Homemade garden fresh Borscht is packed with vegetables and cooked perfectly tender in beef broth. This recipe is quick and easy because of the Instant Pot!
I was so excited to put my garden vegetables to good use in this delicious soup. Whenever I cook meals that are loaded with vegetables, I’m always worried the family might decide they don’t like it even before trying it. I’m happy to report that the entire family, kids included, absolutely LOVED this soup!
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BORSCHT
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I’m a huge fan of beets, but have never made Borscht before, let alone Instant Pot Borscht. The Instant Pot because part of my Borscht equation because I pretty much use it for anything I can these days.
I was so thrilled to be able to incorporate so much of what I have grown myself into a healthy meal for my family. The beets, cabbage, potatoes and dill all came from my garden. I’m also growing carrots and onions, but they’re not completely ready for harvest yet and I had some store bought produce that needed to be used up in the refrigerator. I did, however, use my own roasted beef broth that I had in the freezer. YUM!
What is in Borscht?
Since I had never made borscht before, I had to do a little research. Know what I found? There are about a million different ways to make Borscht. That means that even though I’m not Ukranian, my version just might pass.
Depending on what you like to eat, you can make vegetarian borscht or borscht with different kinds of meat.
There’s green borscht, red borscht, and even white borscht!
The most common variety includes beet roots as one of the main ingredients which gives borscht that distinctive red color. I, however, used two dark red beets along with one candy cane beet (mostly white with red stripes). That means my version of borscht didn’t turn out as red as it would have had I used all dark red beets.
Other common ingredients I found also included fresh dill and cabbage.
Reasons to cook Borscht in the Instant Pot:
- You can saute the vegetables in the pressure cooker prior to cooking the soup. Less mess is always a bonus.
- Beets notoriously take along time to cooke. You could roast them before cooking in the soup which would give them great flavor, but I was going for quick and easy. Pressure cooking creates the most soft and tender beets in just minutes!
- Pressure cooking also allows you to retain moisture and vitamins. All that flavor and goodness is sealed into your food.
- It just doesn’t get any easier than cooking in an Instant Pot. I’m hooked.
How to serve Borscht:
I was a little nervous that my version of this recipe was too thick, but when I googled “how thick borscht”, I learned that you want it to be thick enough to hold a spoon up. Mine passed.
This borscht recipe was amazing with a big dollop of sour cream on top. When stirred in, the end result was a creamy bowl of goodness.
I made a hot crusty loaf of bread and served that up with some butter and roasted garlic on the side.
It certainly was a meal that satisfied!
Pressure Cooker Borscht
Homemade garden fresh Borscht is packed with vegetables and cooked perfectly tender in beef broth. This recipe is quick and easy because of the Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion sliced
- 4 large beets peeled and sliced into thick matchsticks (about 2 1/2 pounds)
- 3 large carrots peeled and sliced into thick matchsticks (about 12 ounces)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 medium potatoes peeled and sliced into thick matchsticks (about 1 pound)
- 2 quarts beef broth divided
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- half head green cabbage sliced thin
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup fresh dill packed
- 1 cup sour cream
- more salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Use the saute mode on your Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker to heat the oil. Add the onion, beets, carrots and garlic. Allow to cook, stirring only occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
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Add the potatoes, 1 quart of beef broth, and 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Seal lid and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
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Quick release pressure. If pressure cooker is big enough to accommodate cabbage and remaining beef broth, add now, seal lid, and cook on high pressure for 2 minutes. If not, transfer all ingredients from pressure cooker into large pot on stove, add cabbage and remaining broth, and bring to a boil. Cook just until cabbage softens.
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Add red wine vinegar and fresh dill. Stir well and add salt and pepper, to taste. Borscht should be thick enough that it can nearly hold your spoon up, but there should be enough broth to make it resemble a soup. Serve each bowl with 2 tablespoons of sour cream.
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