Cooking red borscht. What to do to make borscht red. Red borsch without adding beets

Cooking red borscht.  What to do to make borscht red.  Red borsch without adding beets

There are as many correct recipes for red borscht as there are housewives who undertake to cook it. There are especially many Ukrainian and Polish options. Borscht is prepared with kvass, with meat, fish, mushrooms, beans, turnips, apples, and dumplings in the form of tiny dumplings. But most of the technological secrets are associated with the main ingredient - beets.

Borscht with beets should be red. Everyone who sits down at the table knows this. But anyone who has ever tried to cook it knows how quickly an almost finished soup becomes brown and unappetizing.

The color of beets, and therefore borscht, is given by the unique phytonutrient betacyanin.

It is quite rare in nature, only in rhubarb, several types of cacti and flowers. Its beneficial properties are simply off the charts; its main actions are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Unfortunately, this flavonoid is very unstable; it is easily oxidized and dissolves in water.

Therefore, once in the pan, the beets generously share their blush with all the products and with the broth. But, at the finish line, just before it’s ready, it itself becomes like boiled cabbage, without color or taste, and the broth loses its color in a matter of minutes. The air bubbles that form in the actively boiling broth instantly destroy betacyanin.

Although the taste of borscht does not change, the dish loses its attractiveness and some of its beneficial properties.

How to make borscht red

Beets are a stubborn root vegetable. It takes longer to cook than all other ingredients, so it is often added to the pan first. This is a fatal mistake of an inexperienced housewife.

Another mistake is boiling borscht for a long time so that all the vegetables are boiled until soft.

To preserve betacyanin, you will have to cook the beets separately, do not let them boil and add them to the borscht last. For additional guarantee, the environment into which the beets will fall, that is, the broth, must be acidified.

Following these principles, housewives and professional chefs choose suitable technological solutions. The properties of beets were also taken into account in primordial, ancient recipes.

  • One of the first tricks is to supplement the broth with beet kvass 1:1. Kvass will add piquancy, sourness and sweetness to the taste at the same time, while preserving the color of the beets. This ancient technique can be used in a modern kitchen. Beets, filled with cold water, are kept in a warm room for eight days. Thanks to the work of the sugars it contains and the yeast floating in the air, the process does not require intervention. In the old days, borscht was prepared almost every day and kvass was constantly updated. A modern housewife can freeze it in portioned bags and, as needed, add it to the broth during cooking or to ready-made borscht along with beets.
  • An acidic environment can be created by using pickled beets or sauerkraut. In winter, this technique is very popular. The preparations are first slightly stewed or fried to make the vegetables softer.
  • You can acidify the broth with vinegar or lemon juice.
  • Mild acid is contained in tomatoes; they are added in pureed form to the dishes where beets are prepared.

To make the beets soft and edible, suitable for adding to ready-made borscht,:

  • cut into strips and simmer in a small amount of water, not allowing it to boil;
  • sauté separately or together with other vegetables;
  • bake in the oven whole, cut and add to soup before cooking;
  • they are boiled separately, whole, in their uniform or without, and grated into the soup so that it gives off its color.

Often beets are divided into two parts: one is boiled in borscht, the other is cooked separately and added before cooking. Adding a small amount of sugar to stewed or sautéed beets, or directly to the broth, also helps preserve color.

Classic red borscht with beets and cabbage

How to cook red borscht using technological tricks and get a 100% successful result? First of all, you need to maintain a sense of proportion and often taste the broth for salt, sugar and acid content.

Ingredients:

  • rich meat broth;
  • beet;
  • cabbage;
  • potato;
  • carrot;
  • tomato paste;
  • garlic;
  • vinegar;
  • sugar;
  • salt;
  • a mixture of peppers and bay leaf to taste.

Beets are an important ingredient, but not the main one. The number of vegetables should be approximately the same. Excess beets can spoil the taste of the dish.

  1. Pre-prepare the borscht dressing: saute the carrots, onions and beets. Add salt and sugar to taste. Season with tomato paste and remove from heat.
  2. Add chopped cabbage to the broth. After 5 - 7 minutes - potatoes.
  3. When the vegetables are ready, pour in a couple of tablespoons of vinegar. It is better to use wine or apple instead of alcohol.
  4. Pour in the dressing, add crushed garlic, pepper and bay leaf.
  5. Immediately remove from heat and leave to steep for 15 - 20 minutes.
  6. Borscht, like all soups with cabbage, tastes better the next day. An important point: you need to heat it in small portions, avoiding boiling. Otherwise, the color obtained with such difficulty will disappear along with the first bubbles.

Cooking in Ukrainian

Real Ukrainian borscht is akin to a work of art. The three pillars on which it is based are juicy beetroot, rich broth and lard.

