I have been making raw borscht for many years but I never published my recipe, until now. Traditional borscht is a hearty cooked soup that can be enjoyed chilled or steaming hot depending on season. There are many versions of this popular East European soup, most really easy to make and worth trying.
For this recipe I am using young beets, young carrots, young cabbage and fresh dill that I just got at my farmers market.
I decided to follow Chris Kendall's advice to freeze the vegetables for this recipe. Normally I would dehydrate the veggies just a bit to obtain a nice texture, but as always I am ready to try something new and since this is a chilled, cooling summer soup, freezing shredded vegetables seems like a logical thing to do. The low freezer temperature breaks the cell walls of the vegetables and softens them making them more palatable.
Borscht is often served with sour cream - vegan or dairy. I decided to make a lighter, summer version of this soup without sour cream but you are welcome to add whatever you want.
Ingredients:
for the liquid base
- 1 large beet, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, seeds removed
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, re-hydrated
- 1 cup of the thawed "solids"
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 small purple onion
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
- pinch dried marjoram
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 2-3 Tbsp virgin olive oil or any other cold pressed oil
- freshly ground black pepper
- Celtic sea salt to balance the flavors
the solids
- 1 large beet, grated
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 1 small purple onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cabbage, shredded
for the garnish
- fresh dill, chopped
- thinly sliced scallions
- micro greens
- petals of edible flowers, optional
Method:
- Let's start with the solids. In a freezer-safe glass container mix the prepared vegetable. Cover the container and place it in the freezer for at lest 5-6 or overnight.
- Take the frozen vegetable out of the freezer and allow to thaw completely. Use about 1 cup to make the liquid base and save the rest.
- When you are ready to make the borscht, blend beets, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, thawed vegetable, dill, marjoram, and the lemon juice in a high speed blender. You may need to add a little purified water if the soup is too thick. Add olive oil, apple cider vinegar, black pepper and salt and blend again for a few seconds. Adjust the taste as needed. The borscht should have texture of a thick smoothie.
- Portion out the defrosted vegetable into chilled soup bowls. Fill the bowls with the liquid base. Garnish with fresh herbs, greens and petals, if using. Serve right away and enjoy it in good company!
Tip: If you do not have a high speed blender you may want to grate the beets before blending and add a little more water and lemon juice. If you have a juicer, you can juice a large beet and use the juice to make the liquid base with the remaining ingredients. Also, do not skip the oil! Good quality cold pressed oil will not only help with the texture of this soup but is necessary for the absorption of fat soluble vitamins.
In radiant health, passionately raw - Dominique
Beets are healthy and good for you. To learn more, read my article Health Benefits of Beets
Dominique Allmon©2025