Svekolnik is a refreshing Russian cold beetroot soup perfect for hot summer days. This bright, slightly tangy dish features cooked beets, boiled egg, cucumbers, radishes and herbs. Everything comes together as a soup with the help of beetroot broth mixed with kefir – a type of fermented dairy. Vibrant and cheerful, ice-cold svekolnik right out of the fridge offers an instant relief to an overheated body. I like to serve it as an after school snack – a healthy quick fix in between lunch and dinner for my always hungry teens.
Overview of the Ingredients:
Svekolnik is a humble soup that has roots in Russian peasant cooking. The ingredients are basic, and like with many Russian soups, it’s all about the natural flavours of vegetables and herbs.
The main component is obviously the beetroot. We peel it, then boil in water with a bit of salt until it has softened. Shredded cooked beet and its broth are responsible for the overall flavour profile – sweet and earthy. They also give svekolnik its bright colour, as well as the name (svekla means ‘beetroot’ in Russian). Other than that, typical ingredients include:
Boiled egg: adds protein to make the soup a little more filling.
Cucumbers: hydrating and cooling, they create more bulk without making it heavy.
Radishes: add a nice crunch and a bit of sharpness.
Then, there are fresh herbs – an absolute must: aromatic dill and parsley and pungent, onion-y scallions. Together with crispy vegetables they create than unmistakably summer vibe.
Vinegar: a splash of light vinegar, such as apple cider, adds a bit of acidity. It gives svekolnik a bright finish and helps preserve beet’s vibrant colour.
If you, like me, have a soft spot for spices, I find that a blend of toasted cumin, caraway and coriander works absolute wonders here.
Lastly, we need some kind of liquid to actually create a soup ;-D There are a few options, but we are going with the traditional one: beet’s cooking broth mixed with kefir. Kefir is slightly tangy, fermented dairy drink made by adding yeast and bacteria to milk. It has a creamy texture and a sour taste – something in between yoghurt and sour cream but much more drinkable. Packed with probiotics, kefir is also popular for its digestive health benefits.
The outcome is a refreshing, balanced bowl where the underlying sweetness is beautifully offset by subtle tangy, sharp and sour notes. The mix of textures adds to the bite, whereas finishing touches of herbs and aromatic spices complete svekolnik’s flavour profile. And honestly, just how pretty it is??
Preparation Tips for Svekolnik:
Svekolnik is very much an assembly job. We cook beets separately, then cool them, slice them and mix with fresh vegetables, herbs, salt and some vinegar. Because of the vinegar, the mixture can easily last in the fridge for 3-4 days. The broth also keeps well. Which means that after a fairly quick prep, you can assemble a bowl of svekolnik in no time over the next few days. A couple of things to keep in mind:
- Count in extra time for cooling. Svekolnik must be served cold – so the beetroot broth needs at least 30 minutes in the fridge before it can be used. Sparking water should also be cold, as well as kefir (but the last one is dairy so it’s kept in the fridge anyways).
- Beetroot needs to be peeled before boiling – make sure you use gloves as it stains easily.
- If you have beet greens, pop them into the pot, too.
- Slice or cut beets and cucumbers into bite-size pieces. I like thin straps, but you can also grate both on the larger side of the grater.
- Boil some eggs in advance, then use a fork to break it right in the soup bowl before adding the beetroot mixture, broth and kefir.
- If using spices – whole or ground – make sure you dry toast them first. It will deepen the taste and aromas and make them more suitable as a seasoning.
- Pro tip: 1-2 table spoons of sparkling water will enliven this soup even further.
- Pro tip 2: you can easily boil eggs and beetroot in the same pot, just take the eggs out after 9 minutes of boiling.
Serving Suggestions:
Keep all components of svekolnik (vegetable mixture, eggs, broth, kefir, chopped herbs) in the fridge until actually ready to eat. Assemble each bowl and serve with a generous topping of fresh herbs. Garnish with thin slices of red radishes for an extra crunch and a pop of colour. Sprinkle half a tea spoon of spice blend over the bowl of soup together with a couple of grinds of black pepper mill. Enjoy with some fresh bread on the side!
Looking for more refreshing summer soup recipes? Make sure to try one of my delicious gazpachos – with cucumber or watermelon!
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Svekolnik – Russian Cold Beetroot Soup
Equipment
- 1 medium pot
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 medium beetroot peeled and quartered
- 4 eggs
- 1 medium cucumber
- 6 radishes
- 1/2 cups fresh chopped dill
- 1/2 cups fresh chopped parsley leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped scallion
- 200 ml kefir see notes
- 100 ml sparkling water
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Salt & Pepper to taste
For the spice blend:
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Instructions
For the vegetable mixture:
- Bring 1.5 litre of water to boil. Season lightly with salt.
- Add the quartered beets and the eggs.
- Boil the eggs for 9 minutes, then take out and let cool.
- Continue to boil the beet for another 10-15 minutes, until it has softened. To check for readiness, poke with a fork – it should go through smoothly.
- Turn the heat off and allow the beets to cool in their water down to the room temperature.
- Cut the cucumber into thin strips.
- Wash and finely chop the herbs.
- Remove the tips off the radishes, cut them in half and slice thinly across. Set a few pieces aside for garnish.
- Once the beets have cooled, slice them into thin strips similar to cucumber. Reserve their broth and refrigerate.
- In a large bowl, combine beets, cucumber, most of the radishes, and most of the herbs.
- Add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar and 1/3 tsp salt.
- Mix well, taste and adjust for tang and/or saltiness.
For the spice blend:
- Dry roast the whole spices for just 10-20 seconds until the start to darken, then grind to a fine powder.
To serve:
- Break one egg in a soup bowl and add 2 tbsp of vegetables mixture.
- Pour in 3 tbsp of beetroot broth, 2 tbsp of kefir and 1 tbsp of sparkling water. Stir well to combine. Add a little more beetroot broth of kefir if desired.
- Season with 1/2 tsp of spice blend and some black pepper.
- Garnish with a few slices of radishes and some more fresh herbs and serve.
Notes
- Kefir drink is generally available in most supermarkets. Alternatively, you can use Activia. Otherwise, you can also stir in a table spoon of sour cream into the bowl instead of kefir.
- Svekolnik is best enjoyed cold, right out of the fridge. Keep all the ingredients refrigerated until ready to serve.