Other ingredients:

  • cabbage;
  • potato;
  • beans;
  • tomatoes;
  • carrot;
  • garlic;
  • salt;
  • sugar;
  • pepper.

The best borscht is made in the summer, when the garden is full of fresh vegetables and herbs.

  1. Beets are prepared separately - stewed, fried or baked. Author's options are possible here.
  2. The tomatoes need to be scalded and turned into puree. Be sure to remove the skin. Pour tomato puree into beets. Add salt and sugar.
  3. Stew carrots and onions together. If desired, you can add bell pepper.
  4. Young milk beans do not require soaking, but they take longer to cook than other vegetables.
  5. You can add one whole potato. When it is boiled, it is mashed into a puree and returned to the broth - this will make it thicker and denser.
  6. When the beans, cabbage and potatoes are cooked in the broth, add the sauteed sauce to the borscht, pour in beet kvass or vinegar and only then add the beets.
  7. The borscht is immediately removed from the heat.
  8. Garlic and lard are converted into a homogeneous puree using a blender. Previously, this dressing was carefully pounded in a mortar. It can be spread on bread and served separately. However, borscht requires a final touch - a couple of spoons of lard with garlic should slowly melt in the pan, combining and softening all the flavors. After half an hour, the borscht can be seasoned with herbs, sour cream and served with traditional donuts.

Delicious first course with beef

It is best to cook red borscht in beef broth with sugar bone.

The broth will not be very greasy, but strong and flavorful. This is exactly the character of borscht.

Ingredients:

  • beef on the bone, such as ribs;
  • beets and other vegetables to taste;
  • salt, sugar, wine vinegar;
  • garlic.

Beef broth will require special herbs - lovage, tarragon and thyme.

  1. Beef broth for borscht is cooked according to all the rules: the meat is loaded into cold water, and the foam that rises during boiling must be removed. The broth simmers slowly for about 2 - 2.5 hours; it should not boil. The finished broth must be strained so that there are no small bones left in it. Chop the meat and return to the pan.
  2. Separately prepare borscht dressing from beets, carrots and onions. Be sure to taste it for salt and sugar before adding it to the borscht.
  3. Boil cabbage and potatoes until tender. Once the broth is acidified with vinegar, nothing will boil in it.
  4. Before cooking, add the dressing to the borscht. Taste the broth again, if necessary, at this stage the taste can be adjusted.
  5. Season with garlic and herbs. Remove the pan from the stove.

Red borscht with chicken broth

You can cook light, almost dietary borscht with chicken broth.

Ingredients:

  • chicken;
  • beets and other vegetables;
  • salt, sugar, lemon;
  • garlic.

Herbs that go well with tender chicken meat include basil, marjoram and oregano.

  1. Broiler chicken is cooked for no more than an hour, making sure to remove the foam. The laying hen will have to be cooked for 2 - 3 hours, but it will give off more flavor and nutrients without turning into a rag. It is usually recommended to strain the broth. Salt it before cooking and be sure to taste it. All the salt can be added to the borscht dressing, but the broth should not be salted at all.
  2. Add cabbage and potatoes to the meat in the pan. To reduce the calorie content of the dish, you can omit the potatoes or replace them with young turnips, as the Lithuanians and Ukrainians do.
  3. Separately cook the beets, season them with salt and sugar. You don’t need to add tomatoes to this version of borscht.
  4. Sauté carrots and onions.
  5. Acidify the broth with lemon juice.
  6. Add borscht dressing.
  7. Add chopped garlic and herbs.
  8. Leave the soup to steam under the lid, removing from heat.

To make lean borscht more nutritious, you can add protein-rich beans.

Dried beans should be soaked in cold water the night before.

  1. Cut the beets into strips and simmer in a small amount of water until soft. Before ready, add salt, sugar, tomato puree.
  2. Saute carrots, colored peppers and onions, avoiding the formation of a crust.
  3. Place beans, cabbage and potatoes into the pan. Beans take longer to cook, so vegetables are added at short intervals.
  4. When all the vegetables are cooked, add the sauté and acidify the broth.
  5. Transfer the beets to the pan and remove from the heat.
  6. Season with garlic and herbs. Let rest covered for a quarter of an hour.

How to make red cold borscht

The summer version is prepared extremely quickly, pleases with a low amount of calories and a fresh taste.

Ingredients:

  • beet;
  • potatoes (for those who are not on a diet);
  • eggs;
  • fresh cucumbers;
  • fresh herbs;
  • lemon juice;
  • sugar;
  • salt;
  • sour cream.

Separately prepare beetroot broth and dressing from cucumbers and herbs. To make the dish more satisfying, you can cut lean boiled meat, sausage, and fish.

