🥣 Cold beet soup (šaltibarščiai)
Cold beet soup, known in Lithuania as šaltibarščiai, is a vivid pink summer soup made of grated cooked beetroot stirred into chilled kefir with cucumber, dill and spring onion. It is cool, tangy and refreshing, topped with halves of hard-boiled egg. Traditionally it is served with hot boiled or roasted potatoes on the side.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 medium beetroots, cooked and peeled (about 400 g)
- 1 litre kefir, well chilled
- 2 cucumbers, diced or grated
- 1 bunch dill, chopped
- 3 spring onions, chopped
- 2 eggs, hard-boiled
- Salt, a little cold water
Method
- Grate the cooked beetroot or cut it into thin strips.
- Mix it with the cucumber, dill, spring onion and a pinch of salt and let it stand for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the cold kefir, stir until evenly pink and thin with a little cold water if you like.
- Chill for at least 15 minutes.
- Serve in bowls topped with halved eggs and extra dill.
How to make it lighter
- Use low-fat kefir — it keeps the same tang with fewer calories.
- The soup itself is light; watch the side of potatoes and choose boiled over fried.
- Add more cucumber and beetroot for a bigger, more filling bowl.
History
Chilled beet and soured-milk soups are eaten across Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Belarus in summer. In Lithuania šaltibarščiai is a national favourite, celebrated each year at a pink soup festival in Vilnius.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →