Cabbage borscht soup is a very yummy traditional dish from Eastern Europe. It is not the same as beet borscht or Ukrainian borscht. There are several versions of borscht soup, and every family has a favorite. I love this kind of recipe that can be followed loosely since there is no right or wrong in making borscht. The best borscht recipe is the one you make at home.
Vegetables in Cabbage Borscht soup
Cabbage borscht soup is rich in vegetable flavor and great for a whole-food plant-based diet. It is best made with fresh vegetables from the garden. It is an excellent harvest-to-table meal. All the vegetables can also be precut and frozen separately or in portions for a recipe in freezer-safe containers for winter soups. White cabbage is best blanched before freezing; red beets, carrots, and onions can be chopped and frozen. Read all about freezing vegetables here.
The soup will vary in color, depending on whether fewer or more tomatoes and beets are used. Both give it a richer colour and flavour. The pictures do no justice to the actual borscht soup.
Instead of tomato paste, you can use fresh tomatoes (about 2 cups) from the garden. You can also freeze whole tomatoes for soups in the winter. Use less tomato paste or tomatoes if you prefer a milder taste.
Protein in Cabbage Borscht Soup
The original cabbage borsht soup recipe comes from a German Mennonite cookbook. The Mennonites also have a green borscht recipe, an entirely different, delicious soup.
Traditionally, meat with a bone is used; the recipe asked for 500 g of meat. After being cooked, the soup bones are removed, and the meat is cut into bite-sized pieces and added at the end. After that, the broth is used to cook the soup.
In my recipe card, I share a plant-based borscht recipe. We make our own vegetable broth for soups. Adding broth is optional, since the soup already contains so many vegetables.
For vegans, borscht can be made using only vegetables, but beans make borscht even better and more filling. Using home-canned pinto or kidney beans, I add the whole pint jar (500ml) to the soup. The liquid from the beans gives the soup a bit of creaminess/graveness that we all love. If you prefer white beans or cannellini beans, you can use them as well.
Cabbage Borscht Soup Recipe
- 3 small to medium-sized onions
- 1-2 diced carrots
- 1 beetroot diced
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon oil (Optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 potatoes, diced into small to medium-sized pieces
- 1 pound white cabbage, chopped
- 3-4 tbsp tomato paste, or 2 cups fresh tomatoes
- about 8 cups of homemade vegetable broth and water as needed (all vegetables need to be covered)
- 1-pint jar of kidney or pinto beans
- 1 bunch of dill
- Black and hot pepper to taste
- Miso paste, Brags, liquid soy seasoning, or salt to taste
- Wash, peel, dice, and chop all the vegetables. Some prefer the veggies cut small, and some coarse. You choose.
- In a large soup pot (or Instant Pot), sauté the onions and carrots over medium heat until translucent.
- Add garlic
- After 1-2 minutes, add tomato paste, bay leaf, and vegetable broth
- Now add the beets, cabbage, and potatoes
- Add water if needed to cover all the veggies.
- Bring to a boil.
- Cook on low heat for 30 minutes (Instant Pot 10 minutes)
- Add the can of beans and bring back to a boil.
- Add dill and seasoning.
Borscht soup in the Instant Pot
Instant pot borscht needs 10 minutes of high pressure. When time is off, it’s best to let it release on its own. If you are in a hurry, you can use the 10-minute natural release. Let the cooker go into the “Keep Warm” mode and count for 10 minutes. Then press “cancel” and twist the steam release handle on the lid to the “Venting” position. Personally, I prefer the stovetop for borscht soup, but the Instant Pot has its place.
Make ahead and serve Borscht soup
It is said that borscht tastes best after the seventh warm-up. That’s an exaggeration, but yes, a large batch of borscht can be prepared in advance and is great as leftovers. Yummy!
Borsht is usually served with some bread, homemade dinner rolls, or very fancy with Krebli.
What traditions do you have regarding borscht soup? Please share your experiences in the comments below.
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I’ve never been a fan of cabbage, but I must say, this looks pretty good!
Ahh – my mom used to make this ALL the time growing up… thanks for the recipe 😀 ~Renee
This soup looks yummy for a cold day!
Looks good! Always looking for more ways to use cabbage. There’s only so much roasted or sauteed cabbage we can handle!
This does look yummy! I’m so glad it’s cooling down some and starting to get into soup season! 🙂
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try this one.
You always bring something new and interesting for me to read at Let’s Get Real. Thanks so much for linking up each week. I’ve never made borscht. My family will be impressed with me when I write that on our meal planning calendar. It sounds so glamorous and exciting. LOL! I don’t often have cabbage because I make a meal and then think………..now what do I do with the rest of it? This soup would go along nicely with a few other recipes I can think of so that I don’t have to let the cabbage go to waste. That makes me very happy. I really don’t like wasting good produce.
I don’t like wasting good produce either, soups are just so good for that. Hope your family likes borscht!
I will be keeping this recipe for my meal planning as I always end up with the core of cabbage after I cook some delicious dolmas (cabbage rolls).
Borscht is delicious, and cabbage rolls sound good too. Enjoy!
Sounds absolutely delicious. I love recipes that are the whole meal in one dish. I shared this on Pinterest. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays Blog Hop!
Thank you Marla! Love your Blog hop for Real Food!
I’m curious, how will the taste differ if I do not add beetroot. I ask because I do not always have this on hand.
Not much, I have made it without many times. Recipes are just guidelines, if you want to add or take away something, go for it. Freestyle cooking is the best way to cook anyways.
Made this at the weekend and it’s delicious. Thanks for the recipe
Is this better with tomato paste or actual/canned tomatoes?
It’s personal preference. The paste doesn’t add liquid to the soup, just makes it more tomatoey in taste, if that is a word. Tomatoes, fresh or canned add also the actual tomatoes to it. On the other hand, paste is something I buy, and tomatoes come from the garden. You choose.