Babcia's Polish Borscht

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: About 8-10 cups for 4 servings
  • Total: 2 hr 45 min
  • Prep: 45 min
  • Cook: 2 hr
Borscht recipes vary not just from country to country, but also from region to region and cook to cook. This Polish version features pork spareribs, and is thickened with a sour cream, milk and flour mixture. While some recipes include kwas, a sour starter made by fermenting bread and/or beets or other fruits or vegetables, this one takes a shortcut, using white vinegar to lend tangy sour notes.
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Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds pork spareribs

1 large onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

3 peppercorns

2 tablespoons white vinegar

5 medium beets

2 cups sour cream

2 cups milk

3 tablespoons flour

Salt and pepper

Directions

  1. In a large pot combine the spare ribs, onion, bay leaf and peppercorns, vinegar and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the meat is tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. In another pot, cover the scrubbed beets with water and bring to a boil. Simmer the beets for 45 To 1 hour or until the beets are tender. Drain and rinse the beets under cold water until they are cool. Peel and grate the beets.
  2. When the meat is tender, Remove the bones and strip off the meat in bite size pieces. Return the meat to the broth and stir in the grated beets. Season the soup with salt and pepper. In a large bowl stir together the sour cream, milk and flour. Add two cups of the hot stock to the sour cream mixture and stir to combine. Pour this mixture through a strainer into the soup. Heat the soup over medium heat at a gentle simmer, but do not allow it to boil. Boiling will cause the sour cream to curdle. Serve immediately with boiled potatoes and pumpernickel or rye bread

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Anonymous

This is similar to the way my Poland born mother made her soup, just like her mama made it! As others have said why lose flavor by boiling the meat and beets separately but we didn’t have any of the meat in the soup. Mom never added sour cream to the soup either she just made a slurry with milk and flour to give the soup some body. After cooking out the raw flour taste she would turn off the heat and wait about 10 minutes then add half and half to the soup then taste once more for the seasonings. Add a bit more vinegar? Maybe a touch more of sugar, salt and/or pepper? <br />Separately we would always have hot, cubed boiled potatoes if we wanted to add some to our bowl! <br />I made the soup the way the recipe stated but did not return the meat to the soup and did not use sour cream (I’m not a big fan). This recipe was definitely very tasty and was a close reminder to my childhood!

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