Vegan Borscht with Beans
Borscht with beans isn’t a compromise but a proper dish in its own right: the beans bring heartiness and a velvety body, and the tomato soffritto adds the depth you’d usually look for in a meat stock. We braise the beetroot separately with a drop of acid so the colour stays ruby-red. Like every borscht, it’s even better the next day.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 h 30 min
- Rest
- 8 h 20 min
- Total
- 10 h 20 min
- Servings
- 8
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 215 kcal
Ingredients
For the beans
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What to use instead
Instead of dried beans, use two 400 g cans: rinse them and add with the soffritto, using vegetable stock or water as the base. No soaking needed.
For the borscht
Makes: about 3 litres, 8 servings
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Soak the beans
Pick over and rinse the beans, cover with three times their volume of cold water and soak for 8 hours or overnight. Soaked beans cook faster and more evenly.
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Step 2: Cook the beans
Drain, cover the beans with 2.5 litres of fresh water, add the bay leaves and bring to the boil. Boil hard for the first 10 minutes, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 50–60 minutes, until a bean squashes easily between your fingers. Don’t salt yet.
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Step 3: Prep the vegetables
While the beans cook, cut the potatoes into 1.5 cm cubes and finely shred the cabbage. Shred the beetroot and carrot in a food processor with the grating disc, or coarsely grate them, and finely chop the onion.
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Step 4: Braise the beetroot
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the beetroot, sprinkle with the lemon juice and sugar and cook over medium heat for 10–12 minutes, stirring, until soft and glossy ruby-red. The acid keeps the colour bright.
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Step 5: Make the soffritto
Transfer the beetroot to a bowl. In the same pan, fry the onion and carrot in the remaining oil for 6–7 minutes until soft and lightly golden, then add the tomato paste and fry for 2 more minutes until it darkens.
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Step 6: Build the borscht
Add the potatoes to the beans and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 7–8 minutes more, then stir in the soffritto and the beetroot and season with salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 5 minutes — a hard boil will dull the colour.
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Step 7: Finish with garlic and dill
Turn off the heat, stir in the crushed garlic and half the chopped dill, cover and let it stand for at least 20 minutes. Serve scattered with the remaining dill.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Don’t salt the beans until they’re tender — salt early on can toughen the skins and slow the cooking.
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Swap
Instead of dried beans, use two 400 g cans: rinse them and add with the soffritto, using vegetable stock or water as the base. No soaking needed.
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Variation
For a smoky, meaty note, add 3–4 dried mushrooms soaked in boiling water, together with their strained soaking liquid.
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Storage
Keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge and tastes even better on day two. Freezes in portions for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 8 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 215 kcal | 1,720 kcal |
| Protein | 8 g | 64 g |
| Fat | 5 g | 40 g |
| Carbohydrates | 34 g | 272 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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