I have to laugh at anyone who'd claim that the ingredients which aren't a part of the recipe they know make this recipe wrong. As if there were no regional variations of any recipe for any dish. Also beet greens is precisely what makes this soup distinct from plain borscht. SMH. I only agree that baking the beets is a better way to cook them, mainly because it gives the soup a deeper color. Embrace variety, I've never eaten chlodnik I didn't like, including this one.
Ant0n
Sacramento, California
8/15/2021
Grew up eating this soup every summer. The recipe is completely wrong. People don't eat beets greens, toss them out. Clean beet skin off before cooking. DO NOT discard beet broth, its the best tasting part of this soup. Do not add dill pickle. Basically, cook the beets, grate beets, add salt and pepper and let it cool. Refrigerate. When ready to serve, add chopped green scallions, chopped cucumber, chopped eggs, a little buttermilk, sour cream and chopped fresh dill; lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
gotbpo
Russia
2/25/2021
Grew up eating this soup every summer. The recipe is completely wrong. Only a cow would eat beets greens, toss them out. Clean beets skin off before cooking. DO NOT discard beef broth, its the best tasting part of this soup. Basically, cook the beets, grate beets, add salt and pepper and let it cool. Refrigerate. When ready to serve, add chopped green scallions, cucumber, eggs, a little buttermilk, sour cream and fresh dill; lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
gotbpo
Russia
2/25/2021
Made this exactly as written and it was wonderful. Both my husband and I come from Eastern European backgrounds and this was spot on. I loved that it had texture with the greens (did blitz with my immersion blender just a little before adding cukes and beets. My husbands family always had their cold borscht without cucumbers. He also likes hot boiled small potatoes in it which is a nice touch.
Anonymous
Brevard NC
9/2/2020
Skip the beet green. Roast the beets at 450 for 70 minutes. I used eggs sous vided in shell at 167F for 12 minutes. Yummy. I garnished with grill octopus.
craigjepson
Austin, Texas
5/12/2020
Have made this soup hundreds of time in my life. Recommend using kefir and roasting the beets. I don’t use pickle, pickle juice ,or beet greens. Fresh dill is a must. I always place ice in the soup at the end. It chills it and thins it out at the same time. Serve when ice melted or take it out if need to eat sooner. Would recommend playing with this recipe til you find how you like it best.
dbraz
Downers Grove IL
6/24/2019
While I loved a lot about this recipe and followed pretty well. I did add a few more beets. The beet greens chopped very fine were a nice addition ( I always like to eat something green). I thought 3/4 cup sour cream was a bit much and next time might just add a dollop to each bowl. Makes for a nice presentation also. My parents were from Belarus and Lithuania. We grew up on cold and hot borscht. This is a keeper. Also added some boiled small potatoes (warm), used Claussen pickles.
sweetannie
St. Louis MO/Australia
8/5/2018
Whatever you do, DO NOT throw out the cooking liquid that the beets were cooked in. You will end up with anemic looking beets that even if fresh will have no taste. Best idea is to bake the whole beet so that the juice stays in. Just saying.
margieclay
Paris
7/27/2018
Beautiful in color but much too watery in consistency. I would omit the beet tops if I was to make again as cold wilted leaves aren't my preference. If you plan to use the recipe as originally noted, I would recommend burst blending for a couple of cycles.
sixninemed
Denver, CO
8/31/2016
I love this recipe, and I think it will become a summer regular. Having paid attention to the comments about the water the greens were cooked in, I set most of the water aside, and used it as needed to thin the soup after all the other ingredients were added (I used about half). I added the pickle brine last and held back a bit because I thought it was already salty enough. I also gave it a quick blend with the immersion blender -- not enough to make it completely creamy, but enough to blend it and leave some texture.
bishogs
Auburn, AL
8/21/2016
Great light summer meal. We didn't find it too watery. (Similar recipes have about same amount of liquid.) But I also used about 1/4 pound more beets and greens. Also, did not peel the cucumbers (why toss away nutritious skins.) From making other recipes, the choice of pickle makes a difference. I recommend Clausen or similar cold-packed large Kosher pickle (about 4 oz wt). Using light buttermilk and light sour cream helps cut the calorie count.
Anonymous
Metro Vancouver, Canada
8/15/2016
I made this last week and was kind of disappointed. It was beautifully pink but tasted mostly of buttermilk. Not bad, but I think I would have liked all the ingredients better if I had just had them (buttermilk, beets, pickle) separately instead of mixed together in a soup. If you are looking for soup that is similar to borscht with sour cream, this is not it.
julieswan2
Asheville, NC
8/15/2016
Much too watery with even just 2 cups of the beet top cooking water. Will try again omitting next time. Recipe is very unclear regarding 4 cups beet top cooking water.
eamorgan
Canada
8/13/2016
I just finished making this and had the same question regarding the 4 cups of water the beet greens are simmered in. Thinking it would taste too watered down i decided to add half the amount, 2 cups, and still found the taste to be far too diluted. So... i imagine the water should be disgarded. As is it is ok, but nothing to write home about.
eamorgan
Denman Island, BC, Canada
8/13/2016
I want to make this, but it's unclear if the 4 cups of water to cook the greens is used in the recipe or discarded?
Shireenlv
Arisona
8/11/2016
