What is used to season cold borscht? How to cook cold beetroot borscht. Cold borscht made from beet tops

The most famous traditional dish of Ukrainian and Russian cuisine - borscht - has many variations. The classic version of this delicious soup is nutritious, and its calorie content is quite suitable for the winter period, when the body requires much more energy. It would seem that borscht lovers have a hard time in the hot summer, but there is a recipe for this too - cold borscht with beets, or, as it appears in most cookbooks, beetroot soup. There are also a lot of variations of this soup: it is prepared with water and kefir, with meat and fish, with beet tops and sorrel. At the same time, the calorie content of the dish allows it to be eaten even by people watching their weight.

It is very simple to prepare cold borscht at home, and the ingredients that make up the dish can be purchased at any store without blowing up the family budget. By the way, beetroot soup has long been loved in Rus' precisely for this reason: from simple available products it was possible to create a nutritious, tasty and healthy dish for a large family. We offer you a classic recipe for beetroot soup with beef and sour cream.

Preparation

We will need:

Water – 2 liters

Lemon juice – from ½ lemon

Vinegar – 1 teaspoon

Beets – 2 pieces (medium size)

Potatoes – 3 pieces

Cucumbers – 2 pieces

Radishes – 10–12 pieces

Boiled beef – 400 grams

Eggs – 3 pieces

Fresh herbs (dill, parsley, green onions) - to taste

Spices:

To submit:

Number of servings – 6

Cooking time – 120 minutes

Preparing beets

The main ingredient of cold borscht, which is included in every recipe, is beets. This amazing root vegetable has long been recognized as a real storehouse of useful substances: vitamins B and BB, folic and pantothenic acid, fiber, amino acids. Beet kvass will quench your thirst better than any cold lemonade in extreme heat; the juice helps restore strength and is useful for people suffering from anemia. Regular consumption of beets as food has a tonic effect on the body, saturates it with vitamins, improves the functioning of the digestive system, and destroys putrefactive bacteria in the intestines. The calorie content of the vegetable is low (40 kcal per 100 g), and betaine helps break down fats and cleanses the liver. Because of this, beets are included in various diets.

But most importantly, beets are a very tasty vegetable, and it is they that give the wonderful red color to the dish.

Rinse the beets thoroughly in water, making sure to use a soft brush or sponge to remove any dirt or soil from the surface. This is necessary, since the broth remaining from the vegetable will be used for further preparation of beetroot soup.
Fill the beets with water and then add a teaspoon of vinegar. Place the pan on the stove and cook over low heat until the vegetable is completely cooked (usually cooking takes 30–40 minutes, depending on the size of the root vegetables).
When the vegetable is ready, drain the water and cool the beets by pouring cold water over them for about 30 minutes. Do not pour out the remaining red broth - we will need it for the final stage of preparing the soup.

Vegetable cutting

The beetroot recipe, like okroshka, is ideal for hot weather, and much of the credit for this goes to the vegetable components of the dish. Cucumber contains a large amount of water and minerals (iodine, potassium, magnesium), it refreshes and tones the body. Potatoes, despite their calorie content, are easier to digest than many other carbohydrate foods and contain fiber, carotene, and organic acids. Radishes strengthen the immune system, cleanse the body and contain phytoncides - substances that can destroy pathogenic microbes. And fresh herbs, which are invariably included in the recipe, add a delightful aroma and piquancy to any dish.

Cucumbers for beetroot soup are cut into small strips or cubes.
The potatoes are boiled in their skins, cooled and peeled, and then cut into cubes. You can grate the potatoes on a coarse grater - it will also turn out quite tasty.
Many people do not like radishes because of the tart, islandy taste that the pink skin imparts. You can peel the vegetable before cutting it for soup, but then your dish won't be as colorful. Radishes for beetroot soup are cut into thin slices; if the root vegetables are very large, you can cut them into semicircles.
Let's move on to the greens. Dill and parsley should be divided into two parts; chop one as finely as possible, and leave the second for serving - it can be slightly torn with your hands. Chop the green onions and mix with finely chopped herbs.

Meat and eggs

You can make the dish more nutritious with meat and a chicken egg. Our recipe suggests using beef: the caloric content of a lean piece is low (160–180 kcal), and at the same time the beetroot soup is balanced in all necessary nutrients: proteins, fats and carbohydrates. An ingredient such as eggs is not included in every beetroot recipe. Some people prefer to serve them separately, others refuse to add them at all, but in the traditional version this ingredient is required.

