There are four recipes here. The first is my own, followed by recipes from friends in the Slavic Interest Group. My version doesn’t use cabbage, so if that’s a dealbreaker for you, feel free to try one of the other versions. Of course I measure nothing except the broth, so this is more of an ingredients list. Season everything to taste. Pairs well with a good milk stout.

3 big beets, grated and cubed
ground venison, beef, or turkey
1 medium onion, diced
2 slices cooked bacon, chopped (optional)
3 garlic cloves, minced
carrots, diced
celery, diced
beet greens, chopped
mushrooms, chopped (optional)
4 c. beef broth
olive oil
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
1-2 bay leaves
dill
parsley
smoked paprika (to taste)
splash of white wine (to taste)
liquid smoke (to taste)

In a big soup pot, sauté the onion in olive oil. Push it to the sides of the pot and brown the ground meat, then toss in the garlic, celery, beets, carrots. Sauté for a little while longer, then add the broth and seasonings.

Bring to a boil and turn down to low and let simmer, adding the rest as you go. Cook until the beets are tender. If you don’t have much liquid left, you can add more broth or add water and season to taste. Serve with sour cream.

With beef or Vegetarian: Ukrainian version from Anastacia Renee McClure

3 lg beets
1/2 cabbage
4 lg carrots
2 lg onions
3 potatoes
garlic
lemon juice
sour cream
baby dill
ketchup
S&P
veg oil
veg soup cubes (this is for veg style),* OR
2 lbs. beef roast for meat

Grate carrots, shred cabbage, dice potatoes and onions. Cube beef if used. Cut beets in half.

In a large skillet with oil, sauté all veggies and beef until crisp and beef browned well.

Meanwhile, boil the beets in a soup pan with water until firm but semi soft. You should be able to grate them when cooled. Pull beets out of water and wash off to cool.

To the skillet, add a couple squirts of ketchup and dollops of sour cream, stir, then put into soup water in pot. Add 6-7 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add soup cubes if making it vegetarian.

Grate beets and return to pot. Simmer after adding dill and S&P for five minutes. Serve and enjoy. If it’s too sour, add more sour cream or lemon juice. 

*At some European markets, look for VEGETAL soup powder. It comes from Slavic countries.

Beef broth only: from Sfandra Dmitreiva

2-3 quarts of no-sodium beef broth (or to make your own: simmer a well-browned beef shank or two in 3 quarts of water for 4 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone, skim off fat, then remove bone & meat OR chop meat back into soup although it doesn’t add any more flavor at this point, just texture)
1 bay leaf
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 onion, chopped
3 cups sliced beets
2 cups chopped cabbage
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup white vinegar, or to taste
sour cream and dill or chive to garnish

Simply simmer everything until tender. If you want the slightly thickened texture that comes from potato, but are serving a historical meal, use turnips instead as they are native to eastern Europe.

With chicken: Baba’s Borshcht

From MaryAnne Anja Bues Bartlett: Here’s a Czech version that’s close enough to pre-1600 period (except for the color of the beets. Ethnic Recipe – Russian/Slavic- 12-16 servings

A couple or 3 pieces of chicken (it doesn’t matter what type, even a leftover carcass will do!) Speed recipe requires this to be pre-cooked.
4 cups or more water 
Salt 
4 large beets or 6 medium
1 small onion (optional)
Small head red cabbage
1 medium onion 
1 tsp. Caraway seed
½ cup of good vinegar (I prefer white tarragon vinegar or red wine vinegar)
Dill, dry (1tbsp.) or fresh (2 tbsp.)
Salt, pepper, etc. 
2 cups of cooked barley (for hearty soup)
2 large soup pots, stirring and measuring things, cutting board and large chopping knife, parer, small knife, (may require small bowls and/or food processor)

Put your chicken pieces in a large soup pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Salt. Reduce heat and let simmer until chicken is cooked through (1/4 hour for leftover meats, 1 hour for pieces). 

While the chicken is cooking, peel and cut up your beets & other vegetables, the smaller the better. Grating them in a food processor speeds up cooking immensely, but is not necessary. 

When chicken is done, strain broth (usually into another pot). Set the chicken aside.

Put 6 cups of broth (add water if necessary) in pot. Add vegetables & caraway and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the largest piece is cooked through (1/2 hour to 45 minutes). 

While the vegetables are cooking, shred the chicken meat, finely chop and discard skin and bones. 

When the vegetables are done, you have two options: “soft” soup or hearty. For “soft” soup, run the vegetables through a food processor until finely chopped, then return to broth. Repeat this step with the chicken. Add vinegar & dry dill (do not use fresh) Stir well. Heat through and serve with a dollop of sour cream. 

For hearty soup, add vinegar & dill (preferably fresh) to broth. Put back chicken and vegetables. Add barley. Stir well. Heat through and serve with sour cream, and dark rye bread with butter. 

Note: “Soft” soup is a direct translation from what MaryAnne’s grandmother called this in Czech. She had to re-work many terms that were direct translations. “Hard” soup has been changed to “hearty;” “finely chop” was always “grate” to Babicka. Simmer is what she called “Not boil.”