This Polish Cold Beet Soup aka Chłodnik Litewski is made with cooked beets, gut loving kefir and yogurt, plenty of crunchy cucumber and radishes and heaps of fresh herbs. It's the most cooling and refreshing summer soup ever!
You really are in for a treat with this absolutely gorgeous (let's just take a minute to appreciate that beautiful pink hue) and delicious cold summer soup.
It utilises early summer produce - young beets (often with their stalks and leaves), cucumbers, radishes and plenty of fresh herbs (often dill but also mint, sorrel and parsley).
Back in the day made with sour milk or buttermilk which more often than not are now substituted with kefir, yogurt or mixture of both.
Cold fermented dairy is what gives this soup its fresh and slightly sour and acidic taste and refreshing qualities. It really is hard to beat on a hot summer's day!
I will guide you how to make this simple Polish delicacy with minimal cooking involved and might just turn cold soup sceptics into fans (fingers crossed).
If you'd like to try other Polish beetroot soups (of course we have more than just one) check out Botwinka (Polish Beet Greens Soup) as well as Easy Beetroot Soup (Vegan Borscht).
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📚 History in a nutshell
I won't go into too much detail but some of you might wonder how Polish soup can be also called Litewski (Lithuanian)? Well, it can and it is.
Cold beet soup has its origins in culinary traditions of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and then later in 16th century in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - a federation between Poland and Lithuania that lasted over 200 years. It has since become a regional delicacy not only within current Poland and Lithuania but also Ukraine, Belarus and Russia with slight regional differences. [source: Wikipedia]
In 2006 Chłodnik Litewski was added to traditional products of Polish Podlasie (Podlachia) list which of course doesn't take away from the fact that this recipe is a part of more than one nation and cultural heritage.
✔️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Simple to make with minimal cooking involved.
- Fresh, wholesome ingredients.
- With gut friendly kefir and yogurt.
- Perfect heatwave dish, cooling and refreshing.
- Vegetarian soup that can be adapted to vegan diet if necessary.
- It is as impressive and beautiful to look at as it is delicious to eat.
🛒 Ingredients to make Polish Cold Beet Soup
Here's what you will need to make my Polish Cold Beet Soup (Chłodnik Litewski):
Beets - Try using young beets if possible. The ones with stalks and leaves still on would be best. I do appreciate these might be tricky to find unless you grow your own and so this soup can be made just with the roots as well.
When making this recipe to photograph it for the blog I only managed to get young beets with stalks but not the leafy greens so that's what I used.
***Quick Tip*** You could use some chopped up chard instead of beet leafy greens or simply proceed with the recipe as I did here without any.
Cucumber - Any cucumber will do here. I like to keep the skin on mine but you could peel yours if you prefer. Also, if cucumbers you're using have lots of rather large seeds (some overgrown cucs can be quite seedy), I would suggest cutting them in half (lengthwise) and scooping the seeds out with the spoon.
Radishes - Crunchy, peppery and delicious.
Green/Spring Onions - I like to use green onions but you could use chives as well. I used both green parts as well as quite a large white part of my green onion. If green part is all you've got you could use small white onion or shallot together with the greens or nothing extra at all.
Garlic - I like to use one garlic clove for a bit of extra sharpness but you can leave it out.
Fresh Dill - My favourite summer herb which I use with gusto especially as I have it on tap in my garden. Feel free to substitute it with sorrel, parsley, mint or mix of different herbs.
Lemon - I like a touch of lemon juice added to taste here but you can leave it out.
Kefir and Yogurt - I use organic kefir with some thick 5% Greek yogurt (not Greek style yogurt if possible) for extra thickness and richness.
If you're vegan or dairy-free you can substitute these with vegan equivalents as long as they're not flavoured of course. I would opt for soya based ones as opposed to coconut ones as you want neutral flavour without the hint of coconut (unless you don't mind).
