Other than its mouthwatering flavor, the nicest thing about this borscht is that it can cook all day in a slow cooker and be ready when you get home at night. One of the best winter comfort dinners for my family.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 9 hrs |
| Total Time: | 9 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound beef stew meat, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 beets, peeled and chopped
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup baby carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups beef broth, or more
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried dill weed
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 cup sour cream, as garnish
Instructions
- Place beef, beets, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onion, and garlic in a slow cooker. Whisk together the beef broth, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, dill weed, parsley, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over the beef and vegetables, adding more broth to cover as needed.
- Cover and cook on Low for 8 1/2 hours, or High for 4 hours.
- Set heat to High, then stir in the shredded cabbage. Cover and continue cooking until the cabbage tender, about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Serve in a bowl with a dollop of sour cream.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 345 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 51 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 897 mg |
| Sugars | 15 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is my go-to recipe for the best borscht that I have ever had! The only minor tweaks I make are extra beets (because I love them) & reducing the vinegar to 4 tablespoons. Everyone I’ve shared this delicious soup with just couldn’t believe how fantastic it is.
I love borscht in Ukraine. Had it homemade as well as in restaurants, cafeterias, etc many times over the years. I was planning on going back when Russia invaded, and so decided to make it myself. Truth is that this recipe isn’t authentic to Ukraine, as in Ukraine the meat used primarily is salo, which you can only get from Russian sellers across the country. Luckily it’s heavily preserved with salt, so if you feel like ordering it on the web, it should be good when it arrives. I’ve not done that yet. Also, you need to know if you’ve not had this before that the sour cream is what makes Borsht awesome. I use a “healthy/large” big spoonful. You should too. The first time I made this, I followed the instructions precisely. It was good, and reminded me of Ukraine. But as with anything, each person makes borsht a bit differently, so a recipe like this is a starting point to experiment and find your own version. A couple cooking tricks I use to speed this along: 1. Get the “60 Second Salad Maker” and use it as an efficient cutting tool for rapidly chopping and slicing everything up. 2. You can rapidly peel garlic by putting it in between two metal surfaces and shaking vigorously for about 20 seconds, pull all the newly loose stuff off, and repeating until you’re down to a tiny number of pieces to peel and mince yourself. Also, a specific tip for this recipe: Don’t bother with the part where you make some in a separate dish and then pour it on. I tried that and tried without it, and it makes no difference. My personal changes that seem to be working well: Red cabbage in heavy amounts (which is what I always saw in Ukraine). Or at least, that’s what I remember. Either way it’s healthier. Red onions instead of white onions, as they are healthier. Sausage instead of that shredded meat, to save money. Since sausage is far more common than shredded meat in my experience in Ukraine, it seemed far more authentic this way along with being cheaper. Latest batch has sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. Haven’t decided if it’s better or worse yet, but it is healthier. I tried it with a bunch of peppers, and so far I’ve not been able to notice any impact, and I thought I put in a lot. I decided to not do it again, as it seemed a waste. Enjoy!
A bit too overwhelming on the tomato. Will experiment to make a clearer more broth based soup. Otherwise I loved all the veggies in it.
I cut my vegetables chunky and made it like a stew, it was delicious!
THE BEST!!!! Family said it was the best meal they ever had!!
Delicious. My taste buds found it a little sweet. So next time I would leave out the sugar. Compensated by adding 3 additional tbsp red wine vinegar and it was excellent .
This was all I hoped it would be. I used fairly large beets and a little less tom paste (we use grams – so the closest tin is smaller). I think this is better than the top of stove version I used to make. It’s nice and easy to make – I cooked it about 4.5 hours on high. I’ll be making this a lot this autumn and winter.
Fantastic! Beefy, beety, sweet, sour, everything I remember. No changes to the recipe, followed it exactly. This is now a family favorite. Awesome!
Chopped large carrots instead of baby ones.
First borscht attempt. Followed directions, used Insta Pot on high 4hrs. Instead of tomatoes used Rotel which gave this a real kick. I’m enjoying this as I type, and will make again and adjust to my own needs. I recommend making/trying this as written at least once.
Wonderful! I did this almost as the recipe said but only put 4 tablespoons of vinegar people who made it said 6was too much.
I would add a little bit less vinegar into the soup. Otherwise, it’s really delicious and very easy to cook. Thank you for a great recipe!
It was good, but not purple. Maybe my beets were small? Maybe there could have been a cup amount given like the carrots. But very good flavor
I made this recipe but changed every single last ingredient. Now I don’t like it! Boo! Seriously, it gets annoying that no one actually makes the recipe as written. It’s also very confusing. I’m almost done making it, as written, and it’s delicious.
Went about 6 and a half hours. Beets are still a tad crunchy. Added a little more salt, pepper, and used garlic powder instead of cloves, so used a little more also. Great flavor and for someone who really doesn’t like beets, I would absolutely do it again.
Super quick (prep-wise) and easy. I’ve made this with both the high- and low-heat instructions. A few notes: – If you can’t get fresh beets (or don’t want your kitchen to look like a murder scene), 2 cans of shoestring beets with juices is a great sub. – I use chicken broth and have no complaints. – I often skip the beef and instead stir in a can of drained and rinsed white beans along with the cabbage. I like butter beans, but great northern beans or small white beans (habichuelas from Goya, not sure what the proper English name is) would be great, too.
Overall I liked this, but I would make some changes next time: more beets, less of all the other vegetables, more broth, less vinegar. I really want the beets to be front and center, and in this recipe as written, it’s more balanced between the flavors. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just not what I want from borscht.
We loved this borscht! It tasted even better the second day. I did not have stew meat, so made it without. We are on a low salt diet, so substituted 4 fresh tomatoes from the garden for the canned tomatoes (blanched, peeled and chopped). I used lower sodium beef broth. 2 cups to begin with, then added the rest of the 32 oz. box of broth at the end with the cabbage. I used red wine–3 tbsp. and apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp. in place of the red wine vinegar. Fresh Italian parsley instead of dried. I eliminated salt, but you could also use a salt substitute for the salt. Served it with a green salad with lots of fresh vegetables and chicken. Great light, healthy supper!
The best!!!!
i’ve been craving borscht and this one hit the spot! i blended it for my son because he doesn’t like chunky soups, but i forgot to take out the bay leaf first lol. So delicious.
This was really good. One star removed because the “4” beets is not helpful. Beets come in all sizes. I wound up using about 12 small ones, which guaranteed a nice red beet colour. Note to self to cut carrots thinner, they were a little el dente. And like another reviewer, I cheated and added some bagged coleslaw as the cabbage. All’s well that ends well. It’s friendable.