Delicious Vegetable Borscht Without Oil

A few weeks back, a couple of girlfriends and I were doing cooking video calls every weekend. It was a great way to share recipes and cook together.

One of my friends graciously shared her Chinese Russian family’s recipe for borscht. Now, we all have different dietary requirements, so naturally, I made mine into vegan borscht. 

Previous to this recipe, I had never had good borscht, I always found them too oily. I made my borscht oil-free. I couldn’t be happier with the way this borscht tastes, it has so much flavor!

What is vegetable borscht?

Vegetable borscht is a distinctive bright red-colored vegetable, beet and bean soup. 

The main ingredient of common borscht is red beets (beetroot).

This soup originates from Eastern Europe and Northern China.

There are other variations of borscht that do not include beets. This particular recipe is a vegan beet soup.

😋Why you’ll love this recipe

• This vegan beet soup is packed with vegetables
• The color is stunningly vibrant and it’s got loads of flavor
• Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free and corn free
• Easy preparation, one-pot only
• Store wells, both fridge and frozen

✔️Ingredients You’ll Need

Beetroot should be fresh and of good quality. Pick a bunch of beetroot with good leaves.

I like to chop up the beetroot leaves, stems and bulbs to use in my vegetable borscht, however, you can only use the bulb.

Beets in soup give the most magnificent color. Chop up into small bite-sized pieces.

You can also make oil-free braised beetroot leaves if you opt to not include them in this vegan soup.

Green cabbage - select a small-to-medium size cannonball cabbage head. Slice up an ⅛ of the cabbage head into bite-sized pieces.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) should be cooked prior (if using dry chickpeas) to adding to this vegetable borscht soup.

The easiest option is to use organic canned chickpeas.

Bay leaves and cloves add flavoring to this soup, I don’t recommend skimping on these.

You can add these directly to the soup and take them out when serving, or place them into an empty tea bag beforehand to make it easier to find them.

Tomato paste and soy sauce are also key flavorings in this soup. I don’t recommend skipping on these. Make sure both are gluten-free if needed.

Vegetable stock Use your preferred veggie stock. 

Note - generally store-bought vegetable stocks contain enough sodium, however always do a taste test when cooking and decide if you’d like to add salt. If you are trying to avoid oil, check the ingredients in the stock.

Freshly squeezed lemon is added at the end, this heightens the flavour of this vegetable borscht.

Carrots, potatoes and onions, again fresh produce here is best.

Chop these all up into small bite-sized pieces. The great thing about making this vegan beet soup is you don’t have to make the pieces accurate, just similar in size so they cook evenly.

The beetroot is such a vibrant color, this is what it looks like when you sweat it with the potato, onions and carrot.

Speaking of onion and carrot, check out my clear celery soup with carrots and onions.

🔪How to Make Vegetable Borscht

Step 1 - In a stockpot, over medium-high heat, sweat onions and carrots in 3 tablespoons of vegetable stock until the onions have turned translucent and the carrots have released their color. 

Step 2 - Add beetroot, potato, and 5 more tablespoons of vegetable stock, stir until the beetroot has released color and both the potatoes and beetroot have softened. 

Step 3 - Add tomato paste. Stir and ensure all is coated. Add the remaining vegetable stock, bay leaves, and cloves. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to low-medium. Allow simmering for about 10 minutes. 

Step 4 - Add cooked chickpeas, cabbage, and soy sauce. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and stir through the lemon. Serve warm.

🌟Pro Tips

Continuous stirring is needed during the sweating process in steps 1 & 2. This is because we aren’t using oil, if more spoonfuls of vegetable stock are needed, feel free to add spoonfuls at a time to stop any sticking.

Got excess fresh beetroot Try making beetroot salad.

Got excess potato? Try making my potato leek soup.

✔️Variations

Cannon ball cabbage can be swapped with red cabbage, Chinese cabbage or savoy cabbage.

Soy sauce can be swapped out with tamari sauce, to make this a soy-free soup.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) can be swapped with any type of white bean. Vegan borscht with beans is a great meatless option.

Dill can be chopped up and added to this vegan beet soup.

❓FAQ

🍴Serving Suggestion

I like to add roasted chickpeas as croutons and or a dollop of vegan sour cream.

This vegan borscht is excellent on it’s own or with bread.

🥘Related Recipes

Try my delicious oil-free low fat potato soup or basic vegan broccoli soup. You might also be interested in Mediterranean Bean Soup.

You might enjoy is my super delicious sticky maple vegan brussel sprouts.

Recipe