Pre-prepare a piece of beef: cut it, cut off the tendons, fat and film. Then cut into small pieces - this will cook it faster.
Place the prepared meat in a small saucepan, preferably with little free space. This will cook the meat in a small amount of water, which will make the meat softer and more tender. The meat in the pan must be filled with hot water (pre-boiled); The water should completely cover the meat. Place on the stove, heat is medium, and close with a lid.
Beef is boiled for an average of 2 hours. During the cooking process, check the meat with a knife: if it goes in easily, the beef is ready. Once cooled, cut into small cubes.
Cut the boiled eggs into cubes. Leave one yolk for the sauce.

Mixing the ingredients

The recipe completes the main stage of preparation - mixing everything that goes into the beetroot soup. By the way, it is not necessary to fill the entire mass with water and broth - you can do this in portions in a separate plate. This way, the dish will better retain its properties in the refrigerator, and there is much less chance that the mixture or decoction will spoil.

Mix all ingredients (boiled beets, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes and herbs) in a saucepan. Then add eggs and meat.
The mixture is poured with beet broth and diluted with boiled water to full volume. Then add lemon juice to the pan and mix everything thoroughly. If you are mixing the soup in batches, it is better to serve the lemon juice separately so that everyone can add it to their taste.
The dish is ready - you can get ready to serve!

Serve on the table

First, prepare the sour cream sauce: grate the yolk of the egg that was set aside. Add the resulting paste to the sour cream and mix thoroughly. You can also add some finely chopped dill to the mixture for some piquancy and freshness. That's all - the recipe for making the sauce is completely simple, but in combination with beetroot it turns out very tasty.
Pour the beetroot soup into plates, add sprigs of herbs, and serve with sour cream sauce and a slice of rye bread. Fresh taste, lots of benefits and low calorie content (about 70 kcal) - a wonderful summer lunch is ready!

As you can see, preparing a hearty and at the same time light lunch on a hot day is very simple. And the recipe presented above is clear proof of this. All family members will like beetroot soup, and you don’t need to do anything special: the ingredients can be bought at the market without any problems, especially since summer is the season for fresh vegetables. The calorie content of the dish is ideal for hot weather and will suit even the most strict people watching their diet. Enjoy your meal!

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Red borscht is a hearty and tasty dish. So tasty that you could enjoy it all year round, if not for one “but”. To prepare classic Ukrainian borscht, you will have to spend a lot of time at the hot stove, and it is advisable to serve it on the table with a cloud of hot steam above the plate. In the summer heat, both are a real test, which not everyone is ready to go through, even for the amazing taste of borscht. That is why it is difficult to find borscht on the menu for the hot season; its place is taken by summer cold soups: okroshka, gazpacho, tarator and their variations based on kvass, fermented milk products, mineral water and fresh vegetables. They are all delicious, refreshing and satisfying in their own way. But what to do if you want borscht? There is only one answer: prepare cold beetroot borscht.

Cold beet borscht and other cold soups
Cold borscht is considered to be a traditional dish of Eastern European cuisine. In different variations and adaptations to suit local tastes and capabilities, it can be found among Poles, Belarusians, Latvians, and Russians. But all over the world it is known to culinary specialists mainly as Lithuanian cold borscht. Our compatriots call it beetroot or kholodnik, which, in general, completely conveys the essence of the recipe. Inexperienced cooks may confuse it with other cold soups, including those involving the use of beets in the recipe. But it’s enough to understand a little to understand how big the difference is between them:

Cold borscht, unlike okroshka, does not contain meat ingredients.
Botvinya contains beets - but not the root vegetable, but the leaves, so it cannot be called borscht.
Bulgarian tarator is cold, without meat, but differs from kholodnik in its white color, thick yogurt consistency and walnuts in its composition.
Spanish gazpacho has a beautiful red color, but it comes from tomatoes rather than beets.

This is how it turns out that of all the soups that do not require heat treatment and are served cold, only cold beetroot borscht can satisfy the desire to taste real borscht in the summer heat. At the same time, the traditional recipe for cold borscht allows for minor adjustments if you do not have one or another ingredient or you simply prefer kvass to kefir or vice versa.

