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+ servings
Polish borscht soup served with mashed potatoes, onions, and bacon.
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4.80 from 5 votes

Barszcz - Polish Beet Soup

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
baking the beets1 hour
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Aleksandra

Ingredients

for the soup:

  • 1 lb beets (450g) 2 medium/large beets
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 6 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon marjoram
  • 3 tablespoons chopped dill
  • salt and pepper to taste

additionally:

  • 2 lbs (1 kg) starchy potatoes, like russets
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon frying oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 medium/large onions
  • 8 slices bacon

Instructions

  • Wrap the beets in aluminum foil and bake for about an hour at 400°F (200°C) or until they can be easily pierced with a fork (small beets can be done after 45 minutes, medium after about an hour, large need about an hour and a half).
  • While the beets are baking prepare the sides: cook potatoes until soft, mash them with 3 Tbsp butter and 1/4 cup milk while still hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Dice the onion, cut the bacon into cubes. Heat the oil and 2 Tbsp of butter in a large frying pan. Add the onions and bacon, cook over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes or until the onions are soft, lightly caramelized, and the bacon is browned. Transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels. (If you want the bacon super crispy cook it separately from the onions.)
  • When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel them and grate on the large holes of a box grater (use gloves!).
  • Add the beets to a large pot, add the broth. Bring to a boil, add the vinegar, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  • Temper the cream: add both types of cream to a cup, gradually add a couple of tablespoons of hot soup, stirring after each addition. Add the tempered cream to the pot. You can also mix this in a food processor (it's easier to perfectly combine the sour cream with the soup). Add the tempered cream to the soup.
  • Add marjoram, lemon juice, chopped dill, and sugar. Season the soup with salt and pepper then adjust the seasonings to your taste - add more vinegar or lemon juice if it's too sweet or add more sugar if it's too sour. The soup should have a distinct flavor and taste sweet and sour.
  • Put some mashed potatoes into a soup plate, pour in some soup, top the potatoes with bacon and onions (you can also serve mashed potatoes, onions, and bacon on a separate plate).
  • Enjoy!

Notes

  • Broth - use good-quality broth for the best-tasting soup, lots of people make this soup based on a vegetarian broth or rosół soup (Polish chicken soup) which often serves as a base for Polish soups. Rosol soup can be made with chicken or chicken and beef meat. If you have a good quality beef soup, you can add half chicken broth and half beef broth (I like to make rosół with chicken and beef meat (50:50) and use it to make this soup). If you don't have a good quality beef broth, use just store-bought chicken broth, which usually tastes much better than beef broth.
  • Is it necessary to bake beets? No, actually most Polish recipes call for cooking beets in chicken or beef broth, but I have made two batches of this soup - one with roasted beets and one with boiled beets and the one with roasted beets was so much better. Roasted beets are sweeter and have a more concentrated flavor.
  • Calories = 1 serving (1/6 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!

Nutrition

Calories: 392kcal