Traditional Borscht Recipe: Ukrainian Red Beet Soup on a Pork-Rib Broth

The Story Behind Ukrainian Borscht

Borscht is a soup of vegetables, with beets and cabbage in the lead, cooked in meat or fish stock, and in the Ukrainian tradition a soup or borsch must be served with dinner.⁴ It is less one recipe than a family of them. Its flavour, colour and basic ingredients depend on the region and the period, and Ïzhakultura, a Ukrainian food history project, puts it plainly: there is no borshch, only types of borshch.¹ The version below is a red borscht on a meat broth, with the beets, carrots and onion fried separately before they go into the pot.

In 2022 UNESCO inscribed the “Culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking” on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. The inscription calls the dish “an expression of hospitality” that “unites people of all ages, genders and backgrounds at the table.”³

The name борщ sounds close to борщівник, the Ukrainian name for hogweed, and it is widely believed that the soup was named after the plant; a 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival blog post repeats the idea.² There is no firm evidence for it, and where the name came from is still unclear.^1,9 Ïzhakultura calls the belief most probably a modern invention. She writes that hogweed was never used in borshch, that old manuscripts mention porridges and kisil but not borshch, and that the dish was most likely invented in the 17th century.¹ A 2021 Ukrainska Pravda report dates the first recorded mention to 1556, in the Dictionary of the History of the Ukrainian Language.⁵ Much of what goes into the pot today is newer still: tomatoes, sweet peppers and potatoes reached Ukraine only 120–150 years ago, and before them the sourness came from beet kvass and bread kvass.¹

Traditional Borscht Recipe

This recipe was compiled by Heritage Healthy Kitchen from a comparison of published recipes; the sources are listed at the end of this article. Figures that are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s own estimates rather than taken from a published source are marked as such.

The published recipes agree on the method: a broth of pork or beef, best on the bone, skimmed and flavoured with onion and bay leaf; potatoes and cabbage cooked in it; and a separate fry of onion, carrot and beet with tomato paste, stirred in near the end.^5,6,7 They differ in the amounts. For 2–3 litres of water the meat runs from about 300g to 500g, with one or two beets, two to four potatoes and about a quarter of a head of cabbage, or 400g.^5,6 The amounts below sit inside that range. The gram weights of whole vegetables, the amount of lemon juice and the longer broth time for beef are Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s estimates.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: about 1 hour 15 minutes (longer with beef)
Total Time: about 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 8
Difficulty: Intermediate

Ingredients

For the Broth:

• 500g (about 1 lb) pork ribs, or beef on the bone
• 3L (about 12½ cups) water
• ½ onion, unpeeled
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 allspice berries
• Salt

For the Borscht:

• 2 medium beets (about 350g), peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 large carrot (about 150g), grated or diced
• 1 onion (about 150g), diced
• 4 medium potatoes (about 400g), cubed
• ¼ head white cabbage (about 400g), shredded
• 3 tablespoons (45g) tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 3–4 cloves garlic, crushed
• A few drops of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon)
• ½ teaspoon sugar (optional), black pepper

To Serve:

• Sour cream
• Fresh dill
• Rye bread or pampushky (garlic buns)
• Raw garlic cloves (optional)

How It Is Made

Step 1: Make the Broth

Simmer the meat. Rinse the ribs, put them in a large pot with the water, the half onion, the bay leaves and the allspice, and bring to the boil, skimming off the foam as it rises.⁶ Simmer gently for about 30 minutes for pork ribs,⁶ and longer for beef, until the meat is tender (Heritage Healthy Kitchen’s estimate). Lift out the onion. Take the meat off the bones and return it to the pot.

Add the potatoes. Add the cubed potatoes to the simmering broth and cook for about 5–7 minutes, until they are half done.^6,7

Step 2: Make the Zasmazhka

Soften the onion and carrot. While the potatoes cook, heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook the diced onion until soft, then add the carrot and cook for about 5 minutes more.⁷

Add the beets and tomato paste. Add the grated beets and cook for about 2 minutes, then stir in the tomato paste and the sugar, if using, and let it all stew for 2 minutes more.^6,7 A few drops of lemon juice in the beet fry help it keep its colour.⁶

Step 3: Assemble the Borscht

Cook the cabbage. Add the shredded cabbage to the broth and simmer for 10–15 minutes.^5,6

Add the zasmazhka. Stir the zasmazhka into the pot and let it bubble for another 5–7 minutes.^5,6 Add the crushed garlic at the end⁶ and season with salt and black pepper.

