Classic Borscht with Beef
Beautiful, original, made from simple ingredients, and the very best. Cooking classic borscht with beef is not that difficult, but many home cooks struggle to preserve the bright ruby color of this first course. By following these simple instructions, you will cook not only a tasty but also a very beautiful borscht.
Updated : 21 April, 2026
Easy
About 30 min.
Ingredients
2.5 liter
Water
400 grams
Beef
400 grams
Cabbage
300 grams
Potato
1
Onion
3
Garlic
2
Laurel leaf
1 tablespoon
Vinegar
to taste
Ground black pepper
to taste
Salt
Frying
1
Carrot
1
Beetroot
4 tablespoon
Tomato paste
2 tablespoon
Vegetable oil
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How do you cook classic borscht with beef? Prepare all the necessary ingredients for the borscht. For a richer broth, it is better to use beef on the bone. Wash and peel the potatoes well. To keep the potatoes from darkening, cover them with water while the broth is cooking. If you like a thinner borscht, you can increase the amount of water.
Step 2
Peel the onion. I use the onion whole and throw it away at the very end of cooking. But in general, onion is added to the sauté together with the beetroot and carrot. It should be cut into small cubes. You can also use 2 onions right away, one for the broth and the second for the sauté.
Step 3
Rinse the beef and place it into a pot together with the whole onion, if you are not adding onion to the sauté. Pour in the water and place the pot over medium heat. Bring it to a boil and cook over medium heat until the meat is done, about 1 hour, skimming off the foam. The cooking time will depend on the size of the piece of meat, what part of the carcass it comes from, and the age of the animal.
Step 4
While the broth is cooking, cut the potatoes into medium cubes.
Step 5
Remove the outermost leaves from the cabbage and cut out the core. Finely shred the cabbage.
Step 6
Take the meat out of the broth, cool it, and cut it into small pieces.
Step 7
Add the shredded cabbage and potatoes to the broth. Bring the broth to a boil and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
Step 8
Prepare the ingredients needed for the sauté. How do you make the sauté? Wash and peel the beetroot and carrot. You can replace the tomato paste with ketchup or 1-2 fresh tomatoes. If you use fresh tomatoes, remove the skin from them. To do this, score them with a cross, pour boiling water over them, and then place them into cold water. After that, the skin will come off very easily. Then grate the flesh on a fine grater.
Step 9
Grate the beetroot on a coarse grater.
Step 10
Grate the carrot on a coarse grater as well.
Step 11
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over low heat. Add the carrot, beetroot, and tomato paste. If you are using onion in the sauté, add it together with all the vegetables.
Step 12
Stew the sauté over low heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring.
Step 13
Transfer the sauté to the pot and stir. The borscht will immediately take on a bright ruby color. The key to a beautiful bright red borscht lies in the color of the beetroot itself and in the cooking time. If the beetroot is stewed too long and then boiled, it becomes transparent, and the borscht takes on a pale reddish-orange color. The proportions of beetroot and water are also important: if there is a lot of water and the beetroot is small, it will not be enough to color the whole broth properly.
Step 14
Return the beef to the pot. Pour in the vinegar. You can replace the vinegar with the juice of 1/2 lemon or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid. In any case, you need to add some kind of acid to the borscht, because this helps preserve its bright color and gives the borscht a slight tang. Add the bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Stir once again and cook until the vegetables are done for about another 10-15 minutes.
Step 15
Peel the garlic cloves and press them through a garlic press.
Step 16
Season the borscht with the crushed garlic and remove the pot from the heat. I usually leave the pot on the cooling burner.
Step 17
Cover the pot with a lid and let the borscht rest for 10-15 minutes. Then pour it into bowls and serve with sour cream and black bread. Enjoy your meal!
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