This Russian Borscht Recipe is a traditional Ukrainian/Russian red borscht soup loaded with meat, potatoes, vegetables, cabbage and beets. This hearty soup is so healthy and all the vegetables come together and taste wonderful.
In most Slavic homes, this soup is served on a regular basis and for a good reason – it’s phenomenal.
Traditional Ukrainian Red Borscht Recipe-
Borscht is probably one of the most popular and staple dishes in the Ukrainian and Russian cuisine. There are so many different variations of borscht recipes and all terrific in their own way.The combination of ingredients in red borscht are so unique. Fresh shredded cabbage, meat, potatoes, beets with vegetables and herbs combined is Ukrainian comfort food defined!
How to season meat for borscht and soup-
The uniqueness of this Borscht is that the meat is seasoned and becomes so tender, flavorful and melts in your mouth. Once you try seasoning the meat, you’ll never want unseasoned meat in yoursoup again.
If you season the beef, pork or chicken, it will sit in the meat drawer of your refrigerator for days (up to a week), thanks to the salt preserving it. (Add less salt to chicken meat if seasoning chicken.)
Seasoning the meat with garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper just adds so much flavor to the meat itself but also the soup.
TIP: You want to season the meat at least one day in advance.Rinse the meat before adding to the soup to remove the bay leaves and garlic.
TIPS How To Make Red Borscht Soup Recipe-
- Most cooks add kidney beans to their red borscht but my husband and the kids strongly dislike them, therefore, we leave them out. If you are a fan of kidney beans, add them to your soup.
- Be sure the potatoes are all cut into even pieces or they will be unevenly cooked.
- You can leave out the meat if you are looking for a vegetarian soup recipe.
- Use a SLICERfor the cabbage, it’s much easier shredding this way.
- Be sure to continue removing scum and fat that rises to the top until nothing floats to top when cooking the meat.
- Red Ukrainian Borscht tastes even better the following day when reheated. Make a large pot and enjoy the soup all week long (keep refrigerated).
- We love the seasoning Vegetaand add some of it to the soup. If you don’t have Vegeta, taste the soup and add additional salt if needed (but order some Vegeta and try it, we use it for everything). 🙂
What kind of meat to use for Borscht?
You can use your favorite meat for borscht. In classic Red Borscht recipes, the beef or pork has a bone on it. You can either add meat with or without bones.
My family loves chicken most so that is what we use most often.
Can I use canned beets?
Yes, you can substitute canned beets for fresh beets. Keep the juices of the canned beets as well.
Try these otherSOUP recipes:
- Meatball and Rice Soup
- Sorrel Soup
- BeefCabbage Soup.
Russian Borscht Recipe
Author: Valentina
5 from 11 votes
Russian Borscht recipe with meat. potatoes, carrots, cabbage and beets. Seasoned meat gives the soup so much flavor and is an amazing addition to the traditional recipe.
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients
meat & seasoning-
- 1 lb pork meat, cut into chunks
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 4 bay leaves, crushed
soup-
- 14 cups water
- 5 cups water, for beets
- 3 medium beets, quartered
- 4 large potatoes, cubed
- 1/2 head of medium cabbage, shredded
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1 medium red pepper, cubed
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1½ Tbsp vinegar or 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 Tbsp fresh parsley
- 4 Tbsp fresh dill
- sour cream, to serve
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
Cut meat into bite-size pieces. Slice the garlic cloves. Break the bay leaves into smaller pieces. Season the meat. Combine everything. Refrigerate meat for at least 2 days.
Peel and quarter beets. Add beets and 5 cups water to a saucepan, bring to a boil. Cook 20-25 minutes, until beets pierceeasily with a knife. Once cooked, remove them from water and setaside cool. KEEP WATER.
In a large pot, bring 14 cups water to a boil.
Rinseseasoning off of meat. Add the meat to the boiling water. Remove scum and fat that accumulates and floats to the top of the water. It’s very important to keep removing the scum frequently. Turn heat down to low/medium, cook meat about 35-40 minutes or until meat is tender.
While meat is cooking, peel and cube the potatoes. Add to a bowl and cover with cold water so they don’t turn color. Set aside.
Shred the cabbage. Set aside.
Chop the onion finely.Add to a large skillet with 2 Tbsp butter and saute 3 minutes on medium heat.
While onion is cooking, grate carrots.
Add carrots to the skillet with another 2 Tbsp butter, mix. Cook about 5-6 minutes or until carrots are tender. (If the skillet begins to get dry, add a bit of oil.)
Take the cooled beets and grate them. Add to the skillet with onion and carrots.
Cube red pepper or cut into small thin strips add to skillet. Add minced garlic to skillet.
Chop tomatoes and add to the skillet. Add the water leftover from cooking the beets to the killet with sauteed veggies. Turn heat down to med/low and cook about 5 minutes.
Once meat is tender, add potatoes and cabbage. (If you like the cabbage a bit crunchier, add about 5 minutes after potatoes are added.) Cook 15 minutes.
Transfer all of the ingredients from the skillet to the pot. Add vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, bay leaves, parsley and dill. Cook another 5-10 minutes or until potatoes and cabbage are tender. Taste if additional seasonings are needed.
Add fresh herbs of choice.
Serve with sour cream.
Enjoy.
Nutrition
262kcal Calories22g Carbs11g Protein14g Fat6g Saturated Fat44mg Cholesterol1841mg Sodium788mg Potassium5g Fiber7g Sugar2915IU Vitamin A50.2mg Vitamin C83mg Calcium3.8mg Iron
- Full Nutrition Label
Nutrition Facts
Russian Borscht Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 262Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 44mg15%
Sodium 1841mg80%
Potassium 788mg23%
Carbohydrates 22g7%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 7g8%
Protein 11g22%
Vitamin A 2915IU58%
Vitamin C 50.2mg61%
Calcium 83mg8%
Iron 3.8mg21%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
(The nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Russian
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51 comments
- Jennifer
One of the BEST recipes for classic borscht. Thank you so much for sharing, Valentina.
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Jennifer. Thanks so much for visiting our online kitchen.
- Reply
- Sheree
this was delicious! even my very picky mom said she’d eat it again. definitely saving to my favorites list! thank you for sharing!
- Reply
- Valentina’s Corner
Sheree, thanks for the wonderful feedback. I’m so glad mom approves, ha. 🙂 Welcome to our online family, I hope you look around and find other recipes to try.
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