A Borscht recipe is something every home should have, regardless if you're Ukrainian or not. This traditional Ukrainian borscht combines the earthiness of beets with the freshness of dill and other vegetables. A hearty, healthy and frugal way to use up your garden vegetables and stretch your food budget while filling your family's bellies this fall!
I come from good Ukrainian stock. I know this because my mother never lets me forget it. I’m reminded at every family gathering, at every communal meal and pretty much every other chance my mother gets to tell me (or anyone else).
“We are Ukrainian. We come from good stock. We eat well, and we feed people. It’s what we do.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this or some version of this in my family.
Perhaps it was this not-so-subliminal messaging that drove me to pursue a homesteading lifestyle. Regardless, there is some truth to these words. We have always eaten well, even on a tight budget, and we love to make sure others are fed well when they are in our company.
Is Borscht originally from Ukraine or from Russia?
Believe it or not, this is a common question. There are a few staple Eastern European dishes that my proud Ukrainian family has come to be known for. My aunt’s handmade perogies and my mother’s cabbage rolls always make an appearance at holiday dinners in our family alongside bowls of sauerkraut, fermented pickles, pickled beets, kielbasa (sausages), fried onions and a heaping helping of sour cream.
About the debate of whether Borscht is Ukrainian or Russian, it's believed to originate from the Ukraine, however, Russia now has its own similar version of this traditional dish.
Is Borscht Healthy?
One of my favorite things about Borscht is the deep ruby color that comes from the cabbage and beets! I also love that it's incredibly healthy and packed with protein (from the broth and optional meat), iron (from the beets), vitamin C, potassium and vitamin B6 (from the carrots) plus fiber and vitamin K & C (from the cabbage).
I always feel great about serving this Borscht recipe to my family.
Frugal comfort food for the body and soul
Because we come from a lineage of Ukrainian peasants who had to survive harsh Eastern European winters with nothing more than the few staple food items they had on hand (wheat, potatoes, cabbage and beets mostly), our traditional foods tend to feature these ingredients over and over again in various ways.
One such dish that needs no special occasion to grace the dinner tables in our family is borscht.
What does Borscht mean?
Borscht definition: a beet-based soup that can be combined with whatever else you’ve got growing in your garden to create a hearty, healthy meal that also stretches your food budget and weekly meals just a little bit further.
In the late summer and fall, there is almost always a pot of borscht simmering away on my mother’s stovetop as she makes use of the beets, carrots, potatoes and fresh dill weed that need harvesting from her garden. If it’s green bean season, she’ll throw some chopped green beans in the soup as well. If not, she’ll make do with whatever ingredients she has on hand (this also makes it a great “clean out the fridge” recipe).
Vegetarian Borscht recipe option
Traditionally there are a few different ways to make borscht. One way is to make it with sausage or shredded meat, but of course, not everyone had access to meat in the “old country,” so borscht can be (and has often been) made vegetarian.
My mother has always made vegetarian borscht, but the beauty of this (or any other) soup is that you can pretty much throw in whatever you have on hand to make use of fresh ingredients and make your meals really stretch. As long as you’ve got beets, you can make some version of this hearty and beautiful fuchsia pink soup that smells and tastes like a comforting hug from a Ukrainian baba (aka, grandmother).
How to Make Borscht
My mother’s basic borscht recipe begins with a base of chopped onions, cabbage and celery sautéed in butter, fresh-pressed (or grated) garlic, a can of diced tomatoes and a few cups of chicken broth (or beef broth, or even water with a little chicken or beef bouillon added for flavour). To make this a vegetarian borscht recipe, use vegetable broth.
Then she adds some grated carrots, diced potatoes and fresh beets that are first peeled and then diced and grated and added to the broth, giving it a rich earthy flavour and bright pink colour.
Once all the ingredients have been thrown into the pot, they are left to simmer until they have softened just enough and all of the flavours are well-combined. Then she adds a little salt and black pepper to taste. Just before serving, she adds some chopped fresh dill weed.
When ready to serve, the borscht is ladled into a soup bowl and topped with a large dollop of sour cream.
Variations to this Borscht Recipe
You can change up this traditional borscht recipe by adding or substituting fresh diced tomatoes (instead of canned), green beans, peas, beet greens and shredded pork or sausage.
I like my borscht with a side of fresh bread and butter, which I love to dip in the broth. This is one case where I prefer the dense rye bread that Eastern Europeans are known for. Rye bread tends to soak up the broth better without making the bread go mushy. The deep, hearty flavour of the rye bread also compliments the complex earthiness of the beets in borscht.
