Sharing my grandma’s authentic Borscht Recipe I grew up eating in Ukraine. This iconic beet soup is made with beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, garlic and dill. Then served with a dollop of sour cream and rye bread.
If you like borscht, be sure to try my green borscht, Instant Pot borscht or vegetarian borscht!
My Ukrainian Family’s Borscht Recipe
This is my grandma’s authentic borscht recipe I grew up with in Ukraine. She made it every week and I still have it in a regular rotation.
Fun fact – all women in our family – mom, grandma, sister, aunt and me had their own slightly different borscht recipe. We all cooked in the same kitchen we used to share and yet everyone’s version of borscht was unique. Even my sister-in-law and mother-in-law cook theirs differently.
If you don’t know what is borscht, it’s vibrant red color soup with cabbage, beets, potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic. It has earthy taste of beets, is sweet and tangy. It can be vegan or vegetarian, as well as made with beef, pork or chicken. Then served with sour cream and dill.
It’s also very healthy packed with vegetables, therefore high in fiber!
“Borscht”, “bortsch”, “borsh” or “борщ” is a true classic soup every Ukrainian or Russian grew up eating almost weekly. It is pronounced without “t” at the end.
Reader’s Review
I love this borscht! It tastes “just” like my Grandma’s recipe. I always do the version with beans and add extra dill and vinegar until it tastes like Grandma’s. Thank you so much, Olena!
Ann
Is Borscht Ukrainian or Russian?
According to Wikipedia, borscht is Ukrainian dish that has a history of centuries. It is cooked in every household of any former republic that belonged to USSR – Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Belorussia etc. Not to mention all over Eastern Europe.
There are as many variations of traditional Ukrainian borscht recipe as there are regions and families.
Ingredients for Borscht Recipe
Borscht ingredients are very simple and vary on one’s fridge contents and region of Ukraine. Here are the main ingredients you could always find in my grandma’s recipe:
- Beef bones or beef broth: Most flavorful borscht starts with making broth with about 2 pounds of beef bones like oxtail, shanks, short ribs or even pork ribs. If your bones are not meaty, add some cubed stew beef. If in a rush, you can use beef broth. Please see below for more info about it.
- Beets: You want to use red beets because they add the most red deep color to soup. Young beets in fall and summer will also taste more tender and fresh, just a different flavor.
- Cabbage: Traditionally green cabbage is used but you can also use red cabbage because you won’t see its color in this soup and it tastes exactly the same.
- Potatoes: Red or yellow potatoes, Yukon golds, russet potatoes or baby potatoes work.
- Carrots and onion: For bulk and flavor. I use yellow onion but you can use white onion or red onion.
- Tomato paste: To add more flavor and color.
- White vinegar and sugar: You can also use any light color vinegar like white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Also any sugar or maple syrup works for adding sweetness. It’s just to create that sweet and sour taste at the end of cooking.
- Garlic: Please use only fresh garlic cloves and grate them or press them. Garlic in borscht is a must!
- Dill: Just like with garlic you have to use only fresh dill and not dried dill weed. Fresh dill is an essential flavor profile in this soup!
- Bay leaves, salt and black pepper
- Sour cream: For serving.
How to Make Borscht
Here is a quick rundown of how to make borscht. Full recipe card with a video is located below. It’s actually very easy to make and anyone can do it!
Prep veggies: You want to start with cabbage first because it takes the longest time to cook. While it is cooking, you can prep other vegetables.
Cook cabbage in broth with bay leaves and peppercorns for 20 minutes after bringing to a boil. Cut beets, potatoes, carrots and onion in the meanwhile.
Saute onion and carrots in a bit of olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
Then add raw beets and a bit more oil, cook for another 5 minutes. It’s called “zazharka”. This makes the borscht recipe have deeper flavor. Do not skip.
Transfer sauteed veggies to the pot along with potatoes, tomato paste and salt. Cook covered for 20 minutes. In the meantime, prep garlic, dill and other seasonings.
Season borscht with white vinegar, garlic, sugar and pepper.
Stir, turn off heat and let it stand for 10 minutes covered to allow flavors to “marry” each other. Add dill and your borscht is ready to serve.
How to Peel and Cut Vegetables for Borscht
- Beets: Peel beets with a regular vegetable peeler and cut into thick matchsticks. You can also grate raw beets on a box grater or in a food processor. If you have fresh beets, you can also chop some beet greens and add to the soup.
