My mom grew up in Vegreville. It’s a small town in Alberta, Canada that has a rich Ukrainian culture. Although my mom’s heritage is not Ukrainian, she grew up familiar with the food and culture. She then brought those into our home. I was familiar with all kinds of traditional Ukrainian food, including this Borscht recipe.
Borscht is a classic beet soup. I’ve adapted the original recipe to make it faster to make thanks to the Instant Pot and freezer friendly. Now, I can make this ahead of time and have it ready anytime.
Beets give this soup its vibrant red colour. It has a unique look and an even more unique flavour. My favourite way to eat it is topped with a dollop of sour cream and fresh dill.
Freezer Friendly Instant Pot Borscht Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, minced
- 8 medium-sized beets, peeled and chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 6 cups water or broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
For cooking day:
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- optional: sour cream
- optional: fresh dill
Directions:
- Prepare all vegetables and ingredients before starting the recipe.
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add the oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add the onion and beets. Stir occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and stir for one minute.
- Turn off the sauté setting and add in broth or water and salt and pepper seasoning.
- Secure the lid of the Instant Pot and cook on the soup setting for 20 minutes.
- Natural release then either use an immersion blender to purée the soup or wait until it has cooled and use a blender.
- When the soup has somewhat cooled, ladle it into a large resealable freezer bag or two medium resealable freezer bags.
- Seal, remove excess air, and freeze.
Cooking instructions:
- Remove the bag from the freezer to thaw.
- Reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stovetop.
- Taste and adjust seasoning – adding in lemon and topping with sour cream and dill, if desired before serving.
Adaptations to this beet soup recipe:
- Borscht can be served hot or cold (as a gazpacho).
- You can replace some of the beets with parsnips or carrots. This produces a milder flavour.
- For adults only: you can add a shot of iced vodka to the soup when serving.
Many recipes for Ukrainian borscht call for grating the beets, which is obviously time consuming and leaves you with very stained hands! You will be amazed at how much time you’ll save using the Instant Pot for this soup.
This isn’t the first traditional Ukrainian dish that I’ve adapted for freezer cooking. You can also check out our Cabbage Roll Casserole Freezer Meal.
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion minced
- 8 medium sized beets peeled and chopped
- 5 cloves garlic smashed
- 6 cups water or broth
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- optional: sour cream
- optional: fresh dill
-
Prepare all vegetables and ingredients before starting the recipe.
-
Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add the oil.
-
Once the oil is hot, add the onion and beets. Stir occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
-
Add the garlic and stir for one minute.
-
Turn off the sauté setting and add in broth or water and salt and pepper seasoning.
-
Secure the lid of the Instant Pot and cook on the soup setting for 20 minutes.
-
Natural release then either use an immersion blender to purée the soup or wait until it has cooled and use a blender.
-
When the soup has somewhat cooled, ladle it into a large resealable freezer bag or two medium resealable freezer bags.
-
Seal, remove excess air, and freeze.
-
Remove the bag(s) from the freezer to thaw.
-
Reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stovetop.
-
Taste and adjust seasoning - adding in lemon and topping with sour cream and dill, if desired before serving.
Borscht can be served hot or cold (as a gazpacho).
Check out some of our other freezer friendly Instant Pot soups:
This recipe includes everything needed for a balanced meal. It’s so nice to be able to have supper all ready to go. Just pull it out of the freezer and put it in the oven and it’s ready to go.
Cooking instructions:
*Note: If you’re making this ahead to freeze it, I suggest cooking the pasta to slightly underdone.
We made these leading up to summer, so we quadrupled this recipe. The kids helped us assemble and wrap a lot of sandwiches! It was a fun project to do together. We set up an assembly line so that one person would spread the sauce, another would place the meat and cheese, and the last would wrap the sandwich. 
Assembly instructions:
This is so fast to make both when putting together the freezer meal and when cooking it that it just makes sense to make several at once time.
This recipe is so hearty that it doesn’t need to be served with any side dishes. It’s a great all in one meal. The Caribbean flavours are a nice change without being too strong.
Assembly instructions:
This is a gluten free recipe.
