When one of our friends visited Turkey many years ago, an elderly Turkish woman served him this. Although she has since died away, her recipe is still in use. The recipe makes the greatest borscht I’ve ever tasted. Serve with more dill weed, sour cream, and diced fresh tomatoes on top.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups thinly sliced potatoes
- 1 cup thinly sliced beets
- 4 cups vegetable stock or water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 ½ cups chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon caraway seed (Optional)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 large carrot, sliced
- 3 cups coarsely chopped red cabbage
- black pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon fresh dill weed
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup tomato puree
- sour cream, for topping
- chopped tomatoes, for garnish
Instructions
- Place sliced potatoes and beets in a medium saucepan over high heat; cover with stock, and boil until vegetables are tender. Remove potatoes and beets with a slotted spoon, and reserve stock.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, caraway seeds, and salt; cook until onions become soft and translucent. Then stir in celery, carrots, and cabbage. Mix in reserved stock; cook, covered, until all vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add potatoes and beets to the skillet. Season with black pepper and dill weed. Stir in cider vinegar, honey, and tomato puree. Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer at least 30 minutes. Serve topped with sour cream, extra dill weed, and chopped fresh tomatoes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 128 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 20 g |
| Cholesterol | 11 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 908 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I added bay leaf and sliced beef, so delish!
At every step I needed a lot more water. I’m not sure what tomato purée is. So I used half a cup of tomato paste. It drowned out all the subtle flavors, so I ended up with spaghetti sauce.
Delicious! I left out the potatoes (didn’t have any) and the caraway seeds ( just don’t like them), and it was still really good! It may not be completely authentic but in the end, it was easy and delicious and reminded me of my grandparents… Thank you
I also added parsnips and turnips
This recipe is wonderful. It really needs little in the way of additions. I add celeriac as I do to all soups for a little extra flavour. I don’t love store bought vegetable broth so add sacrificial veggies, long pieces of celery, carrot etc. I can fish out after long cooking. Fresh dill is a must. A dash of crushed chilis for a little kick.
My family love this borscht! I usually puree it when done because I seem to like my soups smooth.
I like it!
Delicious. Not my mother’s borscht (she used to make it with meat) but loved it and I’m saving the recipe. I added a couple of bay leaves and 3 whole allspice. Instead of slicing the beets and potatoes I cut them into small cubes.
Very similar to the Moosewood Cookbook recipe
I made this exactly as the recipe described , using the caraway seeds. I really like it, but it is quite sweet – maybe too sweet for some.
Excellent, I used white cabbage because that’s all I had and added some fennel seeds and it was aromatic and just delicious!
Excellent. I used to eat borscht when I lived in Estonia, and this made me miss the black bread they would eat with their borscht. Consider adding wurst for meat eaters. The caraway seeds and dill are necessary in this soup. I used a can of beets instead.
I copied this recipe onto an index card and renamed it Best Borscht Ever! it involves fresh ingredients and is wonderful!
A bit too salty, but otherwise delicious!
This borscht is amazing – just the way I like it!I used red onions 8nstead of yellow as that’s all I had! Canned O. tomatoes instead of tomato sauce. Perfect! Great for a cold winter’s night!
I made a double batch of this for a cottage weekend and everyone loved it! I put in much more dill.
This was a sleeper recipe. I had my doubts as I assembled it. My husband LOVED it. Once the sour cream and a little salt hit the bowl, we were SOLD. It was delicious. We’ll definitely be making this again!
Absolutely delicious! Wouldn’t change a thing!
Very good, but added ginger and jalapeno pepper for more kick.
Very tasty comfort food. I like having it ready to go if i come home late. I serve it hot w a slice of rye bread.
This was my 1st time to try this recipe. My husband & I loved it! So good on a cold night! I had to use dried dill, but it still had a pretty good flavor. I followed the recipe.