Eastern Home Kitchen

Ukrainian Recipes

Ukrainian Borscht with Beef

The everyday borscht we actually make: beef simmered into its own broth, beetroot fried with tomato so the colour holds, cabbage added late.

A bowl of deep red Ukrainian borscht with a spoonful of sour cream and chopped dill

https://easternhomekitchen.com/recipes/ukrainian-borscht/

Prep
25 mins
Cook
1 hr 15 mins
Total
1 hr 40 mins
Yield
8 servings
Cuisine
Ukrainian

Every family makes borscht slightly differently and every family is certain theirs is the correct one. This is ours — a plain, deep-red, meat borscht with no beans and no smoked anything, the sort of pot that gets made on a Sunday and eaten for three days.

Two things matter more than the rest. Fry the beetroot separately with the tomato paste rather than boiling it in the pot: acid and fat fix the colour, and beetroot boiled naked turns a sad brownish pink. And add the cabbage near the end, so it keeps some texture instead of dissolving.

Borscht is better on day two. It is worth making the full pot even for two people.

Ingredients

Makes 8 servings · makes about 4 litres

  • 600 g1 ¼ lb beef shin or chuck, on the bone if you can get it
  • 4 medium potatoes, about 500 g
  • 1 onion, left whole for the broth
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 beetroot, about 250 g
  • 200 g¾ cup tomato paste
  • 500 g1 lb white cabbage, about half a small head
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 bunch dill and parsley, chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 tbsp sunflower oil
  • salt and black pepper, to taste
  • sour cream, to serve

Instructions

  1. Get everything out and cut before you start — once the broth is on, borscht moves quickly.

    Beef, beetroot, cabbage, potatoes, carrot and onion laid out on a board

  2. Rinse the beef, put it in a large pot with 3 litres of cold water and bring to a gentle simmer. Skim off the grey foam that rises in the first ten minutes. Add the whole peeled onion and cook, barely bubbling, for about an hour, until the meat pulls apart easily.

  3. Cut the beetroot into matchsticks, finely chop the second onion and grate the carrot on the coarse side of a box grater. Matchsticks rather than cubes: they hold their shape through a long simmer.

    Beetroot cut into matchsticks with grated carrot and chopped onion

  4. Cut the potatoes into 1.5 cm cubes and keep them in cold water until you need them.

    Peeled potatoes cut into even cubes on a board

  5. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan and fry the beetroot over medium heat for about 8 minutes. Add the chopped onion and carrot and keep going until everything is soft. Stir in the tomato paste — loosen it with a ladle of broth if it is very thick — and cook another 3 minutes until it darkens and smells sweet rather than raw.

  6. Lift the cooked beef out of the pot and fish out the boiled onion, which has done its job. Add the potatoes to the broth and simmer until just tender, about 12 minutes, then stir in the beetroot mixture.

  7. Once the meat is cool enough to handle, cut it into bite-sized pieces and return it to the pot.

    Cooked beef cut into chunks on a board beside the pot

  8. Shred the cabbage finely and add it to the pot. It only needs a few minutes — you want it tender but not limp.

    Finely shredded white cabbage being added to the borscht

  9. Add the chopped herbs, bay leaves and crushed garlic. Season with salt and pepper and hold it at the barest simmer for 10 minutes.

    Chopped dill and parsley stirred into the simmering borscht

  10. Take the pot off the heat and let the borscht stand, covered, for at least 15 minutes before serving — this is when the flavour pulls together. Serve with a spoonful of sour cream and more dill.

    Finished borscht in a white bowl with sour cream and dill

Notes & tips

  • Fry the beetroot, don't boil it. Beetroot simmered directly in the pot loses its colour and the borscht goes brown.
  • A splash of vinegar or the juice of half a lemon added with the tomato paste locks in the red even further and sharpens the whole pot.
  • Salt at the end, not the beginning. The broth reduces while the meat cooks and it is easy to overshoot.
  • If the borscht tastes flat, it usually needs acid or salt rather than more time.

Substitutions

  • Beef shin — Pork ribs make a sweeter, faster broth — about 45 minutes. For a meatless pot, use a strong mushroom stock and add fried mushrooms with the cabbage.
  • Tomato paste — 400 g of tinned chopped tomatoes, cooked down until thick. Add a pinch of sugar to make up for the concentration you lose.
  • Sour cream — Full-fat Greek yoghurt, stirred with a little of the hot broth first so it does not split.

Storage & freezing

In the fridge
Up to 4 days in a covered container. It genuinely improves on day two.
In the freezer
Freezes well for 3 months, though the potatoes soften. Freeze in portions and leave headroom.
Reheating
Warm gently on the hob. Don't boil it hard — the cabbage goes to mush.
Make ahead
Best made a day ahead. Add the fresh herbs when you reheat rather than before freezing.

Frequently asked questions

Why did my borscht turn brown instead of red?

The beetroot was boiled rather than fried. Beetroot pigment is destroyed by long wet heat and rescued by acid and fat, which is why the beetroot goes into a pan with oil and tomato paste before it ever meets the broth.

Is borscht supposed to be sweet or sour?

Both, slightly. The beetroot and carrot bring sweetness and the tomato brings acid. If it tastes one-note, add lemon juice a teaspoon at a time until it lifts.

Can I make borscht in advance?

You should. The flavour settles overnight and day-two borscht is noticeably better than day-one. Reheat gently and add fresh dill at the table.

Do I have to serve it with sour cream?

No, but it is doing a job — the fat rounds off the acid. If you skip it, taste for salt again, because you will notice the sharpness more.