Chlodnik (Cold Polish Beet Soup)

My friend, Gosia, recently shared her recipe for Chlodnik, a cold beet soup that is a summer staple here in Poland. This soup is so cool and refreshing on a hot, humid day, and our mutual friend Yvonne summed it so so well, “you can just taste how fresh and healthy it is.” Check out my note at the bottom for a quick and easy short cut!

I tried my hand at this soup last summer, but I’ll be making this version from now on.  Gosia not only shared her recipe, she invited several of us to her home for a day of traditional Polish cooking. 

Chlodnik (Cold Polish Beet Soup)

Recipe type: Soup

Cuisine: Polish

Prep time:  30 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  45 mins

Serves: 7-8

 

A colorful, healthy, cold soup for summer

Ingredients

• 4 or 5 young, tender beets, with tops if possible
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cucumbers, peeled and grated
• 6 radishes, grated
• 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2 green onions (white and green parts), chopped
• 4 cups plain yogurt
• 4 cups kefir or buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 hard boiled eggs, quartered
• 
  

Instructions

1. Prepare the beets by removing and dicing the stems up to the leaves
2. Add the chopped stems to a large soup pot
3. Peel and grate the remaining beet roots, add to the pan
4. Add enough water just to cover the beets, add salt
5. Simmer until tender, about 15 minutes
6. Cool the beet mixture
7. Add the cucumbers, radishes, dill, green onions, yogurt, kefir, and sour cream.
8. Season with salt and pepper
9. Chill and serve garnished with hard boiled egg

Notes

Now that I know the proper way to make this, I usually substitute two jars of grated beets for the whole beets, and simply combine all of the ingredients and chill - 10 minutes max prep time.