Vegan Borscht (Beet Soup)
This vegan borscht soup is a hearty, comforting veg-loaded soup that is nourishing and super easy to make.
You’ll quickly fall in love with its vibrant colour and slightly sour complexion.
It’s a healthy choice to warm you up from the inside out over the winter season. If you love soup, this recipe is a must-try!
What is a borscht soup?
Borscht is a beet-based soup that originated in Ukraine. It has since spread throughout many Eastern European countries, and they have their variation of this colourful soup.
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It’s typically made using pork or beef bone broth, beef, and sour cream to finish it off.
So to make this recipe vegan, we have adapted it and made it our own. Yes, it’s not a traditional borscht soup, but we think our version is very delicious out the animal ingredients!
A few tips to make this vegan borscht
- You can use green or red cabbage in this recipe. Use what you have on hand. We used green when making it.
- This soup is meant to be slightly sour. You can swap the apple cider vinegar for lemon juice or a bit of pickle/gherkin juice.
- Borscht can be served hot or cold, so it makes it perfect for meal prep as you don’t have to warm it up to enjoy.
- If you prefer creamier soups, you can use your immersion blender and blend it. We haven’t tried it but we’re sure it will be just as delicious.
- The freshness of dill really elavates the soup so please try not to skip it. That’s one of the ingredients that makes a borscht a borscht.
- The flavour gets better with age in my opinion so it’s a great recipe to double up on and save to enjoy over a few days.
- It will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days or you can freeze it for up to 3-4 months.
This soup is a nutrient-dense dish perfect for getting more vegetables into your diet. The use of onion, garlic, cabbage, beetroots and their leaves, carrots, and potatoes will you seven of the five vegetables you should eat each day. It’s a win, win situation!
Not only is it healthy, but it is such a feel-good meal. The addition of the cashew cream (infused with dijon mustard), dill, and gherkins just take it to another level. It may sound strange, but trust me when I say that it really works well together.
This soup is:
- Light but filling
- Gluten-free
- Soy-free
- Nut-free (if you don’t use the cashew cream)
- Earthy
- Slightly tangy
- Economical
- Good for you
- Great for meal prep
- One pot meal
Other delicious recipes you’ll love:
- Easy Vegan Red Lentil Soup
- Vegan Olivier Salad (Russian Salad)
- Easy Potato, Pea and Dill Soup
- Red Lentil Stew with Potatoes and Peas
- Easy Vegan Brown Lentil Stew
If you try this recipe, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest.
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Vegan Borscht (Beet Soup)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4
Description
This vegan borscht is a warming, hearty, and healthy veggie soup that you can enjoy hot or cold.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium brown onion, thinly sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig thyme
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt*
- 2 ½ cups packed / 195g / 6.88 ounces cabbage, shredded (approx a quarter of a small cabbage)
- 2 medium beetroots, julienned (matchsticks)
- 1 cup beetroot leaves,* chopped
- 2 large carrots, julienned (matchsticks)
- 1 medium potato, washed and diced (not peeled)
- 6 cups / 1½ litre vegetable stock*
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Garnish:
- Savoury cashew cream (store-bought sour cream or non-dairy plain yoghurt will also work)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Dill, a bunch, chopped (about 15g / .53 ounces)
- Gherkins, sliced (optional)
Instructions
- To a heavy-bottomed pot on low-medium heat, add the olive oil, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and cumin seeds. Saute until they become aromatic then add the tomato paste, paprika, and salt. Continue cooking now on medium heat for a few minutes.
- Add in the cabbage, beetroots, carrots, and potato, and cook stirring for 5 minutes so that everything is nicely coated with the spices.
- Add the vegetable stock, turn to high heat and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Watch out for the potatoes, they should be cooked through but not fall apart. The soup is done when the vegetables have softened completely, the liquid has thickened and potatoes are cooked.
- Then stir in the apple cider vinegar and pepper.
- If you’ve prepared your own cashew cream, mix in the Dijon mustard if you like, it’s not a must but it does work very well in this dish.
- Serve the soup with a generous amount of dill, a dollop cream/yoghurt of choice, and the optional addition of some sliced gherkins.
- This soup can be served hot or cold. It will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days and freeze well for up to 3-4 months.
Notes
Beetroot leaves: If you don’t have nice beetroot leaves, then just add an extra cup of shredded cabbage.
Stock & salt: Adjust the salt in this recipe to the stock that you are using.
- Diet: Vegan
Made this comforting soup tonight and the everyone loved it – including the fussy kiddo who declared that she did not like Borscht! The spicing was spot on and the soup was tangy but not too much. Next time I will try find beets with the tops on and a jar of gherkins too for garnish (which sounds amazing).
I made this today and it was amazing. I have to admit, I needed to pivot as I didn’t have sweet paprika or tomato paste. So, I used rosy harissa powder instead of the paprika, and harissa paste instead of tomato paste. For the acid, I used preserved lemon paste. So, it was a Moroccan-ish Borscht in the end. But every other aspect of the recipe I followed to the tee. Thank you!
What an interesting twist! There’s nothing like restriction to get the creative juices flowing. Thank you for sharing your changes and for the lovely review x