Borscht recipe

This classic Russian Borscht recipe is healthy, nutritious, and comforting soup for colder season. Traditional Russian beet soup made with cabbage, beef, and many other vegetables. Beets give this borscht a beautiful color and a beautiful flavor.

Russian Borscht Soup

This cabbage soup is a staple in every Russian household and it’s one of the first recipes that people learn how to make. It was definitely one of the very first recipes that I learned.

Being a total potato lover, learning how to make potato recipes was a priority to me but I dove into soups right after that.

I remember using my mom’s old cookbook, where she wrote recipes while she was in culinary school, to practice making recipe. It’s too bad I didn’t bring that book with me when I moved to United States but I was way too young to appreciate keepsakes like that.

I’ve been making this soup for almost 20 years now and it comes out slightly different each time. The reason for that is simple and it’s because you can play around with using different veggies. Sometimes, I add mushrooms, which I love, sometimes I make it slightly healthier and leave out potatoes.

Either way I make it, it’s always perfectly comforting and delicious.

What is Borscht Soup?

Borscht soup is a traditional Eastern European soup made with beef, cabbage, beets, and other vegetables. It’s known for the beautiful ruby-red color that comes from adding beets.

The main ingredients that always go into borscht recipe is cabbage, beets, and beef. You can variate some other veggies that you put into it. Mushrooms and potatoes could be left out if you wish to make the soup healthier or just don’t like mushrooms. Try adding leek and parsnips to your soup.

There are a couple of other variations of Borscht too. One is white Borscht that has no beets. White Borscht has a lot more of a cabbage taste and is a little more on a sour side.

Another popular version of Borscht is one that is made with sorrel and no beets. Sorrel is a sour herb and it looks somewhat similar to spinach. I adore sorrel and it’s juicy, sour taste. It gives a great taste to soups. Unfortunately, it’s not a popular herb where I live so it’s extremely hard to find.

How to make Russian Borscht Soup?

Here are a few tips:

When choosing beef for soup, I usually go for stew beef. It’s inexpensive and since meat will be cooked for a long time, it will be tender.

For better stock, you can add a few bones when preparing the stock. Bone marrow provides more flavor, richness, and a lot of nutrients to the stock. (If you don’t see bones in the store, make sure to ask the butcher. They often keep bones in the back.)

To make this soup, begin by preparing simple homemade beef stock. Cook beef (and bones) in a pot of water over low heat for 2-4 hours. Flavor stock with coriander, bay leaves, and a few whole peppercorns while cooking.

Cook whole (not peeled) beets in the pot with stock over the last couple of hours. Time for cooking beets will depend on their size. Take them out and set aside once cooked through.

Strain stock and discard bones, bay leaf, coriander, and peppercorns. Keep the beef and stock, of course.

Start by sauteing veggies over medium heat before adding meat and stock.

Do not add beets until the very end.

Don’t forget sour cream and fresh dill weed for the most authentic experience.