Chef Lesia
Bessarabskyi Borshch (бессарабський борщ, fish borshch)
The catch goes into the pan before it ever meets the pot, so Danube fish stays whole in a tomato-red broth sour enough to wake the table.
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Kholodnyi Zeleny Borshch (холодний зелений борщ, cold green sorrel borshch)
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Sorrel turns the broth sharp and green, then the cold smetana softens it. This is summer borshch for a table under leaves, tart enough to wake you properly.
Soups & Stews
Ukrainian
Comfort Food
Outdoor Dining
Make Ahead
30 min
Active Time
40 min cook•3 hr 10 min total
Yield8 servings
The first spoonful should make your jaw tighten a little. That is the sorrel doing its work, bright and lemony without a lemon in sight, turning a plain broth into something green, cold, and very awake. Add egg, dill, cucumber, smetana, and suddenly the bowl feels like shade after a hot road.
This is the summer cousin of green borshch, served chilled when the garden is too loud and the stove feels like a punishment. Around Kharkiv villages, you'll see it with salty herring on the side, and that makes sense: cold tart soup, oily fish, boiled potato, dill everywhere. It is not delicate. It is lunch with its sleeves rolled up.
The one thing that decides it is the zasmazhka, the slow-sweated onion and carrot. Add it near the end so its sweetness sits brightly on the broth instead of flattening into the stock. Aunt Nadia would have written, "until the smell changes," which means the raw onion smell has gone, the carrot has softened, and the oil has turned gold. You'll know.
Make a big pot. Cold borshch is kinder the next day, when the sorrel has settled, the dill has spoken to everybody, and the boiled eggs are waiting in the fridge like they knew guests were coming.
Green borshch belongs to Ukraine's sorrel season, especially late spring and early summer, when gardens and market bundles fill with shchavel (щавель). The cold version is strongly at home in Slobozhanshchyna and the Kharkiv region, where village tables often serve it with salted herring beside the bowl rather than stirred into it. Soviet canteens flattened many green soups into one mild formula, but home cooks kept the sharper regional habits alive: sorrel first, dill always, egg for richness, and a proper zasmazhka for sweetness.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
chicken broth or light vegetable broth
Quantity
2 litres
waxy potatoes
Quantity
600g
peeled and cut into small cubes
unrefined sunflower oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
onion
Quantity
1 large
finely diced
carrot
Quantity
1 large
coarsely grated
fresh sorrel
Quantity
250g
washed, tough stems removed, roughly chopped
young spinach or beet greens
Quantity
100g
roughly chopped
cucumber
Quantity
1 small
diced
spring onions
Quantity
4
thinly sliced
dill
Quantity
1 large bunch
finely chopped
hard-boiled eggs
Quantity
4
halved or chopped
smetana or sour cream
Quantity
250g, plus more to serve
fermented cucumber brine or sorrel brine (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
sea salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
salted herring fillets, boiled new potatoes, and rye bread (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| chicken broth or light vegetable broth | 2 litres |
| waxy potatoespeeled and cut into small cubes | 600g |
| unrefined sunflower oil | 2 tablespoons |
| onionfinely diced | 1 large |
| carrotcoarsely grated | 1 large |
| fresh sorrelwashed, tough stems removed, roughly chopped | 250g |
| young spinach or beet greensroughly chopped | 100g |
| cucumberdiced | 1 small |
| spring onionsthinly sliced | 4 |
| dillfinely chopped | 1 large bunch |
| hard-boiled eggshalved or chopped | 4 |
| smetana or sour cream | 250g, plus more to serve |
| fermented cucumber brine or sorrel brine (optional) | 2 tablespoons |
| sea salt and black pepper | to taste |
| salted herring fillets, boiled new potatoes, and rye bread (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •A big modern stockpot
- •A wide pan for the zasmazhka
- •A large mixing bowl for tempering smetana
- •A sharp knife for herbs
Instructions
- 1
Cook the potatoes
Bring the broth to a gentle bubble and add the potatoes with a good pinch of salt. Cook until the edges soften and a piece breaks cleanly under a spoon, but don't let them collapse into paste. Cold soup needs texture, not mash.
- 2
Build the zasmazhka
Warm the sunflower oil in a wide pan, add the onion, and let it soften quietly before the carrot joins it. You're not browning anything. Sweat it until the raw onion smell disappears, the carrot turns soft, and the oil glows yellow-orange.
The zasmazhka goes in near the end so its sweetness sits brightly on the broth. Put it in too early and it disappears into the stock. - 3
Wilt the greens
Stir the zasmazhka into the pot, then add the sorrel and spinach or beet greens. The sorrel will darken almost at once, from spring green to olive, and the broth will smell sharp and grassy. Stop there. Overcooked sorrel sulks.
- 4
Season it cold
Take the pot off the heat and let it cool until it is no longer hot to the touch, then stir in the cucumber, spring onions, and most of the dill. Taste before you add anything else. Cold dulls salt, so season a little more than you would for a hot soup, and add fermented cucumber brine if the sorrel needs help.
- 5
Chill and finish
Chill the borshch until properly cold, at least two hours. Whisk the smetana with a ladleful of the cold broth in a bowl, then stir it back into the pot so it turns pale green instead of clumping. Serve with boiled egg, more dill, black pepper, and herring on the side if your table is in a Kharkiv mood.
Chef Tips
- •Fresh sorrel is the soul of this bowl. If you only have jarred sorrel, use it proudly and add it after the potatoes are cooked, then taste before salting because jars vary.
- •A spoon of fermented cucumber brine is not a trick. In summer kitchens, sour things from jars have always helped fresh things along.
- •Chicken broth gives roundness, vegetable broth keeps it lighter. Both work. What matters is that the broth tastes good cold, so chill a spoonful and taste it before you commit the whole pot.
- •Serve the herring beside the bowl, not floating in it. People can chase the cold green spoonful with a salty bite, which is much nicer than making the whole pot taste of fish.
- •The chopping forgives you. The sorrel does not want long boiling, and the smetana must be loosened with broth before it goes into the pot.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the broth a day ahead and chill it; cold broth lets you taste the salt properly before the greens go in.
- •The finished borshch keeps well for 2 days in the fridge. Add the eggs and final dill when serving so they stay bright.
- •Hard-boil the eggs ahead and keep them chilled, peeled or unpeeled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 465g)
Calories
225 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
110 mg
Sodium
800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
21 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
8 g
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