Such a delicious Green Borscht with Spinach. Classic Ukrainian recipe your whole family will enjoy. Ready to be served in 30 minutes. Also try Ukrainian Red Beet Borscht, Cauliflower Borscht and Crockpot Borsch.
Spinach Borscht
It's not like I planned to post two Borscht recipes in a row.
But let me tell you, my husband is obsessed with Green Borscht.
And since my parents are now living with us and my mom helps me with cooking, she happened to make this classic Ukrainian soup for lunch, which I couldn't help but make photos for.
I hope you don't mind, because it's a really great recipe which every Ukrainian homemaker has in frequent rotation.
When I was growing up we had fresh vegetables on the table only in summer. And I'm not talking about potatoes or carrots. We had plenty of those all year round.
Such veggies as tomatoes, cucumbers or sorrel or herbs were almost impossible to find in winter.
And even when we were lucky to find those, they tasted like grass.
That's why this soup is also called Ukrainian summer borscht. It's made with seasonal ingredients that back in the days were available only in summer.
Of course, now in the US you can find fresh spinach, green onions and dill at any time of the year.
So please, do yourself a favor, prepare this soup this summer and I'm sure it will soon become a favorite in your house even during cold winter months.
Traditionally, Green Borscht is cooked with Sorrel. It's a tart salad vegetable that is fairly easy to get in Ukraine. Many people also grow it at home.
Thanks to Sorrel, soup has a specific, slightly sour taste which usually disappears when sour cream is added.
But this sour-ish taste is what makes Green Borscht so delicious. Once you take the first sip, you just won't get enough of it.
Although, we Ukrainians always treat Green Borscht as a classic Ukrainian recipe, other Eastern European countries have their own variations of this delicious soup.
Despite that once cooking with Sorrel has been popular in North America, nowadays it is rarely used, hence it's difficult to find it in regular grocery stores.
How to make Green Borscht without sorrel?
Simple solution to this problem is to use spinach in combination with lemon or lime juice.
I've been substituting with spinach for years and no one could tell a difference. It's yummy, nutritious and so easy to make.
Just like Holodnik, which is Belarusian cold Borscht, Ukrainian Green Borscht tastes especially great during summer months. It's packed with greens, easy on digestion and refreshingly delicious.
That being said, there's nothing wrong with making this soup in fall or winter. It's delicious at any time of the year.
In the recipe you can use vegetable or meat broth. And if you make your own meat broth, go ahead and add cooked shredded meat into each bowl for even more satisfying and complete meal.
How to make Green Borscht with Spinach?
- Bring 64 oz of chicken broth to a boil and add potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 15 minutes.
- At the same time, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet and on a medium heat. Add minced onion and carrot and cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
- Stir in sautéed onion, carrot, cubed zucchini and spinach to a pot with potatoes and continue cooking for 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to a taste.
- Add lemon juice, cubed hard-boiled eggs and parsley. Remove from the heat and serve with a generous dollop of sour cream.
Do I have to use Dutch Oven?
In this recipe you can use any type of soup pot.
I personally love making soups and stews in my Dutch Oven. It evenly distributes and retains heat, durable, super versatile and great for any type of recipes.
Can I make this Borscht Low Carb or Keto-friendly?
If you're following Low Carb or Ketogenic diet, simply replace potatoes with cauliflower, cut into small florets.
How do you hard-boil eggs so that they peel easily?
My favorite way to cook the eggs is to bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add eggs. Then I cook the eggs on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Now all you have to do is drain water and immediately fill the pot with a cold water. Once eggs are cooled off, you should be able to easily peel them and chop.
Can I freeze Green Borscht?
Yes, you can certainly freeze it. Green Borscht will freeze up to 3 months. There are few things to keep in mind though:
- dairy doesn't generally freeze well, so I recommend holding back on adding sour cream. You can always do so once you defrost the soup
- hard-boiled egg whites become tough and rubbery when frozen. So if you plan to freeze this soup, make sure to do this without adding eggs and sour cream.
For freezing I recommend using these double zipper Freezer Bags. They are made with 100% polyethylene and are BPA-free.
To defrost Green Borscht, remove it from the freezer bag and add it into a pot. Bring a soup to a gentle simmer and add hard-boiled eggs and sour cream.
How do you serve Borscht?
Just like any Ukrainian or Russian Borscht, this Green Borscht is usually served with a generous dollop of sour cream and a slice of yeast bread (see my Savory Pumpkin Bread).
In addition, you can boil a few more eggs, peel them, slice in half and place into each bowl.
Need more yummy soups for summer? Try my favorite recipes.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and post it on Instagram with a hashtag #lavenderandmacarons. I love seeing your creations.
Ukrainian Green Borscht
Ingredients
- 64 oz chicken or vegetable broth
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion minced
- 1 medium carrot grated on a large grater
- 3 large potatoes cubed
- 4 cups spinach chopped
- 1 zucchini cubed
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 egg hard-boiled and cubed (See the notes)
- ½ c parsley or dill chopped
- salt, pepper to taste
- sour cream for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven bring chicken broth to a boil and add potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet and on a medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
- In a pot with potatoes, add sautéed onion, carrot, zucchini and spinach and continue cooking for 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to a taste.
- Add lemon juice, cubed eggs and parsley.
