What could be better than fragrant and rich borscht? Hearty, tasty and thick, it will appeal to even those who do not like first courses in life. Do you still think that its preparation is magic only for experienced chefs? But we have collected 8 step-by-step recipes for Ukrainian borscht that even a beginner can handle!
1. Classic Ukrainian borscht
Be sure to serve this borscht with sour cream, garlic, herbs and black bread.
You will need: 500 g meat on the bone, 200 g beets, 150 g cabbage, 110 g potatoes, 100 g carrots, 100 g onions, 2 tbsp. tomato paste, 3 tsp vinegar, 3 tsp sugar, spices.
Cooking:
1. Cut all vegetables into thin strips, and potatoes into small sticks.
2. Pour the meat with 2 liters of water, salt, bring to a boil, remove the foam and cook until the meat begins to move away from the bone. This is approximately 1.5 hours.
3. Send most of the beets to a pan with salt and sugar, fry for a couple of minutes, add tomato paste and vinegar. Warm up for a couple of minutes, add some water and simmer for 40 minutes over low heat.
4. Pour the remaining beets with a spoonful of vinegar with a glass of water, bring to a boil and remove from heat – for a beautiful color of borscht.
5. Fry the onion until soft, add carrots to it and fry for 10-15 minutes.
6. Add potatoes to the boiling broth, and after 10 minutes – chopped cabbage. After another 10 minutes – frying and beets. And after 5 minutes, season the borscht and pour in the beetroot decoction. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and let steep.
2. Ukrainian borscht with smoked lard
For those who love even more satisfying and rich borscht!
You will need: 500 g beets, 150 g smoked lard, 250 g potatoes, 500 g cabbage, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 500 g beef, 1 lemon, 2 tbsp. tomato paste.
Cooking: Cut the beef into pieces and coarsely chop 1 onion, add water and boil the broth for 1-1.5 hours. Cut the fat and fry it in a pan. Add grated beets, carrots and finely chopped onions to it, and when the frying becomes the same color, season it with tomato paste and fry for another minute.
Put the frying and finely chopped half of the lemon into the broth for brightness. After 10 minutes, add chopped cabbage, and after another 15 – diced potatoes. Boil borscht for another 15 minutes, and season at the end.
3. Ukrainian borscht with pork ribs
Borscht on ribs is ideal for home cooking.
You will need: 500 g pork ribs, 250 g beets, 400 g potatoes, 400 g cabbage, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 3 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp. tomato paste, spices, herbs.
Cooking: Cover the ribs with water and boil until tender, so that the meat begins to move away from the bone. Cut the beets into thin slices, fry and add tomato paste, half the garlic, a spoonful of sugar and spices to it, and then simmer for 30 minutes under a lid over low heat.
Finely chop the onion, grate the carrots and fry them until golden. Add potatoes, shredded cabbage, zazharki and beets to the broth, and cook under the lid for another 20 minutes. Season the borscht, add garlic and herbs, and boil for a couple more minutes.
4. Quick Ukrainian borscht with chicken
Not quite a classic, but very tasty lightweight borscht recipe with chicken broth.
You will need: 500 g chicken, 1 beetroot, 1 carrot, 3 potatoes, 3 tbsp. tomato paste, 1 pepper, 2 onions, spices.
Cooking: Cut the chicken into large pieces and boil for 20-30 minutes after boiling. Finely grate the beets and fry for 10 minutes, and then put in the broth.
After another 10 minutes, add potato cubes, and after 5 – fry onions, carrots and peppers. At the very end, add tomato paste to the borscht, season, mix and remove from heat after a couple of minutes.
5. Ukrainian borscht with beans
Soak dry beans overnight and then boil for an hour.
You will need: 150 g beans, 350 g cabbage, 1 carrot, 50 g celery root, 4 potatoes, 1 tbsp. sugar, 200 ml tomato juice, 600 g pork, 1 onion, 1 beetroot, spices.
Cooking: Boil the meat until cooked, chop the cabbage, cut the potatoes into cubes, chop the onion and grate the carrots, beets and celery. Send part of all vegetables to the broth, and fry the rest until soft.
Season the roast, add sugar to it and simmer a little more. Pour in the tomato juice and keep simmering for 10-15 minutes. Send potatoes and cabbage to the broth, and after 10 minutes – beans, spices and frying. After another 10-15 minutes, remove the borscht from the heat.
6. Ukrainian borscht with mushrooms
If you prefer dried mushrooms, first fill them with boiling water, and only then chop and add to borscht.
You will need: 300 g meat, 250 g cabbage, 200 g mushrooms, 80 g tomato paste, 2 tomatoes, 1 tbsp. tomato paste, 1 onion, 1 pepper, 1 beetroot, 1 carrot, 5 potatoes, spices, herbs.
Cooking: Pour the meat with water and boil until tender. Lightly fry the grated carrots, add pepper and onion to it, and after a couple of minutes – beets. Carcasses all together, and at the end add diced tomatoes and tomato.
Send potatoes to the boiling broth, and after 5 minutes – mushrooms. When the potatoes are cooked, add fried cabbage and cabbage to the borsch, season, and bring to readiness. At the end sprinkle greens, bring to a boil again and remove from heat.
7. Ukrainian borscht with dumplings
Dumplings are cooked in just a couple of minutes, so it won’t take long!
You will need: 350 g meat, 1 parsnip root, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 3 potatoes, 1 beetroot, 150 g cabbage, 120 g flour, 1 egg, spices, 2 tbsp. vinegar, 200 ml tomato puree.
Cooking: Boil the meat until tender with coarsely chopped parsnips and 1 carrot, and then remove the vegetables. Chop the cabbage, cut the potatoes and send to the broth. Chop the remaining carrots, onions and beets and fry until soft.
Pour grated tomatoes into the frying, season, simmer for 15 minutes and add vinegar at the end. Send the roast to the pot. Mix the egg with flour into a soft dough, roll into a sausage and cut into pieces. Add the dumplings to the borscht 5 minutes before the potatoes are ready.
8. Ukrainian borscht with tomatoes
We tell you how easy it is to cook Ukrainian borscht if there is no tomato paste!
You will need: 600 g meat, 4 potatoes, 1 head of cabbage, 2 carrots, 1 onion, spices, 2 tomatoes, 1 tsp. vinegar, 1 beet, greens.
Cooking: Coarsely chop the meat and boil until tender. Send potatoes to the pan, and after 5 minutes – cabbage. Rub the beets on a coarse grater, fry, pour a glass of broth and vinegar, and simmer for 20 minutes under the lid.
Separately, fry the onions with carrots, stew with a small amount of broth, and send the roast to the soup along with beets and spices. Boil everything for a couple of minutes, add greens and chopped tomatoes, season, bring to readiness and let the borscht brew.