is :): https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/04/04/creamy-clam-chowder-recipe/ Enjoy it!
Окрошка без квасса?
Yes. 🙂
This sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I’ve been wanting to make okroshka for a while and had no idea of the proportions. One thing I’ll mention, in case anyone wants to try, is that you can also make it with seltzer water (at least my mom has always made it that way, and I’ve loved it). I never liked it with kvass, which, to me, makes the soup lose its refreshing quality.
I can’t wait to try this!
P.S. The banana bread recipe on your site is indeed perfect! It comes out fabulous every single time.
Masha thank you so much for your sweet compliment 🙂 I’ll be sure to tell my husband his banana bread has another fan 🙂 I’ll have to try it with seltzer. Sounds good!
Hi Natasha!! Thank you so much for all these classis russian/ukrainian recipes. You make it so easy and fast to prepare, and mostly so traditionally delicious! Keep it up we ALL need you and are so thankful 🙂
Mira you are so sweet. It’s comments like yours that encourage me to post more of the Russian/Ukrainian foods. Thanks for blessing me with your comment 😉
i usually put half of sour cream and half of mayo in my okroshka
Thanks for sharing! I love trying new versions!
Hello Natasha,
Thank you for this receipt, I very much like this summer soup. I try to do it like you exactly.
Welcome to the site Miguel, thank you for your feedback :).
Potatoes, fresh cucumber, doctor’s sausage, radish, egg, green onions, dill, kefir, sour cream, and salt.
Kefir and sour cream can be replaced with kvass.
Radish sounds like a great add-in. I’ll have to try that next time I make this soup. Thank you Tanya!! 🙂
Mmm my favorite summer meal! We usually add red radishes too and it gives it a nice pop of color:)
Oh, I bet radishes would be so tasty in the soup. Someone else suggested that as well. I’ll definitely have to try it next time. Thank you!
First time to your site, and I literally backed into your blog! First, I found an interesting recipe for Okroshka on the Saveur website – Chilled Russian Vegetable Soup (www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Chilled-Russian-Vegetable-Soup) – but it uses kvas, which I had heard of but never seen in the many Polish stores in this city. I had all the rest of the ingredients but no kvas, so I went hunting for a homemade version, and that is how I found your lovely site! Sadly, no cold soup for dinner yet, as the kvas needs a day’s lead time! Maybe hubby will even like it as a drink?
Anyways, I like your non-kvas soup version better, so that is what I’m starting with. My mother doesn’t make it, but does remember her family eating this in the summer – made with buttermilk, lemon juice, and lots and lots of fresh dill! Mmmmm …
Thanks for posting these recipes as it gives me a chance to sample simple dishes from my heritage that may have gotten lost in the shuffle of modern day North American life!
Welcome to the site Natasha :D. I hope that you will find many more new favorites :).
Instead of vinegar, use pickle juice. Makes all the difference. 🙂
Oooh hmmm I’ll have to give it a try!
Mmm, i am going to safeways, getting the ingredients and whipping this up. Thank you.
I hope you love it! I don’t think I liked Okroshka the first time I ate it and now I’m addicted and I can eat 4 bowls in one day!
Hello Natasha! I’m looking at your cold soup recipie, is there something I could use to substitute for sour cream, keeping the same taste? My son is allergic to dairy but would love to serve this soup to him.
Thanks in advance!
Julia
That must be so hard with a dairy allergy 🙁 I’m just rattling my brain trying to think of something and I decided to google sour cream substitutes. Came up with this: SO Delicious Dairy Free Plain Yogurt, Greek Style. There’s a pic of it here. Maybe one of my readers has another idea?
Thanks for this recipe. I have a Ukranian friend that invite me to try this soup and I loved it. I don’t care if its a summer soup, all I know I’m going to turn my heater on and eat it in this cold weather 😛 lol
You made me laugh Yessy :D. I totally agree and you are welcome. 🙂