The best Beef Borscht Soup is made with short ribs, bone broth, beets, and cabbage. Topped with sour cream and fresh dill, this traditional Russian recipe is a great comfort meal for the Fall and Winter seasons!
If you want to try a traditional Russian/Ukrainian Borsch Soup (also known as Red Beet Soup/Beetroot Soup), you definitely need to try this recipe! Similar to Pelmeni Recipe, this is a staple in Eastern Europe region.
Despite taking some time to make, it’s totally worth the effort! This delicious comforting soup is made with rich bone broth from short ribs and packed with vegetables, like beets, cabbage, onions, and potatoes. And if your picky kids usually turn away from the veggies, they will love this soup!
Also, you might like a Summer version of this recipe, Cold Beet Soup.
Table of contents
Borscht Ingredients
- Bone-in Short Ribs
- Onion
- Carrots
- Beets
- Potato
- Cabbage
- Tomato Paste
- Salt, Sugar
- Parsley, Dill
- Sour Cream (for serving) (skip if you follow Whole 30 and Dairy Free diets)
How to make the recipe
Make Bone Broth
To start, we need to make the broth. Like in the stew recipe, we want to sear the meat first to enhance the flavor.
Preheat a large skillet on high and sear short ribs for about 5 minutes on each side.
When done, transfer the short ribs into a large pot and add 16 cups of water. Bring it to boil, then reduce the heat to medium/low and let it simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is cooked and falls from the bone.
Sauté the vegetables
While the meat is cooking, chop the onion, grate carrots and the beets.
Preheat the skillet you used to sear the short ribs with the remaining fat, add chopped onion. Cook for about 10-15 minutes over medium heat or until the onion becomes translucent and get golden in color.
Add grated carrots and beets. Stir and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add tomato paste, teaspoon of salt and sugar. Cook for another 10 minutes. When done, remove from the heat.
Combine all ingredients
When the meat is cooked, add chopped potatoes and shredded cabbage. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
Then add the onion/carrot/beet mixture and chopped parsley and dill. Cook for another 10 minutes.
While it’s cooking, take out the meat. Shred the meat and separate it from the bones and fat, then return shredded meat to the soup.
Turn of the heat, cover with the lid and let the soup seat for another 10-15 minutes before serving.
When serving, scoop a tablespoon of sour cream on top with more chopped dill.
Tips for Best Results
- Searing the meat is a very important step that you don’t want to skip. It will add a lot of flavor to the dish as well as texture.
- Making bone broth is very simple. The longer you cook the meat, the more tender it will be and richer the broth will be.
- Searing the vegetables (onions, carrots, and beets) is another vital step. It not just precooks the ingredients, making them softer, but also enhances the flavors.
Storage and Reheating
Storage. You can keep the soup in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This Borscht will actually taste better on 2nd and 3rd days, as all the flavors will meld together. This is a great recipe for meal prep!
Reheat. You can reheat it in any pot or a sauce pan over medium heat.
Freezing. This soup is perfect for freezing. When it’s completely cooled off, just transfer to a freezer friendly air-tight container and freeze up to 2 moths. To thaw, just leave in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat as mentioned above.
Frequently Asked Questions
I really like to use bone-in short ribs when making Borscht. The reason is the bone meat will always give the best broth, rich with lots of flavor.
When you work with raw beets, I would always suggest you to use gloves, as they will leave stains on your skin. To peel the beets, use a regular peeler, like the one you use for potatoes.
Russet potatoes work best in this recipe. Because they are more starchy, they better hold their shape.
When serving Borscht, top it with some sour cream and fresh chopped dill. I also love having some freshly baked Easy Dinner Rolls, Potato Rolls, or Homemade Sandwich Bread.
The classic soup should be sweet and tangy with a little bit of earthy flavor. It gets a lot of sweetness from the root vegetables, like carrots and beets.
Hungry for more Soup?
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup
- Pasta e Fagioli Soup
- Instant Pot Taco Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- White Bean Soup Recipe
- Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
- Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup
- Chili Soup
- Carrot and Lentil Soup
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
Borscht Soup with Beef
Ingredients
- 2 pounds bone-in short ribs 4 short ribs
- 16 cups water
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cups beets grated (2 small or 1 large)
- 2 cups carrots grated (2 medium)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Salt to taste
- 4 cups cabbage shredded
- 4 potatoes diced
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup parsley chopped
- 1 cup dill chopped
- Sour cream for serving (skip if you follow Whole 30 and Dairy Free diets)
Instructions
- Preheat large skillet on high and sear short ribs for about 5 minutes on each side.