- Cabbage: Thin uniformly shredded cabbage is a key to a borscht with right texture. Don’t shred it paper thin so it disintegrates during cooking, and don’t cut into large chunks so all you taste is cabbage. Cut it into reasonably thin strands. I am experienced enough to do it by hand with a chef’s knife, but you can also use a mandoline if you still need practice.
- Potatoes: Cube potatoes into small-medium pieces to soak up more of the soup flavor.
- Onion and carrots: Dice the onion like for frying, a mirepoix size. And carrots into small rounds and wider part into half moons.
What Type of Broth Should I Use?
- Beef bones with meat (my favorite): If you choose to add meat to borscht, first make the broth. Cover about 2 pounds of beef with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour, skimming foam occasionally. After soup is ready, remove meat, separate from bones and discard bones, chop and return meat to the pot.
- Bone broth (my other favorite): This time I was ready, stopped by my local beef farm, got soup bones and made Instant Pot beef bone broth. It came out so rich, I diluted half of it with water and used for borscht. And cooked the other half with more water and same bones for to create more broth. Ukrainian in me will never die.
- Store bought beef broth: You can use beef soup base diluted with water if you are in a rush. It adds decent enough flavor, in this case I would also add beef stew meat. Or use broth or stock from a carton. I highly recommend to buy organic and low sodium.
How We Serve Borscht
My favorite part of the whole entire borscht recipe cooking process is serving it. That’s when I go all out!
Ukrainians like to serve it hot, with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle of fresh dill in bowl, slices of home cured pork belly (salo), pampushky or rye bread and fresh garlic on a side. But on a hot summer day, cold borscht is just as delicious!
Sour cream or yogurt: Sour cream is traditional choice. Often we use plain yogurt with more than 2% fat because it is lighter than sour cream. It really depends what’s in the fridge. I think you are getting that’s the vibe of entire Ukrainian cuisine by now. Some people also love mayo in their soup but it’s not for me.
Rye bread: Rye bread is dense dark color bread. I find mine in a bread section seal wrapped for freshness. It is often German.
Sourdough bread would be great for serving as well! I toast it to resemble freshly baked Ukrainian bread.
More garlic: Many Ukrainians eat borscht while biting on a clove of garlic in between the spoonfuls. The key is to eat garlic together with your partner and don’t leave the house that night.
More dill: I add dill to the pot and then to individual bowls. There is no such thing as too much garlic and dill, almost never. I’m such Ukrainian at heart.
This is how I enjoyed grandma’s Ukrainian borscht as a kid – rub garlic on a slice of rye bread, spread it with sour cream and sprinkle with salt. By the way, my Canadian born kids love it! Try on yours and see. Would love to hear how it goes!
How to Store and Reheat
The best borscht is like a good bottle of wine, it gets better with time and tastes better next day. Therefore, I always make a very large pot and we eat it for days or freeze.
Store: Refrigerate leftovers in a large pot you cooked soup in for up to 5 days. Or transfer to an airtight container.
Reheat by simmering on low in a small pot only amount you are planning to consume. Or microwave in individual bowls for 2-3 minutes.
Freeze in an airtight glass container for up to 3 months. Then thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat.
More Eastern European Recipes to Try
- Cabbage rolls
- Unstuffed cabbage rolls
- Cabbage roll soup
- Russian cabbage soup
- Buckwheat soup
- Split pea soup
- Beef barley soup
Have you ever tried it? Would love to hear your experience. I promise traditional Ukrainian borscht recipe would be one of the most delicious and healthiest soups you have ever tried. Enjoy!
Ukrainian Borscht Recipe
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
- 12 cups low sodium beef broth, or beef bones + cold water (see notes)
- 5 cups green or red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 large beets, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 6 ounces can tomato paste, low sodium
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- Pinch of sugar or maple syrup
- 3 large garlic cloves, grated
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup dill or parsley, finely chopped
- Yogurt, sour cream and rye bread, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot (I use 6 quart Dutch oven), add beef broth, bay leaves and bring to a boil. Or you can make beef broth with bones and meat first, please see notes. Meanwhile, wash, peel and cut vegetables.
- Once beef broth is boiling, add cabbage, cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat large skillet on medium heat and swirl 1 tablespoon of oil to coat. Add onion, carrots and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add beets, remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Transfer sauteed veggies to a pot along with potatoes, tomato paste and salt. Cover, bring to a boil and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
- Turn off heat. Add vinegar, sugar, garlic and pepper. Stir and let borscht sit for 10 minutes to allow flavours to marry each other. Add dill, stir and adjust any seasonings to taste.
- Serve hot with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, bread and garlic clove on the side (this is not for everyone).
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate borscht in a large pot you cooked it in for up to 5 days. Reheat by simmering on low in small pot only amount you are planning to consume.
