Borscht Soup Recipe - Life's Little Sweets (2024)

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Borscht is a nutritious soup that has beets, potatoes, carrots, and onions with a chicken broth base. It’s topped with chopped dill and/or parsley and a dollop of sour cream. (Makes 8 servings)

Borscht

Hi Everyone, Borscht is the perfect soup to warm you up when the weather gets cold. It sustains you with all of its nutrient-dense ingredients and it’s incredibly flavorful and a little tangy.

I love the deep red color of this soup that comes from the beets. I also call for red potatoes and red onions, to stay on theme. It’s absolutely gorgeous as it is delicious!

It can be customized if you want to make it completely vegan by using vegetable broth and skipping the sour cream for a plant-based sour cream substitute or leaving it plain.

You can go in the other direction and choose to add meat if you wish as well. You can make the soup heartier by using beef broth over the chicken-based soup broth that this recipe calls for.

Ingredients

Here’s a list of ingredients for this recipe:

• 12 cups water
• 12 teaspoons Bouillon (we use low sodium, organic, chicken “Better than Boullion” brand)
• 5 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced/shredded (to save time you can get a bag or pre-shredded red cabbage at the grocery store)
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 tablespoons regular olive oil
• 3 large beets, peeled, shredded/matchsticks (we use a food processor with a shredding attachment, to do this quickly)
• 3-4 large red potatoes, cubed – you can peel or leave the skins on
• 6 ounces (1 can) low-sodium, tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons fine salt (we used iodized)
• 3 dried bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (we use the “Bragg” brand)
• just a pinch of 100% pure maple syrup or sugar, amount to taste, for adjusting flavors
• 3 large garlic cloves, grated
• Fresh ground black pepper, amount to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh dill or parsley, finely chopped, reserve extra for serving

Ingredients For Serving

• 1-2 dollops Plain Greek yogurt or regular sour cream or vegan substitute, per serving
• More fresh dill or parsley, finely chopped
• Rye bread, sliced, for dipping in the soup

Here’s a list of helpful kitchen tools for this recipe:

• large soup pot
• food processor with grating/matchstick attachment
• cutting board
• chef’s knife
• measuring spoons and cups
• mesh strainer
• soup ladle
• soup bowls and spoons, for serving

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Our Other Recipes & Posts

If you like this soup recipe, you may also like these other recipes on the blog:

• Homemade Carrot Ginger Soup
• Instant Pot Ham Vegetable Soup
• Homemade French Onion Soup
• Sweet Potato Kale Lentil Soup

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If you make this recipe, and like it, please give it a rating in the recipe card below and let us know in the comments at the end of the post.

Thank you for reading and following along!

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Borscht is a nutritious soup that has beets, potatoes, carrots, and onions with a chicken broth base. It's topped with chopped dill and/or parsley and a dollop of sour cream. (Makes 8 servings)

Ingredients

• 12 cups water
• 12 teaspoons Bouillon (we use low sodium, organic, chicken “Better than Boullion” brand)
• 5 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced/shredded (to save time you can get a bag or pre-shredded red cabbage at the grocery store)
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 tablespoons regular olive oil
• 3 large beets, peeled, shredded/matchsticks (we use a food processor with a shredding attachment, to do this quickly)
• 3-4 large red potatoes, cubed – you can peel or leave the skins on
• 6 ounces (1 can) low-sodium, tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons fine salt (we used iodized)
• 3 dried bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (we use the “Bragg” brand)
• just a pinch of 100% pure maple syrup or sugar, amount to taste, for adjusting flavors
• 3 large garlic cloves, grated
• Fresh ground black pepper, amount to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh dill or parsley, finely chopped, reserve extra for serving

Instructions

1. Start the soup base: In a Dutch oven or large soup pot, add the water, bouillon, and bay leaves.
2. Prepare the vegetables: Peel and cut the vegetables.
3. Add to the soup base: Once the broth is boiling, add the cabbage, stir and then cover, bring to a boil again and reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
4. Make the mirepoix: In a large cast iron skillet, over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of regular, olive oil, and coat the bottom of the pan. Add the thinly sliced onions, and chopped carrots, and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. Add the shredded beets, along with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Combine the mirepoix with the broth base: Add the sauteed vegetables to the broth base, and add the cubed potatoes, tomato paste, and salt and stir until combined. Cover the soup and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat. Add the vinegar, sugar (or maple syrup), garlic, and black pepper. Add the chopped dill, and stir. Adjust the flavors, to your tastes.
6. For Serving the Borscht soup: Ladle the soup into a serving bowl, add 1-2 dollops of sour cream, and serve with rye bread. You can rub a fresh, garlic clove on the rye bread, this adds a zippy, sharp flavor that goes well with the soup. The garlic is completely optional.

Notes

• You might wonder, "what is a mirepoix?" It's a combination of sauteed vegetables in various sauces.
• Vegan/Vegetarian recipe options: You can easily customize this Borscht recipe to be vegan, or vegetarian by using a vegan/vegetable-based bouillon. Alternatively, you can also use a beef-based or bone broth, if you prefer.
• Beans ingredient option: You can also add 1 can of rinsed beans. We recommend pinto, red or white/cannellini.
• Sauerkraut option: You can increase the intensity of the flavor of this soup recipe, just replace the same amount of red cabbage with sauerkraut.
• Storage: This soup should last up to 5 days. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
• To reheat on the stovetop: Add the amount you want to have in a small-medium saucepan, and simmer on low, stirring occasionally.
• To freeze: You can freeze this in an air-tight container for up to 3 months. To thaw, take out of the freezer and thaw and then reheat.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 235Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1336mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 7gSugar: 11gProtein: 7g

Please note that the Calculated Nutrition is an estimate at best. If you make this recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating – it helps others find the recipe!

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• This recipe was photographed and filmed on 4/17/2022 and first published on 10/17/2022