Hot Ukrainian Borscht

Hello, Welcome! I am working my way through the latest edition of Cook’s Illustrated today with Hot Ukrainian Borscht. I really love Borscht and not only hadn’t I had it in years, but I have never had quite this way. This recipe originally calls for a pork broth with the pork then added to the finished soup. I skipped that step and kept it a veggie soup with chicken broth and some of my leftover ham broth. I compensated for the lack of meat in the finished soup by using the whole small cabbage instead of half. This Borscht is super simple, so let’s get to it.

This recipe includes green cabbage and carrots along with potatoes, beets, and onion. For the cabbage, slice the small, cored head of cabbage into thin pieces, like we’d do for a slaw. Then we will use the food processor to shred the carrots and the beets. This is cleaner and faster. Otherwise we have tomato paste, dill and lemon juice.

So I have 6 cups of low sodium chicken broth and 2 cups of my leftover ham broth. In total, you want to use 8 cups of broth. Reserve 1/2 cup of the broth. Get the broth set to boil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Once boiling, add the cubed Yukon Gold potatoes and the sliced cabbage with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Adjust heat to keep a simmer and cover and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes.

Build the Borscht

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup of grapeseed oil over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and stir frequently until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Then add the shredded carrots and beets. Stir to combine and season with another 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir frequently and cook until the veggies are softened, about 5 minutes.

Then add the 6-ounce can of tomato paste and work it into the veggies. Cook and stir until the tomato paste is fully incorporated, begins to look darker in color and forms a thick veggie mixture. About 2 minutes.

Now, use that 1/2 cup of reserved broth to deglaze the tomato paste veggie mixture. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Then cut the heat under the beets.

Becoming Borscht

Uncover the simmering broth, potatoes and cabbage. The cabbage should be cooked down a bit and the potatoes should be fork tender. Now, carefully add the beet mixture to the broth and cabbage mix.

Stir in the beet mixture until it’s fully incorporated. Cover again and let it simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Then stir in lemon juice, dill and another 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir well. Now, cut the heat and let’s taste for seasoning.

I started with adding the juice of half a lemon. I like my Borscht a bit more sour, so I added the juice of 1 whole lemon. So in total I have the juice of 1.5 lemons. Then I added another 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Your’s might be just to your liking before adding more seasoning. So be sure to taste before serving.

Hot Ukrainian Borscht

Serve the borscht while hot and garnish with sour cream and more dill, if desired.

Borscht makes me feel super healthy; it’s so vegetal and earthy. This is a great soup for starting off the new year! I love this version because the veggies have texture, but its not super chunky. Sautéing the beets ahead of adding them to the soup gives them a more complex flavor. In fact, this borscht is not overwhelmingly beet flavored, so even if someone says they don’t like beets, this might change their mind. A wonderful soup, healthy and delicious. Definitely make this Hot Ukrainian Borscht! Take care and be well, xo Kelly

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Hot Ukrainian Borscht

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Dinner, Main Course – Ukrainian

By Adapted From Cook's Illustrated – Serves: 6-8

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: ~30 Minutes – Total Time: ~50 Minutes

Super healthy, with vegetal and earthy flavors, this Hot Ukrainian Borscht is a great soup to kick off the new year!

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 small head of Green Cabbage, halved, cored and sliced crosswise into thin strips
• 3 tsp. Kosher Salt, divided, plus more to taste
• 8 cups Chicken Broth
• 1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
• 1 Onion, diced fine
• 8 oz. Beets, trimmed peeled and shredded, totaling 2 cups
• 2 Carrots, peeled and shredded, totaling 1.5 cups
• 1 6-oz. can of Tomato Paste
• 1/3 cup Chopped Fresh Dill
• 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice, plus more to taste

Instructions

1

Reserve 1/2 cup of the broth.

2

Get the rest of the broth set to boil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Once boiling, add the cubed Yukon Gold potatoes and the sliced cabbage with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Adjust heat to keep a simmer and cover and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes.

3

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup of grapeseed oil over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and stir frequently until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

4

Then add the shredded carrots and beets. Stir to combine and season with another 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir frequently and cook until the veggies are softened, about 5 minutes.

5

Then add the 6-ounce can of tomato paste and work it into the veggies. Cook and stir until the tomato paste is fully incorporated, begins to look darker in color and forms a thick veggie mixture. About 2 minutes.

6

Now, use that 1/2 cup of reserved broth to deglaze the tomato paste veggie mixture. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Then cut the heat under the beets.

7

Uncover the simmering broth, potatoes and cabbage. The cabbage should be cooked down a bit and the potatoes should be fork tender. Now, carefully add the beet mixture to the broth and cabbage mix.

8

Stir in the beet mixture until it's fully incorporated. Cover again and let it simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Then stir in lemon juice, dill and another 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir well. Now, cut the heat and taste for seasoning.

9

Serve the borscht while hot and garnish with sour cream and more dill, if desired.

Notes

I started with adding the juice of half a lemon. I like my Borscht a bit more sour, so I added the juice of 1 whole lemon. So in total I have the juice of 1.5 lemons. Then I added another 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Your's might be just to your liking before adding more seasoning. So be sure to taste before serving.

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