This delicious, authentic Polish borscht is a traditional dish served with mushroom dumplings (uszka) on Christmas Eve. It requires few ingredient and is incredibly easy to make. Ready in under an hour!
Polish borscht ('barszcz wigilijny' in Polish) is for me the highlight of the Polish Christmas Eve meal. It is served as the first of 12 dishes (according to tradition) and I couldn't imagine Christmas Eve without it.
Having said that, customs can vary from region to region and many people in Poland prepare wild mushroom soup instead of borscht. Commonalities do exist though as wild mushrooms are also added to the Christmas Eve borscht.
What is Polish borscht
Polish borscht is a type of beet soup that's served without any vegetables, as broth really (which is why it's also called 'clear borscht', 'barszcz czysty' in Polish). It is made using very few ingredients and is always vegetarian! (Polish Christmas Eve is meat free, though not vegetarian, as the meal consists of at least one fish dish).
Polish Christmas borscht is quite different from the hearty, filling Ukrainian borscht (also very popular in Poland and served throughout the year).
This soup is one of the least labour intensive Polish Christmas Eve dishes! When I am preparing the Christmas meal I like to get some of the more time consuming dishes out of the way first (i.e. sauerkraut pierogi dumplings and cheese and potato dumplings). I leave the easy stuff, such as the dried fruit compote as well as this beet soup, until the morning of Christmas Eve.
Polish beet soup ingredients
To most people (those who haven't grown up with this tradition) Polish borscht soup must seem a bit odd. After all, it's just beets cooked with a few dried mushrooms and simple vegetables including onion, celery and garlic.
This is why it's important to add vinegar, some brine from the pickled beets, soy sauce and a good amount of seasoning to bring out the flavour of the beetroot and add sharpness to this soup.
How to make Polish barszcz: step-by-step
1.Place the beets, pickled beets, onion, garlic, celery stalk, mushrooms (omit if using the water from cooking the porcini, see *Notes below) and allspice berries in a large pot.
2. Pour in the water, pickled beet brine, vinegar add seasoning, cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 50 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat, add in the butter, adjust the seasoning as needed and stir. Remove the vegetables from the pot and serve the broth only.
Serving suggestions
Polish Christmas borscht is always served with mushroom dumplings ('uszka'), which make this soup truly special. Beetroot tastes really delicious with wild mushrooms!
Any leftover Polish beet soup can be reheated and enjoyed on its own as a nourishing hot broth served in a cup along with Christmas day leftovers (it tastes delicious the next day!).
In fact Poles love this dish so much they often make it without any special occasion (and serve it with meat or mushroom 'krokiety').
Polish borscht soup 2 ways
This soup contains a bit of mushroom flavour and there are 2 ways you could add it.
- One is to simply throw a few porcini mushrooms into the pot and cook with the rest of the ingredients.
- The other one is to use some of the water from cooking wild mushrooms (for making mushroom uszka dumplings). One or 2 quarters of a cup should be enough. If you choose this method you won't need to add any mushrooms to the borscht.
Top tips and FAQs
- I do NOT recommend using ready cooked beets from the store to make Polish borscht.
- How to add flavour: You can make this soup as sharp and tangy as you like so use the vinegar, pickled beetroot brine, soy sauce and seasoning according to your preference.
- Although soy sauce is not a traditional ingredient it is a good idea to use it in this recipe. Soy sauce complements the beetroot, adding complexity and more depth to the overall flavour.
- Use either 2-3 large dried porcini mushrooms or one or two quarters of a cup of water from cooking the mushrooms (for making mushroom dumplings).
- Serve only the broth.
- Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freeze individual portions for up to 3 months.
What to do with leftover beets
As Polish beet soup is served without any vegetables in it you could create a nice side dish using the beets. Simply grate them coarsely, add a little lemon juice/sour cream, knob of butter, stir and serve hot alongside a meat-and-potato meal. You could also turn it into a zesty, delicious Polish cold beet salad.
Related recipes
Check out also these other Polish recipes!
Keep in touch!
Have you made this traditional Polish borscht recipe? I'd love to know how it turned out for you. Do you have your own tried and tested way of making this recipe? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for regular recipe updates! Or you could subscribe to this blog and receive all my latest recipes right into your mailbox!
Polish Borscht Recipe (Barszcz Soup)
Equipment
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 4 medium beets peeled, cut in half
- 2 small pickled beets chopped or coarsely grated
- 60 ml (¼ cup) brine from pickled beets
- 1 small celery stalk or small piece of celery root, peeled
- 1 onion peeled
- 1 garlic clove peeled, cut in half
- 3 large pieces dried porcini mushrooms rinsed, *see Notes below
- 2 allspice berries
- 2-3 tbsp white wine vinegar or a mixture of white and balsamic vinegars, add to taste
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or to taste
- 1.2 l (5 cups) water
- ½-⅔ tbsp coarse sea salt plus pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp butter or vegan spread
Instructions
- Rinse the porcini mushrooms (if using) under cold water and rub briefly with your fingertips to remove any grit.
- Place all the ingredients (apart from the butter) in a large pot, cover and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 50 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, add the butter and adjust the seasoning if required. Remove the vegetables from the pot and serve (only the liquid) with mushroom dumplings.
Notes
- I do NOT recommend using ready cooked bought beets to make this recipe.
- *If you make Polish mushroom dumplings to go with this barszcz reserve the water from cooking the mushrooms and add it into this soup. One or two quarters of a cup will suffice. If you choose this method you won't need to add any mushrooms to the borscht.
- Flavour: You can make this beet soup as sharp and tangy as you like so use the vinegar, pickled beetroot brine, soy sauce and seasoning according to your preference.
- Although soy sauce is not a traditional ingredient it is a good idea to use it in this recipe. Soy sauce complements the beetroot, adding complexity and more depth to the overall flavour.
- Serve only the broth.
- Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
**A note about baking: If using a fan-assisted oven refer to your appliance's instructions and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Holly Risselada
Would love to make this soup, but I don't know what marinated beets are. I live in America and the only thing that comes to mind are canned beets that have been picked. Is this right?
Monika
Thanks for getting in touch! Pickled beets is probably just another way of saying marinated beets, would be my guess so I think they should be fine. Make sure there is vinegar or similar in the brine (something acidic). Hope the recipe turns out well for you. Do let me know, thanks!
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com
Sounds delicious! I do so love hearing about the Christmas foodie traditions from other countries - totally fascinating!! I love beetroot soup, but have never had it like this before!! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare!! Eb x
Monika
Thanks Eb! I only cook this soup once a year and always really enjoy it, I don't think I'd like it as much if it was an everyday soup.
FrugalHausfrau
I've only had borscht once but I plan to remedy that! This sounds lovely!
Mollie
Monika
Thanks Mollie! I could have borscht every day:)
Ginger
LOVE LOVE LOVE borscht! And I can't wait for the pierogi ...
Monika
Me too! I've just posted my Porcini Dumplings recipe. Sorry, no pierogi this year:(
Ginger
Any dumpling will do! Smacznego!