This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy.
Apologies for the short post today. But I am trying to keep to my pledge (to myself and all of you–how I assume a lot about the number of readers I have with my use of “all” :)) to post more often and regularly, even on busy days. Today is one such day. In addition, I was longing to curl up in a blanket with a good book and eschew all deadlines because it is so darn cold here today–17 degrees when I left to teach my 6 am class, to be exact. It’s warmed up to 38, which, although balmy for January in Maine, is arctic in East Texas.
Lucky for me, I had borscht.
I’ve never made borscht before now, but I have been holding on to a recipe card–one of those sample recipe cards that appears in the mail on occasion to advertise a binder collection of cakes, cookies, home-style this or that, or in the case of this particular card, slow cooker soups and stews. I ‘m not altogether certain of my reasons for saving the card. Kevin happens to despise beets in all forms, so I couldn’t have kept it in hopes of making a hearty, healthy family repast. It’s more likely I had been reading about superfoods–beets are—and thought it would be a cheap, easy, and delicious (I do not share Kevin’s convictions of the humble beet) bowl-ful of goodness.
Five years later, I my instincts proved correct.
After some adjustments to the original recipe, I threw this together in the slow cooker in about 15 minutes, then cooled it, and tucked it in the far recesses of the refrigerator in anticipation of lunch today. I couldn’t wait; still freezing from my morning antics, I heated my first bowl at 10:15. I’ve been hovering over and slurping from multiple steaming cups the rest of the day long. Why have I not made this sooner? The ruby broth is earthy, slightly sweet, and utterly restorative. I swear that my lingering sniffles have abated and my thoughts seem clearer. I may be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound by this evening.
I planned to freeze half the soup, but no longer. I cannot wait to eat more tomorrow.
Slow-Cooker Hearty Borscht
Ingredients
- Slow-Cooker Borscht with Potatoes & Dill
- 2 pounds red beets, peeled and halved
- 3/4 pound russet potatoes, peeled and halved (about 2 medium-large potatoes)
- 1 large yellow onion, ends trimmed, peeled, quartered
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp canned tomato paste
- 3 cups very finely shredded green cabbage(feel free to use pre-shredded coleslaw mix to save time--I did)
- 1-1/2 tbsp dried dill
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Salt & pepper to taste
Optional garnishes:
- plain Greek yogurt (or Tofutti Sour Supreme if vegan))
- chopped flat-leaf parsley
- hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped (skip, if vegan)
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Put beets, potatoes, onions, broth and tomato paste into a slow cooker and cook on high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 8 hours.
- Using an immersion blender, purée until mostly (but not entirely) smooth. Add cabbage, stir well and cook on high for 45 minutes. Add dill, vinegar, lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste. Ladle soup into bowls and top with the garnishes of your choice (yogurt, parsley, eggs, lemon wedges).
Thanks a bunch for the recipe. 🙂 There’s a bunch of veggies in season at the moment, and I was lucky enough to find among other things beets on discount at the local grocery store earlier today. 🙂
Great, Kristin! I love finding produce bargains, too 🙂
my grandmother served it cold with sour cream… did you serve it hot.?
on crusies they always serve cold soups, love it
I made this for supper tonight and it was DELICIOUS!
I pretty much doubled up on the dill, vinegar and lemon juice, but it was divine.
I can’t believe I’ve been borscht deprived all my life.
Hello from a fellow blogroller (a different roll…). I am enjoying what I see, and I’m excited to try this recipe!
Are there any modifications for cooking this stove-top instead of in a slow-cooker?
I’m sold! I’ll give it a try. I can’t believe you’ve got me craving beets.
I just made beet soup this weekend, although I am not sure if it was techincally borscht… either way it was delicious! I love that your recipe includes potatoes, makes the soup more filling.
I like beets but I never felt like I loved them enough to try Borscht. One of these days I really should get over the irrational fear.