A fresh, filling and delicious soup for a hot summer day! Slightly sour pickled beetroot and refreshing cucumber in cold yoghurt-style Kefir, topped with lots of spring onion and dill, this is one of the most popular summer dishes in Lithuania. Just like Spanish Gaspacho, Lithuanian Beetroot Soup is served cold with some warm potatoes on the side! Whilst its real name is Šaltibarščiai (which translates as Cold Borschtz), it is more widely known as Lithuanian Pink Soup!
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Favourite Lithuanian Soup Recipe
When I asked Seb what his favourite Eastern European dish was, he didn't even have to think when he almost exclaimed: 'Pink Soup!'. We enjoy it almost every week during the summer months. Whilst some mark the start of the summer season with a BBQ, we have a tradition here to declare summer by getting the flip-flops out of the back of the shoe cabinet and making the first Pink Soup of the season.
I am under no illusion that the combination of ingredients for this soup is unconventional, to say the least. When I think about it, I am completely baffled at how such a RANDOM variety makes such a wonderful summer dish. Beetroot lightly pickled in vinegar, kefir (that's gaining more and more popularity in Western Europe), cucumber and eggs make up the basis of the dish. As pickling and fermented milk (kefir) are linked to gut health, this meal is definitely good for you too.
If you're intrigued, let's jump into the recipe itself!
Ingredients
- cucumber: about 300g of cucumber will be needed to serve four. We use short Kirby cucumber when we can, but English cucumber works just as well.
- grated beetroot: we preserve grated beets ourselves to use in this cold beetroot soup, but you can buy them in Eastern European Food shops or even larger supermarkets. See more details below.
- eggs: 1 egg per person.
- dill: use fresh dill if you can, but frozen or even dried dill can be used too.
- spring onions: sliced on the diagonal
- kefir: is a fermented milk drink that has a slightly sour taste. You will find it in Eastern European food isles or even on the yoghurt shelves in large supermarkets. In the UK, you are likely to find Milko Kefir in the Polish food section. It's more versatile than you may think; we even use it to make Kefir Panna Cotta.
- baby potatoes: can be replaced with other types of potatoes, but we enjoy waxy varieties with Lithuanian cold beet soup most of all.
How to Make Lithuanian Pink Soup?
Making the soup itself takes minutes to make, so this recipe will take you no longer than potatoes and eggs take to boil.
Start by boiling potatoes until tender. Then drain, add a knob of butter and fresh chopped dill and shake the pan to cover the potatoes in dill butter. At the same time, hard-boil the eggs. It will take about 12 minutes in boiling water. Cool the eggs under cold running water in the sink. Peel and slice the eggs into rounds.
Add the grated beetroot (together with most of the pickling liquid), cucumber, dill and half of the spring onions to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the fridge-cold kefir, season with salt and pepper, and mix. Add the eggs, scatter the remaining spring onions on top and serve with hot boiled potatoes on the side.
Where Can I Get Pickled Grated Beetroot?
If you are in the UK, you can buy jars of grated beetroot in Tesco's international aisles (or on Tesco Online Groceries). We use and love Dawtona Grated Beetroot. Alternatively, you can get it in most Eastern European/ Polish shops. However, if you cannot find any, here are two options for you:
- You can buy cooked beetroot in a vacuum. Cut the beetroots into thin sticks (julienne) or you can coarsely grate them. Reserve and add any liquid in the vacuum into the soup, alongside a tablespoon of cider vinegar.
- Make your own pickled grated beets!
Serving Lithuanian Cold Pink Soup
Saltibarsciai, a.k.a. pink soup is best to be served freshly made. The reason for this is that beetroot will colour the vegetables and the egg if left for a prolonged period of time and it the soup will be less aesthetically pleasing (still delicious though).
Serve the soup chilled, so if you made it before your potatoes are cooked, make sure to pop it in the fridge to keep cold.
Serve hot potatoes with dill on the side. Some eat the potatoes separately from the soup, others (hint, me!) add them one by one straight to the soup. It warms up the soup slightly, but I really enjoy the contrast between the hot potato and the cold soup in one mouthful.
