Food is Life - Traditional Ukrainian Borscht Soup

Today we’re talking about borscht, have you heard of it? First of all, borscht is a really fun word to say, especially if you try using a fake Russian accent. My attempt at doing that is pretty poor but I do it anyway. The trick is in rolling your “r” and as my sister keeps telling me, the “t” at the end is actually silent. However I think that’s dependent upon which dialect is being used.

Haha, I have to reference a children’s moving and prove my inner kid here. If you’ve seen the Dreamworks animated movie Madagascar 3 then you might remember the Russian tiger mentioning his love for this soup. I also have a special love for this recipe because it was one of the very first ones that I shared here on my blog. Due to it being a popular post I felt it was long passed time to update it.

So in case you’ve never heard of this soup, it’s a traditional soup that is very common in many European countries. Honestly, I only know this because in 2006 my family became part of a hosting program. We had the pleasure of hosting two beautiful little girls from Ukraine during their visit to the states. We knew right away that God had planned for them to be part of our family all along. In 2007 they became my sisters and have been ever since. You would never know that they were not born into our family if you met them. People tell us all the time that we look so much alike and I can’t imagine life without them.

This recipe is something that they both enjoy for it’s nostalgic memories. You could just call this “A Whole Lot of Red Soup” I can see why it is such a traditional dish in Europe. It is so cheap to make and so healthy.

This recipe may not be as welcome in households with picky eaters. Mostly because of the color. I don’t know about you and your family but in my house there are a lot of visual picky eaters. Meaning that they will only try things that look good to them, regardless of what it tastes like. My youngest siblings will decide whether or not they like something prior to tasting it. It is so frustrating!

I keep saying that I am going to get blindfolds to cover their eyes before they taste things because then they would eat way more things. This soup is really good and I think my entire family would like it but I won’t sugarcoat it and tell you they do. I did, however, get my little sister to try it when I told her about the sour cream that goes on top. You see, she has this thing for sour cream. I think she would eat a bowl of it by itself if we let her. She loved the fact that it turned the soup pink when you stirred it in.

Anyway, this is has become a favorite for some in my house and I’d love to know what you think of it if you decide to give it a try.

Traditional Ukrainian Red Borscht Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 10
Ingredients
6 cups vegetable broth/stock
3 medium beets, washed well and cubed
3 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced or shredded
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 head red cabbage, cored and shredded
1 (5 oz) can tomato paste
1-2 tablespoons sugar or to taste (optional)
salt and papper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
coconut cream or sour cream for topping (optional)

Instructions
Wash and chop all of your veggies and place them in large pot. Pour in the vegetable stock and cover the pot. Place over medium high heat and bring to simmering boil. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes, or until the beets and potatoes are very tender.
Add the tomato paste, sugar, dill, salt, and pepper then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot with desired toppings.

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