How to prepare the right cold meat
Despite the fact that cold beetroot borscht is a traditional dish and has been known to gourmets for a very long time, today it turns out to be extremely relevant. Modern food trends are different, but cold borscht fits into several concepts at once. Firstly, it will appeal to vegetarians (who consume eggs and dairy products). Secondly, fans of a raw food diet will probably like it, because it does not require cooking. Thirdly, cold beetroot is low-calorie, and therefore ideal for those who want to lose weight. So there is nothing easier to please the most picky guests and household members than preparing cold beetroot borscht according to one of the proven recipes:

Classic cold beetroot borscht in Lithuanian style. Prepare 1 liter of kefir of any fat content, 1 large beet weighing 400-500 grams, one and a half liters of drinking water, 4 eggs, 1 large cucumber, 1 onion, a bunch of green onions and dill, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and a pinch of salt.
Cook the beets until tender in water and vinegar. Boil the eggs hard. Wash the remaining vegetables and peel the onion. Grind the ingredients: eggs, onion and cucumber into cubes, chop the greens. When the beets become soft, cool them, peel them and grate them on a coarse grater. Place the grated beets in a deep saucepan and cover with cool water. Add two types of onions, dill, cucumber and eggs to the beets. Add salt, pour in kefir and stir.
Lithuanian beetroot borscht can be served immediately after cooking, then it is better to immediately use chilled ingredients. If you prepare the cold soup in advance, put it in the refrigerator - this will make it even tastier. You can add a spoonful of sour cream to a plate of cold borscht, which will highlight its taste.
Cold beetroot borscht with kvass. Prepare 1 liter of natural kvass, 3 medium-sized beets, 4 small carrots, 3 potatoes, 3 cucumbers, 2 eggs, a bunch of fresh herbs, 1 tablespoon of mustard, 12 ice cubes and a pinch of salt.
Wash the beets, potatoes and carrots. Boil them until soft in different pans or bake them whole in foil. Then cool, peel and cut into cubes. Boil the eggs hard, peel and separate into whites and yolks. Cut the whites into cubes and crumble the yolks. Cut the cucumber into thin slices or rings along with the peel. Wash the greens and chop finely.
Pour kvass into a saucepan, add salt and add chopped yolks. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Before serving, place the borscht in the refrigerator for 5-15 minutes. Place a few ice cubes in each serving plate of cold beetroot borscht.
Cold borscht with beet broth. Half a kilogram of beets, 4 medium-sized cucumbers, 150 grams of carrots, 2 eggs, a bunch of green onions, half a glass of sour cream, half a bunch of dill, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt - in addition to these products, you will need a lot of time.
Wash the raw beets and remove the skin. Cut it into thin strips and place in a deep pan. Pour vinegar over the beets and add one and a half liters of cold drinking water. Cook over low heat, covered, until tender, about 40 minutes after the water boils. Then cool slightly and strain the contents of the pan. Place the beets in a bowl and put them in the refrigerator. Pour the broth into a glass jar and leave at room temperature for at least 8 hours.
During this time, the beet broth will ferment a little. Place it in the refrigerator to cool to about 10°C. Meanwhile, peel and cook the carrots. Cut boiled carrots and fresh cucumbers into strips. Finely chop the onion and greens. Hard boil the eggs and cut into cubes. Place all the vegetables in a saucepan, add salt and mix with sugar.
Pour chilled beet broth over the vegetables. Stir and serve. Place the chopped eggs on the bottom of serving plates and sprinkle cold borscht on top with chopped herbs.
Sweet cold beetroot borscht. Prepare 2 medium-sized beets, 4 potatoes, 1.5 liters of water, 50 grams of any seedless dried fruit, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and a pinch of salt.
Peel the beets and cook in water and vinegar. While the beets are cooking, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. When the beets are about half ready, remove them with a slotted spoon, cool and grate them. Return the beets to the same pan in which they were cooked, add the raw potatoes and dried fruits. Add salt and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are cooked.
At the very end of cooking, put sugar in the pan and add the juice that came out of the beets when you grated them. Remove the pan from the heat, cool first at room temperature, then in the refrigerator. Serve in bowls or large glasses.
Cold beetroot borscht in a slow cooker. You will need 1 large beet, 1 liter of mineral water, 3 eggs, 2 cucumbers, a bunch of green onions and dill, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt.
Pour three glasses of regular drinking (not mineral) water into the multicooker bowl. Place a steaming basket on top of it and place well-washed eggs and whole beets on the grill. Turn on the steamer in the “steam” mode for half an hour. After 15 minutes, remove the eggs and continue cooking the beets. If necessary, increase the cooking time until the beets are soft enough. Cool the eggs and beets, cut into strips.
Wash the cucumbers and greens and chop finely. Place the onion in a saucepan and add salt. Add the remaining chopped ingredients and stir. Pour vinegar, add sugar and fill with mineral water. Stir again and serve with boiled potatoes and cold sour cream.