Other Soup Recipes To Try
For other soup ideas, have a look at our recipes below:
- Thick & Creamy Sweetcorn Chowder (Vegan)
- Courgette & Potato Soup with Cheddar Crisps
- Indian-Spiced Lentil & Carrot Soup
Our Best Lithuanian Recipes
If you are intrigued and excited to try more Lithuanian cuisine, you are in the right place. We love cooking traditional recipes passed down from generation to generation, as well as modern Lithuanian cuisine. Here are some of our favourite recipes:
- Lithuanian Honey Cake With Fourteen Layers
- Lithuanian Potato Pancakes (Bulviniai Blynai)
- Lithuanian Chocolate Fridge Cake | Tinginys
- Lithuanian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls With Tomato Sauce (Balandeliai)
- Fried Pork Dumplings With Cheese & Sour Cream
Recipe Card
Cold Beetroot Soup a.k.a Lithuanian Pink Soup
Ingredients
For the Soup:
- 1 cucumber (approx. 300g) diced
- 1 jar pickled grated beetroot (510g) see details above
- 4 eggs
- 5 g dill finely chopped
- 2 spring onions sliced on the diagonal
- salt & pepper
- 1 l kefir
For the Potatoes:
- 500 g baby potatoes
- knob of butter
- 5 g dill finely chopped
Instructions
- Boil potatoes until tender. Then drain, add a knob of butter and fresh chopped dill and shake the pan to cover the potatoes in dill butter.
- Hard boil the eggs. It will take about 12 minutes in boiling water. Cool the eggs under cold running water in the sink. Peel and slice the eggs into rounds.
- Add the grated beetroot (together with most of the pickling liquid), cucumber, dill and half of the spring onions to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the fridge-cold kefir, season with salt and pepper, and mix. Add the eggs, scatter the remaining spring onions on top and serve with hot boiled potatoes.
Video
Nutrition
Emily says
This soup is so delicious and refreshing! We loved it with warm potatoes on the side!
Ieva says
Thanks, Emily! 🙂
Liza says
What a special recipe! This reminds me of a beet-fased soup my mom used to make, and the color is so pretty for spring. Another winner from Somebody Feed Seb!
Ieva says
Thanks, Liza! My mum used to make this soup when I was growing up too, so always brings wonderful childhood memories for me 🙂
Anita says
I used regular beet root, not the jar version, so maybe missing a bit of flavor, but the soup was still delicious and looked so pretty.
Ieva says
Thanks, Anita! We sometimes make it with simple boiled grated beetroot and add a tsp of vinegar for flavour, but we think it is delicious both ways 🙂 Thanks for giving it a try!
Tayler says
We had this soup for dinner last night and it was amazing!! So full of flavor and the color was incredible!
Ieva says
Thanks, Tayler! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Andrea says
I'm intrigued by this cold Lithuanian pink soup. It looks and sounds very refreshing and perfect on a hot summer day. Will definitely be giving it a try.
Ieva says
It absolutely perfect on a hot summer day! Let me know what you think, if you try it 🙂
AJ says
Such a beautiful looking soup. And the taste it amazing too. Love the pairing of beets and potatoes in this soup.
Ieva says
Thanks, AJ! 🙂
Faar says
Would it be possible to veganize this soup instead of the kefir use vegan drinkable yoghurt? And leave the eggs out?
Ieva says
Hi, Faar. I must admit, I haven't tried vegan drinkable yoghurt so it's difficult to comment on the flavour, but I have seen people mix unsweetened soy milk with lemon juice or vinegar to recreate the flavour of kefir, so drinkable yoghurt should be even better.
As for eggs, they are probably the least important ingredient in this soup, so yeah, leave them out.
And please do let me know if you try it with vegan yoghurt, would love to know if it works well! 💚
Kirst says
really good! and so easy!! can't wait to try more of your recipes.
does the nutritional info on this one include both the potatoes and soup?
Ieva Greber says
Thank you so much 🙂 So glad you liked it - it's our summer staple!
Yes, nutritional information includes potatoes, but, of course, it's calculated using generic food database, so it may differ slightly based on the ingredients used 🙂
Mirlene says
A beautiful soup with an intriguing pink color! Love how the beets give off that pinkish color. The perfect soup for spring and would be refreshing for summer!
Ieva says
Absolutely! It's a perfect lunch for a hot summer's day!
McFish says
but the ingredients are not at all unconventional. part of them are frequently used in the south of europe - in what is usually called tarator: the bulgarian cucumber and yogurt cold soup, a delish for the hot summers, too (https://www.food.com/recipe/tarator-bulgarian-cold-cucumber-soup-62181).
thank you for the pink soup recipe, i will surely try it 🙂
Ieva says
Oh I must try this Bulgarian Cucumber Soup! The ingredients are definitely not unconventional to most Eastern, Central and Souothern Europeans, but I find that most people from the West find the combination strange... However, I haven't yet found anyone to dislike this Lithuanian Pink Soup! Hope you like it too 🙂
Birchpoint says
I'm very intrigued by this recipe and want to try it. Can you clarify the volume of Kefir called for? I'm not sure what "l" means.
Ieva Greber says
Hi, it's a lowercase "L" for litre. Hope this helps 🙂
Cathy Montiel says
How long will left over soup last in the refrigerator?
Ieva Greber says
We've never kept it for longer than 2 days. Just give it a good stir before eating it again! 🙂