This cozy vegan borscht is made with vibrant beets, hearty veggies and flavored with zippy lemon juice and dill.
Funny story: for the longest time I assumed borscht was gross, even though I had absolutely zero logical basis for thinking that.
Back when I waited tables it was the soup of the day one day, but I’d never heard of it before. Some of the other servers explained that it was beet soup, so it must be terrible. I think there was even a gagging noise and finger-down-the-throat gesture involved. I guess that had an impression on me, because for most of my adult life I steered clear of borscht.
Well that was kind of ridiculous. I mean, first of all, I LOVE beets. Love, love, love them. But I guess I assumed they were bad in soup because someone else said so. Second of all, a lot of people make assumptions about the food I eat being unappetizing just because it’s vegan. How many millions of times have people scrunched their faces up in disgust over tofu or miso or Brussels sprouts. All of which is I happen to love.
It wasn’t until recently that I realized I’d been pretty silly all those years making a unconscous assumption based on what other people told me. I decided it was time to whip up a batch of vegan borscht and see what I thought.
The verdict: borscht is the best thing ever. You know, along with tofu and miso and Brussels sprouts and all that other good stuff.
If you love cozy soups and you’re a fan of beets, it’s a safe bet that you’ll dig this.
My vegan borscht is made with not only beets, but also cabbage, carrots and potatoes. It’s super hearty. The beets infuse everything with their slightly sweet, earthy flavor, and the soup gets finished with some zippy lemon and dill. I topped my bowl with a scoop of unflavored non-dairy yogurt, but vegan sour cream or cashew cream would be excellent too. Serve it with some crusty bread for dipping and you’ll be in winter comfort food heaven.
Vegan Borscht
This cozy vegan borscht is made with vibrant beets, hearty veggies and flavored with zippy lemon juice and dill.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 medium beets, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups finely chopped cabbage
- 1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Vegan sour cream, yogurt, or cashew cream, for serving
- Chopped fresh chives and/or parsley, for serving
Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the beets, carrot and onions. Sauté until the veggies begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute, until very fragrant.
Stir in the broth, tomato paste, cabbage and potato. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the veggies are tender, 15-20 minutes. You can add more broth or water if you like.
Remove the pot from heat and stir in the lemon juice and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with vegan sour cream, yogurt, or cashew cream, and a sprinkling of fresh dill, parsley and/or chives. Serve.
Do you use regular green cabbage or red?
I’ve been using green just because I happened to have some on hand, but red would work too!
I was hooked on this soup with the flavours of dill and lemon juice! Adding to my “to-make” list :)
I hope you enjoy it!!
Thanks, Allisa! I love beets I forgot to mention, so this soup is right down my alley and you got me totally hooked with the dill and lemon flavouring, I think would go so good! I have not yet made it yet (it’s been added to my evergrowing to-make list, which is about getting cooking too…when I get there) but it looks like it will turn out a great soup (and I love soup) :)
Also, I think either red or green cabbage would work, or just add both (I love cabbage).
Just what I needed! I have been searching for recipes that are appealing for beetroot. We love soup all year round – it is the middle of summer here in South Africa :).
This is perfect if you love beets. :) I hope you enjoy!!
I love Beets and the only thing I might try is to puree the Borscht, only because I would like a smoother soup.. But before I do that I will try it the way I have cooked it so I don’t err the next time I make it and get the best blend..
I was actually planning on pureeing this next time I make it!
Thanks for the recipes, I am looking forward to making a few that are vegan soon.
Happy Holidays.
Happy Holidays to you too!! I hope you enjoy them!
Borscht is a staple here in Belarus, it’s common to say that a woman is a good wife if she can cook borscht. So sexist, to my mind, but doesn’t change the fact that borscht is very important.
Lol. I just told my husband that and he agreed!
I love Borscht! Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Do you have a recipe for a homemade vegan sour-cream?
I do! This one includes my go-to recipe for homemade cashew sour cream: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/chipotle-lentil-stuffed-sweet-potatoes/ I hope you enjoy this!!
I am glad you included some tomato paste. I made one from I THINK Isa Chandra’s cookbook, and I hated it. No tomatoes. It adds a nice zip to it.
