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Borscht. Piping hot and ruby red. Full of veg. Sour and salty. Basically, a hug in a bowl.
So many veggies.
Like with all my recipes, I don’t believe this is anything close to traditional, however it’s my favourite way to devour borscht. I don’t follow a vegan or vegetarian diet but sometimes a recipe here or there manages to fall into those categories and this is one of them. I prefer my borscht with zero meat. I just don’t feel like it belongs! This borscht is super hearty, almost like a stew rather than a soup. It does double duty: warms and fills you up at the same time. Read more about my love of borscht in my blog post here.
Pickle juice? Yes!
Pickle juice is basically just salt, vinegar and seasonings. It lends a lovely tang to this soup. My Baba’s pickle juice is very salty and sour so I find that a hefty splash of that is all I need in my borsht. The pickles I make at home are less salty and tangy and rather spicy so I find that I need to add another 1/4 cup of plain white vinegar to the soup to give it a nice punch. Rule of thumb: taste as you go. Everyone has such different preferences when it comes to salt, sugar and acid so once you think it tastes delicious, then it’s perfect.
More recipes please!
Check out the recipe video below for a tutorial on how to make this hearty as heck soup:
Hearty Vegetable Borscht
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh beets or 2 cans whole beets
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 large carrot peeled diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 small potatoes diced
- 1 large (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup pickle juice
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup pees
- ¼ cup fresh chopped dill
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup white vinegar to taste (optional)
- sour cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
- If using fresh beets: peel and chop the beets into large chunks. Steam the beets until a knife can be easily pierced into the beet, about 40 minutes. Once tender, remove from the steamer and let cool until the beets can be handled. If using canned beets: open the cans and drain the beets.
- Prepare the beets: I prefer the texture of shredded beets in this soup. Shredding can be a bit messy so if you prefer, you can chop the beets into small chunks. If you want to shred the beets, use a food processor with the shredding attachment or shred by hand using a cheese grater. Kitchen gloves are really handy during this step – be careful, beets stain skin, clothes, counters etc. very easily.
- Make the soup: heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
- When the pot is hot, add the olive oil.
- Add the onions and season with a pinch of salt, sauté until the onions are starting to turn golden, about 10 minutes.
- Add the carrot and garlic, season with another pinch of salt and sauté a further 5 minutes.
- Next add the beets, potatoes, tomatoes, stock, pickle juice and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
- Cover the soup and bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, turn the soup down to low and simmer, covered, for at least 2 hours or up to 4 hours.
- Add the peas and dill stir to combine.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Depending on the saltiness and sourness of the pickle juice you used, you may need to add more or less salt. If the pickle juice you used isn’t very sour, add up to 1/4 cup of white vinegar until your soup has the desired tang.
- Serve hawt with sour cream if desired.
