A simple delicious recipe for Borscht -a healthy, vegetarian beet and cabbage soup that can be made in an Instant Pot or on the stove top. Warming and nourishing, Borscht is full of flavor and nutrients! Vegan-adaptable and gluten-free.
No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. ―
The color of this soup almost feels therapeutic during the winter months! Bright and vibrant and full of healthy fresh veggies, Borscht nourishes body and soul. This version made by my friened Tonia is vegan, except for the dollop of sour cream (or yogurt ) on the top, but feel free to leave it off entirely or sub vegan yogurt. I find the little extra richness to be lovely.
Earthy, tangy and subtly sweet from the beets, Borscht is elevated with a generous sprinkling of fresh dill. A whisper of Spring.
Make it quickly in your instant pot or simmer it slowly on your stove – either way it is sure to delight. A little bit of color therapy, just when we need it most!
Borscht hails from Eastern Europe – Russia and the Ukraine – and is traditionally made with beef bone broth, giving it delicious depth to balance out the tartness. If so inclined feel free to use bone broth- or keep it vegan with veggie broth– up to you!
The fresh really dill elevates the Borscht – so be sure to include this!
We hope you enjoy this simple Borscht recipe – made with colorful beets, cabbage and fresh dill. Share your adaptions and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Related: Ethnic-inspired Instant Pot Recipes from Around the Globe!
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Simple Borscht Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: soup, vegan, instant pot, vegetarian, gluten-free
- Method: Instant pot, stove top
- Cuisine: Russian
Description
A simple delicious recipe for Borscht, a healthy, vegan-adaptable beet and cabbage soup that can be made in an Instant Pot or on the stove top. Warming and nourishing, Borscht is full of flavor and nutrients!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 6 large garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, sliced or diced small
- 1 extra large beet, thinly sliced, or small dice (approx. 2 cups)
- 2 cups red cabbage, shredded or chopped
- 1 cup beet stems and greens, chopped (optional or add another cup cabbage)
- 4 cups veggie broth (or chicken stock or traditional beef stock)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne (more to taste)
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup fresh dill, chopped
Garnish: dollop of sour cream, Greek yogurt or vegan yogurt
Instructions
Set Instapot to “saute” function.
Add the olive oil (or butter) and diced onions and sauté 4-5 minutes stirring often making sure onions do not stick. Add the rest of the veggies; garlic, celery, carrots, beets, cabbage, beet stems and greens and stir to coat with onions and oil.
Add the broth and tomato paste, spices, salt and pepper. Give and stir and press “cancel” button.
Place the lid on pot and lock, making sure steam release is pointed to Sealing. Press High Pressure and set to 10 minutes. When time is up, allow to naturally release for 5 minutes then place kitchen towel over the pressure release button and turn to manually release. Once the float valve drops, open the lid.
Stir in the apple cider vinegar. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
To serve, top with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt ( or vegan yogurt) and ample amounts of fresh dill.
Enjoy!!!
Notes
This can also be made on the stove top, in a similar fashion. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the onions, stirring 4-5 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add garlic, saute 2 minutes, then add celery, carrots, beets, cabbage, beet greens, stirring to coat. Add broth and tomato paste. Add spices, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer on low heat 20 minutes or until beets and carrots are tender.
Continue with recipe above, adding vinegar, adjusting salt and pepper.
Keywords: vegan Borscht, vegetarian Borscht, instant pot Borscht, easy borscht recipe, beet borscht, beet soup, beet cabbage soup,
One beet?!! You clearly are not Ukrainian. A good Ukrainian borscht recipe calls for enough shredded beets so that the spoon practically stands up before it’s cooked.
★
This is not a traditional borscht recipe, but still delicious. 🙂
This is not original recipe. I’d better get mine on stove. Which is longer but more delicious. And I’m from Ukraine.
Hi Inna- no it is not traditional- but it is still tasty. 🙂
Insanely delicious, and now my go to borscht recipe!! The only thing I changed was by adding one peeled, chopped potato to the soup. This is a glorious, rich and hearty bowl of borscht. Both my husband and I couldn’t stop going back for more.
★★★★★
This recipe is gold! Absolutely delicious… savoring every bite good. Definitely add the greek yogurt at the end with chopped fresh dill. MMmmm
★★★★★
So happy you liked it!
I love this recipe! Easy and so delicious!
I never have celery seed or allspice in the house, so I substituted in caraway seeds and thyme and it came out great.
Thanks for another great recipe!
★★★★★
The soup came out amazing in my instapot! My husband went to Poland and it tasted like he was there!!
★★★★★
I used this recipe with a little tweeking and love it very much. Bookmarked for next time for sure. Love the addition of cayenne and apple cider vinegar. I tweeked by adding cubed potatoes and using mushroom bouillon cubes instead of vegetable( basically because I ran out of vegetable), but will keep using the mushroom in future. I doubled the recipe and added an extra large beet- I love beets. Otherwise kept to your recipe and loved it. Thank you.
★★★★★
love how you make it your own! perfect.
Still my go-to borscht recipe year after year. I add half the salt and then squeeze a half of a fresh lemon after cooking to brighten it up and add freshness. I’m an omnivore, but I love this healthy, veggie packed comfort food during the winter. Simple and satisfying. Highly recommend!
★★★★★
I also add a tad more liquid (to stretch it) and I like to blend mine with an immersion blender at the end, because I like the smoothy, velvety texture!
mmmm…. creamy sounds nice!
so glad you like it!
This soup is absolutely delicious! The spices and apple cider vinegar work perfectly. I’ll definitely be making this again…so easy.
Thanks for another amazing recipe!
★★★★★
wonderful!
Thank goodness for additional spice and variations/fusion of original recipes!
Thank you. I made it today and it was delicious!
★★★★
appreciate that Amita 😊. glad you liked it!
There is a great article in the Washington Post about Borscht’s origin. Cuisine is Ukraine. Apple cider vinegar and cayenne do not belong in this dish. I’ve been making authentic borscht (taught by my immigrated grandparents) for decades. Suggestion to use plain sour cream rather than Greek yogurt.
★★
This is a twist on the traditional- I think if you tried you may be pleasantly surprised. 😉
Can you use canned beets?
This soup is great and I’ll definitely be making it again. I found 1 tsp celery seed a little overpowering for my taste so next time I’ll add 1/2 tsp dried dill and 1/4 tsp celery seed instead. To ease the celery seed flavour this time I added a few tablespoons of coconut milk and it was a lovely added touch!
Thank you Sylvia!
★★★★★