Polish Beetroot Soup (Barszcz Czerwony)

Barszcz is the soup I have loved longest. On Christmas Eve it is always the first thing to reach the table, before anything else, and that is exactly how I remember it as a child. It is a clear soup rather than a thick one, strained until nothing solid is left and thin enough to drink, and on Christmas Eve it goes ladled over Uszka - small mushroom dumplings or straight into a cup. Smacznego!

This one is built on vegetable stock with Beetroot Kvass (Fermented Beetroot starter) stirred through it. The stock is vegetable because Wigilia is a meat-free meal, and chicken stock is the better choice the rest of the year. The kvass is the part worth planning for: it is optional, it takes days to ferment, and it is what takes the soup past anything you can do with a stock cube. My guide to Polish food lays out the rest of the Wigilia table.

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Polish Beetroot Soup Explained

What is Polish Red Borscht?

Polish Red Borscht, or Barszcz Czerwony, is one of the best known soups in Polish cooking, and one of the most argued about. This tangy beetroot-based soup holds a special place in Polish hearts and kitchens, enjoyed throughout the year with a variety of accompaniments tailored to different occasions.

During Christmas, it’s traditionally served as a clear soup, often paired with uszka (small mushroom-filled dumplings), a light but deeply flavoured soup for the festive table. At other times, it can be enjoyed with hearty sides like krokiety (crispy crepes filled with mushrooms or meat) or as a comforting standalone meal with a slice of crusty rye bread.

The flavour of red borscht is lifted by the use of fermented Beet Kvass, which adds a tangy depth and complexity. It is a soup that changes character with the occasion, which is why almost every Polish household has a slightly different version of it.

Barszcz, Borscht or Barszcz Biały?

The names get tangled, so it is worth untangling them. Barszcz czerwony is the Polish red beetroot soup, and it is the one on this page. In English it is usually written borscht, which is a transliteration of the Russian rather than the Polish, and you will see borsch, borshch and barszcz used for the same thing.

It is not the same dish as Ukrainian borscht, which is the one most people picture: thick with cabbage, potato and often beef, eaten as a full meal with a spoon. Polish barszcz czerwony at Christmas is the opposite of that. It is strained clear, it has nothing solid left in it, and it is thin enough to drink from a cup.

And barszcz biały, white barszcz, is a different soup again, soured with fermented wheat or rye rather than beetroot, and closer to żurek. The word barszcz on its own tells you the soup is sour, not that it is red.

This is the hot winter barszcz, and people ask me for chłodnik, the cold summer one. It is not on the blog. Anna in the Kitchen has a chłodnik I like very much.

What to use as a base for the Polish Beetroot Soup?

Good broth is a good start, at my household we usually prepare Polish Chicken Soup called “Rosół” as a base for Borscht. You can use vegetarian broth as well. Simply add to your pot two chopped carrots, two diced onions, few garlic cloves, some celery and water to cover, simmer for one hour with a lid on top, season with salt and pepper (We use Vegeta or Kucharek seasoning as well).

For the chicken version you can use legs or a whole bird, the principle is the same. You can intensify the flavour by cooking without lid and reducing the liquid and that works well if you prepare a bigger batch.

Beetroot Kvass in Barszcz

Beetroot kvass is what gives barszcz its depth and its sourness. It is fermented beetroot, it takes about a week and it is very simple to make, and you can drink it on its own as well.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Beetroot kvass - the sourness has to come from somewhere. Without kvass, lean on the vinegar and add it a little at a time. Some families use the brine from a jar of sauerkraut instead, which is not traditional here but does the same job. What you cannot do is leave out both and expect it to taste like barszcz.
• Vegetable stock - chicken stock makes it richer and is what I usually use. Keep it vegetable and the whole soup is vegan, since there is nothing else in the pot that is not.
• White wine vinegar - lemon juice works and is a little softer. Cider vinegar is fine. Malt vinegar is not, and will taste of chips.
• Fresh beetroot - vacuum-packed cooked beetroot will do at a push, though you lose some colour and most of the earthiness. Do not use the kind stored in vinegar, which takes the seasoning out of your hands entirely.
• Dried marjoram - the one herb that says barszcz rather than beetroot soup, and worth buying for it. At a push a pinch of dried oregano gets you somewhere close, since they are relatives, though oregano is the louder of the two so use less.
• A handful of dried wild mushrooms - not in my card, but worth knowing that most Polish recipes put them in. If you are making uszka to go with it, you will have the soaking water anyway, and it belongs in this pot rather than down the sink.

