Comfort in your plate: the best recipes of Ukrainian borscht

The best recipes of Ukrainian borscht/Collage of Radio MAXIMUM

Borscht is not just a dish, but a real Ukrainian cultural heritage that unites generations. Each region of Ukraine has its own secrets and features that give borscht its unique taste and aroma.

From the classic version with meat to vegetarian versions, borscht can be prepared in many ways, each of which has its own character. In this article, on Ukrainian Borscht Day, which is celebrated on September 14, we will share the best borscht recipes that will help you bring the traditions of our cuisine to life and delight your family and friends with delicious dishes. Get ready to immerse yourself in the world of bright flavors and aromas, because borscht is not only food, but a part of our soul!

TOP recipes of Ukrainian borscht

Length borscht from Polissia

Let's start our selection with vegetarian borscht, the recipe of which was preserved in one of the Polish villages. Local residents shared that meat was cooked only on major holidays, so they usually did without it. Sometimes there was lard or lard with garlic on the table, but borscht was prepared lean. This modesty in ingredients only added to its special charm – the taste became even richer and more original!

Serving lean borscht/Photo from Evgeny Klopotenko's website

Ingredients:

• 2 liters of water
• 3 – 4 potatoes
• 2 beets
• 1 onion
• 200 grams of sauerkraut (with brine)
• half a carrot
• half a bell pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons of honey
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• salt and pepper – to taste

Preparation of borscht:

1. First, prepare a decoction of two beets. Clean and cut the root vegetable in half. Pour water over it and boil for 40 minutes until ready. After that, continue to cook, adding half of the onion.
2. Cut 3-4 potatoes into cubes and half a carrot into strips. Cook them together with beets.
3. Make a roast. Dice half of the bell pepper and the other half of the onion. Fry for 3-5 minutes with a small amount of vegetable oil. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Let the boiled beetroot cool down and cut into pieces. And then send it back to the broth together with the roast.
5. When all the vegetables are cooked, add sauerkraut with 200 grams of brine. Boil for 2-3 minutes and add salt, pepper and 1-2 tablespoons of honey.
6. Leave the finished borscht to infuse for 15-20 minutes or place it in the oven at 180 degrees for this time.

< li>It is better to serve it the next day, so that it infuses. That's what the people say!

Hetman borscht

During the time of the Hetmanate, borscht was traditionally prepared with pork ribs, eggplant and beans. Just imagine how these ingredients change the taste: eggplants add delicate sweetness, and beans give borscht a deep aroma. This symbiosis of vegetables creates a unique atmosphere in your kitchen. Try to cook and see for yourself!

Serving Hetmansky borscht/Photo from Yevhen Klopotenko's website

Ingredients:

• 2 liters of water
• 300 grams of pork ribs with meat
• 1 medium beet
• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large carrot
• 150 grams of eggplant
• 150 grams of cabbage
• 100 grams of beans
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• salt, black pepper and peppercorns – to taste

Preparation of Hetman borscht

1. Wash and bake 1 beetroot in the oven for 1.5 hours. Then let it cool, peel and cut into strips. Or you can rub it on a coarse grater.
2. Leave 100 grams of beans (if you don't have young ones) in water for an hour.
3. Salt 300 grams of ribs and send them to the oven with garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. After that, let them cool down and take them apart.
4. Prepare the roast. Grate a large carrot, finely chop a medium onion, and dice an eggplant. Fry onions and carrots for 2-3 minutes, then add beets and eggplant. Simmer for another 2 minutes. Then add tomato paste and sugar – leave on low heat for another 2 minutes.
5. Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium cubes. Add potatoes and ribs to a large pot of water – bring to a boil. And then cook for another 5 minutes on low heat.
6. Add beans and shredded cabbage. Boil for 15 minutes. Add the prepared roast and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to your taste. At the end, add puree from two cloves of garlic.

Borscht in rye bread

Now let's add a raisin to serving borscht. What could be better than freshly baked rye bread? Right! Only borscht served in fragrant rye bread. And don't worry about baking – this recipe is so simple that anyone can do it. Just trust the process and try!

