When it’s summer heat outside, you don’t want to cook and eat hot first courses. Something light and refreshing will do. These are primarily all kinds of cold soups and okroshkas. And their varieties are more than enough to last all summer. Almost all national cuisines have a recipe for cold soup. Somewhere they are prepared with kvass, and somewhere with fermented milk products. For example, in Lithuania, okroshka is prepared using kefir with the addition of beets. Okroshka with beets has an unusual taste and attractive color. This dish can diversify your family's summer menu. And the recipe can easily be adapted to suit your tastes.

RULES FOR PREPARING OKROSHKA

Cold soup in the classic version is prepared on the basis of kvass. But replacing it with kefir does not reduce the taste at all. Rather, on the contrary, a dish based on fermented milk products becomes not only satisfying, but also healthy.

Kefir is known for its properties to speed up digestion and improve intestinal cleansing processes. Therefore, even if the recipe for okroshka with kefir calls for the presence of meat, it will not harm the figure. The average calorie content of okroshka made with kefir is about 70 kcal. And since it often includes a large amount of vegetables and herbs, it is enriched with vitamins and minerals. After all, the products do not undergo heat treatment. What a pleasure it is to enjoy a delicious and refreshing soup in the heat.

But before you look for a recipe for okroshka with kefir, you need to learn how to prepare it correctly. And for this you need to adhere to the basic recommendations:

• It is advisable to use low-fat kefir, then the soup will turn out liquid. If you only have full-fat kefir or homemade yogurt, then the finished soup can be diluted with mineral water to the desired consistency;
• Vegetables and herbs must first be soaked in cold water. In this way, the concentration of nitrates can be reduced. In addition, cucumbers, radishes and greens will look as if you just picked them from the garden;
• It is advisable to use dietary meat. In order for the benefits of okroshka with kefir to be truly noticeable, it is better not to add fatty beef or pork. Lean beef, chicken breast, turkey or rabbit are ideal options;
• The ingredients for okroshka should be cut equally and mixed first with the dressing and then with kefir. This should be done so that the food absorbs the dressing and is saturated with its taste. The dressing is usually sour cream or mayonnaise mixed with salt, pepper or mustard;
• You need to season the okroshka with kefir half an hour before serving. If you pour it much earlier, the kefir structure may separate. And if you season it just before serving, the dish will not infuse and will not acquire a rich taste.

When preparing okroshka, it is not necessary to strictly follow the recipe. If you don't like radishes, you don't have to add them. After several preparations, you will have your own unique okroshka recipe.

RECIPE FOR LITHUANIAN okroshka with beets and kefir

Beetroot okroshka with kefir is not only tasty, but also healthy. And her appearance is beautiful and unusual.

The recipe makes 6 servings. Cooking time - 30 minutes.

Required ingredients:

• 3 medium beets;
• 3 small fresh cucumbers;
• 4 eggs;
• half a bunch of dill;
• half a bunch of parsley;
• a bunch of fresh green onions;
• 1 liter of kefir or homemade yogurt;
• 3 – 4 tablespoons of sour cream;
• pepper and salt to taste;
• mineral water.

Cooking procedure

1. The beets need to be boiled. You can cook it in water on the stove, or in the microwave. To do this, the beets need to be peeled and placed in a plastic bag (it is better to use a baking bag) and tie it tightly. Place the bag in the microwave and cook on full power for 4 minutes. Remove from the bag and check with a knife for doneness. If necessary, you can set it for another 2 minutes. Allow the finished beets to cool.
2. Eggs also need to be hard-boiled.
3. Cut the cucumbers into small cubes. Finely chop the greens and onions. Cooled eggs can be finely chopped or grated on a coarse grater.
4. Grate the cooled beets on a coarse grater.
5. Combine the prepared ingredients in a saucepan. Stir and season with sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add kefir to the pan and mix well again. Dilute the mixture with water to the desired consistency.
7. Let the finished dish sit for about 30 minutes.

The traditional recipe can be varied by adding meat or boiled sausage. For piquancy, you can add a little citric acid or mustard to the sour cream. Use mayonnaise instead of sour cream. In Lithuania, okroshka with beets is served with boiled potatoes instead of bread.

