The heatwave rolls through Europe. It’s 37C/98F. So let’s talk about cold soups.. You probably heard about gazpacho or salmorejo, but Polish cold soups often go unnoticed. Chłodnik litewski, Lithuanian cold beetroot soup, is a staple over the summer. Made from beets, cucumbers, radishes, dill, and dairy like buttermilk, yoghurt, soured milk, or kefir. It’s refreshing, chunky, and crunchy. It’s served cold with potatoes and a boiled egg, so it’s a proper meal.
If you are looking for a quicker version, buy cooked beets and just grate them instead.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Crunchy, chunky, and refreshing
- Nice for the heatwave
Cold beetroot soup (chłodnik litewski)
A cold, bright pink soup shared across Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine. Made with beetroots, buttermilk and fresh herbs, and served with eggs and potatoes.
Ingredients
- 4 medium beetroots with their leaves
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 small cucumbers, peeled and coarsely grated
- 5 radishes, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic cloves
- a good handful of fresh dill
- a good handful of fresh green onions
- 2 cups of buttermilk
- 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 1/2 cup youghurt
- salt and ground black pepper
- to serve: soft boiled eggs, cooked potatoes
Directions
- Separate the leaves and stems from the beetroots, wash them and roughly chop. You will need them later.
- Peel the beetroots and cut into small cubes.
- Bring a litre of water to a boil with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the beetroots and cook for about 20 minutes until tender. In the last 5 minutes, add the leaves and stems.
- Drain, keeping 1 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
- Let everything cool down.
- In a big bowl mix the beetroots and leaves with the cucumber, radishes, garlic pressed through a garlic press, and half of the dill and green onions. Pour in the buttermilk, yoghurt, sour cream and the reserved cooking water.
- Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Before serving, top with the remaining dill, green onions and radishes.
- Serve with soft boiled eggs and potatoes.
Recipe adapted from Rozkoszny
Magda's Cauldron 
Leave a comment