Any of these cold beet borscht recipes can be customized to suit your taste. For example, crumble ham, boiled sausage or hard cheese into prepared borscht. Kholodniki with fish are very popular: anchovy, gobies, herring. You can try all these options if you learn how to cook cold beetroot borscht according to the classic recipe. And a healthy appetite will be ensured even on the hottest day.

In the hot summer, you want to cook only light and low-fat food, and therefore cold borscht with beets can be your salvation. With its help, you can make the usual menu more varied and interesting.

Boil one large jacket potato and one chicken egg until tender.
Peel one large raw beet and cut into four pieces.
Pour water into a saucepan, bring it to a boil, add salt and boil the beets in it.
When the beet pieces are soft, remove them from the water, grate them, and then return them to the pan. To ensure that the beetroot preserves its bright color, immediately add lemon juice to it.
Peel one fresh cucumber and cut into thin strips. Cut the potatoes and egg into cubes.
Arrange the vegetables on plates, fill them with beetroot broth and garnish with halved boiled quail eggs.

Serve sour cream and chopped herbs along with the borscht.

Cold borscht with ham

This easy soup is sure to please your family. A wonderful combination of fresh vegetables, ham and aromatic herbs will not leave even the most severe critic indifferent. To prepare cold borscht with ham, you will need:

Peel one beet, one potato and one carrot. Place the vegetables in a saucepan with water and cook until tender. Don't forget to add cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns to the broth.
Ten minutes before readiness, add green beans (12-15 pods) to the vegetables.
Peel one large cucumber and cut into cubes.
Grate the boiled vegetables or cut them into cubes.
Cut 150 grams of ham and a few boiled eggs into cubes.
Chop green onions as desired.
Mix all the ingredients in a separate bowl and add salt to them. Then place the borscht base in the refrigerator to cool.

When it's time for lunch, place the vegetables and ham on plates and pour cold broth over them. You can serve the dish with sour cream, horseradish or mustard.

Prepare cold soups as often as possible during the hot summer. This way you will give yourself and your loved ones the desired feeling of coolness even on the hottest days.

For 7-10 servings we need:

Beets - 3-4 pcs. medium (500-600 g)
Cucumbers (fresh) - 4 pcs.
Eggs (boiled) - 4 pcs.
Dill - 1 bunch
Green onions - 1 bunch
Potatoes (boiled) - 2 pcs.
Water (drinking) - 2 liters
Salt and sugar - to taste: from 1 tbsp. spoons
Vinegar (9%) - to taste: from 4 tbsp. spoons
Sour cream - 1 tbsp. heaped spoon per serving
Garlic - 1 clove per serving

How to cook.

Boil potatoes and hard-boiled eggs. You can do this ahead of time. Also a smart choice during the season, cool soups, which most often include both ingredients. By the way, potatoes cooked the night before are much easier to chop beautifully.

Let's move on to the main thing: Let's prepare the base - beet broth. In order for the root crop to better give off its color, we heat the water. Add salt and sugar to it and mix.

Cut the peeled beets into small cubes. This cut gives the dish a rich texture: the cube is very pleasant to chew. If you are too lazy to fuss, use three on a coarse grater. It will be tasty, but not so bright.

Pour vinegar into boiling water. Now is the time to try it: adjust the sourness, salt and sweetness to your liking. The taste should be comfortable - sour-sweet-salty. Essentially, we have a hot marinade in front of us. We put sliced beets in it. There should be quite a lot of root vegetables. The base of classic cold borscht should be frankly beetroot-like and thick.

Heat the water with the beets to a boil and cook - literally 2 minutes.

We drain most of the beautiful broth. There should be pieces left in the pan, barely covered with water - 1 cm. We will cook them until fully cooked - over low heat. When the beets are soft, the borscht base is ready. The process will take up to 15 minutes. Grated beets will cook even faster.

Add the first drained portion to the pan, let the broth cool and put it in the refrigerator.

Chop all the ingredients for seasoning the borscht. Cucumbers, eggs and potatoes - cubes the size of beets or slightly larger. Keep the green onions smaller, and chop the dill well. Combine the slices and mix. Both parts of the classic (liquid and dressing) are waiting to be combined!

However We will collect borscht only for the table - in portions. Pour the beetroot base into a plate and add the required amount of dressing. Density and proportions are at your discretion. And don't forget a generous spoon of sour cream for each serving. For those who love garlic, chop a small cube and sprinkle the sour cream center. That's all! Enjoy the summer hit!

