Vegetarian Beetroot Soup (Borscht)
, Updated Mar 30, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Vegetarian Beetroot Soup (Borscht) – easy to make, packed with flavor and delicious hot or cold. Serve with sour cream, fresh dill and puff pastry hearts ❤️
If you are heeding the health advise of not just eating more vegetables but eating a wider variety of vegetables, then this beet soup recipe is for you. This vibrant soup is loaded with beetroot, carrot, onion, tomatoes and even apple. Talk about variety!
And if you are not familiar, Borscht (also known as Borshch and Borsht) is wildly popular in Eastern European countries where there’s probably as many versions of this recipe as there are cooks.
Borscht Ingredients
Some Borscht recipes call for beef broth and have meat in them – this simple version is made only with vegetables. Let’s take a look at the key ingredients:
- Beetroot: use fresh raw beetroot and scrub it clean before peeling and grating. Pickled beetroot is not suitable for this recipe.
- Vegetable broth: low sodium canned vegetable broth or stock made using stock cubes or bouillon powder.
- Sour cream is traditionally paired with beetroot soup. Replace with a plant-based alternative or leave out altogether for a vegan variation of this recipe.
The soup is incredibly simple to make if you employ a food processor to grate the vegetables. It is not all that complicated, but certainly more laborious, to make by hand… but be warned that beets have a tendency to stain everything. So use the food processor or wear gloves to avoid bright red hands!
Serve as a starter or a light lunch with plenty of crusty bread and sour cream.
Take a look at my other soup recipes!
HAVE YOU MADE MY BORSCHT RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day! If you have any questions send me a message on Instagram and I will do my best to reply quickly.
Vegetarian Borscht (Beetroot Soup)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large beetroot peeled
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 large onion peeled
- 1 large carrot peeled
- 1 small crisp apple peeled (optional)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 14 oz (400g) crushed tomatoes
- 8 ½ cups (2 lt) vegetable broth or stock made with cubes / bouillon
- 2 bay leaves
- pinch ground cloves
- pinch ground allspice
- salt and freshly ground pepper to season
- fresh dill to garnish
- sour cream to serve
- a little olive oil to drizzle
Instructions
- Coarsely grate all the vegetables and apple – ideally using a food processor. If grating by hand, use a large box grater and take care to take as beetroot can stain your worktop (and certainly your hands).3 large beetroot, 2 celery sticks, 1 large onion, 1 large carrot, 1 small crisp apple
- Add the butter and olive oil to a large pot and heat until butter melts.1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil
- Tip all the grated vegetables/apple into the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, cloves and allspice and season with salt and pepper.14 oz (400g) crushed tomatoes, 2 bay leaves, pinch ground cloves, pinch ground allspice
- Add the broth / stock and bring to the boil. Lower heat to a simmer, partially cover the pot and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.8 ½ cups (2 lt) vegetable broth
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Stir in a good handful of chopped fresh dill or add a little as a garnish.fresh dill , salt and freshly ground pepper
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a drizzle of olive oil and the puff pastry hearts if using.sour cream, a little olive oil
Notes
- To make the puff pastry hearts, use pre-rolled puff pastry and cut out shapes using a small heart cutter. Brush with egg wash and cook in a preheated oven (220C/425F) for about 8 minutes or until puffed and golden.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
My Lithuanian grandmother used to make her version of Borscht called kaligneka. (Not sure of the correct spelling) I was very young but do remember the ingredients being shredded beets, scallions, cucumbers and sour cream. I don’t recall if she used other seasoning, but it was served chilled with ice cubes floating in it. Very refreshing in the summers of yesteryear without air conditioning.
Do you cook the beets before
Peeling them?
No they cook in the soup – you peel them uncooked. You might want to wear gloves as they can stain your hands bring pink!
The colour of this is stunning! I’ve been trying to eat lots of soups and stews for lunch to be a bit healthier, I’ll put this one on my to-make list 🙂
I am positive you will love this Hannah! It’s got such a unique sweet/sour taste. Totally addictive!