Serving borscht in rye bread/Photo from Yevhen Klopotenko's website

Ingredients:

For bread:

• 500 milliliters of water
• 500 grams of wheat flour
• 200 grams of rye flour
• 24 grams of yeast

< li>20 grams of dry chamomile

• 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt

For borscht:

• 3 liters of water
• 300 grams of pork ribs
• 1 beetroot
• 4 potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 2 onions
• 150 grams of beans
• 150 grams of eggplant
• 150 grams of cabbage
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil

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• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 dried pears
• pepper and salt – to taste

How to make borscht in bread:

1. Make a roast. Bake the beets for an hour and a half in the oven. When it cools down, peel it and rub it together with the carrots on a coarse grater. Pour 150 grams of beans with cold water for an hour. Cut 2 onions and eggplant into small cubes. Fry the onion and carrot for 2-3 minutes, then add the eggplant and beetroot. Simmer for 2 minutes and add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Simmer for another 2 minutes.
2. Bake 300 grams of pork ribs at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, having previously sprinkled salt, 2 bay leaves, 1 clove of garlic, allspice. Allow them to cool and cut into pieces.
3. Peel 4 potatoes and cut them arbitrarily. Pour three liters of water over the potatoes, ribs and 3 dried pears and bring to a boil.
4. Cook the broth for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the roast and beans. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.
5. Add 150 grams of chopped cabbage and cook for another 15 minutes. At the end, add salt and pepper to taste. After a couple of minutes, add 2 cloves of crushed garlic.
6. Prepare the bread. Dissolve 24 grams of live yeast in half a liter of warm water and add 2 tablespoons of sugar. Mix and leave for 15 minutes, until the yeast forms a foam on the surface.
7. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients: 500 grams of wheat and 200 grams of rye flour, 20 grams of dried chamomile and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and steam to the mixture. Mix, form balls and leave the dough to rise for 50 minutes.
8. After that, take a baking dish and grease it with oil. Having formed the bread, place it in the mold. Bake the bread for 60 minutes at 200 degrees.
9. Finally, cut off the cap of the bread and take out the middle, forming a jug. Pour the borscht. Delicious!

Lean borscht with dried pear

Here is another version of borscht without meat, but with a special highlight – dried pear. The recipe is extremely simple and will not take you much time. We especially love this borscht when time is short, but you want to please yourself and your loved ones with something delicious. Just three steps – and aromatic Ukrainian borscht with a slight smoky flavor is on your table. Are you ready? Let's start!

Serving borscht with dried pear/Photo from Evgeny Klopotenko's website

Ingredients:

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salt and pepper – to taste

Method of preparation:

1. Prepare the roast. Bake the beets in the oven for 90 minutes, then let them cool and grate them together with the carrots. Finely chop the onion. First, fry the onion and carrot for 2-3 minutes, then add the beets and stew for another 2 minutes. At the end, add tomato paste and sugar. Simmer for another 2 minutes.
2. Peel the potatoes, cut them arbitrarily, put them in a saucepan with 2 liters of water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Add shredded cabbage and cook for 15 minutes. Move the roast and add the thinly sliced ​​pear. Cook for another 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Finely chop the garlic and add to the borscht.

Borsch with crucian carp

Rain? No problem! Let's catch fish – cook borscht! Our wise Ukrainian people knew the secrets of borscht long before UNESCO recognized it as part of the intangible cultural heritage. But we don't stop there – we continue to show the whole world that we know everything about Ukrainian borscht! Today we will talk about borscht with crucian carp – an incredibly aromatic, real taste masterpiece. They say that this is the type of borscht that Taras Shevchenko loved, only in his version they used dried crucians. Well, Big Kobzar tasted great! And any crucian carp in borscht is perfection. Try to prepare this version according to Yevhen Klopotenko's recipe – and see for yourself!

A variant of serving borscht with crucian carp/Photo from Yevhen Klopotenko's website

Ingredients:

• 2 liters of water (+150 milliliters for vegetables)
• 6 small carp
• 1 large beet
• 1 medium onion
• 4 medium potatoes
• 1 medium carrot
• 200 milliliters of homemade tomato juice
• 200 grams of fresh cabbage< /li>
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 peas of allspice
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• salt and pepper to taste

How to prepare borscht with crucian carp:

1. Clean the fish from scales and entrails. Wash under running water and dry. I used 6 small crucians.
2. Salt the fish on both sides and bread in flour, I used about 1 tablespoon of flour.
3. Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the crucians well on both sides to a ruddy crust. Transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil.
4. Peel 1 large beet, 1 medium onion, 4 medium potatoes and 1 medium carrot. Cut the onion into cubes, and grate the carrots and beets.
5. Fry the onion in a deep pan with 1 tablespoon of oil until soft. Add carrots and beets, pour 200 milliliters of homemade tomato juice and simmer everything together for a few minutes. Then add 150 milliliters of water, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the peeled potatoes into small cubes, put them in a saucepan and pour 2 liters of water. Cook on medium heat with a pinch of salt for 20 minutes.
6. Grate 200 grams of fresh cabbage, add to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Then add the vegetables from the pan to the pan, 2 bay leaves, 3 peas of allspice, salt and pepper to taste. Leave on low heat for 5 minutes.
8. Add fried carp to the borscht and cook everything together for a few minutes. Serve borscht with crucian carp in a plate.