Vegetarian Ukrainian Borscht Soup (Beet Soup)

Meet the Ukrainian Borscht. This is an Eastern European hearty beet soup that is made with meat, but my granny cooked it without it, so today I will share with you the vegetarian version of the Borscht. For the borscht, you will need beets, hearty veggies, lemon juice, and a few aromatic herbs. This beet soup will be perfect at any time of the year.

My acquaintance with this recipe was exciting. I stayed for a week with one of my friends, Nadia, in an eco-settlement, and she cooked this soup for me. I was surprised by how tasty this soup can be.

Although Nadia lives in Russia now, she is originally from Ukraine.

Thus she knows how to prepare a real delicious Ukrainian borscht from her Ukrainian grandmother.

I heard many times about this Ukrainian Borscht, but I have always believed that real Ukrainian borscht can only be cooked in a meat broth. But Nadia said that she always cooks only a vegetarian version of this beet soup.

You can give to try this borscht to many people that are familiar with the original recipe with meat, and not all of them will find that this soup doesn’t contain meat, and even more, a big part of them will tell you that it’s better without meat.

This beet soup can be delicious even without meat if you make it correctly and let it brew. You should get a beautiful bright red color and a great smell.

The secrets of cooking rich borscht without meat are very simple:

First, the vegetables must be cut into small pieces and stewed properly. So that they are completely extinguished, and their taste and aroma are revealed well.

Secondly, do not forget about spices: dried vegetables, black pepper, and bay leaves.

Spices play an essential role in this recipe. By the way, vinegar and sugar are also often used in this meal.

Use them to your taste.

After a while, I tried the original Ukrainian borscht with meat, but I still prefer Nadia’s vegetarian recipe.

I decided to go with this vegetarian borscht recipe just because this beet soup is much easier and healthier. Also, you can serve this soup with the Italian Focaccia Genovese.

If you enjoy this recipe, please share it with your friends.

Love Soups? Take also a look at those:

• Cauliflower Leek Potato Soup
• Creamy Soup of Leek and Celery Roots
• Romanian Meatball Soup / Ciorba de Perisoare
• Homemade Creamy Tomato Soup

🥘 Ingredients

At first, you may think that there are a lot of ingredients for a simple recipe. But I highly recommend following the original borscht recipe at least once to see that every ingredient has its own place.

• 1 ½ cups of chopped beet
• 1 cup of chopped carrots
• 1 cup of chopped potatoes
• ½ of a cup of chopped bell pepper
• ½ of a cup of chopped onions
• ½ of a cup of chopped tomatoes
• ½ of a cup of chopped parsley
• 1 cup of green bean or you can replace it with canned beans
• 2 cups of chopped cabbage
• 4 garlic cloves
• chili pepper to taste
• 4-5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Optionally, sour cream (fatty yogurt)
• Optionally, lemon juice
• Optionally, use meat or homemade vegetable broth instead of water.

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

Wash well all the vegetables that I listed above.

Chop all the ingredients as you see in the photo below. You can chop them with a knife, or for the majority of them, you can use a grater to hurry up the process.

After we have all the ingredients ready, let’s go to the hob and start to fry the vegetables.

Be aware to use a bigger pot to have enough space for all the ingredients. As you can see from my last photos, I was on the limit.

Now, add 4-5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a pot. Let’s start with the onions.

After the olive oil warmed up a little bit, add the chopped onions into the pan.

Right away after the onions, add the sliced garlic cloves.

After that, add a teaspoon of salt and cook the vegetables for 3-4 minutes.

When the onions will become a little transparent, add the potatoes to the pan.

Right away after the potatoes, add the chopped carrots.

Brown a little bit all the vegetables for about 8-10 minutes. After that, add the queen of the recipe. Our chopped beet.

After you added the beet, it is time to pour over the tomatoes. If the tomatoes are not acidic enough, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar.

By doing that, you will keep the rich red color of the beet.

Let the vegetables simmer for about 5-7 minutes.

If you decided to go with the green beans, it’s time to add them now to the pan. In my case, I used frozen beans.

If you will decide to go with the canned beans, add them in the end together with the cabbage.

Mix well all the ingredients.

Now it’s the time of the spices. I used bay leaf and sliced chili pepper.

If you want a more rich taste, add also dried thyme.

Now it’s time to add the liquids. We will need approximately 2 liters (10 cups).

Of course, you can adjust the quantity of the liquids.

It depends on how dense the soup you want to obtain in the end. For the liquids, you can go with vegetable or meat broth, or just use hot water.

For this time, I decided to go with just hot water.

Cover the lid and let all the ingredients boil for about 15 minutes on low heat.

When the potatoes will become “al dente” add the cabbage into the pan.

As I said earlier if you decided to go with canned beans, drain the liquid and add the canned beans into the pan.

Mix well again all the ingredients, and left them to boil for about 7 minutes. It all depends on the cabbage. Wait until the cabbage will cook, but it will still be a little “al dente”.

Taste the soup and adjust it to salt and acidity.

Mix well all the ingredients and turn off the hob.

Add the chopped parsley. Optionally, you can add also chopped dill.

Mix again all the ingredients and cover the lid. Leave it to rest for about 20-30 minutes.

I hope that you enjoyed the recipe.

Enjoy your meal!

How is the traditional Ukrainian Borscht served?

Traditionally, near the plate of the borscht, you will always find a bowl with sour cream, a few garlic cloves, a few slices of homemade bread, homemade smoked or salted pork belly near a Ukrainian Horilka (that is an alternative to Russian Vodka).

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