This Vegetarian Borscht is a colorful veggie packed soup made with red beets and cabbage in one pot. It’s a blend of delicious sweet, sour and savory flavors.
Vegetarian Borscht
This soup has such a festive appeal with its red color, dollop of white sour cream and its beautiful green dill garnish.
In no way am I saying this recipe is totally authentic because “authentic” is difficult to put a finger on. After looking at so many recipes for borscht, I’ve decided that I can’t really figure out which is actually the real deal because there are so many variations made by Russian, Polish and Ukrainian countries.
All I know is that this recipe is a beet borscht and it’s delicious! It’s packed with healthy veggies and the broth is oh so tasty.
The preps for this soup take a bit more time than a lot of my recipes. I calculated how long it took to prepare the veggies doing all the cutting and grating by hand and not with a food processor.
A food processor would speed things up for sure. Feel free to go that route if you prefer!
This Vegetarian Borscht is a hearty soup with an elegance all its own. It’s a bowl of sweet, sour and savory flavors that takes a little bit of work but the outcome is well worth the effort in my opinion. The addition of the sour cream topping and the garnish of fresh dill is like the icing on the cake.
Benefits of this Vegetarian Beet Borscht
- Full of a variety of healthy veggies like red beets, cabbage, carrots, etc.
- High in fiber – beets and cabbage are high fiber foods
- Complex flavors – sweet, sour and savory
- Yummy, yummy, yummy
Here is the recipe:
Vegetarian Borscht
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb red beets, greens removed (about 3 medium beets), peel and dice 2 of the beets and grate 1 of the beets into a separate bowl
- 3 - 4 Tbsp butter, (use vegan butter or oil if vegan)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 small carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 rib celery, diced
- 1 small leek, white and light green part only, washed well and sliced in rings
- 1 small bay leaf
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced small
- 1/2 small head green cabbage, shredded
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste
- sour cream, to serve (optional), substitute Greek yogurt or vegan sour cream if vegan
- fresh dill, to serve for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom soup pot or Dutch oven, melt 3 - 4 Tbsp butter over medium/low heat and add the onions and a sprinkle of salt. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes
- Add the leeks, carrots, celery, diced red beet and the bay leaf - sprinkle lightly with salt and stir together to coat with the butter and onions. Turn up the heat slightly, to medium, and cook for about 10 minutes - add a little broth if it becomes too dry.
- At this point, pour in the broth and the potatoes and bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes
- Then add the cabbage, garlic and the grated beet and cook until the vegetables are tender - about 10 minutes
- Add the vinegar, sugar, black pepper and a pinch of salt. Stir together and taste. Make adjustments if needed.
- Serve each portion with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of fresh dill (optional)
Notes
- a dollop of Greek yogurt or vegan sour cream can substitute for the sour cream topping
Nutrition
*Please note that the nutrition information provided is just a close estimate using an online nutrition calculator.*
Adapted from: The Guardian
I hope you enjoy this flavorful soup as much as we did!
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Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how this Vegetarian Borscht recipe turned out for you. A comment and a rating below would be greatly appreciated. I’d love to hear from you!
This was served at our bookclub as a way of honoring Ukrainians for their fight and bravery
during this horrific time.
We all enjoyed it so much and the recipe was shared. It’s absolutely delicious.
Laura, Your comment made my day. What an awesome thing to do at your bookclub! I’m so happy to hear that you all enjoyed the recipe so much! Thank you for taking the time to leave this comment and feedback.