Shchi - Russian Cabbage Soup is delicious, easy to make and budget friendly! A hearty and warming autumn favorite with cabbage, potatoes and tender chunks of meat. A tasty dinner that's enough to feed a family with leftovers!
Course Soup
Cuisine Eastern European, Russian
Keyword Russian Cabbage Soup, Shchi
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 6people
Ingredients
Beef Broth Ingredients
2pounds/1 kg meaty soup bones
2onionscut in half
2carrots
2ribscelery
½headgarlic
1teaspoonpeppercorns
1whole clove
1bay leaf
Shchi Ingredients
4quarts/litres of beef stock
½small cabbagechopped and shredded
3medium potatoescubed in small pieces
1large onionchopped
1carrotgrated
3medium tomatoes choppedor 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1small red pepperdiced
2tablespoonsoil for frying
1bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
parsley and dill for garnishchopped
Instructions
Making Beef Broth
Place 2 lbs/1kg soup bones into a pot and fill the pot with water.
Skim off any impurities, strain the broth and set aside the meat to place into your soup.
Add 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 ribs of celery, ½ head of garlic, and fresh parsley.
Season with a teaspoon peppercorns, a clove and a bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 2-3 hours (the longer the better).
Skim off any impurities, strain the broth and set aside the meat to place into your soup.
Making Shchi
Bring beef broth to a boil in a large stockpot.
Add the shredded cabbage, bay leaf and diced potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked.
While the soup is simmering, heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Fry chopped onions and grated carrots until they start to lightly brown.
Add the red pepper and tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes.
When the potatoes are cooked in the soup, add the fried vegetables and any meat from the soup bones to the soup when the potatoes are cooked. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
Season salt and pepper, garnish with fresh parsley and dill.