Borscht with and without meat: the best recipes. How to cook rich Ukrainian borscht, with pork, beets, cabbage, beef, chicken, lamb, meatballs, beans, mushrooms, sprat in tomato, pos.

October 20, 2018
First meal
Legina Marina

Borscht is cooked in every family today. This is a tasty, satisfying dish that is usually enjoyed by adults and children. But it turns out differently for every housewife. This depends on the ingredients used, as well as the sequence of actions performed. Today there are dozens, if not hundreds, of borscht recipes, and each of them guarantees a good result with its own unique taste. Today we will look at a selection of proven recipes that you will take into your piggy bank.

Cooking secrets

You can experiment with ingredients and get a new, excellent result every time. Some people like there to be more cabbage, others - beets. For one person, delicious borscht should be sweet, for another it should be sour. If you want to get light, like in the dining room, then add more cabbage. But if you need to cook real Ukrainian borscht, then prepare a lot of beets. To make it fiery red, you need to lightly fry the grated vegetable in oil. This locks in the color and gives the dish a rich, beetroot hue.

What you need to pay attention to

There are enough subtleties and nuances in this matter. Sometimes the housewife takes years to learn how to cook borscht correctly.

Let's start by preparing the broth. It should be rich, but not too heavy. If pieces of meat are caught with fat, then you should cool the broth and remove the top layer from it. After this, you can continue cooking.
Beet. There are a lot of opinions about when to add it to the broth. Some believe that beets should be placed along with meat. Of course, it takes a long time to cook, but it doesn’t need to boil for one and a half to two hours. Therefore, cooks, when telling how to cook borscht correctly, usually recommend first cooking the broth, and then adding beets and other vegetables.
Vegetables. Here, too, everything is not so simple. You can cut them into strips and put them in the broth. But many housewives prefer to fry onions and carrots in a frying pan. The second option allows you to make the dish more rich, but at the same time high in calories. Therefore, you have to look for a middle ground, for example, stewing vegetables in a frying pan. It’s not for nothing that so many cookbooks are devoted to how to cook delicious borscht. This dish can only be called simple at first glance.
Roasting. The most important and difficult stage. If you make it tasty, then the dish itself will sparkle. It is necessary to extract the required amount of fat for frying. It is best not to use sunflower oil, its taste is unnecessary here. Many people prefer rendered lard. If you take too little, the vegetables will not fry, but burn. And if there is a lot of it, the fat then forms a film on the surface of the borscht. All vegetables must be cut into cubes with a knife. First, fry the onion, then add carrots and beets to it. And the last one is tomato paste. Since it is difficult to prepare delicious borscht without sourness, stock up on a quality product or replace it with fresh tomatoes. In both cases, the mass must be well fried so that it gives the dish color and taste.

Classic, rich borscht

It can be called Russian or Ukrainian, but the meaning does not change. If you know how to cook delicious borscht, it will simply fly away at lunch. And of course, it’s best to cook it in small portions rather than brew it a week in advance. To prepare you will need:

Beetroot - 250 g.
Cabbage and potatoes - 400 g each.
Carrots and onions - 200 g each.
Fat for frying (do not use sunflower oil, it greatly changes the taste of the dish).
Tomato paste - 2 tablespoons.
Beef bone - 300 g.
Pulp - 400 g.
Salt, spices and spices to taste.

Preparing ingredients for borscht

While the chicken fillet is boiling, you can prepare all the other ingredients. Finely chop the carrots, beets and bell peppers. True, I filmed this a long time ago, and lately I’ve been grating carrots on a coarse grater.

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Cut the potatoes into cubes or slices, as you prefer. While preparing the dressing, cover the cut potatoes with cold water to prevent them from turning black.

Yes, I almost forgot one of my main secrets: a pinch of coriander should be crushed in a mortar immediately before preparing borscht, so that all the aroma is preserved.

By the way, I always put crushed coriander in cabbage filling for pies, here is the recipe.

Cook together

Even if you are doing this for the first time, you can count on amazing results. A step-by-step recipe for borscht with beets will become a simple and accessible guide to action:

Prepare the broth. To do this, you can throw the bones and meat into water and cook until tender, about 2 hours. But experts say that it is much better to bake the meat in the oven first. Then all the tasty and healthy substances will quickly go into the broth, and it will turn out very rich and tasty.
Classic borscht with cabbage and beets must be fried, otherwise it will lose a good half of its charm. If your diet absolutely does not allow you to do this, then look below for other options for preparing the dish. So, to fry, you need to melt a little butter or pork fat in a frying pan. You can cut the salted lard into pieces and let it melt. Fry the onions and carrots until golden brown, add tomato paste.
Now it's time to prepare the vegetables. Remove the skin from the beets and cut them (you can grate them). Do this with the cabbage and chop the potatoes into cubes.
Place vegetables in prepared broth. Then proceed as desired. You can let them cook first, and only then add the frying. Some people immediately combine the roast and vegetables, and then let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Be sure to serve it hot. Add chopped herbs to each plate. This will make the finished dish brighter and tastier. And what a aroma it will be!
Rye bread or garlic croutons made from it are perfect for this borscht.

