Figured out how to make my Oma’s borscht style soup in my slowcooker!
Figured out how to make my Oma’s borscht style soup in my slowcooker!
by hankjmoody
1 Comment
hankjmoody
I use a 6qt pot, as I’ll eat a gallon of this today alone.
Ingredients:
– 500g+ of cubed stewing beef (you can probably use any type of beef if it’s cheaper for you). – 3-6 potatoes (fist-sized golden potatoes is what I use, but any works). – 1 large onion. – 3-6 sticks of celery. – 3-6 carrots (depends on the size). – 1 whole head of cabbage (I use green cabbage). – 1 tin of diced tomatoes (not seasoned). – 2 cans of concentrated tomato soup (the half sodium ones, if possible, as it makes seasoning later easier). – 1-2L of beef stock. – 2+ bay leaves. – Salt and pepper.
My Oma would make this on the stove, but she had more free time than I ever do. I’ve no doubt you can make it that way if you prefer, but this is a set-and-forget 10-14hr cook.
1. Put the beef in the pot, add beef stock till it covers the beef cubes. Roughly dice the onion into large chunks (I use 1 whole sweet onion) and add. 2. Cook on Low for 1-2 hours, or until you get bored. 3. Roughly dice the rest of the veggies, except the cabbage (that’s next), and add to the pot. 4. Pour in the 2 tins of tomato soup, plus 1 tin worth of water, also pour in the diced tomatoes after draining the can. 5. Roughly dice the cabbage and add to the pot till you think it’s unreasonably full, then top to the brim with any remaining beef stock you have. 6. Add the bay leaves (however many you want, I don’t know what they do, but I remember choking on one as a kid, so they belong in the pot). 7. (Optional) Add 0.5-1tsp of salt, and 0.5tsp of black pepper. You can do this after cooking if you prefer, I just always forget, so I do it ahead of time. 8. Cook on Low for 10+ hours. I cook usually overnight for 12-13 hours, but YMMV. 9. Taste and season as needed if you haven’t already, add extra cooking time if needed as well (use the carrots to test the softness of the veggies). 10. Enjoy!
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Really gotta stress that you be liberal with how largely and roughly chopped the veggies are. They’ll be cooking for a good long while, so bigger is better. And obviously, the meat will be rather dry, but that’s the way my Oma made it, so that’s how I like it. Plus with all the broth and juices, you’ll hardly notice. And you can add or remove pretty much anything from the ingredients list other than the soup/stock, as that’s the main flavour. Only thing I specifically *don’t* recommend adding is farmer sausage, as it completely overpowers everything else. You might also be able to make this without using beef, but in my experience, it isn’t nearly as delicious, so maybe extra concentrated beef stock would help?
I’m solo, and this makes an entire week of meals for me…if I didn’t eat half of it the first day. But it’s a good, warm, hearty soup that doesn’t require much work.
1 Comment
I use a 6qt pot, as I’ll eat a gallon of this today alone.
Ingredients:
– 500g+ of cubed stewing beef (you can probably use any type of beef if it’s cheaper for you).
– 3-6 potatoes (fist-sized golden potatoes is what I use, but any works).
– 1 large onion.
– 3-6 sticks of celery.
– 3-6 carrots (depends on the size).
– 1 whole head of cabbage (I use green cabbage).
– 1 tin of diced tomatoes (not seasoned).
– 2 cans of concentrated tomato soup (the half sodium ones, if possible, as it makes seasoning later easier).
– 1-2L of beef stock.
– 2+ bay leaves.
– Salt and pepper.
My Oma would make this on the stove, but she had more free time than I ever do. I’ve no doubt you can make it that way if you prefer, but this is a set-and-forget 10-14hr cook.
1. Put the beef in the pot, add beef stock till it covers the beef cubes. Roughly dice the onion into large chunks (I use 1 whole sweet onion) and add.
2. Cook on Low for 1-2 hours, or until you get bored.
3. Roughly dice the rest of the veggies, except the cabbage (that’s next), and add to the pot.
4. Pour in the 2 tins of tomato soup, plus 1 tin worth of water, also pour in the diced tomatoes after draining the can.
5. Roughly dice the cabbage and add to the pot till you think it’s unreasonably full, then top to the brim with any remaining beef stock you have.
6. Add the bay leaves (however many you want, I don’t know what they do, but I remember choking on one as a kid, so they belong in the pot).
7. (Optional) Add 0.5-1tsp of salt, and 0.5tsp of black pepper. You can do this after cooking if you prefer, I just always forget, so I do it ahead of time.
8. Cook on Low for 10+ hours. I cook usually overnight for 12-13 hours, but YMMV.
9. Taste and season as needed if you haven’t already, add extra cooking time if needed as well (use the carrots to test the softness of the veggies).
10. Enjoy!
____________________
Really gotta stress that you be liberal with how largely and roughly chopped the veggies are. They’ll be cooking for a good long while, so bigger is better. And obviously, the meat will be rather dry, but that’s the way my Oma made it, so that’s how I like it. Plus with all the broth and juices, you’ll hardly notice. And you can add or remove pretty much anything from the ingredients list other than the soup/stock, as that’s the main flavour. Only thing I specifically *don’t* recommend adding is farmer sausage, as it completely overpowers everything else. You might also be able to make this without using beef, but in my experience, it isn’t nearly as delicious, so maybe extra concentrated beef stock would help?
I’m solo, and this makes an entire week of meals for me…if I didn’t eat half of it the first day. But it’s a good, warm, hearty soup that doesn’t require much work.