  1. For the decoction, cut the beets into strips or grate them.
  2. Season boiling water with salt, sugar and lemon juice to taste. Carefully lay out the beets. Depending on the cut, simmer it without boiling for 5 to 20 minutes. Cool and chill in the refrigerator.
  3. Boil potatoes and eggs separately. Cool and peel. Cut into small pieces or large slices. In Lithuania, hot boiled potatoes with herbs are served separately with cold borscht.
  4. Chop cucumbers and greens and place on plates.
  5. Pour beet broth and season with sour cream.

All fans of delicious food know for sure that traditional Ukrainian cuisine is not complete without borscht. Every housewife should know the recipe for the most delicious borscht, because it is an excellent first course that can capture the heart of any man. Of course, this is provided that it is prepared correctly, without any errors.

A little history

This dish has all the features traditional for Ukrainian and South Russian cuisines; it was prepared by our ancestors - the Slavs. It got its name because the main ingredient in this dish is beets, and in ancient times the vegetable was called “borscht”. From the territory of Kievan Rus, where the dish was invented, it spread throughout the surrounding area and even to neighboring states. That is why it is currently in countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Romania and Belarus. This dish was very fond of the Russian rulers Catherine the Second and Alexander the Second, as well as the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova, whose name also went down in history.

Varieties of borscht

There are a considerable number of varieties of this soup, and which borscht is the most delicious remains a mystery to this day. This diversity is due to the fact that each nation put something of its own into the obtained recipe, characteristic of the national traditions of its native state - this changed the taste of the finished dish in the crust.

All presented varieties are divided into two large categories: red borscht and cold borscht, which is also popularly called kholodnik. Kholodnik is more common in Belarus, where it is eaten as a snack with hot boiled potatoes.

Kholodnik

It is very simple to prepare such a dish - it is based on pre-prepared beets, which must first be pickled. As a rule, all ingredients are added raw to such a dish. All ingredients are diluted with kefir or other fermented milk products, the desired amount of hard-boiled chicken eggs is added to a common pan, and then everything is seasoned with sour cream and served.

There are a considerable number of fans of such a bright and tasty dish in the world. It is prepared mainly in summer or spring, when all the ingredients can be easily obtained fresh.

Red

However, as many gourmets admit, the most delicious borscht is red, which is prepared by heat treating food and served hot. Its main ingredients are vegetables, which should initially be taken fresh. As a rule, the standard set includes carrots, potatoes, beets, cabbage, tomatoes and herbs. If desired, you can prepare lean borscht, but many housewives prefer to pre-cook meat broth from different types of meat. Many step-by-step recipes for the most delicious borscht recommend using chicken or pork broth. With such a combination of meat in the broth, the finished soup turns out to be the most aromatic and delicate in taste.

Before serving the finished dish, season it with sour cream or mayonnaise. In Ukrainian culture, the tradition of eating such soup as a bite with garlic and bread is especially widespread.

The most delicious borscht: step-by-step recipe with photos

In order to prepare an excellent soup, which is the king of traditional Ukrainian cuisine, you do not need to have a lot of culinary skills. It is enough to simply understand the order of cooking the ingredients, and also know how to properly cook a tasty and clear broth for the future soup.

Step 1: Preparing the broth

Many famous chefs recommend using pork or, in extreme cases, chicken to prepare the most delicious borscht. If you choose the first option, it is best to use the breast part and bones for cooking, which can be bought inexpensively at almost any butcher shop.

Preparation of the broth should begin by boiling the bones, which should be filled with cold purified water. After this, cover the pan with a lid and put it on the stove to cook. As soon as the contents begin to boil, you should reduce the heat and begin to gradually remove the resulting foam. Correct actions at this stage will ensure a tasty and clear broth.

As practice shows, for the most delicious borscht, the bones need to be cooked for a couple of hours, without turning off the heat and skimming off the foam regularly. After this, you need to add meat to them in the amount indicated in the selected recipe. In this composition, the pan should be kept on low heat for a couple of hours.

If the broth is made from chicken, it will take about an hour or two to prepare. If this type of broth is chosen, it is not recommended to add another type of meat to it, so as not to interrupt the taste.

Ingredients

In the classic recipe for the most delicious Ukrainian borscht, he recommends using a standard set of ingredients. It necessarily includes bright red beets (called beets in some recipes) - a couple of root vegetables, no more than 0.5 kg of fresh cabbage, a couple of medium-sized carrots, the same number of onions, five potatoes. This is a basic soup set, which is designed for broth made from 800 g of pork meat.

Step 2. Preparation of ingredients, their pre-processing

All components of borscht must be washed and peeled in advance. After this, the potatoes need to be cut into medium-sized cubes. As practice shows, root vegetables cut in this way give the finished soup a special taste.