Let it stand. Take the pot off the heat and leave it covered for 15–20 minutes before serving.⁵

Tips from Ukrainian Kitchens

Nutritional Information

Regional Variations Across Ukraine

Borscht changes from region to region, and the ingredients can differ even between neighbouring villages and houses.⁵ The encyclopedia’s entry on traditional foods names a distinctive Poltava, Galician and Kyiv borsch, and lists kinds that depend on the season and the ingredients: sorrel borsch, spring borsch, cold borsch and clear borsch.⁴

• Polissia: In the forested north, where beets did not always grow to full size, cooks soured the pot with unripe berries, cranberries or wild apples.¹ A family recipe from Ovruch, in Zhytomyr Polissia, still adds cranberries and dried mushrooms.⁵
• Zaporizhzhia: A family recipe from the south fries the beets in lard and finishes the pot with garlic pounded with salo.⁵
• Lviv: A Lviv family recipe is made without meat, on beans, and can be eaten during a fast.⁵
• Crimea: A Crimean Tatar family recipe is closer to shurpa and treats the beet as optional.⁵

All four come from cooks who brought their recipes to an all-Ukrainian borshch festival in Kyiv, where 25 regions were represented.⁵ Sweet pepper and beans turn up in many published recipes as well.^5,6,7

Traditional Serving & Storage

How It Is Served

Borscht is served with sour cream and pyrizhky or rye bread,⁴ and UNESCO’s description mentions bread or garlic buns,³ the pampushky. Fresh dill goes on top.⁶ Garlic is often eaten raw in Ukraine,⁴ so a clove on the side is optional.

Storage Instructions:

• Fridge: Keep leftovers for 3 to 4 days.⁸
• Freezer: Freeze for 3 to 4 months.⁸
• Reheating: Bring the soup to a rolling boil;⁸ add fresh dill after warming.

Cultural Significance

Borscht turns up in ritual as well as at the everyday table. In Podillia the third day of a wedding still keeps the name do nevistky – na borshch, “visit the daughter-in-law to eat borscht.”³ Because Ukrainians keep fast days, there are many recipes for borshch with dried or baked fish, and fish borshch is often served as a ritual dish at Christmas or as a funeral meal.¹ Ukrainians in the diaspora have kept their cooking as part of their heritage, festive foods above all.⁴

The practice went onto UNESCO’s urgent safeguarding list because, since February 2022, the war has displaced people who keep the tradition from their communities and cut communities off from the local vegetables the dish needs.³ The listing covers the practice itself: the recipe, the method and the occasion that decides which kind of borscht is cooked, passed on within families, with children helping at the stove.³

On the Holiday Table

On Christmas Eve the pot is built without meat. The encyclopedia describes a meatless Christmas borsch of vegetables cooked in water and soured with beet kvass or another acid,⁴ and a Lviv cook quoted by Ukrainska Pravda says that at Christmas borscht is one of the twelve traditional dishes, served with vushka, small dumplings filled with mushrooms.⁵ A recipe for this meatless borscht is in our lenten borscht for Sviat Vechir, and the other dishes of the supper are collected on our Sviata Vecheria menu.

Christmas Day ends the fast. The encyclopedia’s entry on traditional foods lists borsch among the dishes served on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, alongside roasts, fried sausages, cabbage rolls and jellied meat.⁴ This borscht is on our Rizdvo menu and on our Malanka feast page for the New Year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my borscht turn out brown instead of deep red?

Usually the beets are to blame. A pale beet with white streaks that gives little bright juice won’t colour the pot well, so choose a deeply coloured one. A few drops of lemon juice in the beet fry help it keep its colour.

Can I make this borscht vegetarian or vegan?

Yes, and the meatless version is a traditional one. The Encyclopedia of Ukraine describes a meatless Christmas borsch of vegetables cooked in water and soured with beet kvass or another acid, and a published Lviv recipe builds it on beans. Fry the vegetables in sunflower oil.

Is borscht served hot or cold?

This recipe is served hot. Cold borsch exists too, and the Encyclopedia of Ukraine lists it among the kinds of borsch, but it is a separate type.

How long does borscht keep, and is it true it tastes better the next day?

