Easy Borscht Recipe

Spring weather is unpredictable – one day you’re ready to BBQ because it’s sunny and (somewhat) warm, and another day you may want comfort food when it’s blustery outside and a mix of snow and rain is on your window pane.

This recipe for borscht can be made stove-top, but if you’re working all day (even from home) it’s an easy way to prep it and forget it and let the flavors come together all day in the slow cooker!

My family’s traditional borscht (I’m Ukrainian and Romanian) is just beets, broth and dill. Many people make a borscht that’s more like a delicious hearty vegetable soup and that’s the kind I prefer to make at home (my mom can make me any kind she wants and I’ll eat it because it’s so darned good!)

If you don’t like a particular vegetable, or really like another, you can certainly play with the amounts called for in a borscht recipe. I don’t like shredding a head of cabbage so I cheat and add whatever coleslaw mix I happen to grab. This borscht has a yummy coleslaw mix that includes kale this time (my mom, the traditionalist, would probably disapprove).

Easy Borscht Recipe 

Ingredients

• 3 potatoes, diced
• 3 beets, diced
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup finely diced carrots
• 1 cup cut green beans
• 1 cup green peas
• 2 cups shredded cabbage (I cheat and use a coleslaw mix)
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 3 Tbsp chopped dill
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes (28oz)
• 2 cartons vegetable broth (900ml each)
• 4 cups water, as needed

Instructions

1. Combine the potatoes and beets in a large soup stock pot, and add just enough water to cover, then add salt and vinegar, and set to boil.
2. Next, add the carrots, beans, peas, cabbage, celery, garlic, parsley, dill, onion and tomatoes.
3. Add enough water to again cover all the vegetables in the pot.
4. Add 2 cartons vegetable broth and bring all to a boil, then set on low to simmer for 45m to 1 hour.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with sour cream.

Notes

The water added really depends on how big your pot is and how many vegetables are in it, to “add to cover” so it depends each time. You can always eliminate the water completely and use vegetable broth for all your liquid instead.

If you like measurements, rather than 3 potatoes, for example:
2 cups diced potatoes
(But truly, when making soup it’s really a little of this a little of that so you don’t need to be too precise!)