Grate the beets into a separate plate on a coarse grater. Many people prefer to cut it into strips or bars by hand, but the recipes for the most delicious borscht often say that the vegetable, chopped in this way, gives the final result that original red or even burgundy color. After the beets have been grated, they should be sprinkled with the juice of half a lemon and, after mixing thoroughly, left in a cool place for 15-20 minutes.

The cabbage needs to be chopped, which most housewives do with a regular kitchen knife. However, in the modern world there are a considerable number of devices that can also be used. Some chefs recommend chopping the vegetable into cubes, but this does not change the taste of the soup.

Step 3. Preparing the borscht dressing

Ukrainian borscht becomes the most delicious only if the housewife uses lard, grated with garlic, as a dressing. To prepare it, you need to take a small piece of this product (about 50 grams) and grind it thoroughly. After this procedure, a couple of cloves of garlic are added to a common bowl, and in this composition the mass is crushed in a mortar until a state of homogeneity is formed. When ready, the dressing should be covered with cling film and refrigerated until needed.

Some experienced housewives advise using old lard, which has a slightly yellowish color, to prepare such a mixture. However, along with them, there are recommendations regarding the use of aromatic lard with spices.

Step 4. Preparing the roast

Properly prepared frying is the element without which the most delicious borscht cannot be obtained. Photos depicting bright red borscht are taken to clearly convey the color that the dish should have if it was properly fried.

At the very beginning, you need to heat a frying pan, preferably with a non-stick coating, into which you should pour a small amount of sunflower oil. After it heats up, you need to put grated carrots and chopped onions into the frying pan. After this, 3-4 tomatoes, previously peeled, or 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste should be sent to them. Vegetables need to be mixed well during frying. After some time, add beets to them and mix well. Everything in the pan is covered with a lid and simmered for 10-15 minutes.

Step 5. Cooking borscht

First, you need to heat the prepared broth to boiling water, into which you should add the prepared potatoes and chopped meat. In this composition, the dish is cooked for 10 minutes, after which you need to add shredded cabbage, continuing to cook over high heat for a short period - about 10 minutes.

After the vegetables begin to become more or less soft, the heat should be reduced and the prepared frying should be added to the pan. In this composition, everything is boiled until the vegetables are completely cooked; a dressing made from lard and garlic is added to the borscht, as well as finely chopped herbs, salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste. Be sure to add 1-2 bay leaves here, which give the dish not only a pleasant aroma, but also some piquancy.

Tricks for cooking borscht

Any good housewife should know how to cook the most delicious borscht. This dish can become special if you follow the basic instructions and know some small tricks in the process of creating it.

A large part of success lies in the right products. To prepare borscht, do not be afraid to use too fatty pieces of meat - the juiciness and softness of the broth, as well as its richness, have never harmed the finished dish. A separate trick lies in the choice of beets: it is better to take them in small sizes. In such root vegetables there is a smaller number of veins, which ensures greater juiciness of the fruit and, as a result, a brighter color of the finished borscht.

If the potato chosen for cooking is too boiled, you can cut it larger - by the time the cabbage is cooked, the potatoes will not have time to boil to a puree. Some families prefer to pre-fry it before storing it - the vegetable turns out not only dense, but also especially tasty.

You can use bell pepper in the general composition of the ingredients - it will add some zest to the taste of the finished borscht. It is best to choose this vegetable at the market. The ideal fruit is green in color and rather unprepossessing in appearance - this will be the most aromatic and rich in useful components.

If different types of meat are used to cook borscht, it is best to use it in a 1:1 ratio.

You can use more than just lard and garlic as a dressing. For variety, at the final stage of preparing the soup, you can use ghee, fried cracklings or simple sour cream with the maximum percentage of fat content.

In order for the soup to be as aromatic as possible, after cooking it is advisable to wrap the pan with it in a towel and leave it to steep for six hours - the result will pleasantly surprise you.

The recipe for the most delicious borscht (with photo), which is presented here, is not a standard. It can be varied in any way the housewife wishes. Some people add their own secret ingredients to this soup, which improve the quality of the finished dish. Examples of these could be legumes, mushrooms or some special spices.

Content:

Borscht has long been a traditional Ukrainian dish. But it is loved and prepared not only in Ukraine, but also in Russia, Belarus, as well as in foreign countries.

There are a large number of recipes for this delicious dish. There is even a saying that every house has its own borscht. Each housewife brings a unique note of taste to this dish, using her own exclusive recipe. Red borscht must be prepared with beets, which are a key component in it. This article will discuss not only the basic recipe for red borscht, but also its wonderful variations.

