White Borscht
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:5 quarts
- 2½pounds full horseshoe link of high-quality smoked kielbasa
- 5fresh bay leaves
- 3pounds leeks (6 long, lively leeks)
- 3pounds russet potatoes
- 1cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1large yellow onion, small-diced (about 2 cups)
- 6garlic cloves, minced
- Kosher salt, such as Diamond Crystal
- 1(4-ounce) hunk of dense, very sour sourdough bread, crusts removed
- 1full tablespoon finely ground black pepper
- ½cup crème fraîche
- 1bunch fresh dill, woody stems removed, fronds minced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (48 servings)
162 calories; 11 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 230 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Cut kielbasa into 4 equal lengths, and cover in a pot with 3 quarts cold water and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then let gently boil for 25 minutes more until swollen and cooked through and beads of oil have formed. Pull sausages from the now smoky and seasoned water, and set aside. Save that water!
- Step 2
While the kielbasa simmers, split leeks in half lengthwise, then soak and rinse in cold water to thoroughly remove all sand. Slice leeks into ⅜-inch half-moons from whites to dark greens, as far up as is viable.
- Step 3
Peel potatoes, trim all four sides to stabilize on the cutting board and trim both ends to “box” the potato. Save the scraps. Cut the boxes into large cubes, about ¾-inch square.
- Step 4
In a sturdy soup pot, melt 1 stick butter over low heat until foaming. Stir in onion, garlic and a healthy pinch of salt, and let them sweat for a full 5 minutes until translucent.
- Step 5
Stir in remaining butter, the sliced leeks and another generous pinch of salt, then let sweat slowly over low heat for 8 minutes until moist, bright green and glossy.
- Step 6
Add potato scraps, the cube of bread and half the kielbasa boiling liquid. Let gently simmer 10 minutes while the potato scrap softens and the bread hunk becomes flabby and swollen. If you need to increase the heat to get a little simmer going, do so.
- Step 7
Meanwhile, slice kielbasa in half lengthwise. Place two pieces back into the soup pot as is, and then slice the remaining 6 pieces into very thin, ⅛-inch half-moons, and set aside.
- Step 8
Retrieve the soggy lump of sourdough bread with a slotted spoon, and don’t worry if you also get a few bits of leek or onion or whatever is floating in the soup when you pull it out. Also remove about 1 cup of liquid, and set aside.
- Step 9
Add potato cubes and the rest of the kielbasa liquid to the pot. Add another pinch of salt and half the black pepper. Let it come back to temperature, and then to simmer until potatoes are cooked through, about 25 minutes more.
- Step 10
Using either a stick blender or a traditional blender, purée the sodden hunk of bread until foamy, using some of the liquid you pulled in Step 8, if needed. Stir this back into the soup pot once the potatoes are cooked through, and add the sliced kielbasa as well.
- Step 11
Whisk the crème fraîche with ½ cup of the hot reserved liquid; stir mixture into the soup. Stir in the chopped dill and the remaining ½ tablespoon pepper. Serve very hot.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
J
Excited to try this recipe - thank you! Thank you (even more) for bringing me back to a time and place that no longer exist. During the early to mid 90s heroin infestation in the East Village, places like Polonia on 1st Avenue - R.I.P. - often provided the 1 meal a day a drug-addicted 19-year-old could afford. Despite the general awfulness of those days, I have fond memories of a warm place to sit and delicious, hot food... served without judgement.
forwardretreat
Zurek forever! Also known as "sour soup" or "Easter soup" by my Polish Babushka, known Stateside as Nanny. As kids, we dyed eggs with Ukranian egg dye; those later ended up sliced into the soup. Memories ... and a small tear!
Lauri M
This soup was so delicious- every single ingredient shone like a bright star. But the brightest star was that darned sourdough bread. And I didn't even use good sourdough bread- I used supermarket sliced rye. And I did not have creme fraiche. And the kielbasa was ordinary. And I used a half a stick less butter. And when does the viable part of the leek end? And were my leeks lively enough? It must be absolutely divine if you use all the right ingredients. It was anyway. Yum.
joan
who puts 2 sticks of butter in borscht? not me....
Martha
Forty blocks north of KK was another wonderful Polish restaurant, Adam’s. They also made a delicious white borscht, only they included large white limas. They disappeared overnight and I have missed all of their borschts. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ll be making it soon. I do take issue with the creme fraiche, however. I’ll be using sour cream.
Barbara
I have been making a version of this white borscht - called potato borscht by my German relatives - for over 50 years. I cut up potatoes and cook in chicken broth with any smoked sausage I can find,leeks, pepper, parsley, and when the potatoes are soft, the leeks have "dissolved," I thicken with some cornstarch, and add sour cream - on the advice of my aunt, to give it its sour taste - serve. Done in 30 minutes!
anne chaney
The rye sour base for zurek is sold in every grocery store in Poland, either store-made or bottled. The excellent Bacik Company in Brooklyn bottles it and it’s around $1.50 a bottle in most Eastern European groceries or delis. It is probably findable on line. Zurek was traditionally served at the end of grand balls in Old Poland as a restorative. It is absolutely delicious.
Cassandra Brightside
If you haven't visited already, do check out J. Baczynsky on 2nd Avenue between E8th and E9th Streets. They do a lovely White Borscht. Go on Saturdays and they have fresh hot home made blintzes, pierogies, varyneki. PS. Christine's on First Avenue and 13th Street and Teresa's ruled the E.V. back in the 80s. They both did a wonderful White Borscht. But Christine's did a Mushroom Noodle soup, that was to die for.
stella
There once was a place at 1st Ave and 1st street called the Baltyk. They made the most sublime soups, a mushroom soup the light stock and lots of dill that was unforgettable. The soups of the East Village were amazing.
