Polish White Borscht (Bialy Barszcz)
White Borscht is a tasty Polish Easter soup that is full of sausage, eggs, potatoes, and other ingredients that bring a lot of religious symbolism to each bite of this delicious soup.
White Borscht: A Polish Easter Soup
White borscht (or Bialy Barszcz in Polish) is a classic Polish dish eaten on Easter Sunday morning.
Traditionally, this soup is made with items in the basket of food that Polish families take to Church to have blessed on Holy Saturday.
The History Of Easter Baskets
We never realized that blessing baskets of food on Holy Saturday is a tradition in many cultures.
In the States, we're used to Easter baskets for the kids on Easter morning, but this tradition has long standing roots in the baskets that families would bring to Church to have blessed on Holy Saturday.
These Easter baskets were filled with things that symbolized every part of life, and their blessing was considered a sign of blessing for a bountiful year ahead.
Polish Easter Baskets
In Poland, the practice of blessing Easter baskets dates back to the early 15th century.
Each family brings a large basket to church on Holy Saturday. These baskets (called Święconka) are lined and covered with a white linen cloth, representing the shroud of Christ. And, each of the foods in the Easter basket has a special significance.
- Bacon is a symbol of the abundance of God's mercy.
- Easter bread symbolizes Christ, the Bread of Life.
- Butter or other dairy products celebrate the end of Lent and the richness of salvation.
- A candle, while not edible, symbolizes Jesus, the light of the World.
- Cheese reminds Christians of moderation.
- Hard cooked eggs are signs of hope in new life.
- Ham or other meats symbolize the abundance of the celebration of the Resurrection.
- Sausage links represent the chains of death that were broken by Christ's resurrection.
- Horseradish is a reminder of the bitterness of the Passion and the sour wine given to Christ at the Crucifixion.
- Salt preserves us from corruption and speaks to the Bible passage "You are the salt of the earth."
Now, that's a lot of food!
Ingredients for the Family Meal
Not every basket has to contain all of these items, but the important things is that every family member has a bite of blessed food from the basket.
So, Polish mothers typically include foods that they will be using at Easter breakfast or dinner, and a few daily staples.
You will notice that a few of the basket items appear in this soup:
- sausage
- butter
- hard cooked eggs
- salt
It's almost as if this soup was designed to be a soup made from the blessed ingredients!
Ingredients in white borscht do vary greatly by region and family.
With meats ranging from Polish sausage, to ham and bacon; and add ins including sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar and sugar.
The two elements that do not change are the sausage-water base and some type of sour (kwas) used to flavor the soup.
What's The Difference Between Red Borscht And White Borscht?
In a word: EVERYTHING.
Well, maybe not everything.
But it would be easier to talk about what characteristic these two, seemingly VERY different, soups share.
The one thing that these two soups have in common is that they are both considered sour soups.
Red borscht uses a splash of apple cider vinegar near the end of cooking time to give a slight sour brightness.
White borscht uses a sour starter (kwas) as a base, which gives the soup an underlying taste that is similar to sour cream.
What Is Polish Sour Starter?
Kwas (pronounced kvas) is a sour starter (similar to a sourdough starter) that is traditionally made by fermenting bread. This fermentation technique is actually quite popular in many Slavic countries.
In Poland, you will find another soup, very similar to bialy barszcz, called zur or zurek. The only difference is that zurek uses the kwas rye sour starter, while the bialy barszcz uses a wheat starter.
Our White Borscht Recipe
Tim was a bit skeptical about using fermented bread as a base for the soup, so we went a more non-traditional route and used a mixture of sour cream and flour to give a sour taste and thickness to our soup.
The resulting soup is creamy with a mildly sour flavor.
While flavor of this soup is slightly different than if you would use the traditional sour bread starter, we found the flavors to be incredibly similar to the bialy barszcz that we tasted during our trip to Poland. It made us happy to discover that sour cream does work quite well as an easy adaptation to stand in for the more traditional ingredients!
We've made it numerous times since our trip, and love the way the flavors of this soup transport us right back to Krakow.
Polish White Borscht (Bialy Barszcz)
White Borscht is a tasty Polish Easter soup that is full of ingredients carrying religious symbolism.
Ingredients
- 4 hard boiled eggs*
- 1 lb Polish kielbasa, (smoked)
- 6 c water
- 1 teaspoon salted butter
- 4 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 lbs potatoes, diced
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 c sour cream
- ¼ c unbleached all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Bring keilbassa and water to a boil in a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed soup pot. Reduce heat slightly and boil for 25 minutes. Remove keilbassa to a plate and set aside. Leave the broth in the dutch oven.
- In a medium, non-stick skillet, saute garlic and onion with a teaspoon of butter until soft, 5 min.
- Add onion mixture to kielbassa broth. Add diced potatoes, bay, salt, and pepper. Cook until potatoes are tender, 15-20 min.
- In a small bowl, whisk flour and sour cream together until smooth. Add ½ c of the soup broth to the sour cream mixture and whisk until smooth and thin. Pour mixture into the soup, stirring constantly. Simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 10 min.
