Best 18 Beet Borscht Recipes

BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a saucepan, bring the beets, carrots, onion, water and salt to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add broth, cabbage and butter; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Just before serving, stir in lemon juice. If desired, top each serving with sour cream and chives or dill.

BEET AND CABBAGE BORSCHT

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, cabbage and onion and sauté until cabbage softens, about 5 minutes. Add 8 cups broth, beets and tomatoes. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
• Working in small batches, puree 4 cups of soup in blender; return to remaining soup in pot. If desired, add more broth by 1/2 cupfuls to thin soup. Add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.
• Ladle soup into bowls. Top with dollop of sour cream; sprinkle with parsley. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.

A BETTER BORSCHT (BEET) SOUP

Steps:

• Place pork hocks in a stock pot and cover with 6 cups cold water (or enough to really cover them. Cover and place over fire until the hocks come to a boil.
• While this is coming to a boil, chop your onions, celery, carrots and beans.
• When the pot has boiled there will be a lot of foam at the top of the pot, Pour everything out and rinse the pot and meat well, then move to step 4. This is so that you don't have floaty things in the soup later (personally I often miss this step and don't mind the results at all). If you decide to miss cleaning everything just move straight to step 4 right away. Otherwise, you need to add 6 cups (or more, you need enough to cover them) clean cold water before step 4.
• Add the garlic, seasonings and the chopped vegetables.
• Bring the pot back to a boil, turn down and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the pork hock is loosened and tender.
• Remove the pork hock from the pot and cool. Return the stock to the fire and continue simmering until you've moved to the next step. While the pork hock is cooling, chop the potato and prepare the first four beets.
• To prepare the beets, peel them, cut them lengthwise in half (through the stem and top), turn cut side down and slice into 1/8" thin slices across the width of the beet. Lay the slices down and cut these into 1'8" slices across the width of the beet. This method gives the prettiest presentation.
• Add the potato to the pot and return the soup to a slow boil, then add the beet slices. DO NOT LET THE SOUP BOIL ONCE THE BEETS ARE ADDED OR IT WILL LOSE IT'S COLOR.
• While this is coming up to heat, clean the pork hock and return them to the pot. Make sure to get all the ugly bits and fat, but leave the meat as whole as you can, better to shred it in you bowl! Trust me!
• Leave this to simmer very slowly until the potato is cooked and the beets are tender. Meanwhile, chop the beet stalks (if they are tender) and the leaves; and peel and grate the final 2 beets.
• Add the peas and tops/leaves to the pot. When the peas are cooked add the grated beets (this is more to thicken the soup and add back any color that may have been lost before; and also DH loves the addition of shredded beat to this cause that's the way his mom made borscht). Continue to cook VERY SLOWLY.
• Once everything is tender you can finally add the dill and 1/2 teaspoon of sour salt. Tasting is important here, I usually add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of sour salt myself, but I prefer it a bit sour.
• I taste all the way through because I love the way the flavor builds, but it is very important at the end. Adjust the dill, salt and sour salt carefully, with some practice you'll find a soup that everyone loves.
• Add more water if this soup begins looking dry, but it is a thick soup so doesn't require a lot of broth - cream will be added at the table.
• You can park the soup overnight in the fridge and remove all the fat that rises the next day. This soup is excellent on day 1 but even better day 2, and healthier when the fat is removed.
• The broth shouldn't be sweet (the sweetness will happen with every bite) and it should have a bit of a sour tang (I like mine quite sour)and a taste of dill (and quite dilly). The soup SHOULD NEVER be salty because the meat may call for some seasoning in the bowl.
• This soup is better the next day, and may be put in jars and canned (10 minutes in a water bath) or frozen (but I find the beans go off when it's frozen so would leave them out in this case).
• Add sour cream or whipped cream at the table as a garnish. More fresh dill is pretty and tasty as well.
• Ask my friend Katlin - he loves this soup!

BEET AND CABBAGE BORSCHT

Steps:

• Place the chicken stock, wine, cabbage, beets and onion in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the vinegar, cumin, salt and pepper. (This can be prepared ahead, cooled, covered and set aside at cool room temperature for several hours or refrigerated for several days.) To serve, remove from the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving if presenting chilled. Simmer over medium-high heat to reheat if presenting warm. Ladle into 4 soup bowls. Spoon on a generous dollop of yogurt. Serve immediately.

