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Barszcz Czerwony

Name: Barszcz Czerwony
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 75 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 2 lbs beets, scrubbed and halved; 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth; 1 large onion, quartered; 2 cloves garlic, smashed; 1 carrot, peeled and halved; 1 parsnip, peeled and halved; 1 celery rib, halved; 1 oz dried mushrooms (porcini or wild); 1 bay leaf; 5 allspice berries; 1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice; 1 tsp sugar; Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste; Sour cream, for serving

Deep ruby, sweet-sour, and quietly regal, barszcz czerwony is the beet soup that anchors the Polish table.

⏱ 20 minPrep time

🔥 75 minCook time

🍽 6Servings

🏷 DinnerCategory

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Barszcz Czerwony is Poland’s iconic beet soup — a jewel-bright, deeply savory broth with a gentle sour tang that warms you from the inside out. It smells of earth, bay leaf, and forest mushrooms, and it’s the taste many Poles associate with home.

Traditionally served on Christmas Eve alongside uszka dumplings, it also appears all winter long with a swirl of sour cream and a side of dark rye bread. The key is roasting the beets first — it concentrates their sweetness and turns the soup a gorgeous garnet red.

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Step by stepInstructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roast the beets on a foil-lined baking sheet for 45-60 minutes until tender, then cool, peel, and slice into strips.
In a large pot, combine the broth, onion, garlic, carrot, parsnip, celery, dried mushrooms, bay leaf, and allspice. Simmer gently for 30 minutes.
Strain the broth, discarding the solids (reserve mushrooms if you like). Return the broth to the pot and add the roasted beet strips.
Simmer for 15 minutes, then season with vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper, adjusting the sweet-sour balance to taste.
Serve hot, each bowl garnished with a spoonful of sour cream and, if you wish, a few of the reserved mushrooms.

💡 Chef tips & storage

Roasting rather than boiling the beets gives the soup a deeper, sweeter flavor and a clearer color. The soup tastes even better the next day.

Recipe details

Prep20 min

Cook75 min

Servings6

CategoryDinner

PublishedAugust 17, 2026

Hi, I'm Emily 🧡

Hi, I'm Emily — the cook behind My Comfort Recipes. Simple, tested comfort food for real weeknights, written down the way grandma would. Pull up a chair. More about me →

Barszcz Czerwony

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Barszcz Czerwony

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Hi, I'm Emily 🧡

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