But a true Ukrainian will make use of whatever bread she has on hand. Waste not want not is a rule of thumb when it comes to Ukrainian food.
The best thing about Borscht
To me, the best thing about borscht is that you can make a few simple garden ingredients go a long way. A few beets, a couple of carrots, an onion, a couple cloves of garlic, a can of tomatoes and a potato or two can be turned into enough soup to fill the bellies of a family of five, and you might still have some leftover.
Can you freeze Borscht?
Borscht also freezes exceptionally well and would make a good candidate for pressure canning too. And it’s a great way to use up all sorts of late summer and fall vegetables out of your garden that you might not think to combine otherwise (like tomatoes, carrots, beets and dill).
To freeze, allow your soup to cool and store it in a glass mason jar. Be sure to leave an inch or two for expansion.
When you're ready, simply defrost borscht in the refrigerator and heat in a pot.
All in all, if you’re looking for a frugal meal that is also healthy and hearty, and can be made entirely from ingredients out of your own home garden, I can’t think of anything better than this easy borscht recipe to warm the body and soul. And I should know, I am Ukrainian after all.
Traditional Ukrainian Borscht Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of diced celery
- 1 cup diced onions
- 1 cup of chopped cabbage
- 2 cloves of garlic grated or pressed
- 1 tbsp of butter for sautéing onions and celery
- 8 cups water beef broth or chicken broth
- 1 can diced tomatoes home or commercially canned
- 2 or 3 medium to large sized peeled beets half grated and half diced
- 1 or 2 medium carrots grated
- 1 medium potato diced
- 1/2 cup of fresh dill weed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional ingredients: Bay leaf green beans, peas, beet greens and shredded pork or pork sausage
Instructions
- Sauté the onions, celery and cabbage with the butter until soft and translucent.
- Add the can of diced tomatoes and the garlic, as well as all of the water or broth.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce to medium heat and let simmer.
- Peel the beets, carrots and potato.
- Dice half the beets and grate the other half.
- Grate all the carrots.
- Dice the potato.
- Add the beets, carrots and potato to the broth. If you would like to add any other optional vegetables (ie. beans, peas, beet greens, etc.) do so now.
- Allow soup to simmer on medium until diced beets and potatoes are soft (test them with a fork or by biting into them!), about 15 minutes. Remove soup from heat.
- Stir in chopped fresh dill weed and salt and black pepper.
- Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and a slice of bread and butter (rye bread is best!)
There you have it, a traditional Borscht recipe.
Looks so delicious. With the ugly weather outside, I can’t think of anything better than a big pot of borscht.
We’re supposed to get snow tomorrow and I might have to dig up a few of the beets left in the ground to make a pot!
Thanks for the great recipe for borscht. I have my mom’s yellowed, splattered, 3×5 card for hers, but this one adds fresh dill – looks delicious! One suggestion for a lower fat version – use plain yogurt to top instead of sour cream – is that a sacrilege? Hope not, because it’s really good that way.
Snowing again – guess it’s time to make a pot of soup…mmmmmm!
Hi Christie, I often use plain yogurt in place of sour cream mainly because I always have yogurt, not the case with sour cream. 🙂
Christie I often use yogurt (shhh! Don’t tell my mom!). I think it’s sacrilege in her eyes, but not mine! I often have Greek Yogurt in my fridge which makes the perfect substitute. The soup could always be eaten without sour cream (and bread and butter) for a really low-fat version, but I have to admit it wouldn’t be quite as good;)
lol, Anna I love this, I”m the same with cornbread, my Grandmother would skin me for using yellow corn instead of white.
Right? What they don’t know can’t hurt them;)
I always add a half cup of apple cider vinegar.
John – My Baba would always add vinegar as well, and never put in potatoes. Then it would can beautifully.
Melissa,
Love your site and articles. Could you please add a PDF of your we pages and articles. I don’t want to miss a thing but there are times I don’t get to get on the puter for days at a time the PDF would help me keep up and I would bet a bunch of others.
Keep up the excellent work and God Bless my friend.
Hi there. Just wondering how you would incorporate the ground pork or pork sausage into your borscht soup recipe? I don’t see any mention of quantity and also may I ask how much soup does your recipe make? I may double up and make a double or triple batch and portion it all out and freeze.