- Remove from the heat and serve immediately with a dollop of sour cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Eugene Powers says
Instead of lemon juice just use a tiny bit of ascorbic acid. It has consistent flavor unlike lemons or limes. That is what my mom used to add if she could not find sorrel.
Eugene Powers says
Forgot, the hard boiled eggs are added to the plate not to the pot. My mom also added rice but I don't always.
Iryna says
Yes, my mom also adds hard-boiled eggs to the plate.
Iryna says
Eugene, thank you so much for your comment and a 5-star rating! I love the tip with the ascorbic acid. I've never actually heard that people added it to this soup. But I can see why this would work in this particular recipe.
Mackenzie Grisdale says
This is so good. I made two changes to try to get it to be the most like my Baba's as possible: I added lemon zest when I was combining the ingredients into the pot with the broth and potatoes, and instead of the hardboiled eggs I whisked in raw egg near the very end before adding the lemon juice. The egg cooks instantly and is just wispy and hardly noticeable through the broth but adds flavour and protein (which I think she used to do to trick me because I'm a vegetarian). Honestly I was shocked how much this soup tasted like hers without even using sorrel (she used to grow it in her kitchen -- I miss her!). Thank you for this recipe!
Iryna says
Mackenzie, thank you so much for your wonderful comment and a 5 star rating! I'm glad you were able to adapt a recipe to what your Baba used to make and that you enjoyed it.
Mica says
Hello!
I don’t know if this blog is active, but I wanted to ask… A few years ago I was workawaying in Barcelona and in the same house a guy from Ukraine also stayed with us. One of the first days he made what I think is this soup (it was greenish, and acid-y too), but instead of sour cream, he poured normal cream directly into the pot at the end of the recipe, while also emphasising something about not stirring or something so that the cream wouldn’t go bad.
Do you think it’s this recipe?? If not, what could it be?? I’ve been meaning to make it again because DAMN it was delicious but I could never find the name!!
Iryna says
Hi Mica!
It's hard to say if this is the exact recipe you tried in Barcelona. The thing is, in Ukrainian cuisine, cream is almost never added to the soups or other dishes. It's always sour cream. Adding a cream is more of a personal preference and habit. As far as I know, this particular recipe of Green Borscht is always made with sour cream. The only variation is that people usually make it with sorrel instead of spinach. Or maybe what you tried wasn't even a Ukrainian recipe?
Mica says
Hi! I'm pretty sure it IS a Ukranian recipe because I remember him saying something about it... The cream could certainly be a personal variation for him or his family, or maybe just a replacement if sour cream was unavailable. Wouldn't know (it was also like 3 years ago, but I still remember the tangy taste it had). Most probably I'll try it and use cream and just see how it goes!
Cath says
Underwhelmed by this recipe. Had to ramp up the flavour a lot. In the end, I added beets and made it a combination of green and red borscht.
Kari says
I grew up on Borscht. My Nana used to make it all the time. But I've never heard of green Borscht.
Unfortunately, my husband doesn't like soup with greens in it. He grew up in Italy and they cooked greens to death there, apparently. I'll have to make it for myself if my husband is ever on a trip.
It's funny how we can love some stuff from our childhood and hate other stuff.
Iryna says
Hi Kari! Green Borscht is definitely less heard of and less popular even among Ukrainian people. But due to its acidic component like sour cream and the combination of spinach and eggs, this Borscht comes out really delicious and great for summer. I understand that you husband might not like it, it's different from typical Italian soups. But on the other hand, this recipe is super popular on my blog, so there's still a chance he might actually enjoy it:)
Brikena says
We made this soup last night ,it was delicious
Thank you for sharing this recipe
Iryna says
You're welcome! I'm happy you liked this recipe:)
Jennifer says
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Iryna says
You're welcome Jennifer! I'm happy you liked it!
Wanda says
Made this tonight...cut recipe in thirds as its only me here, and I have plenty of leftovers 🙂 This is an absolutely divine treat and the flavors all meld together so well...thank you for such a delightful recipe that will definitely stay in my routine.
Iryna says
Wanda, thank you for your wonderful comment! I'm all smiles! I'm happy that you enjoyed this recipe!
SHANIKA says
This Soup looks so flavorful and delicious! I'm loving all the veggies that are included! YUM!
Irina says
Made it for lunch today! This Green Borscht is so tasty and so good that I am gonna repeat it tomorrow. My family is asking for more! Thanks for sharing.
Adrianne says
I reckon if I was sick this would be the perfect soup to pick me up. It is definitely slurp worthy! I love the addition of eggs in the recipe as well. Yum!
Demeter says
The more Borscht, the merrier! I love how packed with greens this is. So good!
Elena says
Zucchini is in the ingrediants but i dont see how you use it in your recipe ?♀️
Iryna says
Elena, thanks for letting me know! I forgot to add zucchini to the instructions. It's in step 3 and goes into the soup along with onion, carrots and spinach.
Bartkova Natalia says
One of my favorites
Iryna says
We love it too:)
Linda says
DO NOT apologize for giving us TWO Borscht recipes in a row! I made a pot of the first one last week and I swear, it got better and better. I will definitely do what you suggested and wait a day to eat it! FIVE stars! Now, I can't wit to make this! Thank you so much.
Iryna says
Linda, your comment made my day! Thank you so much for making my Borscht recipe! I'm so glad you loved it! And yes, it definitely gets better with time:)