Sugar - Completely optional but I like to add a ½ -1 teaspoon of sugar when cooking my beets. It helps to bring out their natural sweetness even more so that they can withstand the sour tones from kefir and yogurt. I usually taste a piece of raw beet to gauge its sweetness and then decide how much or whether to add sugar at all. It's never more than a teaspoon though.
🔪 How to make cold beet soup
Ingredient quantities & detailed instructions to be found in recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step 1: Prepare your beets by peeling and grating them on a coarse side of the grater. If you've got stalks and leafy tops, wash them well and chop quite finely.
Put grated beetroot in a lidded pan together with water or light vegetable stock and some sugar (if using). If only using water you can season beets with salt and pepper at this point as well.
Cover and bring to boil. Once boiling, take off the lid, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the beets are tender.
If you've got stalks and leafy greens add them after first 5 minutes of simmering.
You will notice that a lot of liquid will evaporate which is as it should be.
Next, you need to cool the beets completely before proceeding.
***Quick Tip*** I like to transfer them into a large bowl and put that bowl in a washing up bowl filled with ice cold water. It usually takes about an hour for beets to be cold enough to proceed.
Step 2: While the beets are cooling down, prepare all the other ingredients.
I like to grate half of cucumber and radishes and then chop/slice/cut the other half for added texture and to have some crunchy bits.
Finely chop your herbs, green onions and garlic.
***Quick Tip*** Save some of the chopped (not grated) cucumber and radishes and also some dill and green onions as garnish to serve on top of chłodnik.
Step 3: Once your beets are cool enough add all your remaining veggies, herbs, kefir and yogurt and give it all a good mix. You will see gorgeous pink colour emerge.
Taste, season with lemon juice, salt and pepper and put in the fridge for 1-2 hours for the flavour to mingle and to properly chill the soup.
Enjoy served with saved chopped garnishes, boiled eggs etc. See🍴Serving Suggestion for details.
🥡 Storing Polish Cold Beet Soup
Store: This soup keeps really well in the fridge (4-5 days) and so it can be enjoyed over several days. Personally, I think it tastes best the following day, when it had a proper chill time in the fridge and all the flavours had a chance to mingle properly.
Freeze: As you can probably imagine, this soup is not suitable for freezing.
💭 Pro tips
Feel free to chop some of the beets small instead of grating them all if you want to introduce more texture. Bear in mind it will most likely take longer to cook though.
I cooked my beets in a light veggie stock ( I used couple of flat teaspoons of vegetable bouillon to 500ml of water) but you can cook it simply in water.
Be mindful of seasoning. Depending on the saltiness of your stock you might not need as much salt later as when cooking your beets in water.
If you don't have young beets with greens you can add a handful of chopped chard leaves for some greenery. Spinach could be used as well but make sure to add it at the very end of cooking just to wilt it.
I like to introduce different textures and a bit of crunch by partially grating and partially slicing/chopping my cucumber and radishes.
I went full on fresh dill in my chłodnik but as already mentioned, herbs like mint, sorrel or parsley (or a mix) will work equally well. Just make sure you add plenty.
🍴 Serving suggestions
Polish cold beet soup can be served as is and simply topped with some extra chopped radishes, cucumber, green onions and herbs.
Traditionally, however, it is usually accompanied by hard boiled egg halves (or jammy eggs in my case) and/or simply boiled and buttered new potatoes. These two accompaniments turn it into quite a filling meal in itself.
***Fun Fact*** In the olden days and mostly among aristocracy, chłodnik was often served with crayfish tails.
❓ FAQ
Yes you can. Use vegan kefir and/or yogurt, preferably plain soya based ones unless you don't mind hint of coconut flavour from coconut based products.
Have you tried my Polish Cold Beet Soup (Chłodnik Litewski)?
Please consider giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in recipe card below and share your views or tips in the comments.