Products for classic red borscht

To prepare Ukrainian red borscht, you will need the following products:

  • meat: pork or beef (on the bone) – 500 g;
  • white cabbage – 250-300 g;
  • potatoes – 3 pcs. (medium size);
  • onions – 1 pc.;
  • carrot – 1 pc.;
  • tomato paste – 2 tbsp. spoons;
  • tomatoes – 2 pcs. (average);
  • sweet bell pepper – 1 piece;
  • beets – 1-2 pcs. (average);
  • greens (dill, parsley)
  • garlic – 2-3 cloves;
  • salt, vegetable oil;
  • black peppercorns;
  • Bay leaf.

How to cook Ukrainian red borscht: recipe

The preparation of the dish begins with meat. The meat needs to be cooked separately for about an hour (beef takes longer). Then drain the water, rinse the meat and put it in a large pan of boiling water, where this masterpiece will be prepared.

Then the vegetables are peeled, cut and placed in this order:

  1. The potatoes are cut into cubes and placed in the broth. After boiling, the potatoes are cooked for 15 minutes. Add bay leaves and peppercorns to the water.
  2. Raw beets should be grated on a coarse grater, then fried in vegetable oil in a frying pan. Sautéed beets go into the pan at the very end of cooking. To make the color of borscht bright and rich, there is one secret. The borscht begins to cook with the beets, which are placed entirely in the pan. At the end of cooking the soup, the beets are pulled out of the pan - they will have a pale color, since they have been “cooked”, but if the vegetable is cut, then inside it will have the same bright colors. So, in order for the color of the borscht to be appetizing and the soup to correspond to the name “red,” the cooked beets are grated and put back into the pan. After this, the borscht should only be allowed to boil and immediately turned off so that the beets do not lose their color qualities again.
  3. Next comes the turn of onions and carrots: the latter is grated on a coarse grater, and the onion is cut into small cubes. Vegetables should be fried in vegetable oil until golden brown.
  4. Tomatoes and peppers are added to the fried onions and carrots. Tomatoes are first doused with boiling water to make peeling easier. Peppers should be cleared of seeds. Vegetables are cut into small pieces and placed in a frying pan with onions and carrots. Simmer the contents of the frying pan for 15 minutes, adding a tablespoon of tomato paste.
  5. To prepare red borscht, we begin to process another key ingredient - cabbage. The cabbage should be washed and thinly sliced, after which it should be placed in a saucepan, brought to a boil and cooked for 7-10 minutes. If the cabbage is not young, then it should be cooked for at least 20 minutes.
  6. Stewed vegetables are added to the broth with boiled cabbage and potatoes, after which the borscht should be allowed to boil and cook for another 10 minutes.
  7. At the end, add chopped garlic and herbs and turn off the heat.
  8. Serve the finished borscht with sour cream and donuts.

Recipe for Poltava borscht with dumplings

To prepare this delicious dish, for 2 liters of water you will need:

  • homemade chicken – 300 gr;
  • carrots – 1 pc.;
  • onion – 1 piece;
  • beets – 1 piece;
  • cabbage – 500 gr;
  • potatoes (medium) – 5-6 pcs.;
  • tomato paste – 0.5-1 tbsp. spoon;
  • parsley root – 0.5-1 pcs.;
  • celery root (chopped) – 1-2 tablespoons;
  • parsley and dill;
  • vegetable oil – 2-2.5 tbsp. spoons;
  • salt – 1-1.5 teaspoons (or to taste).

Place the chicken in cold water and bring to a boil. Remove the foam with a slotted spoon. Wash and peel the parsley and celery. Parsley root is cut into rings, and celery into strips. Place the slices in a saucepan and add salt. The broth should be cooked for 40-60 minutes.

Peel and chop the onion. Add vegetable oil to a heated frying pan and add onions. Fry the onion until translucent (do not overcook) and add to the soup.

Wash the carrots, peel and cut into strips. Place carrots on a heated frying pan. Fry it in vegetable oil until golden brown. Add to broth and cook for 15 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, you need to prepare the remaining vegetables. Peel the beets and cut into small cubes. Thinly slice the cabbage. Wash the potatoes, peel and cut into small cubes.

Cooked meat should be removed from the pan. Add beets to the broth, which should cook for 10 minutes after boiling.

Add chopped cabbage and bring to a boil.

Shredded potatoes should also be placed in a saucepan and brought to a boil. Reduce heat and cook vegetables for 15-20 minutes. At the end add tomato paste and turn off. Let the borscht steep for 15-20 minutes so that the vegetables impart maximum flavor to the dish.

While the borscht is simmering, it's time to prepare the dumplings. To prepare them you will need the following components:

  • flour – 1 glass;
  • egg – 1 pc.;
  • water 0.5 cups;
  • salt – 0.5 teaspoon.

Add boiling water to the flour and stir. Let the dough cool, then add the egg. Knead the dough well. In a separate saucepan, boil water and add salt. Then scoop the dough with a tablespoon, giving it the shape of balls, and put it in boiling water. Dip the spoon into the water each time so that the dough comes out well. Cook the dough balls for 10-15 minutes until they float. Place the dumplings on a separate plate.

