ReceptnaptárRed beetroot soup (barszcz)
Barszcz czerwony, a deep red beetroot soup, is one of the most important dishes of the Polish Christmas Eve supper, where it is served with tiny mushroom dumplings. Its gently sweet-sour flavour is light and refreshing, and its colour festive. Here it is made with sour cream and dill, but it can also be offered on its own in a mug, as is the custom in Polish homes.
Open in Receptnaptár — serving calculator, cook mode, save
Ingredients
Method
Tap a step once you've finished it.
- Wash the beetroots and put them whole, unpeeled, in a pot.
- Pour in the stock and add the bay leaf and half the crushed garlic.
- Bring to the boil over high heat, then cover and simmer over low heat for 40-45 minutes, until the beetroot is easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
- Take out the beetroots, let them cool until lukewarm, peel them and grate coarsely.
- Return the grated beetroot to the cooking liquid and add the rest of the garlic.
- Season with vinegar or lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper - the soup should be pleasantly sweet and sour.
- Simmer gently over low heat for another 5-10 minutes so the flavours blend, but don't boil it hard or the colour of the beetroot will fade.
- For a silkier soup, blend a ladleful with a stick blender and stir it back in.
- Taste before serving and adjust with more vinegar or salt if needed.
- Serve hot with a spoonful of sour cream and sprinkled with fresh dill.
A Receptnaptár original recipe. Calories and protein are estimated.
Tips
- Do not boil the grated beetroot hard, because vigorous boiling makes the soup fade; a slow simmer preserves the beautiful deep red colour.
- Add the sourness a little at a time and taste as you go, because the sweetness of beetroot varies greatly; the soup should taste rounded, not vinegary.
- Vinegar or lemon juice also helps to preserve the colour, so do not leave it out, even if you want a mild soup.
Frequently asked questions
What are uszka?
Tiny mushroom-filled dumplings whose name means little ears. They go into the soup at Christmas. Shop-bought tortellini or mushroom ravioli make a good substitute.
Can it be meat-free?
Yes, with vegetable stock it is entirely meat-free, and in Poland the Christmas version traditionally is. Leave out the sour cream and it becomes vegan.
Similar recipes
- Cold beetroot and kefir soup with dill (chłodnik litewski) · Polish
- Barszcz with white beans (Polish beetroot soup) · Polish
- Rote-Bete-Salat (beetroot salad with a vinegar-mustard dressing and dill) · German
- Beetroot Sauce · Hungarian
- Svekolnik (cold beet soup with kefir) · Russian
- Borscht (Russian beetroot-cabbage soup) · Russian
More polish ideas
- Zupa jarzynowa (Polish vegetable soup)
- Sour rye soup with sausage (żurek)
- Pearl barley soup with smoked meat (krupnik)
- Spiced tripe soup (flaki)
- Sauerkraut soup with mushrooms and dill (kapuśniak)
- Tomato soup with rice (zupa pomidorowa)
- Sour pickle soup with sour cream (zupa ogórkowa)
How to use it · Privacy (in Hungarian) · Legal notice (in Hungarian) · Editorial principles (in Hungarian) · Cookie settings