Polish Barszcz – Clear Beetroot Soup

Name: Polish Barszcz – Clear Beetroot Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 750 g beetroot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks; 1 onion, quartered; 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 litres vegetable stock or water; 3 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves, 5 black peppercorns; 2 tbsp lemon juice + 1 tbsp cider vinegar; 1 tsp honey or maple syrup (it fixes the colour); Salt, freshly ground black pepper; To serve: 3 tbsp thick yoghurt, fresh dill

Poland's red beetroot soup is clear, tangy and remarkably light — 118 calories a bowl, and it carries the beetroot's natural nitrates intact.

Total: 75 min
Servings: 6 servings
Difficulty: Easy
Calories · per serving: 118 kcal

Written by

Ecem Akkaba · Dietitian

Dietitian, graduate of İstanbul Medipol University. She develops the recipes and nutrition values on FitZen.

Updated: August 3, 2026

In short

Polish Barszcz – Clear Beetroot Soup contains 118 calories per serving: 4 g protein, 20 g carbohydrate and 3 g fat. It takes 75 minutes in total and makes 6 servings.

About this recipe

Barszcz czerwony is a winter fixture on Polish tables and an all but compulsory starter on Christmas Eve. It is not a thick, cloudy soup — its clarity is the whole point, and that comes from steeping the beetroot rather than boiling it.

Traditionally the sourness comes from fermented beet juice (zakwas). This version uses lemon and vinegar instead, so you get the same balance without waiting a week for a ferment.

Beetroot is among the richest vegetable sources of natural nitrates, and a long hard boil damages both the colour and those compounds. That is why this soup never reaches boiling point.

Method

1
Put the beetroot, onion, carrot and celery in a pot and pour over the stock. Add the spices.
2
Do NOT bring to a boil. Hold it at a temperature where only the occasional bubble breaks the surface and steep for 45 minutes. Boiling turns the colour brown.
3
Take off the heat, rest for 10 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve. Do not press the vegetables — that is what makes it cloudy.
4
Return the clear liquid to the pot and add the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar and honey.
5
Season with salt and pepper. Adjust acid and sweetness in small increments; you are aiming for sharp but rounded.
6
Warm through over low heat for 5 more minutes, again without boiling.
7
Ladle into warm bowls, add a spoonful of yoghurt to the centre and finish with dill.

Tips

Cut the beetroot into matchsticks rather than grating it. Grating releases too much starch and clouds the broth.
Acid is what keeps the colour vivid. Adding the lemon after you take the pot off the heat works far better than adding it during cooking.
The acidity settles overnight and the flavour deepens. Keeps 4 days refrigerated — do not freeze, the beetroot loses its texture.

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