Polish Cold Beet Soup (Chłodnik)
Polish Cold Beet Soup (Chłodnik) is a super healthy and refreshing summer meal that’s light but satisfying. It is made with cooked beets, probiotic-rich yogurt and kefir, crunchy cucumber and radishes, and a ton of fresh herbs. Serve it on its own or with a hard boiled egg for an extra protein boost.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 127kcal
Ingredients
- 2 beets leaves and stems removed
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 2 cups plain kefir
- 1 English cucumber
- 6-8 radishes
- ¼ cup fresh dill chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives chopped
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth or plain water
- ½ lemon juiced
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar optional
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and grate raw beets (see note below on using gloves). Cook the grated beets in a large pot or Dutch oven in some vegetable broth (or water) until soft (about 10 minutes) and let cool completely. I usually put the pot with beets in a sink with a couple inches of icy cold water to speed up the cooling process.
- Grate the cucumber using a box grater (no need to peel it) and grate or chop up the radishes. Chop the herbs and set aside.
- To the pot with cooled beets (with liquid) add kefir, yogurt, prepped cucumber, radishes and herbs and stir well. Season with salt and pepper and add lemon juice and apple cider vinegar (if using).
- Cover the pot and chill the soup in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
- Serve in soup bowls topped with a quartered warm or cold hard boiled egg on top.
Notes
Fresh beets will stain your hands so I recommend using nitrile or latex gloves for peeling and grating raw beets.
When you mix together all the ingredients, the soup will be reddish pink, not the deep fuchsia color as in my pictures. Once it sits for a couple hours in the fridge, it will become more purple/dark pink.
The amount of yogurt and kefir can be adjusted according to your preferences. You can use more or less yogurt or kefir if you’d like, as long as the overall amount of liquid is 4 cups.
I used dill and chives for this recipe but fresh parsley also works very well in this soup.
Nutrition
Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 340mg | Potassium: 332mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 628IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 220mg | Iron: 1mg