Classic Ukrainian Borscht Recipe – Красный Борщ

Borsch… Borscht and its recipe is to Russian and Ukrainian culture as hamburgers and fries are to American culture. It’s a dish that is so quintessential Russian that when I tell people I’m Russian, they say, “So did you eat a lot of Borscht when you were growing up?” and unfortunately my answer is, “No.”

*FYI… technically I am not from Russia, I am from the republic of Moldova, a country next to Romania. And even more technically, my maternal grandparents were both born in Romania, so I guess that makes me half Romanian. But no one really has heard of Moldova and since they were once all part of the USSR, I just keep it simple and tell them that I am Russian.*

My borscht story

Growing up I despised borsch! Its bright purple color scared me and its ingredients were never my cup of tea. I hated beets and cabbage as a child and considering those are the 2 main ingredients, this little foodie was steering clear of the pot of purple liquid.

My husband is Ukrainian. If there is one part of the former USSR that can make borscht it’s the Ukrainians. Hubby’s father makes the BEST borscht.

When we first started dating, his parents were shocked that I never ate at their house. I was not a fan of anyone else’s Russian cooking other than my mother’s, so I did not eat anyone else’s Russian cooking.

I was the bad girlfriend.  But frankly, tasting food was the one issue I struggled with my whole life.  Culinary school changed that quickly 🙂

The first experience of borsch eating

One typical Thursday evening, hubs and I were at his parents’ house watching some melodramatic Russian show while his father made borscht and as usual, offered it to me.  Houston we have a problem.

I scrunched up my nose and politely declined.  Hubs looked at me and quietly said, “It’s rude to never eat at my house! You are insulting my family!”

I was in quite a predicament.  Here I was, trying to be the perfect future daughter-in-law; and yet I could not bring myself to eat at their house. I had to make a decision.  And my decision was to be brave.

So I asked for a small, teeny portion of borsch. In my fiance’s family, that means enough to feed me for a week.

I sat there, traumatized, looking at this steaming bowl of purple liquid. I started my usual ritual: I peered over it and smelled it, then I stared at it a bit more, envisioning how it would feel and taste in my mouth; until myhubs finally broke down and said, “Just eat it! Here put some sour cream in it and EAT IT! It’s just borscht!”

Love from the first spoon

“Ohhh” I thought, “Sour cream sounds like a good idea, it will dilute the flavor I’m sure!” I took a nice big spoonful and placed it in my mouth. I did not want to taste it, I just wanted to chew, swallow, breathe and repeat until the entire bowl was clean.

But then…an amazing thing happened…something I never thought could have happened…I accidentally forgot to hold my breath while chewing and I tasted it! And OH MY GOSH…it was AMAZING! I started eating it so fast that both my hubs and his dad stared at me with wide open eyes.

His dad turned to me and said, “I have never seen you eat like that…when was the last time you ate?”  He then turned to my hubs and said, “Can’t you make sure the poor girl eats!!!”  To that, my only response was, “Can I have some more?!?”

Lesson learned: Do not be afraid to try things that you are unfamiliar with.

I think everyone should taste borscht

Now I can promise you that if you like beets you will LOVE this soup.  It is filling, satisfying, and pretty darn healthy.  If you do not like beets, you fall into my category and I can tell you that you will like it as well 🙂

I luckily made this the week a few weeks ago when I got sick and it truly was the one thing that I could keep down.
***Fair warning.  This makes a LOT of soup.  I usually give half to my dad and then we eat the remainder.  It is also super freezer-friendly. ***

Good meat is the basis of taste

A good start to any soup is the meat.  In this case, we are using a good piece of chuck ON the bone.  The bones give the borscht a ton of flavor and I actually like to get some bones without any meat on it.  Hubs loves the marrow 🙂  Your butcher will have some for you if you just ask.

You want to cut it up into slightly larger than bite-size pieces.  And place it into a heavy-bottomed large pot.

Cover the meat with cold water and bring up to a boil.  Leave about 4 cups of room at the top.

Veggies

While your meat is coming up to a boil, get your veggies ready.  Peel your carrots, onions and beets.   By the way, I really like buying the smaller beets that still have their leaves attached.  I find they have a ton more flavor.

Now at this point, you have 2 choices.  You can shred all the veggies (except the potatoes and cabbage) in a food processor or hand shredder.

Or you can do what I do…and use the wet chop on the Vitamix.  Just throw your veggies in the vitamix… cover with water and pulse, pulse, pulse.  For me, this is the go-to method because it is a lot quicker and gives the soup a ton of texture.

Set aside.  Cut up your potatoes slightly larger than bite size.  Otherwise, they will fall apart in the soup.  I also really like to use Yukon Gold potatoes.  I love how soft they get and they remind me of the potatoes we used to use back in the old country.

How to make borscht clean

Now, if we pay attention to our soup, you will notice all the scum has come on top.  DO NOT LET THIS BOIL.  Otherwise, the scum will just spread throughout the soup.  You want to carefully remove it with a slotted spoon.  Your other option is to to strain it like I do with my chicken soup.  Strain the soup and then start fresh with clean meat, bones, and water.  It does take a bit longer, but if you are anal like me and like a super clean soup…it may be a better option.

Once you have a clean soup, (regardless of which method you use).  Here is the reason why you left some room at the top.  You are going to pour in your entire Vitamix of veggies WITH the water into the soup.

Add in your tomato puree as well.

Add in a nice helping of red pepper flakes.  Hubs and I like it with a kick 🙂  Add in salt, pepper, and the juice of half a lemon.  Allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

In the meantime slice up your cabbage.

First, you cut the head of cabbage in half.  And remove the core.

Then you slice it thinly with a nice sharp knife.  Again feel free to do this in a food processor.  I do not however like the texture it gets if you do it in a Vitamix.

Add it into your soup.  Also, add in 3 tablespoons of chopped dill and the garlic.  Allow to simmer for about 15 more minutes.

Once the cabbage is nice and soft, taste the soup for flavor.  We like it sweet and a bit sour.  So feel free to add in more lemon juice, pepper, sugar, salt, whatever your heart desires.

This soup actually tastes better the very next day. If you decide to serve it the next day, you can also remove any extra fat that has solidified on the top after being refrigerated.

Serve with a nice dollop of sour cream, nice sourdough bread, and as my hubs prefer, with a sweet red onion on the side 🙂

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