Serve the borscht with chicken and add a few dumplings to the plate. Sprinkle with herbs on top. The dish is ready!

Red borscht with beets in pots: recipe

There is another good recipe for borscht; to prepare it, you need clay pots. Prepared in this way, borscht has a special rich taste. In ancient times, housewives in Ukrainian villages prepared borscht in pots, which languished in the oven for a long time, and their appearance on the table was a real holiday!

To prepare it you will need the following products:

  • beef – 200 gr;
  • pork – 200 gr;
  • chicken – 200 gr;
  • meat with bone (for broth);
  • beets – 2 pcs.;
  • carrots – 1 pc.;
  • onions – 1 pc.;
  • lard – 50 g;
  • garlic – 3-4 cloves;
  • tomato paste – 1.5 tbsp. spoon;
  • vinegar - 2 tbsp. spoons;
  • flour – 1 teaspoon;
  • salt, pepper, bay leaf.

The recipe for this wonderful dish starts with broth. First you need to cook the beef with the bone. During this time, the beets are peeled and cut into strips. Then it must be simmered under the lid with the addition of vinegar and a small amount of water. When the vegetable is half cooked, you should add tomato paste to it and let it simmer some more.

The lard is finely chopped and ground with garlic.

The onion is chopped and the carrots are grated. The vegetables are fried until golden brown and flour should be added at the end.

Place the prepared foods in the pots, add spices and fill with broth. The borscht in pots is placed in the oven until it is completely cooked.

The finished dish is poured into plates, sour cream and pepper are added to taste..

Happy cooking and bon appetit!

Discussion 0

Similar materials

A traditional dish of Ukrainian cuisine is borscht. In fact, this is a rich vegetable soup, because its classic composition includes onions, carrots, potatoes, beets, cabbage (fresh or pickled), sweet peppers, tomatoes. There are many options with different combinations of these vegetables; each housewife prepares red borscht, the recipe for which is passed down from generation to generation, in her own way. The traditional color of borscht is achieved through the use of beets or tomatoes (fresh tomatoes, tomato paste). Based on beetroot, the dish turns out to be a richer and darker red, almost burgundy, color.

Basic principles of preparing real borscht

The rich red color is the hallmark of borscht; it comes from beets. It is not recommended to put raw fruit in the soup; with prolonged heat treatment it loses its color. It is to preserve the coloring properties that the vegetable is stewed or sautéed. When browning borscht, the fruit is grated on a coarse grater and fried in a small amount of vegetable oil. To stew, chop into strips, add a small amount of water, add a little oil and vinegar (can be replaced with citric acid). Fry the beet mass over high heat until the liquid boils, after which the heat is reduced. Young beets are stewed for 10–15 minutes, mature ones for 30–40 minutes.

There is another option for preserving the color of beetroot in borscht. The fruits are cut into large pieces and boiled in a small amount of water with the addition of vinegar. The resulting rich beetroot broth is poured into ready-made borscht to acquire a bright red color.

5 best red borscht recipes

Borscht with beets and fresh cabbage - recipe


Ingredients for red borscht:

  • any meat - 400 g;
  • potatoes - 5 pcs;
  • beets - 3 pcs;
  • carrots - 3 pcs;
  • medium cabbage (white cabbage);
  • tomatoes - 2 pcs;
  • vinegar - 2 tbsp. l;
  • sugar - a tablespoon;
  • salt;
  • dill;
  • garlic.

Step-by-step preparation:


To prepare red borscht, pour water into a saucepan, add meat and cook over medium heat until cooked. It is better to take the meat on the bone.


When the meat is cooked, add the potatoes, which must first be peeled and cut into medium cubes.


First finely chop the fresh cabbage for borscht, and after 5 minutes transfer it to the pan, without covering it completely with a lid, which corresponds to the recipe.


Now let's prepare the other borscht ingredients. The onion needs to be peeled and finely cut into cubes.


Carrots must be cut into small pieces or grated. Select medium-sized beets for red borscht and grate them as well.


The borscht will be richer and more beautiful in color if you first fry the vegetables. Heat a frying pan, pour a little vegetable oil. Place the chopped onion in the pan and fry until translucent. Add the grated carrots and beets to the onions. Immediately pour in 2 tbsp. l. vinegar and add a spoonful of sugar. Then stir, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 10-20 minutes. Just simmer, not fry! At the very end, add grated tomato to the frying pan to preserve the bright color of the borscht.