More beetroot recipes you might like
How to Cook Beetroot (Roasting, Boiling, Steaming)
Vegan Beetroot Brownies (Gluten-Free)
Beetroot Risotto (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Buckwheat and Beetroot Salad with Chickpeas
📋 Recipe
Polish Cold Beet Soup (Chłodnik Litewski)
Ingredients
- 500-600 g young beets (with stalks and greens if possible) beets peeled and grated and stalks/leaves chopped; see notes
- 150 g radishes half grated half chopped/sliced; see notes
- 250-280 g cucumber half grated half chopped/sliced; see notes
- 500 ml veggie stock or water I used water with 2 teaspoon of veggie bouillon powder
- 40-50 g green/spring onions finely chopped;
- 40-50 g chopped fresh dill you can also use mint, sorrel, parsley or a mix
- 1 garlic clove (optional) finely chopped
- 1 small white part of green onion or small yellow onion or shallot (optional)
- 500 g kefir or soya equivalent
- 250 g 5% fat Greek yogurt (not Greek style yogurt) or soya equivalent
- 1 teaspoon sugar (optional) see notes
- lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare your beets by peeling and grating them on a coarse side of the grater. If you've got stalks and leafy tops, wash them well and chop quite finely. Put grated beetroot in a lidded pan together with water or light vegetable stock and some sugar (if using). If only using water you can season beets with salt and pepper at this point as well. Cover and bring to boil. Once boiling, take off the lid, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the beets are tender.If you've got stalks and leafy greens add them after first 5 minutes of simmering.You will notice that a lot of liquid will evaporate which is as it should be.500-600 g young beets (with stalks and greens if possible), 500 ml veggie stock or water, 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
- Next, you need to cool the beets completely before proceeding.***Quick Tip*** I like to transfer them into a large bowl and put that bowl in a washing up bowl filled with ice cold water. It usually takes about an hour for beets to be cold enough to proceed
- While the beets are cooling down, prepare all the other ingredients. I like to grate half of cucumber and radishes and then chop/slice/cut the other half for added texture and to have some crunchy bits. Finely chop your herbs, green onions and garlic.***Quick Tip*** Save some of the chopped (not grated) cucumber and radishes and also some dill and green onions as garnish to serve on top of chłodnik.150 g radishes, 250-280 g cucumber, 40-50 g green/spring onions, 40-50 g chopped fresh dill, 1 garlic clove (optional), 1 small white part of green onion or small yellow onion or shallot (optional)
- Once your beets are cool enough add all your remaining veggies, herbs, kefir and yogurt and give it all a good mix. You will see gorgeous pink colour emerge. Taste, season with lemon juice, salt and pepper and put in the fridge for 1-2 hours for the flavours to mingle and to properly chill the soup. Enjoy served with saved chopped garnishes, boiled eggs etc. See Serving Suggestion for details.150 g radishes, 250-280 g cucumber, 40-50 g green/spring onions, 40-50 g chopped fresh dill, 1 garlic clove (optional), 500 g kefir, 250 g 5% fat Greek yogurt (not Greek style yogurt), lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, 1 small white part of green onion or small yellow onion or shallot (optional)
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (based on 4 servings) and should be treated as a rough guideline only. It will differ depending on the exact ingredients used.
- I had 370g/13oz of beets after peeling and 180g/6.3 oz chopped stalk. The amount doesn't need to be exact it's more of a guideline.
- Half chop/half grate your veg to introduce some texture and crunch. Save some chopped veg and herbs as garnish.
- Sugar is optional but I like to add a ½ -1 teaspoon of sugar when cooking my beets to bring out their natural sweetness even more so that it can withstand the sour tones from kefir and yogurt.
- Store in the fridge for 4-5 days. It taste best from day 2 after it's been properly chilled and flavours had a chance to mingle.
- Cannot be frozen.
- Please refer to 🛒 Ingredients to make Polish Cold Beet Soup for detailed info on all ingredients, possible substitutions etc.
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