Russia · Soups · Gluten-free

Solyanka

Name: Solyanka
Prep time: 51 min
Cook time: 119 min
Total time: 170 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Russian
Ingredients: 600-700 g beef or pork on the bone; 300 g smoked ribs; 200 g ham; 200 g smoked sausage; 2 onions; 2-4 pickled cucumbers; 100 g olives; 50-70 g capers; 2 tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tbsp butter; 1-2 bay leaves; 3 allspice peas; 1 bunch fresh parsley; 1 lemon; to serve sour cream; to taste salt and freshly ground pepper

Solyanka is a traditional Russian soup characterized by its rich flavor and thick consistency, with a characteristic multi-layered flavor from a large variety of meat ingredients.

170 min 380 kcal 4 serves Advanced🌾Gluten-free🇷🇺Russia★★★★★4.7· 7 reviews

Ingredients

ServingsMetric

600 gbeef or pork on the bone
300 gsmoked ribs
200 gham
200 gsmoked sausage
2 onions
2 pickled cucumbers
100 golives
50 gcapers
2 tbsptomato sauce or ketchup
2 tbspvegetable oil
1 tbspbutter
1 bay leaves
3 allspice peas
1 bunchfresh parsley
1 lemon
to servesour cream
to tastesalt and freshly ground pepper

Note from Sergei

Sergei Martynov

“Solyanka is the most Russian soup you've never heard of — a thick, sour, salty potful that uses every leftover meat in the fridge. In Moscow, it's the soup you order at a good restaurant to test the kitchen: a great solyanka has at least four types of cured and cooked meats, from smoked sausage to boiled beef tongue. The olive and lemon combination sounds strange until you taste it — it provides a briny, citrusy sharpness that cuts through the richness of all that meat. Don't skip the capers; they add tiny bursts of acidity that keep each spoonful interesting. This is a soup that gets better overnight as the smoky, sour, and savory flavors weave together.”

Sauté the pickled cucumbers separately before adding them to the pot — this concentrates their flavor and prevents them from making the soup watery. Add a generous spoonful of sour cream and a lemon slice to each bowl at serving time, not during cooking.

Method

Place beef and smoked ribs in a pot, pour 2.5-3 liters of water, add one whole peeled onion and bring to a boil. Remove foam, reduce heat and cook on low heat for 2 hours.
15 minutes before the broth is ready, add allspice. When the meat is ready, remove it, separate from the bones and cut into small pieces. Remove the onion from the broth.
In vegetable oil, fry finely chopped onions until golden, then add tomato sauce or ketchup and stew for a few minutes. Add sliced pickles and a little broth, and stew for another 5-7 minutes.
Add the prepared meat ingredients (beef, smoked ribs, ham, smoked sausage), roasted vegetables, olives, capers and bay leaf to the broth. Bring to a boil. Cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot, garnished with fresh parsley, with sour cream and a slice of lemon.

FAQ

Solyanka is a refrigerator-clearing soup: traditionally it uses up all leftover cured and cooked meats. The minimum lineup is boiled beef or chicken for the broth plus 2–3 smoked items (sausage, frankfurters, ham, smoked ribs). The smoked meats are what give solyanka its signature smokiness — without them the soup is just a sour meat broth. The rule: at least three types of meat, and at least one must be smoked.

Share this recipe ★★★★★4.7

Rate this

Rate this recipe

Keep browsing

More dishes from the Russian archive — picked by overlap with what you're cooking now.

Appetizers and Sandwiches · Russia

Pancakes with Caviar

Fish and Seafood Dishes · Russia

Sturgeon in Cream Sauce

Meat Dishes · Russia

Beef Stroganoff

Join the conversation

Comments (1)

Sergei Martynov✍ Author
29d ago
The size of your dice determines the character of this solyanka. Large pieces of beef give a rustic, hearty soup. Fine dice gives elegance. I cut everything to match — uniformity matters more than size.