This authentic Russian Borscht recipe has been simplified for your Instant Pot or pressure cooker to give you the traditional taste you want without spending half the day making it!
Why You HAVE To Try This Borscht Recipe
- Fast. Ok. So, this isn't one of my infamous "ready in under 30 minutes" Instant Pot meals, but compared to the amount of time you would spend making it on your stovetop, this recipe is fast.
- Delicious. The flavors in this borscht recipe are so incredibly flavorful. You'll wonder what took you so long to try it.
- Authentic. Do you know that Borscht you always had on holidays or at your favorite aunt's house growing up? This recipe tastes just like it.
- Low Carb. Only 8 net carbs per serving so you can easily work this soup into your macros.
Is Borscht Russian or Ukranian?
Russia is known for its delicious borscht recipes. However, you will also find just as many amazing Beetroot soup recipes in Ukraine. This is most commonly known to be the place the recipe originated.
What Is Borscht?
A Russian borscht recipe is basically a slightly sour beet soup that is popular in much of Eastern Europe. When we think of a Borscht in the United States, we often associate that with a soup with beet in it. But in fact, Borscht can also be made with a variety of different ingredients.
Really, there are as many good Borscht recipes as there are families who make them. So once you try, and enjoy, this authentic Russian borscht, feel free to add other ingredients such as potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, julienned parsnips, etc.
What Is Borscht Made Of?
The ingredients for an authentic borscht recipe can vary depending on who you ask and how much time you're willing to spend making it.
Here are the ingredients you'll need to make my easy Borscht recipe:
For The First Cooking Cycle
- Bacon
- Onions
- Garlic
- Canned Tomatoes
- Carrots
- Beef short ribs
- Water
- Bay Leaves
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Ground Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
For the second Cooking Cycle
- Water
- Shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
- Beets, peeled, coarsely shredded
- Carrots, peeled, coarsely shredded
- White Vinegar
How To Make Beetroot Soup
Someone in my Facebook group asked for an authentic Russian Borscht Recipe. Mila Ioffe, who is Russian, posted her beetroot soup recipe and we all got quite excited about it. My husband has spent quite some time in Russia and has spoken fondly of the Borscht he has had there.
So I was motivated to try Mila's Russian Borscht recipe. But she warned me it was quite time-consuming. I decided to adapt it to the Instant Pot and reduce as many steps as I could without compromising flavor.
The first thing I did was got rid of the steps where you made stock separately, the beets separately and cooked the stock in one pan and the vegetables in another pan. I also omitted the potatoes from this soup to lower carbs a bit.
Here are the rest of the steps:
- Turn your Instant Pot or Pressure cooker to Sauté. When it is hot, add chopped bacon and cook for 3-4 minutes until the edges are crisped.
- Add chopped onion, chopped garlic cloves, and large chopped carrots, tomatoes, short ribs, and all remaining spices from the first cooking cycle. This step cooks the meat while also making a rich meat stock.
- Set the pot to cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, using a coarse grater or a zoodler, grate the beets and carrots and set aside. I used this old-fashioned salad shooter that I absolutely love.
- When the Instant Pot is done cooking, allow it to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes, and then release all pressure.
- Add the additional water, vegetables, and vinegar.
- Seal the pot and cook for 1 minute and high pressure. This will cook the vegetables just enough.
- When it is done, release all pressure quickly.
How Do You Eat Russian Borcht?
A lot of people choose to eat Russian Borscht cold in the warmer, summer months.
However, in the colder months, most people prefer to eat it hot. It's honestly delicious no matter what temperature you eat it.
Love Trying New International Flavors?
If you've followed me for very long, you know I love international food and recipes.
I'm known for my Instant Pot Keto Butter Chicken recipe, but I also love amazing Mexican food like my Low Carb Pollo Con Salsa Rojo recipe, and Lebanese food like my One Pot Lebanese Hashweh recipe. I hope you enjoy the delicious Authentic flavors of this Russian Borscht. It's a delicious beet soup recipe.