Delicious borscht with meatballs: recipe

Children and adults love this delicious dietary borscht, as it contains meatballs!

Let the potatoes cook and at the same time add a dressing of onions, carrots, and beets, as in previous recipes. Pour the tomato into the dressing and simmer for 10 minutes as usual.

Delicious borscht with meatballs

Meanwhile, take minced pork and beef, 1 egg, salt, pepper, herbs, a little flour and mix the minced meat into meatballs. We form meatballs in the following quantities: 10 pieces for each liter of water. As soon as the potatoes are cooked, add the meatballs and as soon as they boil, add the cabbage.

After the borscht and cabbage boil, add the dressing, cook for another 5 minutes and turn off. Serve with olive mayonnaise and chopped herbs.

Option without frying

If you cook in a slow cooker and don’t have time to fry vegetables separately, then pay attention to this borscht recipe. You will need:

Pork or beef - 1 kg. You can take several different pieces. This prefabricated borscht turns out to be very tasty.
Carrots, beets, onions, sweet peppers - 1 pc.
Potatoes - 3-4 pcs.
Beans - 1 cup (soak overnight).
Garlic - several cloves.
Cabbage - half a medium head of cabbage.
Tomato paste - a couple of tablespoons.
Additionally, bay leaf, herbs, and sour cream are used when serving.

The first step is to prepare a delicious broth. To do this, pour cold water into a saucepan and place it on the fire. Add the meat, bring to a boil and skim off the foam. To make the broth tasty, at this stage you need to add a bay leaf to the water, and, if desired, parsley or celery root. Cook for at least an hour until the meat becomes soft and easily separates from the bones. The borscht recipe itself is simple, but preparation requires some time.

Delicious country-style borscht: recipe

Products for 5-6 liters of borscht in addition to the base (in the table):

Meat for broth 300 g;
Celery 150 gr;
Parsley root 1 piece;
Bell pepper 1 piece;
Tomato 7 pcs;
A bunch of fresh herbs;
Yeast dough 500 gr;
Oven pots 10 pcs.

Place the meat and a whole onion in the skin with the roots trimmed into the pan and cook for 2 hours. We take out the meat and chop it. Divide into 10 pots. Cut the potatoes into small cubes and distribute them among the pots. Fill 2/3 full with broth, salt and pepper, cover with lids and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Delicious country-style borscht

Make the dressing as usual and distribute it into 10 servings, add shredded cabbage and herbs, mix, cover with a dough cake and place in the oven at 180 degrees until the cake is completely baked.

Serve immediately with sour cream, lard, garlic and rye bread.

Main stages

So, we have the broth ready, which means we can proceed directly to preparing the borscht. Pour in the swollen beans and place on low heat for 30 minutes. It will still be a little raw, but it will have time to reach the end of the cooking process.

Add chopped carrots and onions. Add crushed garlic cloves and crushed pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.
Peel the beets. Many housewives prefer to fry it in butter. But this is necessary if the vegetable is light in color. Having chosen dark purple beets, you can safely cut them into strips and throw them raw. The color will be incredible. Cook for 10 minutes.
Throw in the potatoes. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
Add tomato paste and thinly sliced cabbage. After 5 minutes you can turn it off.
Add the herbs and let sit.

Borscht made from fresh cabbage is especially tasty with good sour cream.

Instead of okroshka

In the summer you don’t always want to eat hot soup, no matter how healthy it may be. Okroshka with kvass goes much better. But red borscht with beets is also delicious cold. To prepare it you will need:

Beets - 2 pcs.
Potatoes - 3 pcs.
Eggs - 6 pcs.
Cucumber - 3 pcs.
A bunch of greenery.
Lemon - 1/2 pcs.
Sour cream - 400 g.
Water or broth - 2 liters.

It is prepared quickly and quite simply. Red borscht with beets will also appeal to those who watch their figure. So, the first step is to boil the whole beets for 40 minutes. Separately, place jacket potatoes and eggs in a saucepan with boiling water.

Strain the beet broth and cool. Chop and combine beets, potatoes, eggs, cucumbers and herbs in a saucepan. Add the water in which the beets were cooked, lemon juice and sour cream. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Borscht without potatoes

Another popular option that claims to be a classic. This method of preparing borscht will appeal to those who are trying to limit their consumption of bread and potatoes. You will need:

Pulp with stone - 800 g.
Fresh cabbage - 350 g.
Beets and carrots - 100 g each.
Tomato paste - 1 tbsp. l.
Garlic - a couple of cloves.
Herbs and spices.
Sugar and vinegar - a tablespoon each.
Water - 3 liters.