- Cut the kielbasas into ½ inch slices, chop the hard boiled eggs. Add both to the soup. Taste the soup and adjust the salt an pepper as desired. Cook 1-2 minutes to heat through.
Notes
*To hard boil eggs: Place eggs in a medium pot. Cover with water and add 1 tablespoon salt (to make peeling the eggs easier). Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat (20 mintues). Turn off the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 3-5 minutes, depending on how firm you like your eggs. Remove the eggs and place them in a bowl of ice water to cool.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
5Serving Size:
2 cupsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 460
This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We've updated our pictures since we first shared it, but we've left some originals here, in case you've found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
LOVE EASTRE BORSHT! JUST A TAD OF VINEGAR WORKS WELL TOO. THANKS.
@MITCHELL GMITEREK, We use sour salts instead of vinegar
Great recipe thanks for sharing and posting! My parents are from Poland and my Mom made this soup every Easter and Red Borscht (just the broth) with sourkraut perogies for Christmas. I loved these soups when I was young so now I am making it for my family with mixed reviews, LOL.
Hope your family enjoys it and it brings back fond memories!
A friend just gifted me with some Sour Ryemeal from Poland. She thinks it is a starter for sourdough. I know it's not that since it's been jarred, but am wondering if people ever add it to their sourdough rye batter? I think I'll try it!
That’s a really good question Michele! I don’t see why you couldn’t add a bit to your sourdough rye batter. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out for you!
When my grandmother invited my then boyfriend over for our traditional Polish Easter dinner, I was skeptical as to just how well the love of my life would take to white borscht. Having been raised on very American and German food, I told him he had to try at least a ladle of the soup. After his 3rd! bowl with extra horseradish, my grandmother pulled me into the kitchen and told me,”That’s the boy you marry!” 32 years and 2 children later, we still have white borscht every Easter. ?
How fun! What a great memory! Thank you so much for sharing!
My Babci's borscht is a little different.
We didn't use potatoes, and we always used pumpernickel bread.
Also, we would Never leave hard boiled eggs like that. Everyone had a separate dish to peel their egg, and we could cut up the whites in our bowl first, and then mash the yolks fine enough that they would liquefy when we added the hot broth. I don't even know how old my grandmother is anymore, past 90, although she still turns 39 every year.
All of our meals were largely Italian (Italian grandfather, Polish grandmother), but I'm glad she wouldn't budge on the Easter meal--Easter became my favorite holiday because of the food!
How wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Can’t wait for Easter. That is a tradition in my house. Got the recipe from gma DiCenzo ?
I make this every Easter! Comes out just like my Babci's! Delicious
So glad you enjoy it and that our recipe can help you continue your Babci's tradition!
Hi Sarah. This will be my first Easter with white borsch. My question is can this borsch be made ahead of time ?
Hi Catherine. Yes, you can make this ahead of time. I would recommend adding the hard boiled eggs after re-heating, and just before serving. You’ll also want to reheat it gently, stirring often. And, when you first cook it, stop just before the potatoes are tender, so that they don’t get too soft when you reheat it. Enjoy!
Haven't YET made this but plan to as our little girl's 4-H club chose Poland for this year's International Night -and our kids are ALL about food! Who'd think kiddies would be excited about goat cheese their Lamancha Dairy goats produce, but mix it with Nutella and they're dipping Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams in it like there's NO TOMORROW! As the chose their country this year, the roundtable talks focused on what food they wanted to EAT, and apparently kielbasa and Pierogi's won out over everything they could think of! Our club always does a practice run pot luck for just ourselves (to ensure dishes turn-out for the publoc's consumption on International Night), so when we googled YUMMY POLISH FOOD and saw YOUR pic, they all clamored for it, so it's off to Florida, a nearby town here in NY as they have a large Polish bakery...-but they also have pics of kielbasa and jarred veggies too, so they must be more than just a bakery), planning to show them YOUR pic and wondering how rye bread bowls would work, if it's thick enough? -and wondered if we could possibly leave out horseradish (as I got awfully sick once when I ate radish in a salad).?
Not sure if you'll be able to reply this week when we'll be making this, but I'll check back! Thanks and we'll be sure to post results after our pot luck Friday!!
Regards-Anne Marie
Hi Anne Marie! How fun that the kids are so excited to try new foods, and we're so excited that you'll be trying our recipe! Yes, you can definitely leave out the horseradish. Rye bread bowls would be such a fun way to eat this soup! I would just make sure the walls are thick or the bowls have a nice crust to them. Talking to the bakery would be the best bet to see if they think their rye bread would stand up well to a hearty soup. We are so excited to hear how this turns out for you! If you're on Facebook or Instagram, we'd love for you to post some pictures of how it turns out and tag us! (https://www.facebook.com/CuriousCuisiniere or https://www.instagram.com/curiouscuisiniere/) Enjoy!