I dedicate the recipe for okroshka with beets to the “uncomprehending non-lovers” of this dish, in the hope that this time...

In their attitude towards okroshka, people are divided into two groups: those who love okroshka very much, and those who do not understand it (“Well, I don’t understand this dish! What do you see in it?). The first group is more numerous, and therefore there are dozens of recipes. The basic composition of okroshka is potatoes, fresh cucumbers, boiled eggs, boiled sausage or meat, greens, often radishes, as well as the liquid that makes okroshka okroshka.

In most cases, it is the liquid that most strongly influences the taste of the finished okroshka: it can be simple cold boiled water with sour cream, kefir, drinking yogurt, kvass, sparkling mineral water. In a word, there are many ways to make okroshka tasty, and therefore there are also many ways for those who “don’t understand” to love it.

The recipe for okroshka with beets will help you look at the dish from another side. Many people know such a wonderful cold first dish as beetroot soup, kholodnik. It contains bright beets, but I suggest you try not the kholodnik, but an experimental version of okroshka with beets - the same as beetroot, only without the beet liquid, which is used to prepare the classic recipe. Thanks to beets, okroshka will acquire a stunning color, as well as a new taste. And we’ll cook it in chicken broth – it will make the okroshka richer and richer.

Recipe Ingredients

• chicken fillet 2 small pieces
• potatoes 4 pieces
• eggs 4 pieces
• fresh cucumbers 3 pieces
• beets (young) 2 pieces
• sour cream 3-4 tbsp. spoons
• dill and green onions
• salt, pepper to taste

How to cook okroshka with beets

Place potatoes, beets and eggs in one pan, cover with cold water and boil, lightly salting the water. After 10 minutes from boiling, remove the eggs and place them in cold water. Boil potatoes and beets until soft.

In a separate pan, boil the chicken fillet in 1.5-2 liters of clean salted water. Don’t forget to skim off the foam after the broth boils. Cook the meat for 30 minutes.
Remove the meat from the broth and cool the broth itself in the refrigerator.

When the vegetables and meat are ready, proceed to the actual preparation of okroshka.
Peel and grate the beets on a fine grater.

Place it in serving bowls and top with a small amount of chilled broth.
Chop potatoes, eggs, chicken, and fresh cucumbers. Cut into pieces as you like.

Divide these ingredients among plates. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Finely chop the dill and green onions.

Add 1-2 teaspoons of sour cream to each plate, sprinkle the okroshka with chopped herbs.

Okroshka on kefir with beets - this dish is considered seasonal. They eat okroshka in the summer on hot days, as it is served cold. The soup is considered to be rich in vitamins and very beneficial for our body, as it is saturated with a large amount of fiber and helps remove all the toxins from the body.

This is an excellent dish for those who follow a diet and watch their figure. Cold soup contains vitamins such as: PP, B6, C and E. All vitamins that predominate in beets help treat gastrointestinal diseases. The calorie content of kefir soup is 44 calories per hundred grams of prepared product. Write down a simple recipe for okroshka on kefir with beets, it will definitely come in handy on a hot summer day!

Recipe information

• Cuisine:Russian
• Type of dish: cold soup
• Servings:4
• 30 min
• Nutritional value per 100 g:
  • Calorie content:44 kcal

Required cooking time: half an hour

Ingredients for soup

• three liters of kefir;
• liter of boiled water;
• two pickled jars of beets, 500 grams each;
• kilogram of cucumbers;
• a bunch of dill;
• a bunch of green onions;
• three hundred grams of radish;
• egg;
• salt.

Step-by-step recipe for okroshka on kefir with beets

Preparing vegetables for okroshka
We wash all the vegetables to remove sand. Cut green onions into rings. Transfer to a saucepan. For cold soup, take a large, five-liter pan.

Slice the cucumbers. Cut in half and cut into slices or even smaller strips. Add to all vegetables.

Slice the radishes. Cut into four parts and then lengthwise. Place in a common pan.
All the vegetables are chopped, now add the pickled beets. Pour out the entire contents of the jars, along with the marinade. Salt. Mix.