Want Some More Instant Pot Recipes?
- Instant Pot Beef Stew - nothing says comfort food like a thick beef stew!
- Pressure Cooker Butternut Farro Risotto - This is going to be your new favorite dish!
- Instant Pot Italian Sausage Soup - This is the best soup for cold nights. So simple and delicious!
- Easy Beet Recipes- These aren't all Instant Pot recipes, but they will give you some more ideas for recipes with beets.
I do think that this does have the authentic Russian Borscht flavor but I definitely didn't spend half the day making it as many other recipes call for. I do hope you'll try it and report back. If you love it, make sure to share this recipe on Facebook and Pin it to make it again later.
Equipment
Ingredients
For the first Cooking Cycle
- 4 strips (4 strips) Bacon, chopped
- 1 cup (160 g) onions, chopped
- 5 cloves (5 cloves) Garlic
- 14.5 ounces (411.07 g) Canned Tomatoes, undrained
- 2 large (2 large) Carrots, chopped into big pieces
- 2 pounds beef short ribs
- 2 cups (500 g) Water
- 2 (2) Bay Leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
For the second Cooking Cycle
- 1.5-2 cups (375 g) Water
- 2 cups (140 g) shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
- 1 cup (136 g) Beets, peeled, coarsely shredded
- 1 cup (128 g) Carrots, peeled, coarsely shredded
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) White Vinegar
For Serving
- Fresh dill
- Sour Cream
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot or Pressure cooker to Sauté. When it is hot, add chopped bacon and cook for 3-4 minutes until the edges are crisped.
- Add chopped onion, chopped garlic cloves, and large chopped carrots, tomatoes, short ribs, and all remaining spices from the first cooking cycle. This step cooks the meat while also making a rich meat stock.
- Set the pot to cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, using a coarse grater or a zoodler, grate the beets and carrots and set aside. I used this old-fashioned salad shooter that I absolutely love.
- When the pot is done cooking, allow it to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes, and then release all pressure.
- Add the additional water, vegetables, and vinegar.
- Seal the pot and cook for 1 minute and high pressure. This will cook the vegetables just enough.
- When it is done, release all pressure quickly.
- Serve with fresh chopped dill and sour cream.
- You can also serve with a side of dark rye bread toasted with olive oil and rubbed with a garlic clove.
- Nutritional info will vary with the amount of meat and fat on your short ribs
- You can add 2 shredded potatoes into the second cooking cycle if you'd like
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Nutrition
Originally published January 9, 2018
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Therese Cheski
It’s also Polish called “barscz”. Basically, consider it Eastern European, though each country does have slightly different variations.
Vivienne
Oh my goodness, this was so good! I used only pound of smallish beef chunks and cooked for 30 mins before adding red cabbage, beetroot and grated carrots. Served with finely grated garlic and horseradish with Russian style sour cream. My husband said that this should be our go-to soup for Christmas Eve. Thank you so much for posting!
Nataliia
Borscht is Ukrainian dish! It's inappropriate to call in Russian!
Julie Conason
Lovely! This will help me adapt my own winter borscht recipe for the Instant Pot. A couple of suggestions -- a very authentic way of eating borscht is to plop a whole steaming boiled potato into the bowl and surround it with ruby-red borscht, topped with sour cream and dill. You spoon up a chunk of the potato with every spoonful of borscht. This also makes serving easy if you have some diners who are not eating starchy carbs, since their borscht can just be served sans potato. Personally, I like the beets and carrots in friendly little chunks instead of grated. At the end of cooking, I like to take a cup or two of broth with vegetable chunks, and blend it up in a tall cup with a bit more garlic and dill using the immersion blender, and then add that back into the pot to fortify the broth slightly and zing up the flavors. I do something similar with almost all of my soups.
Sergei
Borcht is not Russian but Ukrainian dish
URVASHI PITRE
My Russian friends and my Ukrainian friend argue about this a lot. Me, I just want to eat it 🙂