- When done, transfer the short ribs into a large pot and add 16 cups of water. Bring it to boil, then reduce the heat to medium/low and let it simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is cooked and falls from the bone.
- Meanwhile, chop the onion, grate carrots and the beets.
- Preheat the skillet you used to sear the short ribs with the remaining fat, add chopped onion. Cook for about 10-15 minutes over medium heat or until the onion becomes translucent and get golden in color.
- Add grated carrots and beets. Stir and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, teaspoon of salt and sugar. Cook for another 10 minutes. When done, remove from the heat.
- When the meat is cooked, add chopped potatoes and shredded cabbage. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
- Then add the onion/carrot/beet mixture and chopped parsley and dill. Cook for another 10 minutes.
- While it’s cooking, take out the meat. Shred the meat and separate it from the bones and fat, then return shredded meat to the soup.
- Turn of the heat, cover with the lid and let the soup seat for another 10-15 minutes before serving.
- When serving, scoop a tablespoon of sour cream on top with more chopped dill.
Notes
- Searing the meat is a very important step that you don’t want to skip. It will add a lot of flavor to the dish as well as texture.
- Making bone broth is very simple. The longer you cook the meat, the more tender it will be and richer the broth will be.
- Searing the vegetables (onions, carrots, and beets) is another vital step. It not just precooks the ingredients, making them softer, but also enhances the flavors.
- Storage. You can keep the soup in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This Borscht will actually taste better on 2nd and 3rd days, as all the flavors will meld together. This is a great recipe for meal prep!
I have made this soup a few times! I absolutely love this recipe and it tastes so close to my grandmas’s borscht. I do have a question in regards to the water boiling down as you cook the short ribs. My water with the ribs seems to boil down to about 4 cups. How much liquid should I be left with?
amazing recipe, thanks so much for providing this! 5 stars <3
My husband is Russian and this recipe is the only one I’ve found to replicate his grandmother’s. We do lamb instead of beef, always turns out delicious. 10 out of 10!
I am not sure when I first found your recipe, maybe three or four years ago, but it is the recipe I return to time and time again. My favourite thing about your recipe is using beef short ribs to make bone broth and to add meat to the borscht. The flavour is outstanding and brings the feeling of comfort everytime I enjoy a bowl of it. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Can’t wait to try this, a part of my Russian heritage!!
Just wondering why you call it ‘Borscht Soup’ when the word Borscht in Ukrainian translates to ‘Soup’ in English so it’s a redundant name – i.e. Calling it soup soup with beef
Great recipe, it turned out flavorful and delicious! I make this once a year on valentines day because it’s so pretty and pink perfect for a valentines date night at home that is sure to impress!
Thank you, Elisha! Glad you enjoy this recipe 😉
The recipe looks delicious. Do u think I could use yams instead of potatoes ?
Hi Diane, It’s better to use Russet or Yellow Gold potatoes for this soup. Yams will change the flavors significantly.
This recipe is absolutely amazing. I do admit that I made a couple of small changes. I seared the beef, removed it, cooked the vegetables in the same pot I seared the meat in, set veggies aside, added beef and water to the pot and simmered on low overnight. Then I removed beef and let the broth chill overnight. I then, added the cooked veggies to the broth, cooked the potatoes until barely soft, added beef and cooked on low for about an hour, then added the cabbage and cooked for about 20-30 minutes. My fiancé said it was heaven and I was never allowed to let his mother taste it because it was by far… Way better than hers and his grandmother’s.
Thank you! Glad you and your fiance loved the soup 😉
My husband is Russian and we’ve been married for almost 5 months. He really likes Borscht but so far we’ve only had it on the few times his mom makes it. In an effort to learn how to make some of his favorite Russian food I found your recipe and he really enjoyed how it came out! It was really tasty and he really liked it . Borscht is his favorite so I’ll be adding your Borscht to my recipe journal for future meals
Thank you so much, Danny! I’m so glad your husband loved this recipe!