Prepare delicious okroshka with kefir
Pour in kefir. Stir. Add water to the top. Take chilled water. Stir. Add salt as needed. Place in a cool place to stretch and cool for a couple of hours.

Boil an egg for decoration. Cool. Pour cold beet soup into a bowl. Decorate with egg and herbs. Serve delicious okroshka on kefir with beets on the table. Perhaps served with boiled potatoes and sour cream. It turns out very tasty and satisfying!

06.07.2016

Beetroot is a tasty, healthy and nutritious vegetable that is widely used in cooking.

It is used to cook first courses, prepare appetizers, casseroles, salads, side dishes and make preparations for the winter.

In summer, beet okroshka is especially popular.

Beetroot okroshka - basic principles of preparation

Okroshka has been prepared in Rus' for many centuries. This dish belongs to the category of cold soups, so it is prepared mainly in the summer.

The main principle of preparation is chopping vegetables, boiled meat or sausage, followed by mixing and pouring a liquid base.

The filling is prepared on the basis of unsweetened bread kvass, whey, sour cream, kefir or mayonnaise, having previously diluted it with water.

The main components of okroshka are vegetables. This could be turnips, beets, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes, and so on. Here you can experiment, choosing the vegetables you like.

Boiled meat can be replaced with ham or sausage. There are also recipes for okroshka with dried and dried fish. Meat for okroshka can be boiled or fried beforehand.

A dressing is made from herbs, spices and garlic.

All components of okroshka are finely chopped, placed in a pan, dressing is added and everything is filled with kvass or kefir. Some people like to pour okroshka right before serving. Beetroot okroshka is served with rye bread, mustard, boiled eggs and garlic.

Recipe 1. Okroshka with beets

Ingredients

• two beets;

  two pinches of salt;

  a bunch of green onions;

• liter of kefir;

  two cucumbers.

Cooking method

1. Wash the beets with a brush and boil until soft. We also hard boil the eggs. Cool the beets and eggs and peel them. Three boiled beets. Cut the eggs in half.

2. Wash the cucumbers and peel them. Finely chop or grate.

3. Rinse the green onions, dry them and chop finely. We put it in a bowl where we will prepare okroshka. Sprinkle the onion with salt and mash with a masher.

4. Add all the ingredients to the onion and add kefir. Lastly, add the eggs. Place the okroshka in the refrigerator. If you like liquid okroshka, dilute it with cold boiled water.

Recipe 2. Okroshka with beets on kefir and sour cream

Ingredients

40 ml sour cream;

two fresh cucumbers;

small beets;

purified water - 300 ml;

potatoes - two large tubers;

liter of fat kefir;

egg - four pcs.;

dill greens - a large bunch;

green onions - 200 g;

boiled sausage - 300 g.

Cooking method

1. Wash the potatoes and beets. Place beets, potatoes and eggs in one pan. Fill with purified water and cook over low heat. After ten minutes, remove the eggs and cook the vegetables until tender. Drain the water and cool the vegetables.

2. Rinse the green onions and dill, shake off excess moisture and chop. Place everything in a tureen, add salt and mash until the greens release their juice.

3. Wash the cucumbers, peel and finely chop. Cut the sausage into small pieces. Transfer the cucumbers and sausage to the tureen.

4. Peel and chop the potatoes, beets and eggs in the same way as the other ingredients. Place everything in a tureen, mix with sour cream and pour kefir over everything. Stir and bring the dish to the required consistency, diluting it with filtered water.

Recipe 3. Lithuanian beet okroshka

Ingredients

three beets;

mineral water;

fresh cucumbers - three pcs.;

onion greens - a bunch;

four eggs;

• dill - half a bunch;

  sour cream - 100 g;

  parsley - half a bunch;

  Homemade curdled milk - liter.

Cooking method

1. Wash the beets and cook in the microwave. Place the vegetable in a plastic bag and tie it tightly. Place the bag in the microwave and cook on full power for four minutes. Then remove the beets from the bag, check for doneness with a knife and, if necessary, cook for a couple more minutes. If you don't have a microwave, just boil the beets. Cool and peel the finished vegetable.

