Cold Beet Soup
A vibrant crimson cold soup from Belarus — refreshing kefir base with grated beets, cucumbers, radishes, eggs and fresh dill. The perfect summer dish: bright, tangy, and served ice cold with sour cream.
Ingredients
- 500 gbeets
- 1 Lkefir
- 3-4 piecesfresh cucumbers
- 4 pieceseggs
- 1 bunchscallion
- 1 bunchfresh dill
- 4-5 piecesradishes
- 1-2 tbsplemon juice or table vinegar
- 1 tspsugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- sour cream and boiled potatoes for serving
Method
- Wash beets (do not peel). Cook in water with salt, sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice to preserve the bright color — 40-60 minutes until tender. Remove beets, strain and cool the broth completely.
- Hard-boil eggs, cool and peel. Grate cucumbers and radishes on a coarse grater. Finely chop green onion and dill; lightly salt the onion and mash with a spoon to release its juices.
- Peel cooled beets and grate on a coarse grater. Combine beets, cucumbers, radishes, herbs and eggs in a large bowl.
- Pour in kefir and 500-700ml beet broth (adjust thickness to your taste). Mix well.
- Add salt, pepper and more lemon juice if needed. The flavor should be bright and refreshing with a balance of tartness and sweetness.
- Refrigerate at least 2 hours, ideally 4 — the flavours need the time to come together and the colour deepens. Serve cold with sour cream and boiled potatoes.
FAQ
They are the same family of summer soups under different names. The Lithuanian šaltibarščiai literally means 'cold borscht', and the Polish chłodnik is built the same way; the Belarusian kholodnik in this recipe belongs with them. What they share is the base: grated cooked beetroot in cold soured milk, usually kefir, with cucumber, radish, egg and dill, never simmered meat stock. Hot borscht is a different dish altogether, cooked on broth with cabbage and tomatoes. So this is not a chilled version of hot borscht, but a soup of its own that was never hot to begin with.
Add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice while cooking the beets — acid locks in the pigment. If the color still looks pale, grate a little raw beet and stir the juice into the finished soup just before serving.
Yes — it actually tastes better the next day once the flavors meld. Prepare without the eggs (add them just before serving) and without sour cream (add it in the bowl at serving time). Store for no more than 2 days in the refrigerator.
The non-negotiable elements are cooked beets, fresh cucumber, hard-boiled egg, and a liquid base of kvas or kefir. Sour cream at serving is virtually mandatory. Without any one of these components you have a different dish entirely.
Kvas gives a slight tang and authentic flavor — the most traditional choice. Kefir makes the soup creamy and more filling. Beet broth with a splash of vinegar is the lightest option. All three are correct; choose based on what you have and the texture you prefer.
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Comments (1)
The size of your dice determines the character of this cold beet soup. Large pieces of beets give a rustic, hearty soup. Fine dice gives elegance. I cut everything to match — uniformity matters more than size.