12 cups beef or vegetable broth or stock low-sodium5 cups green or red cabbage thinly sliced

1 large onion chopped

3 medium carrots chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 large beets peeled and cut into matchsticks

4 large potatoes peeled and cubed

6 ounces can tomato paste low-sodium

2 teaspoons salt

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Pinch of sugar or maple syrup

3 large garlic cloves grated

Ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup dill or parsley finely chopped

Yogurt, sour cream, and rye bread for serving

In a large pot (I use a 6 quart Dutch oven), add broth, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. In the meantime, wash, peel, and cut vegetables.

Once broth is boiling, add cabbage, cover, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat a large skillet on medium heat and swirl 1 tbsp of oil to coat. Add onion, and carrots and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add beets, remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Transfer sauteed veggies to a pot along with potatoes, tomato paste, and salt. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat. Add vinegar, sugar, garlic and pepper. Stir and let borscht sit for 10 minutes to allow flavors to marry each other. Add dill, stir, and adjust any seasonings to taste.

Serve hot with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, bread, and garlic clove on the side (this is not for everyone).

Notes

Store: Refrigerate borscht in a large pot you cooked it in for up to 5 days. Reheat by simmering on low in a small pot with only the amount you are planning to consume.

Freeze: Freeze in an airtight glass container for up to 3 months. Then thaw on a counter overnight and reheat.

Store-bought stock: You can use regular stock from a carton. Preferably organic and low sodium, if you can.

Beef bones: If you choose to add meat, cook broth with ribs, soup bones, or any cut with a bit of fat first. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer for about an hour, skimming foam occasionally. After the borscht is ready, remove the meat, separate it from the bones, discard the bones, finely chop, and return the meat to the pot.

Vegetarian: I make water-based borscht more often than not because it’s easy. In this case, I make sure to add a can of low-sodium beans to up the protein, a bit more olive oil, and maybe an organic bouillon cube, if I have it. Any large white, red kidney or pinto beans work.

Sauerkraut: If you replace 2 cups of cabbage with 2 cups of sauerkraut, borscht will have even more oomph.

*adapted from https://ifoodreal.com/