Equipment You’ll Need

How to Make Barszcz Czerwony, Step by Step

1. Get the beetroot ready. Peel it and slice it thinly, do not cube it. Wear gloves if you would rather not spend the evening explaining your hands. If you are using homemade kvass, it needs to have been started about a week ago, so check you have some.Thin slices give up their colour and flavour faster, which matters in a half-hour simmer, and they are easier to lift out afterwards.
2. Bring the stock up and add the beetroot. In go the bay leaves and allspice too. Then turn the heat down to a bare simmer, the odd bubble, never a rolling boil. Half an hour, until the beetroot is tender.The red in beetroot breaks down with heat, so a hard boil turns a bright ruby pot dull and brownish.
3. Lift everything out. Slotted spoon, and take the bay and allspice out too. For a properly clear soup, pass it through a fine sieve. Keep the beetroot: it is good chopped into a salad with a little vinegar and oil, or stirred through soured cream.Barszcz is a clear soup, and it should look like a deep red consommé, not a vegetable soup.
4. Now the kvass, off the heat if you can. Stir it in and keep the pot gentle from here.The kvass is where the character comes from, and why it tastes of more than boiled beetroot. It is a live ferment, and boiling it hard flattens the sourness you spent a week building.
5. Garlic, marjoram, then season. Crush the garlic and stir it in with the marjoram, rubbing the dried herb between your fingers on the way. Then vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, and five minutes on the lowest heat. Add the vinegar a little at a time. It should taste sweet and sour at once, with neither winning.The garlic goes in late on purpose: simmered for half an hour it turns sweet and nutty, and a clear sour soup wants it sharp. The vinegar also keeps the colour red, because beetroot red turns bluish when it is not acidic. You can always add more vinegar, but you cannot take it out.
6. Serve it hot, and warm the cups first. Run the cups or bowls under hot water while the pot finishes. At Christmas it goes over uszka or into a cup to drink on its own. The rest of the year it takes boiled potatoes, a halved egg or a spoonful of soured cream.Barszcz is thin with almost no fat, so it loses heat much faster than a thick soup, and a cold bowl takes the edge off it.If you add cream, temper it first: stir a ladle of hot soup into the cream, not the other way round, or it splits into threads in the bowl.

Recipe Card for Polish Beetroot Soup (Barszcz Czerwony)

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Storing, Freezing and Making Ahead

Barszcz is better the next day, which makes it the sensible thing to cook ahead when the rest of Christmas Eve is competing for the hob. Cool it and get it into the fridge within two hours, where it keeps for four or five days.

Reheat it gently and never let it boil. Everything that makes it worth eating, the colour and the sharp clean sourness, is damaged by a hard reheat, and you cannot get either back once they are gone.

It freezes well for up to three months, and it is worth freezing in small portions since a mug of barszcz is a good thing to have in reserve. Freeze it before adding any cream. If you are making it for Wigilia, the kvass is the part that needs planning rather than the soup: start that a week ahead and the soup itself is a half-hour job on the day.

What to Serve With Barszcz

🍽 At Christmas it goes over uszka, the little mushroom dumplings, and that is the pairing worth planning for. The rest of the year I serve it with boiled potatoes and a spoonful of soured cream, or with a halved boiled egg, or in a cup alongside krokiety. It is also perfectly good on its own, drunk from a mug with both hands round it, which is how most of it gets finished in my house.

FAQ for Polish Beetroot Soup

What is barszcz czerwony?

A clear, deep-red Polish beetroot soup with a sweet-and-sour flavour, often served at Christmas with uszka (little dumplings).

How do I keep the colour bright red?

Add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar - the acid keeps the beetroot vivid red and stops it turning brown.

Clear soup or creamy?

This is the clear version, usually drunk from a mug or served with dumplings. A creamy version (barszcz zabielany) exists too.

Can I make it ahead?

Yes, the flavour deepens overnight. Reheat gently without a hard boil to keep the colour and clarity.

Why did my barszcz lose its bright red colour?

A hard, rolling boil dulls the ruby colour and flattens the flavour - keep it at a gentle simmer. If you are building your own stock first, start it in cold water and bring it up slowly, which draws out flavour without clouding it.

Is this the same as Christmas Eve barszcz?

It can be. My card is built on beetroot kvass, which is the fermented base a Wigilia barszcz needs, so made as written this is the Christmas Eve version and it is what I serve over uszka. Leave the kvass out and lean on the vinegar and you have the quicker everyday soup instead. The difference between the two is the ferment, not the method.

Do I have to use beetroot kvass?

No, and the soup still works without it. But it is the difference between a good beetroot soup and barszcz. Kvass brings a fermented sourness that vinegar alone cannot copy, and Polish cooks are genuinely divided on whether a barszcz without it counts. Mine is written so it works either way: with kvass for depth, or leaning on the vinegar if you have not got a week to spare.

Can I drink it from a mug?

That is arguably the best way to have it. Clear barszcz is thin enough to drink, and at Christmas it is often served in a cup rather than a bowl so people can hold it while they wait for the rest. If you are serving it that way, strain it well, because anything solid is unwelcome halfway through a mouthful.

Is this vegan?

Yes, if you use vegetable stock rather than chicken and skip the soured cream at the end. Nothing else in the pot is animal, and the kvass is simply fermented beetroot and water.

What do I do with the beetroot I strained out?

Do not bin it. It has given up a lot of colour but it is still perfectly good: chop or grate it, dress it with a little oil and vinegar and eat it as a salad, or fold it through soured cream with a grating of horseradish. A batch of barszcz produces enough for a decent side dish.

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A Few Words from the Chef

I like it two ways: ladled over uszka, or simply drunk from a cup held in both hands while everyone waits for the rest of the meal to appear.

The best barszcz I make starts with a fermented beetroot base rather than a stock cube, and these days I grow my own beetroot for it. That is the part that surprised me most. Home-grown beets have none of the earthy bitterness the supermarket ones can bring, and the soup tastes cleaner and sweeter for it. If you have a patch of garden, put in a row of beetroot and taste the difference yourself. Smacznego!