MAMA LEAH'S JEWISH KITCHEN COLD BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Boil water in stock pot.
• To prepare beets: Wash beets well, scrubbing away dirt and sand.
• Trim the root and stem ends and discard.
• Cut in large (2-3 inch) slices.
• Add to water: beets, onion, lemon juice, salt, and sugar.
• Boil 1 hour, let beets cool and peel.
• Chop coarsely in food processor, and return to broth.
• Place pot in refrigerator until cold.
• 1/2 hour before serving: boil and peel potatoes, drain and place one in each serving bowl.
• Ladle cold borscht over hot potatoes and serve with sour cream on the side.

"BASIC" BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Cut off beet greens from the beets but leave about an inch or two of the tops on the beets.
• **Option:mince removed beet tops to add later.
• Scrub the beets well.
• In a large pot, add beets and cover with cold water (about 3/4 full).
• Bring the water to a boil and boil this for about 15-25 minutes until the beets are cooked.
• Remove the beets from the water; save the water from the beets ("beetjuice").
• Remove the skins from the beets.
• Strain the"beet juice" (through a cheese cloth lined sieve) into a pot.
• Peel and grate the onion.
• Grate the beets (can use food processor for grating onion and beets).
• Put the grated onion and beets into the pot with the strained beet juice.
• **Option:you can add the finely chopped/minced beet tops, if you want to use them.
• Bring all to a quick boil.
• Add the salt, lemon juice, pepper (optional), and honey (optional), simmer until the honey has dissolved and all is well heated.
• Serve, garnished with a dollop of sour cream (optional).

GRANDMA'S BORSCHT (POLISH BEET SOUP)

Steps:

• caramelize the onion in some olive oil.
• Add the potatoes and fry for about 2 minutes, careful not to let the onions and potatoes stick to the bottom of the pan. Use a bit more oil if necessary.
• Add the vegetable stock and carrots. If you use fresh green beans, add them at this point. Bring to a boil. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until potatoes and carrots are tender.
• Add the beets, green beans, bay leaf, and dill. Simmer for a couple of hours. Serve with sour cream if desired.

BEET GREEN BORSCHT

Steps:

• In a large frying pan, melt 1/4 cup of margarine or butter.
• Add chopped onions and saute' for 5 minutes but do not brown.
• Add mashed tomatoes including liquid and simmer until reduced to about half (about 20 minutes) then set aside.
• In a large cooking pot, add 16 cups of water and bring to boil.
• Add salt, potato quarters, chopped carrots and the beet and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
• When potatoes are tender, remove into a bowl and mash.
• Add the remainder 1/4 cup of margarine or butter, half and half cream to the mashed potatoes and mix well, then set aside.
• Trim tail ends of the young beets, and scrub only, then cut into small pieces and add to soup pot.
• Chop beet greens into medium size pieces and add to soup pot.
• Add cubed potatoes, spinach greens, green and red peppers, green beans, chopped celery, cauliflower florets and cook until vegetables are just tender, about 20 minutes.
• Add mashed potato mixture, tomato/onion mixture, green onions, fresh dill weed and bring to boil.
• Remove from heat.
• Add lemon juice and stir well.
• Adjust spices to taste.
• Cover and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
• Refrigerate any unused portion of soup.

BORSCHT (BEET SOUP)

Steps:

• Crumble the sausage into a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until no longer pink. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Fill a large pot halfway with broth and bring to a boil. If using sausage add to broth, and bring back to a boil. Add the beets and cook until they have lost their color. Add the carrots, potatoes and garlic, simmer until tender (about 15 min). Add the cabbage and the can of diced tomatoes.
• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Stir in the tomato paste and water until well blended. Transfer to the pot. Simmer another 5-10 minutes, and adjust seasoning (salt, pepper and sugar) to your liking. Cover, turn off heat and let soup stand for about five minutes.
• Ladle into serving bowls, and garnish with sour cream and fresh parsley.

SUMMER BEET BORSCHT (COLD SOUP)

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375. Line sheet pan with aluminum foil. Leave skin on beets lightly coat with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes or longer until tender. After roasting, pull foil around beets to enclose, sit out to cool completely.
• 2. In large bowl whisk sour creams, yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Peel cooled beets by rubbing the skins off or using paring knife(hint, use gloves for rubbing skins off to prevent staining of your hands.) Dice beets to 1/2 to 1 inch cubes. Add beets, cucumber, scallion and dill to soup mixture.
• 3. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 4 hours, overnight is better. Season with salt again if needed and serve cold with a dollop of sour cream and dill sprig.

