Borscht with sauerkraut

Country kitchen

In many families, borscht is the main first course on the table, and housewives often cook it every week so that they can feed the whole family a tasty and satisfying meal. If the family is large, a pot of at least 3 liters is used for this dish. This capacity is enough to have borscht on the table every day, and many men cannot live without it. It's not uncommon for men to choose a wife who knows how to cook this delicious borscht.

There are countless recipes for borscht, and here's one of them. Today, we'll prepare a delicious and unusual borscht with sauerkraut, and step-by-step photos will show you the process.

For the broth, use any meat—chicken, pork, or beef. Chicken cooks the fastest, so we'll be using that today. The broth will be just as delicious as one made with pork or beef.

Why is sauerkraut used in borscht? It just so happened that our ancestors didn't always know how to store fresh vegetables, plus winters were harsh and frosty. Under these conditions, the easiest way was to ferment the cabbage in barrels and store it until spring. This sauerkraut was served with baked potatoes, any porridge, and was also used to make borscht.

The recipes have survived to this day, so we continue to cook borscht with sauerkraut – it’s both tasty and healthy.

Ingredients for 2-2.5 liters of water:

chicken meat – 300 grams;
potatoes – 250 grams;
sauerkraut – 250 grams;
onion, carrot and beetroot – 1 each;
vegetable oil – 3 tablespoons;
tomato juice or fruit drink – 150 g;
salt, pepper – to taste.

How to make borscht with sauerkraut

Boil the chicken broth and add a pinch of salt. Chicken broth typically takes 20-30 minutes to cook. If you're using a home-cooked chicken, it may take up to 40 minutes for the meat to become tender. If you're using bone-in chicken, remove the bones after boiling and return the meat to the broth. Peel the potatoes and cut them into strips. Add the prepared potatoes to the pan with the meat broth. Cook the potatoes in the broth for 10 minutes.

Lightly chop the sauerkraut (you can use a knife or kitchen scissors) and add it to the borscht. Let the cabbage simmer for about 10 minutes to soften it.

Meanwhile, chop the vegetables: dice the onion and coarsely grate the carrots and beets. Fry the vegetables in vegetable oil.

Pour in tomato juice (mors) and simmer the vegetable dressing for 5-7 minutes over low heat.

Add the vegetable dressing to the borscht, stir, and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste to make sure everything is in place. Borscht with sauerkraut should have a pleasant tartness.

Ladle the hot, ready borscht into bowls and serve. Enjoy!