I remember Rugrats making fun of Borscht when I was little. I mean, it is a pretty intense looking soup, so I can see why people get scared of it. lol
Yeah, I think it’s definitely necessary! I was going to try skipping it but I gave it a taste test as it was simmering and it was missing something. Tomato paste did the trick. :)
Made this last night and it was so delicious! Only addition I made was some garlic powder for extra flavor. My family and I gobbled it up in a heart-beet. ;)
I’m glad it was a hit!! Thanks so much!
Ok, the rest of the family didn’t love this soup—MORE FOR ME. Delicious! I used dried dill, fresh parsley, and plenty of lemon juice. Also dairy sour cream, because I’m not actually a vegan. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks Emily!
This was GOOD.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks Meg!
Could it be served cold?
I think this would be delicious served cold during the summer. :)
I prepared the recipe, minus the potato, and the beets never softened, so I purées the soup. It just doesn’t have enough flavor for me. Next time, I will roast the beets and carrots before adding to the broth as I love the taste of roasted vegetables.
How many people is the recipe intended to serve?
Sorry to hear that! I’m not sure why your beets and potato wouldn’t soften – that’s very unusual. The recipe serves four – listed right under the cook time. :)
Delicious! I didn’t have any cabbage in house so used beet tops! I also added some dried lemon dill spice blend. It was a fantastic soup!
Great idea! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!
This was delicious–thank you for the recipe! The only change I made was to substitute beet greens for the cabbage. Why waste the nutritious and tasty greens? :-)
I love that idea! Glad you enjoyed it!
This sounds wonderful! Am making it next Friday for a Loaf&Laden party Saturday.
Would I be able to add any other varieties of root veggies? Can I include parsnip, celeriac, rutabega? We serve it in heavy paper cups and everyone brings a favorite pot of soup and we all try one anothers. This sounds wonderful and, yes!, tomato paste. So necessary. Thank you!
Yup! I think any and all of those veggies would be delicious! You might need to increase the amount of broth – it’s already got a pretty high veggie to broth ratio. I hope you enjoy it!!
Making this Friday to serve Saturday at a soup party. About 25 ppl. Everyone brings a pot of their favorite homemade soup and if you feel nervous about cooking we ask “Then go to a real bakery and get a fantastic bread and a stick of real butter! So many soups to try! So looking forward to this one! Thank you!
I love soup, so a soup party sounds wonderful to me! I hope you enjoy this one!
Thanks everyone who posts their comments and alterations. I find them inspiring.
I LOVE BORSCHT!! 😍
I’m glad to have found this recipe. I’ve made borscht in the past before I was vegan. I love that there’s a vegan version for just about everything!
A few things I altered are I used both purple and green cabbage, red onion, and also added a splash of ACV. Also avocado oil instead of olive oil.
I just came off of a 7 day fast and this is a perfect heart healthy, muscle supporting, keep the weight off meal for the next few nights!
Sooo yum! 😋
Thank you Alissa
Those all sound like delicious variations! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Boss-ass recipe! Came out sick! Thank you. Stoked.
Yay!! Glad you like it!
Just had a bowl of this, delicious, thanks for the recipe. Sadly I didn’t have the fresh dill on hand, so I took a chance and used about 1/2 tsp of cumin. I also used some nice red cabbage. I’ll definitely make this again, and I’ll make sure to get some fresh dill. I’m tempted to use fresh squeezed Key Limes rather that lemon juice as I have a great source for those.
Oh interesting! I’d never think to use cumin in here, but it does sound really good! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Great recipé , I was just wondering in regards to broth, how can I make it?
In the past I used chicken, but it’s not vegan,
Hope you can help me :)
Hi Goren! Check your supermarket near the chicken broth – most stores carry vegetable broth as well. You can also look for vegetable bullion and mix it with water to make your own broth. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Knorr-Cube-Bouillon-Vegetable-count-x/dp/B000SRLJH8/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1549668691&sr=8-3&keywords=vegetable%2Bbullion&th=1
And if you can’t find anything, try making it yourself: https://www.acouplecooks.com/vegetable-broth/
Enjoy!!