Medium | Servings: 6 | Ready In: 60 minutes | Yield: 10 cups
Sweet beets pair with other sweet root vegetables for this hearty oil-fee soup. Savory onion, leeks, and cabbage create balanced, satisfying flavor. This classic recipe is a must-have for cold winter nights. Serve with Pumpernickel Avocado Toast, Vegan Kale Waldorf Salad, or Roasted Sweet Potatoes for a healthy, plant-based dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 small onions, thinly sliced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 1 medium leek, trimmed and sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 2 parsnips, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 2 large beets, diced
- 2 cups chopped cabbage (about 1/8 head), roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup chopped dill, to garnish
How It’s Done:
To make the Beet Cabbage Borscht: Place the onion, celery, and leeks in a large pot. Sprinkle on the marjoram and a dash of salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat, 7 minutes, stirring often. When the onions and celery start sticking to the bottom of the pan, they are down sweating. Try not to get any color on the vegetables. If that happens, add a splash of water and lower your heat.
While the aromatic vegetables, you can prep the parsnips, carrots, beets, cabbage, and garlic, if needed. Dice the parsnips, carrots, and beets. Roughly chop the cabbage and garlic.
When the onion mix is done sweating, add the parsnips, carrots, beets, cabbage, garlic, bay leaf, and the 4 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer 45-50 minutes, until the beets are completely tender.
To finish the Beet Cabbage Borscht: Remove the bay leaf. Add the black pepper and remaining salt. Use an immersion blender or stand blender to puree the soup. Add 1 tablespoon of the red wine vinegar. Taste and adjust the amount of vinegar you’d like. More vinegar will add a more acidic, bright flavor. You just want enough to make it “pop”…but you don’t want vinegar soup.
Garnish the Borscht with the chopped dill and serve.
Serve with Pumpernickel Avocado Toast, Vegan Kale Waldorf Salad, or Roasted Sweet Potatoes for a healthy, plant-based dinner.
Yield: 10 cups
Chef Katie’s Tips:
Easy Pureeing: An immersion blender makes it quick and easy to puree this soup. Instead of having to ladle hot soup into a regular bar blender, you keep everything in the pot.
Freezer-Friendly: This recipe is very freezer-friendly. After pureeing the soup, portion into smaller containers and freeze.
Acid Brightness: The acidity in the vinegar helps make the flavor “pop”. Taste to adjust to your preference, but you shouldn’t need more than 3 tablespoons. You can also Sherry vinegar for a less-acidic pop of flavor.
Slow Cooker: This recipe works great for the Slow Cooker. Place everything except the vinegar in the Slow Cooker. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours. Remove the bay leaf, puree, and add vinegar to your tastes.
Instapot: This recipe also works great for the Instapot. Place everything except the vinegar in the Instapot. Cook on “Beans” setting for Medium time. When finished, remove the bay leaf, puree, and add vinegar to your tastes.
Chef’s Homage: This recipe is based off a 2010 recipe for Borscht by Epicurious. Their version uses beef broth, vegetable oil, and sour cream. I’m on a mission to give you oil-free, vegan recipes so my version is 100% plant-based.
Watch to Learn More:
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/6 of a recipe (about 1 3/4 cups).
Calories 118.53
Calories From Fat (4%) 4.21
% Daily Value
- Total Fat 0.5g <1%
- Saturated Fat 0.09g <1%
- Cholesterol 0mg 0%
- Sodium 269.57mg 11%
- Potassium 666.27mg 19%
- Total Carbohydrates 27.6g 9%
- Fiber 7.54g 30%
- Sugar 9.91g
- Protein 2.98g 6%
- Calcium 29.65mg 3%
- Iron 80.78mg 449%
- Vitamin A 2299.51IU 46%
- Vitamin C 0.14mg <1%
Shopping and Gear List
- Frontier Co-op Organic Chili Powder Blend, 1 Pound Bulk Bag
- McCormick Gourmet Organic Ground Cumin, 1.5 oz
- The Spice Hunter Marjoram, Mediterranean, Leaves, 0.3-Ounce Jar
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