Easy Instant Pot Borscht Recipe

This Instant Pot Borscht is a rich, flavorful, and hearty soup made primarily with beets that is healthy and nutritious, but also packed with robust flavors. It is a warming bowl of soup on cold winter nights.

>> You might also like this Instant Pot Lasagna or Homemade Instant Pot Tomato Sauce.

If you’ve never tried Borscht, now is the time. This iconic Ukrainian soup has a beautiful red color, thanks to the beets, and it also has a great balance between sweet and sour. Now that beets are bred to be more sweet than they used to be, this soup is more accessible for many.

You can easily make this soup in no more than 20 minutes in the Instant Pot. It is a quick recipe that is perfect when you don’t feel like cooking, but you still want something tasty to eat. I make beets in my Instant Pot all the time and they also take about 20 minutes.

» For more delicious soup recipes try these 15 Instant Pot Soups & Stews for Fall.

Ingredients You Need

There are quite a few ingredients in this soup, but don’t let that scare you away. It’ll take a little bit of chopping and prep work, but then you can toss everything in the Instant Pot and let it do the rest of the work.

None of these ingredients are difficult to find. You’ll likely have most of these things in the fridge or pantry.

• Olive oil: Olive oil is my cooking oil of choice, but you can use any other oil for this recipe. Canola oil works well too.
• Onion: Onion adds a slightly sweet and savory flavor to the soup.
• Carrot: Carrots are often a compulsory ingredient in vegetable soups. That’s because they are loaded with vitamins and also add a sweet flavor to the soup.
• Celery: The salty and slightly tangy flavor of celery adds a great boost of flavor.
• Beets: The hero of this soup is the beets. They have a beautiful red color and an earthy flavor. Beets are loaded with nutrients and offer several health benefits as well.
• Potatoes: The starch from the potatoes helps giving the soup the consistency you need.
• Cabbage: You can use either white or purple cabbage for this recipe.
• Beef broth: Beef broth makes this soup rich and gives it a meaty flavor. However, If you want a vegan version, add vegetable stock.
• Tomato paste
• Apple cider vinegar: It adds acidity and a slight tart flavor to the soup. It balances out the sweetness of the vegetables.
• Celery salt
• Black pepper
• Garnish: You can add fresh parsley and sour cream to garnish this soup.

How to Make Instant Pot Borscht

Making Borscht in an Instant Pot is effortless. Here are the simple steps you have to follow.

Add oil to the instant pot and select the sauté mode. Once the oil heats up, add the chopped onion, celery, and carrots. Sauté the vegetables for 5 minutes or until they soften up.

Next, add the beets, cabbage, and potatoes and give it all a quick stir. In case you’re wondering, you don’t have to cook the beets before you put them in the soup. You just need to peel and chop them into small bites.

Pour in the beef broth, vinegar, and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Then stir the ingredients so that everything is well combined.

Lock on the lid and press the pressure cook button. Set the timer to 10 minutes. Once the timer is up, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Quick-release the remaining pressure.

Serve the soup in a serving bowl and garnish it with freshly chopped parsley and sour cream. Enjoy!

Why Use An Instant Pot?

The Instant Pot is one of the most useful kitchen appliances you can buy, because it drastically cuts down on the cooking time for developing flavors in soups and stews, getting tough cuts of meat tender, and even baking a cheesecake. If you don’t have one, check out our guide on which one to buy. Also see our guide to How to Use an Instant Pot and the many accessories you can buy for it.

Questions About Borscht

What is Borscht?

Borscht is a beetroot soup originating in the Ukraine, although Poland and Russia also have strong ties to this dish. If you asked different people, you’d probably get a different answer as to where it actually originated from.

Borscht can be made in many different ways with lots of varied recipes. There’s no one way to make it. You can serve it with chunky vegetables or pureed. You can put any type of veggie you like in, you can make it with and without beef.

Can I use vegetable stock instead of beef stock?

Although this soup traditionally uses beef stock, if you want a vegan version you can add vegetable stock instead of beef stock.

Can I add meat to borscht?

The soup traditionally is made with just vegetables; however, you can add beef meat, bones, or even pork to add more flavors and make it meaty and rich.

Can the soup be frozen?

You can definitely freeze this soup. If you have some left over, put it in an air tight container with a secure lid and put it in the freezer for up to 2 months. It can easily be defrosted in the microwave or in a pot on the stove top until warmed through.

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