When the fresh cabbage and potatoes are almost cooked, add stewed onions and carrots to them. Mix everything. Leave to simmer over low heat to infuse the borscht with a red color. At this moment, the main thing is not to boil, otherwise it will lose its taste and color. Sprinkle the finished borscht with chopped dill and garlic according to the recipe. Cover it with a lid and let it brew a little more. Before serving, add sour cream, it will be much tastier. You can serve borscht with garlic buns or black bread with crushed lard and herbs. Bon appetit!

How to cook real red borscht with beets and sauerkraut


Ingredients for borscht:

  • 300-400 grams of pork or beef with bone;
  • several large potatoes;
  • large carrots;
  • bulb. For a beautiful look, you can use Crimean, “purple onions”;
  • 3 cloves of garlic;
  • 100 grams of fresh cabbage;
  • 100 grams of sauerkraut;
  • boiled beets, grate;
  • salt, pepper to taste;
  • dill or parsley.

Step-by-step preparation of the recipe:

  1. We wash the meat for the red dish and put it in cold water. Remove the foam and after the borscht broth has boiled for the first time, add salt and ground pepper to your taste. If the foam is not removed, the broth will be cloudy. After removing the foam, add large pieces of carrots and onions, then throw them out; the vegetables help the flavors to open up. You should use a bone for the broth, then the borscht itself will turn out more rich.
  2. Peel the onion and cut into fine cubes. Three pre-boiled beets on a medium grater. Peel the carrots and chop them into small strips, or better yet, grate them on a coarse grater. For this borscht recipe, we will take sauerkraut in half with fresh cabbage, in a 1 to 1 ratio.
  3. Place finely chopped garlic in a well-heated frying pan, and then add onion. As soon as the onion becomes transparent, add the grated carrots. Next, put the beets in the roast and pour in a little tomato juice. Simmer the borscht mixture for a few minutes.
  4. Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes. Cut the boiled meat into small cubes and add it to the broth along with the potatoes.
  5. One by one, add fried cabbage and sauerkraut to the red borscht. We do not cover the pan; in the first few minutes of boiling, the cabbage releases all its unpleasant odors, thereby not getting into the dish. Be very careful with salt in this borscht recipe, because sauerkraut is already significantly salted.
  6. 5 minutes before turning off, add a teaspoon of sunflower oil. This is done to ensure that the broth is clear and light.
  7. Turn off the finished rich red borscht and let it brew for half an hour. Place a spoonful of sour cream on a plate. The dish is delicious served with garlic buns or donuts.

Recipe for red borscht with beets without cabbage


Ingredients:

  • 200 grams of beef;
  • 200 grams of pork;
  • 200 grams of chicken;
  • 2 beets;
  • bulb;
  • carrot;
  • 50 grams of lard;
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic;
  • 1.5 cups of tomato paste;
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar;
  • a teaspoon of flour;
  • salt and pepper, bay leaf;
  • meat with bones for making broth.

How to prepare red borscht:

  1. Cook broth for borscht. To prevent the dish from turning out too fatty, take beef, preferably with a bone. Fill the meat with cold water, after boiling, skim off the foam and add the onion and carrots to the broth.
  2. Cut the beets or grate them on a coarse grater and simmer with vinegar and a small amount of water under the lid. After 5-8 minutes, add tomato paste to the vegetables, so the red color will be richer.
  3. Cool the meat for borscht that was cooked in the broth and cut into small pieces. We chop the lard and mix it with herbs and garlic, previously passed through a press for our recipe.
  4. Chop the onion and carrots and fry until golden brown. Add flour at the end of frying, this will add thickness to the borscht.
  5. The aromatic red soup can be cooked in pots in the oven, or in a pan on the stove. Stir the roast, beet and meat into the broth, add spices, salt and pepper. Cook the borscht for 20-30 minutes, then leave to steep for half an hour.

Red Lenten borscht with beets without meat


Ingredients:

  • beet;
  • potatoes – 6–8 pcs.;
  • bulb onions;
  • carrot;
  • White cabbage;
  • Bell pepper;
  • tomato - glass;
  • water – 2.5–3 l;
  • vegetable oil – 0.5 cups;
  • salt and spices (to taste);
  • greenery.

Cooking method:

  1. To prepare red borscht, finely chop the cabbage, chop the onion, potatoes and peppers, grate the beets (gives a red color) and carrots on a coarse grater, which corresponds to the recipe.
  2. Place the potatoes in boiling salted water.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, make the borscht frying. First fry the onion in a frying pan with vegetable oil. After a minute, put the carrots and beet there. When the vegetables are ready and have turned red, add the tomato (you can use borscht dressing instead) and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. When the potatoes are almost ready, add cabbage to it, boil it a little and transfer the frying. Boil, add finely chopped herbs, bay leaf and turn off the heat. To make the borscht even tastier and redder, you need to let it brew.

