Polish National Dishes

Botwinka: Polish young beet soup with egg

Young beets, tender stems and leafy tops give this Polish spring soup its pink-red color and earthy sweetness. Potatoes and root vegetables simmer in a light vegetable broth, while cultured sour cream softens the finish. Each bowl is served with a hard-boiled egg and dill.

Polish National Dishes
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A wide view of „Botwinka: Polish young beet soup with egg“ arranged on a table for serving.
Yield 5 servings
Serving size about 400 ml soup and 1 hard-boiled egg
Difficulty easy
Category Polish young beet soup; contains egg and milk
Ingredients ↓
At a glance

Botwinka: Polish young beet soup with egg

Young beets, tender stems and leafy tops give this Polish spring soup its pink-red color and earthy sweetness. Potatoes and root vegetables simmer in a light vegetable broth, while cultured sour cream softens the finish. Each bowl is served with a hard-boiled egg and dill.

Botwinka is a Polish soup named for the young beet greens and the spring dish made from them. The bunch is used in stages: the roots and firm stems need longer to soften, while the leaves go into the pot near the end. This home-style version combines the young beets with potatoes, carrot and parsley root in vegetable broth.

Polish preparations vary. A familiar spring serving includes potatoes and root vegetables, then sour cream, a boiled egg and dill. Other published versions use a poached egg, a different broth, or serve the soup cold with fermented dairy and crisp vegetables. This recipe is a hot, practical version with one hard-boiled egg per serving; it does not claim to reproduce a single registered regional formula.

The lemon juice brightens the beets, and a small amount of sugar balances their earthy flavor. Add the chopped leaves only for the final few minutes so they wilt without losing all their color. Temper the cultured sour cream with hot broth, then stir it in after turning off the heat to keep the soup smooth. The recipe makes five servings of about 400 ml, plus one egg each.

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the soup

  • 1.5 L low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 400 g young beet roots, trimmed, peeled and cut into 1 cm dice
  • 250 g young beet stems and leaves, washed; stems cut into 2 cm pieces and leaves chopped
  • 350 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5 cm dice
  • 100 g carrot, finely diced
  • 60 g parsley root, finely diced
  • 100 g yellow onion, finely diced
  • 15 g unsalted butter
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 150 g cultured sour cream, 18% fat
  • 20 g lemon juice
  • 4 g fine salt
  • 1 g ground black pepper
  • 4 g sugar

To serve

  • 5 l arge eggs
  • 10 g fresh dill, finely chopped
Method

Method

Directions

  1. Hard-boil the eggsPlace the eggs in the small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then cook for 10–12 minutes, until the whites and yolks are firm. Cool, peel and set aside. The eggs cook while you prepare the soup.

  2. Soften the onion and carrotMelt the butter in the soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened without browning heavily.

  3. Simmer the roots and potatoesAdd the vegetable broth, diced beet roots, parsley root, potatoes and bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until the roots and potatoes are tender. Add the beet stems for the final 8–10 minutes of this simmer.

  4. Add the beet leaves and seasonStir in the chopped beet leaves for the final 2–3 minutes, just until wilted. Add the lemon juice, sugar, salt and black pepper.

  5. Temper the sour creamTurn off the heat. In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream with several ladles of hot soup until smooth. Stir it into the pot. Remove the bay leaf, and do not bring the soup to a hard boil after adding the sour cream.

  6. ServeDivide the soup among five bowls. Halve one hard-boiled egg for each serving, place it on top and finish with chopped dill. Serve hot.

Nutrition per serving

Nutrition per serving

  • Servingabout 400 ml soup with 1 egg
  • Caloriesabout 300 kcal
  • Carbohydratesabout 30 g
  • Proteinabout 12 g
  • Fatabout 14 g
  • Fibreabout 6 g
  • Sugarsabout 12 g

Approximate values for about 400 ml of soup with one hard-boiled egg and dill. The estimate uses generic broth and ingredient composition, with leafy-beet or chard data as a proxy for the young beet greens. Broth brands, salt levels and beet composition can change the values, especially sodium.

Allergens and food safety

Allergens and food safety

Serving, storage, reheating and make-ahead notes: Serve the soup hot with one halved hard-boiled egg and dill in each bowl. The potatoes cook in the broth in this version. Bread is not included in the serving size or nutrition estimate.

Serving, storage, reheating and make-ahead notes: Refrigerate leftovers in shallow containers within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if the room or outdoor temperature is above 32 °C. Keep the soup at or below 4 °C and use it within 3–4 days. Reheat thoroughly, stirring so it warms evenly; 74 °C is a conservative target. Cool extra hard-boiled eggs promptly and store them separately in the refrigerator. Once the sour cream has been added, reheat gently and do not boil.

Contains egg and milk. Packaged vegetable broth may contain other allergens, including celery; check its label. Keep eggs and sour cream refrigerated until use. Cook the eggs until both whites and yolks are firm. Refrigerate leftover soup in shallow containers within 2 hours, or within 1 hour above 32 °C; keep at or below 4 °C and use within 3–4 days. Reheat thoroughly, stirring to distribute the heat; 74 °C is a conservative target. Refrigerate extra hard-boiled eggs promptly and separately.

Wash the young beet roots, stems and leaves well before cutting them.

Temper the sour cream with hot broth and stir it in off heat to keep the soup smooth.

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