Thanks, we don't do Facebook buy our club leader does, she knows all about FB so she'll do that, I'll relay that to her. And the Polish Deli Bakery owner sent me home 6lbs of kielbasa AND a jar of Sour Ryemeal starter, but saw your recipe-liked it- and still said to use sourcream as in your recipe...even said to call as we're making it with any questions! Didn't recommend rye bowls, so we'll serve with rye chunks! Will be sure to let u know how it turns out and pic on FB. Thanks for making this sooo much fun!
Sounds so delicious! What a fun experience this is for you and the girls! We're looking forward to seeing your pictures!
Your Polish White Borscht was a big hit at our 4H pot luck tonight!! I joined instagram and hopefully successfully tagged you with a pic of our borscht!
We used the sour rye starter from the Polish specialty store and also used the sour cream and since the kielbasa tasted so much like hot dogs, we served sourkraut on the side and lots of folks added it to the borscht, very creamy, lovely rich flavor. The Polish Specialty store owner also recommended the carrots and celery, so our variation has a bit of color! Very pleased with the results, so thank you for posting your recipe and making our spotlight on Poland for 4H International Night a delishious hit, I'm sure it will go over well considering how well-received it was tonight on our dry-run!
Hope you see the pic I sent you on instagram!
Regards,
Anne Marie
We did see the pictures! Thank you so much for sharing! Your soup and the entire pot luck looks fantastic! We're so glad you're enjoying the recipe and it's helping your kids learn about Poland!
This is very similar to what my grandma and now my mom makes! We put ham, kiebasi, rye bread, homemade cheese, horseradish, and eggs in our soup and the broth is ham based. I do like the idea of the potatoes. Maybe we will try that next year.
Your version sounds delicious! I love the addition of homemade cheese!
Hi, this looks lovely and I'm going to try it soon. I was wondering if instead of a separate pot in which to boil eggs, can the eggs just be added to the broth while cooking the sausage the initial 20 minutes to enrich the broth with calcium?
What a great idea! I would probably only keep the eggs in the boiling broth for 5 minutes or so, just so they don't over-cook. If you try it, be sure to stop back by and let us know how it turns out!
My Father's version of what's in the Easter basket was:
A dozen hardboiled eggs. Eleven of them decorated and sill in the shell.
These were the 11 apostles still with Jesus but in hiding.
The12th egg was the one that usually cracked when it was cooked. This represents the risen Christ, "out of he shell". A new life!
Bread and wine were what Christ used at the last supper.
Salt is the salt of the earth, while pepper is the spice of life.
A butter lamb is the fat of the land in the form of a lamb, the Lamb of God.
Horseradish represents the bitterness of Christ's suffering.
Polish Sausage, mangled, bloody meat is the mangled body of Christ.
Ham is the new covenant. Jews did not eat pork.
Candy is the sweetness of life and the promise of heaven.
Love this! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you for this recipe. I just made this for my 5 children but made it vegetarian using vegan kielbasa, vegan sour cream and farm fresh eggs...it was a hit and brought back memories of Easter meals with my Polish grandmother.
How fun! So glad you enjoyed it!
So I decided to make this and mine is more creamy than in the pictures shown. Is that normal? The pictures look more watery and mine is like a cream. I followed the instructions
It might be that your sour cream was a bit thicker than ours. It's not a problem at all! Enjoy!
Eating it now! Had to leave a comment! What a successful recipe! I highly recommend and am very grateful for your recipe! Followed it exactly but used corn starch instead of flour! It's nice to get in touch with my polish roots! I can't get over how good it is and that I had all the ingredients! Anyone can make this!
Thanks for commenting Jane! We're so glad you enjoyed the borscht!
why can't we share this page ????I have a family member that would like this receipe but can't send it cause there's no share on this page
Hi Victoria. You can copy the URL link in the top of your browser, and send it to her that way! Enjoy!
My grandmother always used dill pickle juice, as well as horseradish and would pour the bowls of borscht, then chop the hard boiled eggs as a garnish on top. The last time I had it, I was a kid & too young to really enjoy it. My aunt makes it for some Easter dinners. I'm glad to see that there are still people that know of and eat Polish borscht:)
Sounds tasty! We love hearing all the different family variations!
We have this every Easter. Broth is from boiled sausage, eggs, ham, bacon, rye bread, platzek(?), horseradish, holy water, vinegar, and farmers' cheese. Delicious!
Thanks for sharing your version! It sounds tasty!
I make this every Easter. We call it Zur. My grandmother (Buscia) made it, my mother made it and now I make it. Mine is made from the stock of both fresh and smoked polish sausage. After I remove the sausage I add sour cream, raw eggs and flour. Then a bit of sugar and white vinegar and of course salt and pepper. We put ham polish sausage , hard oiled eggs, rye bread and red horseradish in the bowl and then the soup. Three of my four kids like it and a few of the in-laws and even some of the grandchildren. One year I didn't make it and they were like, where's the soup. So I now make it every year.
Your version sounds wonderful Sharon! Thanks for sharing!