This recipe is amazing and very much authentic. I’m Eastern European and grew up on borscht…at home, at family gatherings, at friends’ homes, restaurants, etc. This recipe hits the spot!! The only thing I changed was I added more salt and took out the sugar, since beets are already pretty sweet. Also, when I have some, I add sour kraut (bonus points if I can get from an Eastern European food store). If not, I squeeze a lemon or two to add some tartness to it. Of course this is more of a personal preference but this happens to be mine so I figured I’d share.
Thank you so much, Lana! This is such a great idea to add sour kraut to the soup, I need to try it next time I make it 😉
I found this recipe and made it when my adult daughter requested borscht for her birthday dinner. It was so delicious, and everyone liked it. She and a friend then made it for their friend group they share Sunday brunches with. Instead of using thr short ribs, I cooked a chuck roast in my Instant pot with onion, salt and pepper and water for 70 minutes which makes the meat very tender. I then used the broth from that and added additional boxed beef broth and some water to make the soup base. I shredded some of the beef and added that as well. Really, this recipe is very good.
Thank you so much, Jane! I’m glad that chuck roast worked for you in this recipe. This is a good alternative to short ribs 😉
I have never had borscht. I’ve been reading about Ukrainian food and decided to try this recipe. I was was really good and hearty. I made the recipe as written to get the authentic flavor. I’m going to take this to work for lunch this week. The only thing I will do different next time is add salt. It had the hint of sweetness from the vegetables and sugar,…but for my personal taste, I’d prefer it with a little more salt.
Thank you so much, Angela! So happy you enjoyed this soup! Traditional borscht is suppose to be tangy and sweet, as it gets a lot of sweetness from the beets.
This recipe was a huge success with my family! I followed the recipe closely aside from throwing in a few extra spices such as coriander, dill and garlic. It was a lot easier than I had anticipated. Will definitely make this one again!
Thank you so much Sydney! I’m so glad you like the recipe! It’s really much easier to make that it might seem at first 😉
making this recipe for the second time today! sooooo amazing love it thank you
Thank you so much, Megan! So glad you loved this recipe! It’s also one of my favorite soups!
Can the Golden Beets be used instead of the red ones ?
Hi Debbie! Borscht soup is famous for it classic red color, which comes from the red beets. You can use the golden beets, but the soup won’t look the same and might have some difference in taste.
I made your soup today it turned out great. The colour was so nice and it was delicious also. My family and my mom all enjoyed this as well. Thanks for the recipe. It was only my second time ever making Borscht. The first time I made it with ham, next I want to try pork shoulder! I want to see which I like best. Thanks for your spin on it with beef.
Thank you, Jen! I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe!
Wow sounds incredible! I’ve been getting lots of beets in my organic vegetable deliveries and have been looking for new recipes, making this for our Christmas dinner tomorrow! Thanks for sharing
Thank you, Ashley! Let me know how you liked it 😉
That’s one perfect soup on chili days. It’s looks so hearty and absolutely delicious! Cannot wait to try this soup.
Never knew the secret was to use bone-in short ribs! I’ve been on and off Whole30 and can’t wait to try this healthy soup – looks so savory! Its about 90 here right now though (Florida), so will try out in another couple weeks .
I can’t get over how gorgeous your photos are! This soup looks stunning!
Oh my friend, I cannot wait to make this soup! We’ve been wanting to try a good Borscht soup and a few recipes I’ve looked into leave me wanting but I love all the hearty ingredients here. Your pictures are amazing, by the way! Thanks for sharing this, Veronika.
I’ve been a little obsessed with beets this fall, and borscht soup seems like a must-make. With those beef short ribs this soup would be something my entire family would love. Great colour too. It looks so fall-ish!
Oh this is so gorgeous! And really, it doesn’t sound difficult at all! Your step-by-step photos are lovely and really helped me see how the recipe would all come together – thanks for all the helpful tips every step of the way!
Fantastic colors that make me want to make this soup ASAP! I mean this is the ultimate way to warm up during colder days and definitely a wonderful way to treat your loved ones – yum!
I love how beets can turn the color of any dish into something magical. This soup is stunning and will be a huge hit at our house this season.
Fall is here and Winter will soon to come! This Borscht Soup recipe is just so perfect to have. It looks really delicious and really comforting.