Delicious instant pot borscht loaded with vegetables and flavor and looks presentable as well! This recipe is truly simple and the most time-consuming part is chopping the vegetables. The rest of the cooking experience is a breeze and almost hands-off since the instant pot does the rest of the work.
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Meat – I used beef round stew meat.
Onion – choose sweet onion for a mild flavor.
Carrots – peeled and grated.
Beets – fresh beets, peeled and shredded. I used red beets, if using golden beets the flavor will be sweeter.
Cabbage – green or purple cabbage.
Potatoes – Russet, golden, or Yukon.
Liquids – vegetable broth, beef stock, or water.
Fresh garlic.
For serving – sour cream or greek yogurt, fresh dill, crusty bread.
Step 1. Gather the ingredients. Wash, peel, and prep all vegetables: slice cabbage, cut potatoes into small cubes, peel and dice onion, dice garlic, peel and shred beets, slice cabbage thinly.
Step 2. Turn instant pot to ‘saute” setting. In the instant pot insert add ghee or olive oil, wait till completely melted, and covers the bottom of the pot. Once the ghee has melted, add stew meat and cook till browned on all sides but not completely cooked through. Once browned, add diced onions and saute till translucent and see-through, turn the “saute” function off.
Step 3. Add the rest of the vegetables to the instant pot insert: shredded beets, thinly sliced cabbage, carrots, potatoes. Add water or veggie broth and tomato paste. Mix well to combine.
Step 4. Seal and pressure cook. Close the instant pot, press pressure cook and set the setting high pressure for a cooking time of 18 minutes. Once the timer is up, safely do a manual quick release following instant pot instructions.
Step 5. Once pressure release process is done, open, add flavorings: minced garlic, apple cider vinegar, dill, salt, black pepper.
Step 6. Stir well, taste, adjust flavor based on your taste buds. Your pressure cooker borscht is ready, serve with sour cream and enjoy!
Adjust instant pot borscht amount based on your needs. This instant pot borscht recipe makes 8 servings.
I used organic Russet potatoes with skin on, just a good scrub before and some imperfections removal.
To speed up the process making instant pot borscht you can use a food processor for slicing and grating vegetables. I used a box grater.
Eat borscht with sour cream, thick plain yogurt, or a dollop of mayo. Top the bowl of borscht with fresh chopped dill. Served with sourdough or fresh rye bread.
Some variations of the borscht include adding add canned beans like red kidney beans. Rinse well and add them at the end of the cooking process.
Instead of apple cider vinegar you can use a splash of red wine vinegar or lemon juice.
For best flavor, add some bay leaves before pressure cooking, remove before serving.
Borscht can keep up to 3-5 days in the fridge. If you plan on keeping this instant pot borscht longer in the fridge, you should freeze it instead.
It’s better to thaw borscht before reheating it in the microwave or in a saucepan, especially if you decided to use water rather than broth when preparing the soup because otherwise, you will dilute its flavor.
Borscht soup (beetroot soup or cabbage soup) is a bright red soup served hot, traditionally with a dollop of sour cream on top and garnished with fresh dill. It’s a very common dish in Eastern European countries and is cooked often in the winter season.
This soup is very tasty and filling, it’s made with beets, meat, seasonings, and other vegetables. The color of borscht varies depending on the exact ingredients used. Traditional Russian borscht can be bright pink or deep red, but there are more variations than that.
The ingredients to make borscht vary depending on location and personal taste preferences. Borscht is usually prepared with beef broth or chicken broth, but vegetarian borscht option will work just fine if skipping the meat and using water or vegetable broth. When making vegan version you may want to replace the beef with mushrooms or tofu cubes.
Traditional borscht can be made using any kind of meat, such as beef (roasted or boiled), chicken (roasted or boiled), pork (roasted), or beef short ribs.
Beef borscht is usually made with beef broth to give it its rich flavor, which is why it’s also called “beef-beet soup” because it uses both beets and beef products.
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