Red borscht with beets and tomato paste - recipe


Ingredients:

  • beef and pork brisket - 500 grams;
  • beet;
  • lemon juice;
  • potatoes - 2-3 pcs;
  • fresh cabbage - 300-400 g;
  • carrot;
  • pork fat;
  • tomato paste - a few spoons;
  • garlic;
  • salt pepper;
  • greenery.

Cooking steps:

  1. Borscht, according to the recipe, can be cooked in different broths, but the most delicious one will be made with beef or pork brisket. Rinse the meat well and chop into pieces. Put water (3–3.5 l) on the fire, put the meat in it and bring to a boil. Be sure not to miss the moment and remove the foam, otherwise the borscht will be tasteless. Reduce the heat to low and leave the meat to simmer in the broth for an hour and a half. The longer the meat is cooked, the richer the broth will be and the tastier the borscht will be.
  2. Peel and cut the beets into thin strips and simmer them in a frying pan. To preserve the red color of the borscht, sprinkle with vinegar or lemon juice.
  3. Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Finely chop the cabbage. Peel the carrots and grate them on a coarse grater, finely chop the greens and onions for borscht.
  4. Heat some pork fat in a frying pan and add onion. Bring to transparency and add grated carrots. Stew the vegetables, add a few tablespoons of tomato paste diluted in water or broth according to the recipe.
  5. It is important to correctly add vegetables to the preparing borscht. Half an hour before they are ready, add the potatoes to the broth. In 15 - 20 minutes - cabbage. Place the prepared beets 15 minutes before they are ready and after five minutes add the sautéed onions and carrots. Add spices no earlier than 5 minutes before cooking.
  6. Add garlic to the finished soup.
  7. Spices for borscht can be any, to taste. But, the classic dressing is a small piece of lard (100 grams), 3 - 4 cloves of garlic and 2 - 3 sprigs of parsley. Mix everything and grind in a mortar or blender. Add this dressing to the borscht 10 minutes before it’s ready.

Video recipe: Red borscht with beets

Borscht recipes

2 hours

150 kcal

5/5 (1)

With the onset of cold weather, hearty, thick soups become especially popular. One of these soups is borscht, which has a pleasant appearance, perfectly satisfies hunger and, moreover, is very healthy.

There is an opinion that in the same kitchen, two different housewives from the same set of products will get two completely different borscht. This is partly true, because cooking is an art! In every family, the secrets of delicious borscht are passed down from generation to generation: what kind of meat is best to use for broth, how long to cook cabbage in borscht, what is the best way to acidify the dish, what to do to make the borscht red.

Today you will learn a recipe for classic borscht with meat, by preparing which you will not only feed your family, but also enjoy the cooking process.

Classic red borscht

Kitchen appliances: saucepan, frying pan, saucepan, blender, cutting board, knife.

Ingredients

For the broth

For refueling

For frying

For dressing from lard

For borscht

How to choose the right ingredients

  • Borscht is a meat soup, and it is cooked in meat broth. Ideal for classic borscht is beef on the bone.
  • When choosing beef on the bone, pay attention to the color of the meat: it should be bright, red, not very dark.
  • The fat layers should be light yellow, almost white.
  • All this suggests that this is the meat of young cattle, which means it will cook faster, it will be soft, with an intense aroma and taste.
  • The main role in borscht is, of course, played by beets. Beets are very tasty in season: from mid-summer to mid-autumn. During this period, it is the juiciest, with a rich, bright color.
  • Choose medium-sized fruits with thin skin and intense color.
  • The second role is played by cabbage. Winter varieties are tougher and denser, almost white in color: they will cook longer.
  • Early cabbage is softer and has a bright green color: this type of cabbage will cook faster.

Cooking sequence

Making the broth


Important! Prepare the broth in advance because the meat takes a long time to cook. In addition, the longer the broth is cooked, the tastier and richer it is.

Preparing the dressing


Preparing the roast


This way, the vegetables will warm up and release their aromas, and the oil will absorb them.

Preparing lard dressing


The final stage


Serve with sour cream and finely chopped green onions.

How to cook borscht, watch the video. You will learn all the subtleties and secrets of delicious and rich borscht.

Homemade red borscht

We will cook borscht with the addition of potatoes. It will give the dish additional thickness and increase calorie content, which is especially important when you need to feed a hungry husband! It has been verified that this is the recipe for delicious borscht that young housewives share, because the result is magnificent and the process is very simple.

  • Cooking time: 120 minutes.
  • Number of servings: 6-8.
  • Kitchen appliances: frying pan, saucepan, blender, cutting board, knife.

Ingredients

Cooking sequence

Cook the broth, prepare the vegetables


Roasting


Cooking borscht


Borscht recipe video

Watch how to cook borscht with beets and cabbage in a short video. To enhance the taste, you can add finely chopped garlic and replace the tomato paste with tomato juice.



top