- Freeze: Freeze in an airtight glass container for up to 3 months. Then thaw on a counter overnight and reheat.
- Beef bones+cold water: This would be the most authentic borscht but I know many are short on time. You make the beef broth first with 2 pounds of beef ribs, oxtail, soup bones or any meat cut with a bit of fat. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour, skimming foam occasionally. After borscht is ready, remove meat, separate from bones and discard bones, finely chop and return meat to the pot.
- Store bought stock: Good if you are in a rush. You can use regular beef broth from a carton. Preferably organic and low sodium, if you can. In this case, I would recommend to add some beef stew meat or a few cans of kidney or white beans as a protein boost.
- Sauerkraut: If you replace 2 cups of cabbage with 2 cups of sauerkraut, borscht will have even more umph.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I worked in the Ukraine for 2 years, and borscht was my favourite meal.
It varied from area to area its flavour texture are second to none. If you are given the chance to try you will not be disappointed
I made this yesterday and it is delicious! It reminds me of my many trips to Ukraine and my host family’s dinners in Brovary. I cannot wait to get back to visit my friends again soon.
There I was, searching for a borscht recipe that resembled the look of the delicious soup my Baba used to make, when I found your blog! I cannot wait to try your recipes!
Sending well wishes and thanks from Vancouver Island!!
I hope you enjoy the Borscht!
If you add beef, which cut(s) are good and when do you add them?
Ribs, soup bones or any cut with a bit of fat would be good. Steak or roast is too lean and tough. You cook them first with water to make broth just like I do in my cabbage soup.
Hi Olena, the Ukrainian Borscht looks delicious and I’m planning to make it. A few questions for you. Will a 5 and-a-half quart Dutch oven be large enough? (12 cups of broth, and other ingredients seems a lot.). How many peppercorns should I add to the broth? Do I remove them before serving or not? What potato do you recommend for this recipe? Thanks so much!
Hi Janette. 5 1/2 quart should be fine, that’s what I have. you can always start with 10 cups liquid. 3-5 peppercorns and you can remove them from the pot before laddling. Same with bay leaves. In Ukraine peppercorns were spicy, so we removed them for sure. Here I don’t cause they are pretty mild. We use any potato for borscht. Russet will fall apart more if that’s what you like. Enjoy!
Hi Olena, I wanted to let you know that I made your borscht, following exactly your recipe (including 12 cups of stock), and it was TERRIFIC. (By the way, I used red potatoes and they worked out fine.). The soup was sooo tasty. Thanks so much.
Thanks for sharing Janette!
I love your recipes, I’m Czech living in US, I can’t stand the food here, you’re a savior, I’m inspired to eat again.
Hello,
I want to mention that I truly admire that side by side with each step of the recipe you post tips on how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Way to go!
Thanks so much Florence!
Do you think seafood would work with this recipe? I’m in the mood for borscht and crab soup.
I honestly haven’t tried seafood or crab in my borscht before. If you try it, let me know how it goes 🙂
So I did make this recipe and added crab and cod to it. It gave the borscht a different flavor, not so umami. I enjoyed it and would make it again when I’m in the mood for a seafood stew. I will mention that I was not able to find fresh beets in my supermarket. I went to 3 different markets so I settled for precooked refrigerated beets. I do not recommend precooked beets and to avoid it at all cost. Just make it another day when fresh beets are available. Thank you for your recipe. I will definitely keep it handy!
Thanks for sharing Jennifer!
I love borscht. I have to try adding carrots in my borscht. My recipe is from my mother-in-law and she uses just beets, water and a can of pork and beans. I use bone broth made from ham bone instead of just water. I find the soup has a richer taste than just water.
This sounds pretty close to how our family made it too (half Ukranian Auzzie here!) although if you don’t have fresh beetroot you can use a canned or jar version and add the vinegar it’s in as well. Works great! I’ve just made my stock and about to finish the soup off soon. Yes I use my pressure cooker as well especially to make broth/stock. I keep all my kitchen bones and veggies scraps the throw them all in the pot. This time I had a small pork hock and chicken wing tips too so threw the lot in. I made my own yogurt so will use that and husband grew dill which I washed and froze before we went on a month vacation in the outback. Didn’t want it all getting wasted. It’s fine for soup. So looking forward to this tonight. Very happy you reminded me of it 🙂
Hi Sue! Thanks for sharing. I love your style of cooking and how you make/grow so much of what you eat! Hope you enjoy the borscht!
Thanks Olena. It was a real hit. Glad I made extra 🙂