Polish cold beet soup (chlodnik) is a delicious, refreshing soup popular in Poland during warmer months. It contains both beets as well as beet greens and is super quick and easy to make.
Polish chlodnik cold beet soup is a refreshing vegetarian dish, great to make on a hot day. As it’s summer and we are expecting a heat wave here in the UK any day now (!) I thought I’d introduce this delicious cold beetroot soup with yogurt on my blog.
I usually make ‘healthy’ adjustments to traditional Polish recipes but this beetroot soup is really nutritious and simply perfect the way it’s always been prepared.
What I love most about chlodnik, apart from the taste, is that it contains both the beet roots AND greens! Beet greens are very underrated despite being full of goodness and flavour. Together with the beets they create a wonderfully rich, delicious dish, full of flavour as well as colour. And nothing gets wasted!
(Check out also this simple beet greens vegetable soup).
Making this easy beet soup involved a visit to Unicorn, a vegetarian grocery shop in Manchester, UK. This is the only place I know where beet greens don’t get chopped off! Visiting this shop is a treat in itself, as it stocks a large variety of organic locally sourced fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs as well as lots of fabulous hard to come by products.
How to make easy Polish cold beet soup
This healthy chlodnik soup requires a bit of chopping and grating but is very easy to make.
Start by combining the beets and greens with water, lemon juice and seasoning. Cook until the mixture begins to boil (approx. 10 minutes), then remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. You won’t have to do any more cooking!
(The fact that this soup cooks so quickly means that the vegetables retain their maximum nutritional value, which is another thing I love about this soup).
Whilst the soup is cooling prepare the rest of the ingredients. Then simply toss into the beet mixture, stir and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. It’s really that simple!
Serving suggestions
This Polish chlodnik beetroot soup is traditionally served with hard boiled eggs. You can also enjoy it on its own or with hearty rye or pumpernickel bread. This soup makes a great starter, perfect to serve at a summer party.
More easy beet soup recipes
Simple Borscht Recipe (Vegetarian Barszcz)
Creamy Beet Soup with Kale & Fennel
Polish Borscht Recipe (Christmas)
Cold Beet Soup (Polish Chlodnik)
Ingredients
- 2 medium beets with greens
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 and 2/3 cup water
- 750 ml buttermilk or natural yogurt
- 2-3 tablespoons dill finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chives finely chopped
- 10 radishes coarsely grated
- Cucumber 15 cm long, peeled, coarsely grated
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt plus plenty of pepper
- Serve with hard boiled eggs optional
Instructions
- Peel the beets and grate (coarsely). Finely chop the greens (leaves and stems). Place all in a large pot, add the water, 1 teaspoon of salt, lemon juice, cover and bring to boil. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- Once the beet mixture has cooled add the remaining ingredients, season to taste and stir thoroughly. For best results leave in the fridge for a few hours before serving. Yields 6-8 portions.
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I am bringing this Polish cold beet soup chlodnik recipe to This Is How We Roll.
Hi, I am Monika, welcome to Everyday Healthy Recipes! This blog is all about creatively simple recipes with a healthy twist, old classics with a modern take, and an occasional Polish dish thrown into the mix - all easy to make, healthy and delicious, perfect for everyday cooking. 
Looks incredible and divine!! So yumm 🙂
Thanks! Glad you like it:)
This looks lovely. I don’t think I’ve ever tried beetroot soup before but must give it a try soon. I love using the beetroot greens too, I make a very nice beetroot curry that blends then into the sauce #CookBlogShare
Thanks Mandy! I am never bored with beetroot and putting it in a curry dish sounds marvelous:) And the greens too!
This soup is a “must” on a warm/hot summer day. It’s one of my favorite’s by the way! Some people may find the pink color strange, but, believe me, once you dip into it, it’s “heaven in the mouth” (an old Polish saying: “Niebo w gebie!”). So — smacznego!!! And a nice warm “Dziekuje slicznie” to Monika for posting this classical and delicious Polish recipe! Greetings from Lyon!!
Thank you Krystyna! I am a huge fan of beetroot in general and this soup certainly does it justice. Thanks for visiting my blog:)