Leftovers keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or in the freezer for 3 to 4 months; bring the soup to a rolling boil when you reheat it. As for the next day, a saying recorded with one published recipe holds that borscht is best served then, once it has stood.

What should I serve with borscht?

Sour cream and fresh dill on top, with rye bread or pyrizhky alongside. UNESCO’s description of the dish mentions bread or garlic buns, the pampushky. A raw garlic clove on the side is optional.

Why is borscht on UNESCO’s list?

In 2022 UNESCO inscribed the culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. The inscription describes the dish as an expression of hospitality and names the war, which has displaced people and cut communities off from local vegetables, as the threat.

Looking for a Lighter Version?

If you want a lighter take on this dish, see our Healthy Borscht Recipe: Lighter Red Borscht With a Lenten Version for Christmas Eve.

Traditional Recipe Card

Traditional Borscht

Prep 30 min Cook about 1¼ hours Serves 8

Ingredients

For the Broth

• 500g (about 1 lb) pork ribs, or beef on the bone
• 3L (about 12½ cups) water
• ½ onion, unpeeled
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 allspice berries
• Salt

For the Borscht

• 2 medium beets (about 350g), peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 large carrot (about 150g), grated or diced
• 1 onion (about 150g), diced
• 4 medium potatoes (about 400g), cubed
• ¼ head white cabbage (about 400g), shredded
• 3 tablespoons (45g) tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 3–4 cloves garlic, crushed
• A few drops of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon)
• ½ teaspoon sugar (optional), black pepper

To Serve

• Sour cream
• Fresh dill
• Rye bread or pampushky (garlic buns)
• Raw garlic cloves (optional)

Instructions

1. Broth: Simmer the ribs in the water with ½ onion, bay leaves and allspice, skimming the foam, about 30 min for pork (longer for beef). Take the meat off the bones and return it.
2. Potatoes: Add the potatoes and cook 5–7 min, until half done.
3. Zasmazhka: Fry the onion in sunflower oil until soft, add the carrot for 5 min, then the beets for 2 min. Stir in tomato paste (and sugar) for 2 min more; add a few drops of lemon juice.
4. Cabbage: Add the cabbage to the pot and simmer 10–15 min.
5. Finish: Stir in the zasmazhka and simmer 5–7 min. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Rest, covered, 15–20 min.
6. Serve: Ladle into bowls, top with sour cream and dill, and serve with rye bread or pampushky.

More authentic heritage recipes at heritagehealthykitchen.com Download as PDF

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Medical Disclaimer: This recipe is provided for cultural and educational purposes only. Individual dietary needs vary. Consult healthcare providers regarding specific nutritional requirements or health conditions before making significant dietary changes.

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Further Reading & Sources: The recipe is a compilation based on the published recipes listed here; these links are provided for readers who want to explore further.
1. Olena Braichenko. (11 October 2018). About borshch. їzhakultura. History of the dish, Polissia, fish borshch at Christmas and funerals.
2. Daniel Zhang. (3 July 2023). A Brief History of Borshch. Smithsonian Folklife Festival blog. Repeats the idea that the soup was named after hogweed.
3. UNESCO. (2022). Culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking. List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, nomination file No. 01852.
4. S. Stechishin. Traditional foods. Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
5. Olha Sytnik. (6 March 2021). 5 retseptiv ukrainskoho borshchu, yaki vam smakuvatymut [Five Ukrainian borshch recipes you will enjoy]. Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia. Published recipes (Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Crimea) and the 1556 mention.
6. Yevhen Klopotenko. (1 July 2022, page updated 16 June 2026). Yak pryhotuvaty borshch: 5 naismachnishykh retseptiv [How to cook borshch: five recipes]. klopotenko.com. Published recipes and cooking tips.
7. Olia Hercules. Olia Hercules’ borsch. delicious. magazine (page updated 26 May 2025). Published recipe.
8. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. (last updated 31 July 2020). Leftovers and Food Safety. Storage and reheating.
9. Oleh Pavliuk. (3 December 2021). Den ukrainskoho borshchu: u chomu unikalnist tsiiei stravy. Poiasniuie etnohrafynia [Ukrainian Borshch Day: what makes the dish unique, explained by an ethnographer]. Suspilne. The belief that the word comes from the plant name борщівник, and the lack of firm evidence for it.

A lighter version, with a lenten pot for Sviat Vechir, is in our companion article: Healthy Borscht Recipe.

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