Eastern Home Kitchen

Eastern European Recipes

Okroshka — Cold Summer Soup with Radishes

A cold soup of diced cucumber, radish, potato, egg and ham, loosened with soured water and served properly chilled.

A bowl of cold okroshka with diced radish, cucumber, egg and herbs

https://easternhomekitchen.com/recipes/okroshka-with-radishes/

Prep
25 mins
Cook
15 mins
Resting
1 hr
Total
1 hr 40 mins
Yield
6 servings
Cuisine
Eastern European

Okroshka is a salad that has been turned into a soup, and it belongs to the hottest week of the year. Everything is diced small, everything is cold, and the liquid is deliberately sharp.

The classic base is kvass. This version uses water soured with citric acid and enriched with sour cream, which is what gets made at home when there is no kvass in the fridge — cleaner-tasting and easier to get right.

Chill it properly before serving. Lukewarm okroshka is a genuinely unpleasant thing.

Ingredients

Makes 6 servings · the hour is chilling time

  • 3 eggs
  • 4 potatoes, about 500 g
  • 1 cucumber
  • 200 g7 oz radishes
  • 200 g7 oz cooked ham
  • 1 bunch dill and spring onions
  • 500 ml2 cups sour cream
  • 2 l2 qt cold water
  • salt and a pinch of citric acid, to taste

Instructions

  1. Set out the eggs, potatoes, cucumber, radishes, ham and herbs.

    Eggs, potatoes, cucumber, radishes and ham laid out

  2. Dice the cucumber small — about 5 mm. Everything in okroshka should fit on a spoon together.

    Cucumber diced small on a board

  3. Cut the ham into the same small dice.

    Ham cut into small cubes

  4. Dice the radishes. They are what makes this version sharp and peppery, so do not be shy with them.

    Radishes diced on a board

  5. Hard-boil the eggs and boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Cool both completely, then peel and dice.

  6. Finely chop the dill and spring onions.

    Dill and spring onions finely chopped

  7. Combine the vegetables, egg, ham and herbs in a large bowl and season with salt.

    All the diced ingredients combined in a large bowl

  8. Stir the sour cream with a ladle of the water until smooth, then pour in the rest of the water along with a pinch of citric acid. Taste — it should be noticeably tangy, not neutral.

  9. Chill for at least an hour before serving, and serve it very cold.

    Chilled okroshka served in a bowl

Notes & tips

  • Cool the potatoes and eggs completely before they meet the liquid, or the whole bowl comes out lukewarm.
  • Loosen the sour cream with a little liquid first. Poured straight into two litres of water it stays in lumps.
  • Season more than feels right while it is warm. Cold food tastes less salty.
  • If you are making it ahead, keep the solids and the liquid separate and combine an hour before serving.

Substitutions

  • Water with citric acid — Bread kvass for the traditional version, or half kefir and half water for a tangier, thicker soup.
  • Ham — Boiled beef, roast chicken, or nothing at all — a vegetarian okroshka is common and no worse.
  • Sour cream — Kefir or plain yoghurt, thinned to the same consistency.

Storage & freezing

In the fridge
Best on the day. It keeps 2 days but the cucumber and radish soften and the liquid dilutes.
In the freezer
Not suitable.
Make ahead
Dice everything up to a day ahead and keep it covered; add the liquid an hour before you eat.

Frequently asked questions

What is okroshka supposed to taste like?

Cold, sharp and fresh — closer to a chilled salad than to soup. The sourness is the point; if it tastes flat, add more citric acid or lemon juice a pinch at a time.

Can I make okroshka without kvass?

Yes, and most home versions do. Soured water with sour cream, as written here, or kefir thinned with water, are both standard. Kvass gives a maltier, sweeter result.

How small should everything be diced?

About 5 mm. The character of okroshka comes from getting a bit of everything in each spoonful, which only works if the pieces are small and consistent.