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–+ servings
young beet soup in a white bowl, cooked eggs and dill in the soup
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5 from 7 votes

Beet Greens Soup (Polish Botwinka Soup)

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Aleksandra

Ingredients

for the soup:

  • 2 tablespoons frying oil
  • 1.5 lbs (750g) potatoes, waxy variety
  • 3 large garlic cloves
  • 5 cups (1.3 liters) vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 large bunch young beets with their stems and leaves attached or 2 small bunches
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream 120 ml, 30-36%
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste

to serve:

  • a handful of dill
  • 6 hard-boiled eggs or more

Instructions

  • Prepare all the ingredients: peel and cut the potatoes into 1-inch (2.5cm) cubes, cut the garlic into thin slices, chop the dill finely. The beets: roughly cut the leaves, cut the stems into thin slices, peel the beetroots (use gloves!), and cut into thin slices (larger beets need to be cut into four parts and then into slices).
  • Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat, when it's hot add the potatoes. Cook over high heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally (do not stir for the first minute), until the potatoes brown a little.
  • Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
  • Add the broth and chopped beets (don't add the stems and leaves just yet). Bring to a boil, scrape all the browned bits and pieces of potatoes from the bottom of the pot with a spatula, and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes.
  • Add the chopped stems, stir, bring to a boil, cook for another 5 minutes.
  • Add the beetroot leaves and cook the soup briefly, for about 1-2 minutes, just until the leaves are wilted.
  • Temper the cream: add the cream to a cup together with a few tablespoons of the soup, stir and add back to the pot.
  • Take the pot off the heat, add the chopped dill and season the soup with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
  • Serve with hard-boiled eggs.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

  • It's not really Polish, but I like to add some feta cheese or other goat or sheep cheese if I have some on hand. Add it just before serving and crumble it into the soup.
  • Instead of lemon juice, you can add apple cider vinegar.
  • Instead of broth, you can add water. You can use vegetable or meat broth, like chicken broth.
  • The soup can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days, it can be warmed up, but it should not boil intensively (cream can curdle).
  • This soup can be frozen only before adding the cream.
  • Calories = 1 serving (1/6 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!

Nutrition

Calories: 282kcal