Place the meat in cold water and put on fire. Add pepper and salt and cook over moderate heat for 30 minutes. Cut the cabbage into checkers or strips. Cut the onion and carrots into cubes and lightly fry. The beets are also placed in a separate frying pan. Add sugar and salt, as well as some water. It shouldn't fall apart, don't overdo it.

Add vegetables and cabbage to the prepared broth. Now pour in the vinegar and transfer the beets. This sequence allows you to saturate the borscht with a bright scarlet color. After finishing cooking, you need to let the dish brew, but doing this without spices is completely useless. Therefore, chop the garlic, throw in a couple of bay leaves and pepper. Now let it stand for 15 minutes and you can call everyone to the table.

How to cook borscht with sauerkraut

Ingredients:

Meat on the bone - 0.5 kg
sauerkraut – 400 gr
onion - 1 piece
potatoes - 4 pcs
beets - 1 piece
garlic - 4 cloves
carrots - 1 pc.
sunflower oil - 30 ml
tomato paste - 1 tbsp. spoon
bay leaf - 2 pcs
dry parsley - 10 g
sugar - 1 teaspoon
salt and ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

Place the meat in a pan of water, put it on the stove, after the water boils, reduce the heat to low, add salt to taste and boil for 2 hours, periodically removing the foam.

After the time has passed, remove the finished meat from the broth.

Wash the potatoes, peel them, cut them into cubes and put them in this very broth.

We separate the meat from the bones and put it there.

Peel the onion, finely chop and chop it, then sauté in a frying pan in vegetable oil over low heat.

Wash the carrots, grate them on a coarse grater, add them to the onions and fry together until tender.

Next, check the potatoes for doneness and if they are ready, then add the cabbage with brine and cook until done.

Place the tomato paste in a sauté pan, mix thoroughly and add to the soup.

We also put the beets grated on a coarse grater there. And then add sugar and pepper.

Finely chop the garlic cloves and herbs and add to the soup. Turn off the fire and let it brew.

Place on plates and serve with sour cream.

Ukrainian borsch

Surely, local housewives know a lot about it. Their first courses are distinguished, rich and very tasty. But who is stopping us from preparing the same in our kitchen? You will need a set of products:

Pork ribs - 500 g.
Cabbage and beets - 200 g each.
Potatoes, carrots and onions - 100 g each.
Boiled beans - 120 g.
Apple vinegar and tomato paste - 150 g each.
Granulated sugar - 2 tbsp. l.
Water - 2.5 l.
Sour cream - 20 g.
Parsley with onions - a bunch.
Garlic - 2 cloves.

Chop the vegetables into strips. Place them in different cups for now. Fry the onions and carrots and later sauté with tomato paste. Stew the beets separately with sugar and salt. Prepare a broth from the ribs, add potatoes, cabbage and beans to it. After 20 minutes, pour in the vinegar. As soon as the acid gets into the soup, you can add the beets. Now its color will become bright and rich. It's a small matter. Add spices and herbs, garlic and fresh herbs. Best served hot. Be sure to cut gray or black bread. It will perfectly highlight the fantastic taste of this dish and give real pleasure. Can be replaced with rye crackers.

How to cook rich Ukrainian borscht: recipe

We prepare borscht according to the previous recipe, be sure to choose meat with bones, since it is the bone that gives the unique taste. To make the borscht rich and tasty, be sure to cook the broth for at least 2-3 hours.

Beans also give richness to borscht. It is this that adds a special taste to the borscht and gives maximum saturation.

Rich Ukrainian borscht

At the end, when you add the dressing, you need to “cut” the borscht with lard and garlic:

For 5 liters of borscht, 100 grams of lard and 2 cloves of garlic;
In a mortar or through a grinder (garlic grinder, blender, meat grinder) grind the garlic and salted lard to a paste;
Add the dressing to the borscht and boil for 5 minutes.

With sauerkraut

Borscht with tomato paste is considered a classic. But some housewives are trying to move away from using it, and instead add other acidifiers. This could be apple cider vinegar, lemon juice or essence. Using sauerkraut allows you to do without everything, since the product contains lactic acid, which itself gives the necessary taste to the dish.

You will need:

Water - 2.5 liters.
Ribs - 400 g (better than beef).
Potatoes, beets, cabbage - 200 g each.
Onions and carrots - 80 g each.
Sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
Garlic, greens.

