Vegan Borscht (Beetroot Soup)

This week, I had a lot of fresh beetroot on hand so I decided to make Vegan Borscht (beetroot soup) for the first time.

Vegan Borscht (Beetroot Soup) - Vegan and Gluten-Free

I love making fresh soups, because other than eating veggies straight-up, I find that a homemade soup is the best way to bring-out the great flavor of fresh vegetables. Nothing is more comforting, and yet the effort to make homemade soup is pretty minimal. Plus, I’m always shocked to see what grocery stores and specialty shops charge for “homemade” soup. You can easily make 3-4 times the amount for the same price… and then freeze it away for a busy/rainy/lazy day.

According to Wikipedia:

Borscht (also borsch, bortsch, borstch, borsh, borshch, or barszcz, Russian and Ukrainian: борщ) is a soup of Ukrainian origin that is popular in many Eastern and Central European countries. In most of these countries, it is made with beetroot as the main ingredient, giving it a deep reddish-purple color. In some countries tomato may occur as the main ingredient, while beetroot acts as a secondary ingredient. Other, non-beet varieties also exist, such as the tomato paste-based orange borscht and the green borscht (sorrel soup).

Anyway, as I was washing and prepping the beets for the vegan borscht, they started reminding me of something…

The elusive beet-mouse
The elusive beet-mouse

Adorable, right? Anyway, here are a few notes about the vegan borscht…

Notes – Vegan Borscht Recipe

  • I just used fresh diced beetroot instead of grating it and/or roasting it first.
  • Some Borscht recipes that I came across called for cabbage (about 1/2 a head), and/or tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, but I stuck with a beetroot base. At the very end I decided to add some cannellini beans and green peas. Determine your combination based on whether you plan on pureeing or serving it straight-up (I wouldn’t puree if you have a bunch of different veggies in there as it might turn into a brown gooey mess).
  • I ended-up blending half of the soup and leaving the other half chunky, but it could be left chunky too. If you grated the beetroots initially, I think it would have a really nice consistency straight-up.
  • I substituted vegetable broth for beef/chicken – hey, sometimes ethics trump tradition!
  • I used 3 cups of broth, which made a pretty thick soup/stew. You may want to double to 6 cups to make a lighter soup.
  • I didn’t have any caraway seeds on hand, so the taste was pretty mellow, but I would definitely add them if I had them.
  • Fresh dill is a must for this recipe (You can never go wrong with fresh herbs)!
  • You can serve this hot or cold – although I would probably puree it if you plan on serving it cold.
  • You may want to wear gloves when peeling/cutting the beets. Otherwise, you can rub your hands with a bit of lemon juice to remove any stains.
Beetroot
Beet Hands
Beetroot
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Vegan Borscht (Beetroot Soup)

This bright soup will liven-up any cold fall or winter day – Vegan & Gluten-Free

  • Author: Angela @ Vegangela.com
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 60 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
  • Yield: 4-6 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Cuisine: Eastern European

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 small onions, chopped
  • 23 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 medium beets, skin peeled, and diced
  • 3 cups vegetable broth (this makes a thick stew – use 6 cups if you want it really soupy)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
  • 3 tablespoons fresh dill
  • 1 can cannellini beans (optional)
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen green peas (optional)
  • vegan sour cream, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beets and sauté for another 5 minutes.
  2. Add broth, cover the pot and simmer until the beets are tender, about 40 minutes.
  3. If using, stir in the beans and peas and cook another 5 minutes.
  4. Season with lemon juice, caraway seeds, salt, pepper and dill.
  5. If pureeing, let the soup cool a little bit before pureeing with regular or immersion blender.
  6. Serve soup garnished with sour cream and fresh dill. Can be served hot or cold.

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Vegan Borscht (Beetroot Soup) - Vegan and Gluten-Free

Vegan Borscht (Beetroot Soup) - Vegan and Gluten-Free

29 thoughts on “Vegan Borscht (Beetroot Soup)”

  1. I adore borscht. I’ve made it with homemade vegetable stock or with oatstraw tea. Either way, it’s delicious. I FINALLY found a great vegan sour cream — Wayfare, which is made with butterbean aquafaba. Borscht, baked potato (most make it with peeled boiled potato, but the flavor’s in the peel), and Wayfare.
    By the way, sorrel soup is schav, not borscht.Health and peace

    Reply
  2. Borscht and Beetroot Soup are not the same. Definition for this recipe is lost in translation. They are different dishes, even they have similar ingredients. Beet soup is Russian dish and borscht is Ukrainian, and they prepared differently. Borscht does not have so many beets and has much more vegetables. Your version is looking more like a stew.