Ok thanks for any help and tips that you may have. God bless you from Sk Canada
Sha
I’ve eaten Borscht many times and it is actually originally from russian jews/hebrews who made it for Pesach/Passover and also for Sukkot. As a Nazrine, we usually serve it up right after the “communion” where we tear the unleavened bread and blessing it as our Messiah did.
You are incorrect. Borscht origins were Ukrainian or from what is now Ukraine and spread from there.
Thank you! I grew “too many” beets and carrots and your recipe was helpful and liberating. We are having borscht tonight thanks to your mom. I hope you can tell her thank you for me.
Making a huge pot of this for my freezer. Snow is on the ground and more is expected this week, so I went hunting for a recipe that looked like what my mom made, growing up. Can’t wait to get this on the stove! Question…is there a preferred type of potato for this?
My Baba and my mother always made borscht with just potatoes,onions,peas and dill and of course beets and then they would put whipping cream into your soup before serving by just bringing it to a boil I find that it is much better than adding sour cream or yogurt. Its heavenly.
Red or green cabbage?
Coming from a Ukrainian family, we ate borscht all the time. It was never my favorite soup. When I made your recipe, I LOVED it and I make it all the time. Thanks so very much.
Tried making borscht for the first time yesterday and this recipe came out great. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, have been making borscht this time of year for the past few seasons. Am in full agreement with the frugality of using what’s at hand. Like the old world, Ukrainian references, and making do. The way many people have had to. And I love borscht topped with sour cream!
Hi Anna,
Thanks for posting this recipe and the stories. My fiance is Ukrainian and is still there. I just got back home from Kharkiv, and I fell in love with Ukraine. My family roots are Balkan, and I felt strangely at home there.
I wanted to ask, where are you homesteading?
Thanks again for the recipe. I Aldo AM going to make Okroshka and want to surprise Ira with my culinary acumen. 🙂
Dave
Quick question: does this recipe freeze well? Any tips for freezing?
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I’ve been making borscht for years, using a variety of recipes and this is, by far, the best I’ve tried. I added a little bit of left-over meatloaf that I had in the fridge and used plain yogurt instead of sour cream. Your borscht will become a staple in our household.
Any idea how many cups this recipe makes?
Hi Amy,
Ya know, I’ve never measured it out exactly and when I asked my mother she wasn’t even sure! But my best estimate would be about 12 cups or so, give or take. It also depends on your preferences and if you want to add an extra beet or handful of veggies, etc. But I would guess it’s around 12 cups in the end.
I lived in Ukraine for a year and always looked forward to my host mother, Galina, making borscht on a weekly basis. Some recipes for the soup were so intimidating that I psyched myself into not trying to recreate this favorite. Literally fifteen years later, I finally tried it, thanks to this recipe. Borscht always requires a few steps with all the vegetable-chopping, but this recipe made the process more accessible. My host mom always add beef stew-chunks, so I incorporated those into the soup. I have now made it twice and my kids and husband really enjoy it. Thank you so much!
Hi there, thank you for this recipe. I barely know what borscht is but had a ton of beets and cabbage. Made this recipe and it’s amazing! I didn’t have any potato so I added peas. Wish I had fresh dill but it still works well without! I also threw in one spoonful of vinegar. Did not think I’d be into beet soup but I am really happy with how this turned out. Thank you!
Tried your recipe. It was excellent!! It so reminded me of being with my grandma. Thank you for sharing.
I’m not Ukrainian .. but if I could choose to be, I would ! Love the Ukrainian people and their culture. I notice they haven’t needed govt funding to practice their culture either ! Very touching to see the multi generational dancing. I make borscht every summer now after my friend showed my the frying pan / boiling pot method many years ago 🙂
This is a great recipe! I used beef tenderloin sauteed first in a little olive oil salt and pepper to brown then removed and followed the rest of the recipe, added the beef back in after the onions and cabbage had sauteed. I added two bunches of beet greens, one bunch kale, green beans and it turned out perfectly. I now have a big pot to separate and freeze meals for later. Thanks for this great find.
Um… Where’s the recipe? I’ve made this before and love, but now the recipe space is just filled with an ad. Was hoping to make this tonight, but I guess I’ll to wing it.
We just updated the website and it took a little time to get the recipe cards up, but it’s there now!
I found your explanation of Borsht and your general explanation of Ukrainian food and its sensibility 100% relatable. It’s as if I wrote it myself.
Although I’m the American daughter of immigrants, Ukrainian pride was instilled in me from birth. We are strong, resourceful, and food is an expression of love and the source of comfort. I’m so proud of my heritage!