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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Kholodnyk na Kefiri (холодник на кефірі, kefir cold borshch)
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The beet bleeds into the kefir and the whole bowl turns raspberry-pink, cold enough to fog the spoon, sharp with cucumber, scallion, and dill.
Soups & Stews
Ukrainian
Comfort Food
Quick Meal
Outdoor Dining
25 min
Active Time
40 min cook•2 hr 5 min total
Yield8 servings
The color arrives before the taste does. White kefir takes one spoonful of grated beet and turns raspberry-pink, then the cucumber snaps, the dill hits your nose, and suddenly lunch feels possible in the kind of heat that makes the litnya kuhnia, the summer kitchen, hum like a jar shelf.
Kholodnyk is borshch that took its coat off. No meat broth, no long argument with the stove, just cooked beet, cold sour dairy, raw garden crunch, and enough dill to make the bowl look alive. It belongs to summer tables: courtyard lunches, outdoor supper after watering the tomatoes, something made in the morning and eaten when the sun gets rude.
The one thing that decides it is balance. Kefir gives the tang, beet gives the sweetness, cucumber and scallion keep it awake; if the bowl tastes flat, it doesn't need fuss, it needs salt and a sharper spoon of beet liquid, lemon, or beet zakwas. Aunt Nadia would have written, "until it sounds right," which is useless on paper and perfect in the mouth.
Make a big jugful. There is no tradition of a small one, and cold borshch in the fridge is a kindness your future self will bless.
Cold beet soups have long belonged to the summer kitchens of Ukraine, especially across the north and west where sour milk, beet kvass, and garden herbs were natural warm-weather bases. The kefir version is a modern home-kitchen branch of the same family: faster than beet-kvass kholodnyk, lighter than hot borshch, and still recognizably Ukrainian in its beet, dill, egg, and sour dairy. Neighboring cuisines have their own cold beet soups, but Ukraine's versions move by region, household, and season, which is how living food behaves.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small beets
Quantity
1 kg
scrubbed, tails left on
plain kefir
Quantity
1 litre
well chilled
beet cooking liquid
Quantity
300ml
cold and strained
cucumbers
Quantity
2 medium
finely diced or coarsely grated
radishes
Quantity
8
thinly sliced
scallions
Quantity
4
finely sliced
dill
Quantity
1 large bunch
finely chopped
hard-boiled eggs
Quantity
4
halved or chopped
beet zakwas, fermented beet brine, or lemon juice
Quantity
2 tablespoons, plus more to taste
sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
smetana or sour cream (optional)
Quantity
200g
boiled young potatoes (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small beetsscrubbed, tails left on | 1 kg |
| plain kefirwell chilled | 1 litre |
| beet cooking liquidcold and strained | 300ml |
| cucumbersfinely diced or coarsely grated | 2 medium |
| radishesthinly sliced | 8 |
| scallionsfinely sliced | 4 |
| dillfinely chopped | 1 large bunch |
| hard-boiled eggshalved or chopped | 4 |
| beet zakwas, fermented beet brine, or lemon juice | 2 tablespoons, plus more to taste |
| sea salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| smetana or sour cream (optional) | 200g |
| boiled young potatoes (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •A medium pot for the beets
- •A box grater
- •A large mixing bowl or jug
- •A fine sieve
Instructions
- 1
Cook the beets
Put the beets in a pot, cover with cold water, and simmer gently until a knife slides through without bullying them. Keep the tails on so the color stays inside. When they smell sweet and earthy rather than raw and dusty, lift them out, save the cooking liquid, and let both go completely cold.
If you cook the beets the night before, the soup comes together in minutes. That is not a shortcut; that is how summer cooking survives the heat. - 2
Grate and chill
Slip the skins from the cold beets with your fingers, then grate them coarse into a big bowl. Strain the beet cooking liquid and chill it hard. You want it clean-tasting, ruby, and cold enough that it sharpens the kefir instead of warming it.
- 3
Cut the crunch
Dice or grate the cucumbers, slice the radishes and scallions, and chop the dill. Add them to the beets with the salt and pepper. Stir once and listen to the bowl change: dry vegetables become juicy, the salt wakes them up, and the dill starts bossing everyone around.
- 4
Pour the kefir
Pour in the cold kefir and 300ml of chilled beet liquid, then stir until the soup turns a clear raspberry-pink. Add the beet zakwas, fermented beet brine, or lemon juice. Taste for the old triangle: sweet beet, sour dairy, clean salt. If one side is missing, fix that side and stop.
- 5
Rest it cold
Cover and chill until the flavors sit together, at least long enough for the dill to perfume the kefir and the cucumber to soften its edges. The soup should pour easily from a ladle but still carry plenty of beet and crunch.
- 6
Serve generously
Ladle into deep bowls and top each with egg, more dill, and a spoon of smetana if you want it richer. Serve with boiled young potatoes on the side, warm or cold, sprinkled with salt and dill. Eat outside if you can.
Chef Tips
- •Use full-fat kefir if you can. Thin kefir works, but full-fat gives the soup a roundness that holds the beet sweetness instead of letting it taste watery.
- •Beet zakwas is my favorite souring here because it keeps the flavor in the beet family. Lemon juice is a bit more modern and works perfectly when the fridge is not behaving like a Ukrainian pantry.
- •The forgiving part is the vegetable cut: dice, grate, slice, it all eats well. The part that matters is cold. Warm kefir and warm beets make a tired soup.
- •If your cucumbers are watery, salt them lightly in a sieve for a few minutes, then add them. If they're small and crisp, throw them straight in and don't make extra work.
- •This keeps well for two days in the fridge. Stir before serving, because the beet likes to settle and make drama at the bottom.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook and chill the beets and their cooking liquid up to 2 days ahead.
- •Hard-boil the eggs ahead and keep them cold.
- •The finished kholodnyk is best after at least 30 minutes in the fridge, and still bright the next day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 390g)
Calories
265 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
105 mg
Sodium
530 mg
Total Carbohydrates
37 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
18 g
Protein
11 g
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