ROASTED BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Scrub the beets and put them on a large piece of aluminum foil; season with salt and pepper, add 3 thyme sprigs, and drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Bake until the beets are tender, about 1 hour. Set aside. When the beets are cool enough to handle but still warm, slip off their skins, and chop them into large chunks.
• In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, add the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Put in the onion, carrots, garlic, and remaining 3 thyme sprigs and cook until softened and just starting to color, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs. Put the chopped beets into a blender and add the cooked vegetables and most of the stock. Blend until smooth, add more stock if the puree is too thick. Add the vinegar and honey; season with salt and pepper. Blend again to incorporate flavors. Borscht can be served hot or cold.
• To make the garnish, grate the apple on the large holes of a box grater and mix in the dill. Serve in bowls, garnished with a big dollop of sour cream and topped with the apple and dill mixture.

MUSHROOM AND BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Place dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour on 3 cups boiling water. Let sit 30 minutes, then strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl. Squeeze mushrooms over the strainer to extract any remaining flavorful liquid. Rinse mushrooms in several changes of water, and chop.
• While mushrooms are soaking, combine beets, sliced garlic and 1 quart of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and the sugar, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
• Remove beets from water using a slotted spoon or skimmer and transfer to a bowl; allow to cool until you can handle them. Cut into small dice or into julienne (about 1/4-inch wide by 1 inch long). Add enough of the broth from the beets to the mushroom broth to make 6 cups combined broth.
• Heat oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven and add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring, until just tender, about 5 minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt and the minced garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute, and add white mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms begin to sweat. Add chopped dried mushrooms, the 6 cups combined mushroom and beet broth, the simmered beets and the bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, add salt to taste, reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes.
• Add chopped beet greens and simmer another 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove bouquet garni, stir in chopped parsley and serve, garnishing each bowl with a generous dollop of yogurt if desired.

COLD BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Wash and peel the beets and cut into fine dice or grate on the coarse side of a grater. Place in a saucepan with the juice of 1/2 lemon, a pinch each of salt and sour salt, and the 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the beets are tender, about 40 minutes. Add the juice of another 1/2 lemon. Remove from the heat.
• Using whole eggs results in a creamier, thicker borscht, but it is much trickier to add the hot beet soup to the whole eggs without having them coagulate. If you feel inexperienced with this process, use just the yolks. In either case, beat the eggs with a fork until they are thin and watery. Slowly ladle some of the hot borscht into the eggs, beating constantly. When about half the soup has been added, pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the remaining soup; again pour slowly and beat constantly. When all the egg mixture is beaten into the soup, pour the soup back and forth between the pot and a bowl or pitcher about 10 or 15 times until the mixture is smooth, airy, and creamy. Halfway through, add more lemon juice to produce a winy effect; add a tiny pinch of sugar, if necessary, and salt and white pepper as needed. Continue pouring to blend. Chill thoroughly.
• It is best to add sour cream shortly before serving so that the borscht will keep longer. The sour cream can simply be served on the side, to be spooned in at the table. Or you can add sour cream (about 1 heaping tablespoonful per cupful of borscht) to the soup in a jar. Close tightly and shake vigorously to blend. Fluffy, dry, hot boiled potato is wonderful in the middle of this ice-cold soup.
• Variation: Canned beets can also be used for this soup with excellent if slightly less flavorful results. Use whole beets even though you will dice or grate them, as they have more taste and better color. For the above recipe use a 1-pound can of whole beets. Dice or grate. Cook for 10 minutes in a combination of their own canning liquid plus 1 1 /2 cans of water, to make a total of 4 cups of liquid. Proceed with the recipe as described above.