In principle, the cooking process is similar to the previous ones, so we will not consider it in detail. Sauerkraut is added to the broth along with fried cabbage, chopped potatoes and chopped garlic. Taste the soup. If the acid is not felt at all, then you can add a little cabbage juice or apple cider vinegar. It must be boiled for 25 minutes so that all the ingredients are saturated with each other’s taste and become a single composition.

How to cook delicious red borscht

After the broth has been cooked, it’s time to add beets to it - it is the presence of beets that distinguishes real borscht from other first courses. An exception is green borscht, which can be prepared with or without beets, with the addition of sorrel, spinach, nettles and wild garlic.

Raw finely chopped beets can be added to the broth long before the meat is ready, or, by boiling it in the peel and cutting into pieces, add it to the soup at any stage of cooking borscht. You can put half a teaspoon of sugar in a saucepan along with the beets for a pleasant sweetness. Boiled beets are also stewed with carrots, onions, tomatoes or tomato paste to create a delicious dressing. You can use pickled or pickled beets, beet brine or tops. Czech housewives let the beets ferment a little in warm water, and in the villages the beets are infused with kvass. To enhance the red color, add a little lemon juice or beet extract to the borscht, which is obtained after boiled or raw beets are passed through a juicer. However, for this purpose you can add beetroot infusion to the soup. There is a rule - you can’t spoil borscht with beets!

Lenten borscht with “ears”

A great option if Lent is approaching and you want to stick it out from start to finish. Borscht made from fresh cabbage has excellent taste and nutritional value. Let's look at the secrets of its preparation together.

Vegetables need to be peeled and washed.
It is recommended to bake the beets in the oven first. This way it will be more aromatic and tasty.
Grate the beets and simmer in a frying pan, after frying the onions and carrots.
Cut the potatoes into cubes, add cabbage and simmer until half cooked. Now add the tomato paste and simmer for another 3 minutes.
Place a can of canned beans in the pan. It doesn’t really matter what you have borscht with - meat or legumes, it will still be nutritious and very tasty.

To prepare the “ears” you need to take any mushrooms. If dried, soak them for 30 minutes in hot water. If fresh, rinse well and remove sand. Cut into small pieces and place in a saucepan. Fill with water and cook for 20 minutes.

Peel the carrots and onions and fry in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and simmer together for 5 minutes. Cool slightly and mix with a blender into a homogeneous mass.
Knead the dough as for dumplings. Roll out and cut into squares. Place a little filling in the middle of each and make “ears”.
Boil in portions in salted water.

Who said that borscht with meat is the only correct option? Pour the soup base into each bowl and place a few mushroom ears. Your family will be delighted with the resulting dish. Moreover, everything you need for borscht is usually found in every home. And even if you replace one component with another, it turns out very tasty.

Delicious Kuban borscht: recipe

This delicious borscht is most often prepared in the summer, because that’s when the market is overflowing with aromatic bell peppers and ground tomatoes.

Products for 5-6 liters of borscht in addition to the base (in the table):

Pork ribs 500 gr;
Multi-colored bell pepper 3 pcs;
Half a glass of beans;
7 red ground tomatoes.

Place the ribs on low heat and cook for 3 hours. Cut the potatoes into cubes and place in a saucepan. Remove the meat from the bone, cut into small pieces and place in a saucepan.

Delicious Kuban borscht

Making the filling:

Fry diced onions;
Grate and fry the carrots;
Grate and fry the beets;
Chop the bell pepper into strips and place in a frying pan;
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, remove the peel, cube them and add to the dressing;
Add a little water and simmer for 10 minutes.

When the potatoes are cooked, add shredded cabbage, boil for 3 minutes and add dressing. Serve with sour cream and fresh herbs.

Instead of bread

First courses are much worse without it. Especially men often declare that they will not sit at the table without bread. But offer garlic pampushki once with the borscht, and after that they will become a favorite in your family. Without them, any first course will seem much more boring.

Meanwhile, preparing this bread is very simple even for a novice cook. You will need:

Flour - approximately 500 g.
Dry yeast - 1 tsp.
Salt and sugar - 1 tsp each.
Water or milk - 300 ml.
Sunflower oil - 2 tablespoons.

To prepare garlic dumplings for borscht, you need to knead the dough and roll it into a ball. Grease with oil and leave in a warm place for an hour. When the dough has risen well, divide it into small round buns. The above quantity of products yields 14 pcs. Leave for another 30 minutes under a towel, then place in the oven. Before doing this, do not forget to grease the buns with milk. It will take approximately 30 minutes to prepare. During this time, prepare a dressing from a few tablespoons of vegetable oil, chopped garlic and parsley, salt and water. We take the finished donuts out of the oven and fill them with this mixture, let them stand for a while. This is exactly what you need for borscht!