    Reply
  3. I made this today but only had 3 beets. I decided that was okay because I’m new to beets and somewhat new to vegan, whole plant based cooking. I added carrots and food-processed kale (I like to put some in soups to get my vitamins as I don’t like the taste) and substituted Apple cider vinegar for the lemon juice. The dill and beet taste is great! Next time, I won’t have beans in it and will have double the beets. I might add more fresh dill too. Thanks for making my introduction to beets a happy, tasty one!

    Reply
  4. I made this recipe a few weeks ago, and it was faaaaaaaaaaaantastic!!! I kept it thick and a little chunky, it was so rich and full of flavor!!
    Thank you so much for the great recipe, and I love your site!
    Cheers,
    Luna

    Reply
  5. A few notes from Eastern Europe: there is borscht and there is borscht 🙂

    The one with a lot of stuff in it like potatoes etc is called here ukrainian borscht, it’s made with stock etc.

    In Poland we have borscht for christmas and it’s on of the few polish soups that are 100% vegan as it was supposed to be suitable for the fasting time. My mum makes it this way, more or less, I can ask her for a precise recipe: you take a lot of beetroot (it doesn’t matter if you mince or grind it) and you cook them with a lot of water and then you wait one day and on the next day you cook the liquid again, this time with garlic and salt and on the third day you spice it with vinegar, salt, sugar and marjoram 🙂 Some people also use lemon juice. You can save some beetroot after day 1 if you like them in your soup.

    The 3rd one is called “botwinka” (botvinka) and it’s made from young leaves and fruit of beetroot, based on broth, “whitened” with sweet cream and served with egg and dill but I recently made a vegan version with coconut milk and it was as good as I remember. The right proportions of lemon juice and coconut milk are crucial for this one and A LOT of dill 🙂

    As I know them ukrainian borscht is served sometimes with meat and it’s very “rich”; the polish one is in a way very spicy and botwinka is the most delicate one in taste.

    Reply
  6. Thank you for posting this recipe! I tried it tonight with a beet “windfall” from my farm share, and it did not disappoint!! I subbed out red wine vinegar for the lemon, and used soy yogurt (plain) instead of vegan sour cream. It was fantastic!

    Reply
  7. I’m sorry, but what a bullshit recepie! Borscht or Barszcz is never blended and its really rarely cooked with any meat. You have made a red beet paste not a soup, so please don’t call it borscht.
    thank you

    Reply
  8. Traditionally this soup can be made in 15 minutes once the broth has been set up. Lemon juice isn’t seasoning, it’s to keep the colour of the soup. :p

    Reply
    • Hi Ani, Thanks for your comments. How would the beets cook in only 15 minutes? Is that if you roast them beforehand? Good info on the lemon juice. The color of this soup is one of the best things about it!

      Reply
      • This looks tasty! Serious Eats said can saute the thinly cut (matchstick sized) or shredded veg beforehand for about 5 minutes and then throw into broth and cook for about 20 minutes. Not sure if that is what is meant by ani. Thanks for cool twists on traditional version!

        Reply
  9. I wouldn’t substitute with beans and peas, borscht is beetroot, potatoes, carrot, fresh herby greens and a little little little bit of cabbage! Not too much!

    I tried to make it a couple of weeks ago from my grandma’s recipe, but I failed ..bad stock – not fresh 🙁

    well done on your attempt though 😀

    Reply
    • Hi Ani – I picked those veggies as I saw them mentioned in a few of the other recipes that I came across. However, in the end, they really got lost in the soup and you couldn’t really see them anyway. I’d probably go with 100% beetroot next time, or a bit of cabbage if I have it on hand…

      Reply
  10. Oooh, this looks good. I am currently looking for Beetroot recipes, I grew them in March and they may be ready to eat soon, i’ll keep this in mind! (Adorable mouse pic!)

    Reply
  11. I love the hue of this soup! Looks nice and hearty too. I bet it would make for an amazing meal on a warm summer night!

    Reply
  12. This looks delicious! I just cooked with beets yesterday and my hands looked just like yours! I’ve started putting paper towels between the cutting board and beets just so it doesn’t get any more stained than it is. LOL.

    Reply
    • Thank you lady-with-a-great-name 🙂 That’s a good tip for the beets. I’m almost thinking of getting a dedicated beet cutting board. Maybe a purple one? 🙂

      Reply
    • Thanks JL 🙂 I’m normally a big fan of puree soups but I really liked the heartiness of this one. I pretty much never wear gloves (dishes, gardening, etc). Guess I like to get my hands dirty? 😉

      Reply
    • Hi Hannah – Thanks for your comment! Yes, this is very hearty indeed. I don’t think that many people like beets… but I love them and think they look so beautiful as a soup 🙂

      Reply

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