Paul
This is a variant of Zurek, but for real Zurek you need the liquid sourdough base, zakwas. You can find it at a some Polish online stores. The zakwas really brings out the sourdough flavor. I would also recommend a few whole peppercorns and a couple of whole allspice, plus parsley root and celery root and a bay leaf all simmered with the kielbasa. Discard the veggies and spices. In addition, I would recommend dried marjoram over dill, and creme fraiche is optional - I wouldn't use it.
Judith
For you folks aghast at the amount of butter, the recipe makes five quarts of soup. That’s less than one tablespoon of butter per cup of soup. This may not be in accordance with your mother’s white borscht recipe but it added a luxuriousness to the final dish.
Audrey Budarz
I like hard boiled eggs in this. Add horseradish when eating
Kevin
This seems like a leek and potato soup with added sausage. Right?
Sam F
If we do have active sourdough starter in our fridge, should we substitute that for the bread? How?
mary
My Polish family made a meatless white barszcz for Christmas Eve dinner. Instead of sausage (used in the Easter barszcz) the flavor came from several ounces of dried mushrooms (boletus / porcini) steeped in hot water for at least an hour. The soup was thickened with mashed potatoes sautéed in butter until a golden crust formed.
Tegan
This was so delicious; my whole household agrees.
Vegan Option
Love this recipe! I make with vegan sourdough, Beyond Sausages, and cashew sour cream or yogurt. Would make it more often if leeks weren’t such a pain to clean, chop, and reduce. Great for a cold day in January.
GF
A bit too much butter for me. The meal is very generous and gets amazing texture from the bread and potatoes so next time I will go more gradually on fat. Also, "potato scraps" should boil on their own in a little kielbasa water so that you can blend them with the bread. You end up with a smoother soup base and just perfect potato cubes in your bowl. Also make sure that your bread is really sour, the whole balance depends on it. Great recipe!
Julie
This soup is sooooooo gooooooood. I've been repeatedly making it every winter now for a few years. It completely filled the biggest pot I had, so use one that is big enough to feed an army. You can freeze the extra!
Frankie Leftwich
This is one of my favorite recipes. I add one of those packets of individual soup mixes from Amazon ( I guess that's what it is since it is written in Polish) and it is wonderful. Also, I don't make a big deal out of cutting the potatoes just right or changing all those pots. You can't really mess it up if you use the right ingredients.
Justascoosh23
LuckY enough to have discovered White Borsht decades ago at Patsy’s in Brooklyn Heights. Quickly became addicted to that wonderful savoy experience. Never made it until I found this recipe and WOW! Used regular, store bought Kielbasa, no added garlic (for a family member’s request). First time through it took me a bit longer than the suggested 90 minutes, but it was well worth it. Thank you NYT Cooking!!
Natalka
My mom makes amazing white borscht and I’m from Poland so this soup is very common and traditional here. Instead of dill I recommend adding a tablespoon of dried marjoram, also grate/chop finely about one carrot. We serve it with a hard boiled egg but don’t add it directly to the pot, instead put a chopped half of it into a bowl and pour soup over it. If you leave it in the pot it will ruin the taste if you can’t finish the entire pot in one sitting.
Lisa Kristel
I made this and it was delicious. And I NEVER complain about extra butter. Question: Does anyone know why the potato scraps aren't just part of the dicing process? Like, some of your potato chunks maybe have a slightly curved edge... Isn't it odd to have all those flat ovals and circles of potato floating in the soup?
Frankie
I LOVE this stuff. I didn't bother with cubing the potatoes and wasn't quite sure what to do with the potato peelings so tossed them. I also added 2 packages of Kucharek Barszcz Bialy from Amazon. I have no idea what it is only that it says White Borsch on the front. Anyway, it is delicious!!!! Didn't use Creme Fraisch (sp)
jim
This is terrific - Imho - I think sour cream would have been just as good as the crème fraiche - and a few dollars less.
jim
Potato peels are discarded. Trims from cubing the potatoes is what you’re use.
Frankie Leftwich
I cooked this and loved it, but I didn't know what to do with the potato peelings?? I threw them away. What did I miss in the instructions?
Jed
I had made soup from scratch maybe 2 or 3 times before attempting this, and had no expectations of it being any good on my first try. My family *raved* about it. I'm making it again today at my daughter's request (on a 92-degree day). I am not a very good cook so I would call this recipe ultra-foolproof -- turned out great with no adjustments. My grandparents emigrated to the US from Ukraine so maybe I had some genetic memory guiding my hands with this one!!
Gretchen
This soup is great. It's seriously craveable! Note: it makes A LOT! Consider halving the recipe unless you're feeding a crowd. The high end kielbasa at my store comes in 12oz packages anyway. It might freeze ok, but I can't attest to that... The soup was delicious on day 1, but similar to a lot of soups it was better on day 2. I thoroughly enjoyed making it and prepping everything while the sausage simmered. A very enjoyable Sunday afternoon!
Jeanne Cz
My Polish American family made a very simple version and brought out the sausage flavor by pricking it before it simmers in water, then browning it in a 400 oven (10 min), deglaze the pan drippings with hot soup and add it back in. Loved: adding sourdough bread, potatoes (but only 2#), leeks (only 2 cups using 2 T butter) the dill and creme fraiche. Hated: FRESH bay leaves, dried is better. Omitted onions, added hard cooked eggs & rye bread. Prefer this gentler souring to the vinegar we used
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