With mustard and horseradish - step-by-step recipe with photos

More piquant and very tender cold borscht. This is how you can describe the second nice and fast option. By the way, sausage or meat (any boiled) will go perfectly in it. This will give the soup texture and chewiness.

Calorie content of 1 serving - no more than 250 kcal

For 7-10 servings we need:

Beetroot - 3 pcs. average
Water (purified) - 1.5 liters
Cucumbers (fresh) - 3-4 pieces
Eggs (boiled) - 6 pieces
Green onions - 1 bunch
Dill - 1 bunch
Lemon juice - 3-4 tbsp. spoons
Sugar - 1 tbsp. spoon
Salt - ½ tbsp. spoons
Sour cream - 200 g
Potatoes - 200 g
Mustard - ½ teaspoon
Garlic - ½ clove
Horseradish - ½ teaspoon

How to cook.

The steps are much the same as the recipe above. Bring water with sugar, salt and lemon juice to a boil. Peel the beets and grate them on a coarse grater. Place the mixture into boiling water. Let it boil and simmer over low heat for 7-10 minutes. The vegetable will soften and give the broth its magnificent color.

Bring the finished broth to taste. We taste and adjust sugar, salt, lemon juice - for a uniform range of shades. The final touch will be spicy additions: horseradish, mustard and garlic, passed through a press. Place the soup base in the refrigerator.

Peel the boiled potatoes and set aside. It will not go into the soup itself, but it is required to be served in the classical tradition.

Chop the eggs into cubes. Let's do something more interesting with the cucumber. Cut two thirds of the number of cucumbers into thin strips. Our ideal assistant for this is the Berner grater. Rub one third of the watery vegetable onto a small regular grater and add finely chopped dill to the mixture. Here it is - the secret mixture for the unique tenderness of cold borscht.

Now we have everything to assemble the soup in portions:

spicy beetroot broth;
egg cubes;
cucumber straw;
a spoonful of cucumber-dill mixture;
a generous dollop of sour cream on top.

Garnish with a cut egg and serve with potatoes. What could be better on a hot day?! Bon appetit!

“Summer cold borscht” with mineral water

With boiled beets, abundant greens, kefir and sweet mustard. Well, a very tasty recipe, and even with a photo. How to cook effortlessly and easily is not a question if you come to us for a quick visit. Let's get started!

Calorie content of 1 serving - about 260 kcal (depending on the fat content of kefir)

For 7-10 servings we need:

Beetroot (boiled) - 3 pcs. average
Eggs (boiled) - 4 pcs.
Dill - 1 large bunch
Green onions - 1 large bunch
Fresh cucumbers - 300 g
Kefir (thick or 2:1 with sour cream) - 1 l
Mineral water with gas - 1 l
Mustard (sweet) - 2 tbsp. spoons
Lemon juice - 40 ml
Sugar - 1-2 tbsp. spoons
Black pepper, salt - to taste

How to prepare it.

Elementary assembly from ready-made ingredients into one container. Three on a coarse grater, except for onions and dill. Finely chop the greens.

Combine ingredients in a large saucepan or bowl. Fill with kefir and mineral water. Taste and add mustard to taste. We love safe experiments with sweet mustard, so we add at least 2 tbsp per 2 liters of liquid. spoons

Do the same with sugar, salt, and pepper. Of course, it’s difficult to ruin this soup completely, but only testing leads to success.

Decorating is easy. A piece of egg and a couple of thin slices of fresh cucumber. Making them is simple: use a vegetable peeler to cut strips along the vegetable.

For many years, people have been eating fresh vegetables. They are tasty and healthy - a harmonious combination of ingredients makes any treat delicious. Nutritionists are convinced that by eating one vegetable every day, we store up energy for a long time. This allows us to move actively and manage to do a lot of things in a day. This is probably why in almost every European country beetroot soup, a soup made from beets, is considered one of the national dishes.

The five most commonly used ingredients in recipes are:

You can add any other ingredients, but beets are the main ingredient in this cold soup. It goes well with fresh cucumber and fragrant, freshly cut onions. Recipes for beetroot soup and cold borscht are constantly popular in Russian cuisine. Both adults and children like them. A lot of vitamins needed by the human body and a minimum of calories - this is the main advantage of beetroot. By putting it in the refrigerator in the morning, in the evening you can enjoy the amazing taste of homemade botvina, made with care and love. The crimson red color of beets goes well with any food served on the table in addition to the freshest, aromatic soup that doesn’t even need to be boiled.