OLGA'S BORSCHT (BEET SOUP)

Steps:

• Heat oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onion and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to soften, stirring often. Add vegetable stock, tomatoes and juice, beets, beet tops, salt, cloves, bay leaf and sugar. Bring to a quick simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beets are very tender. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf. Using caution, puree 3 cups of soup in a blender until smooth, 1 cup at at time, placing puree in a separate bowl. Add puree to remaining soup in pot and stir well to incorporate. Reheat soup just until steaming hot and do not allow to boil. Remove from heat, add dill, lemon juice/zest, salt and pepper to taste, and stir well to blend. Ladle soup into warmed bowls, top with a generous dollop of sour cream sprinkled with dill and lemon zest. Notes: - recipe may be easily halved - soup freezes well and keeps 3 months - fresh spinach may be used in lieu of beet tops - requires considerable chopping time, so best to prep all veggies prior to beginning cooking process

LOW-FAT BEEF, CABBAGE AND BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Coat a large pot with nonstick spray.
• Crumble the beef into the pot.
• Cook over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.
• Line a platter with several thicknesses of paper towels.
• Transfer the beef to the plate and drain well.
• Wipe out the pot with a paper towel.
• Add the garlic, onions and cabbage.
• Saute over medium heat for 15 minutes, or until the cabbage is softened; if needed, add a few tablespoons water to the pot to prevent sticking.
• Add the beef, tomatoes, water, beets, lemon juice and brown sugar.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Cover, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes, or until the beets are tender.

GRANDMA'S BORSCHT (BEET SOUP)

Steps:

• 1. Peel and cut your beets into thin shoe strings. Add onion, bay leaf, pork neck bones, parsley, salt, celery stalk and beets into a stock pot with water. Simmer until beets are tender.
• 2. Remove Stalk of Celery and bay leaf. Add cider vinegar a tablespoon at a time to the soup. VERY IMPORTANT! BE A TASTER! You need to taste the liquid for the tartness that you prefer, so be sure to only add a Tbsp at a time.
• 3. In a bowl mix the sour cream, flour and egg. Beat together. Add a little of the hot soup to this mixture (about 1 cup) adding it little at a time and beat well each time. You do not want to curdle the mix.
• 4. Turn heat down under the soup low enough as to no longer be boil at all. Add the cream mix in the bowl to the pot of soup VERY SLOWLY. BE CAREFUL that it DOES NOT boil and that you do not add it too quickly or else the mixture from the bowl will curdle.
• 5. Serve hot garnished with a fresh sprig of curled parsley on top. ENJOY!

BEEF AND BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• Cook beef shank in a large soup pot over high heat until browned, about 3 minutes per side; add water, onion, carrots, celery, and bay leaf to the pot, bring to a simmer and cook until meat is tender and falling off the bone, about 4 hours. Strain broth and discard solids.
• Combine beef broth, beets, and cabbage in a large soup pot; cook, stirring occasionally, until beets are tender, about 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low; add vinegar, salt, and black pepper.
• Serve garnished with sour cream and dill.

PAM'S GOLDEN BEET BORSCHT

Steps:

• 1. Prepare beets by washing and then cutting off leaves about 2 inches above the beet, also leaving the root intact. Place in large saucepan with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to just boiling and cook until beets can be easily pierced with a knife (start with about 35 to 40 minutes) Drain and rinse with cold water to cool. Slip off the skins, leaf stems and root and discard. Cut into 3/4 inch chunks and set aside in a bowl for use later. Reserve a few small cubes per bowl separately for garnish if desired. (This step can be done ahead or while you are making the soup. It is at your convenience. Just store the cooked beets covered in the fridge if doing this the day before)
• 2. While beets are cooking, in another large saucepan or small Dutch oven, melt butter and saute onion, celery, carrot, cabbage (and shredded potato if using)until softened and translucent. Add turmeric and/or saffron and stir in well. Add stock and soup (or fresh tomatoes) Stir in potato flakes now (if using instant flakes). Add bouquet garni and bring to a boil, turn down heat to medium or medium low and simmer stock, veggies and seasoning for 30 minutes. Add Beets and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
• 3. Remove soup from stoveand remove the bouquet garni and discard. Process soup until smooth. ( You have several choices for method: blender, food processor, immersion stick blender or food mill) Take care with the hot soup to assure you do not get burned by steam or splashing soup. Each method will give you a slightly different texture. I used a food mill to remove all lumps. Add sweetener (if desired), vinegar and hot sauce (optional) Stir well and adjust seasoning to your tastes. If the soup is too thick, thin with a little more stock. If too thin, stir a few more tablespoons of potato flakes into a half cup of warm water and add to soup to thicken.
• 4. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped fresh dill weed, or swirl in some sweet cream and sprinkle with chopped dill or parsley and a few reserved beet cubes.