2. Boil the eggs, cool under running cold water and peel them. Chop them with a knife or grate them.

3. Wash the cucumbers, wipe them and chop them finely. Rinse the onion greens, shake off excess moisture and finely chop.

4. Peel the beets and grate coarsely.

5. Combine the prepared products in a tureen and mix them with sour cream, seasoning everything with pepper and salt.

6. Pour homemade yogurt over everything and mix again. Bring the okroshka to the desired consistency with mineral water. Leave the okroshka in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Recipe 4. Okroshka with beets on kvass

Ingredients

200 g beets;

• carrots - two pcs.;

  green onions;

  salted and fresh cucumber;

  sour cream - 45 ml;

  vinegar and sugar - 5 g each;

  bread kvass - three glasses.

Cooking method

1. Wash the beets thoroughly, peel and cut into thin strips. Place the beets in a saucepan with water, add vinegar, and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Cool the beet broth.

2. Boil the carrots in their peels until soft. Drain the water, cool the vegetable and cut into small cubes.

3. Chop fresh and pickled cucumbers in the same way as carrots. Boil the egg, cool, peel and finely chop.

4. Finely chop the washed dill and onion.

5. In a deep bowl, mix carrots, cucumbers and eggs with sour cream, add salt, onion and sugar. Mix everything thoroughly and add the beets and broth to the mixture. Pour kvass over everything, stir and serve okroshka with pieces of ice, garnished with dill sprigs.

Recipe 5. Beetroot okroshka with beef

Ingredients

liter of bread kvass;

sugar - 5 g;

beef fillet - 250 g;

two cucumbers;

a small bunch of fresh dill;

two potatoes;

young green onions - 75 g;

small beets;

carrot.

Cooking method

1. Wash potatoes, beets and carrots thoroughly under the tap. Place in a saucepan with water and put on fire. Cook vegetables until soft. Please note that carrots and potatoes will cook faster, which means they need to be removed earlier. Cool the boiled vegetables, peel them and chop them finely.

2. Rinse the beef fillet under the tap, strip it of veins and films and boil it in a separate bowl. Remove the meat from the broth, cool and finely chop or tear it with your hands.

3. Finely chop the washed onion and dill. Place the greens in a tureen, lightly add salt and mash with a masher.

4. Wash and peel the cucumbers. Finely chop the vegetable.

5. Place all the vegetables and meat in a tureen and pour bread kvass over everything. Stir and place the okroshka in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Recipe 6. Carpathian okroshka with beets

Ingredients

large beets;

cucumber - two pcs.;

bread kvass - 2.5 liters;

200 g radish;

80 g sour cream;

3 potatoes;

50 g green onions;

ham - 300 g;

four eggs.

Cooking method

1. Wash the beets and potatoes under the tap with a brush, place the vegetables in a saucepan with water and cook until soft, without peeling. The potatoes will cook faster, so you need to take them out earlier. Cool the prepared vegetables, peel and finely chop.

2. Chop the washed radishes and cucumbers in the same way as other vegetables.

3. Cut the ham into bars.

4. Place the prepared vegetables and ham in a saucepan. Add hard-boiled and diced eggs to this. Stir.

5. Chop the young green onions and add to the rest of the ingredients. Add salt, mix with sour cream and pour in bread kvass. Stir again and leave in the refrigerator for an hour. Pour the cold okroshka into plates and serve with rye bread.

Recipe 7. Vegetarian beet okroshka with water

Ingredients

four potato tubers;

a pinch of black pepper;

two small young beets;

100 g fat sour cream;

four fresh cucumbers;

a pinch of citric acid;

a large bunch of greenery;

young green onions - 200 g.

Cooking method

1. Wash the potatoes and boil until tender. Bake the beets in the oven until done. Cool and peel the vegetables.

2. Rinse the greens and onions and finely chop them. Wash, wipe and finely chop fresh cucumbers.

3. Finely chop the peeled potatoes. Coarsely grate the beets.

4. Combine all the crushed products in a tureen, fill with one and a half liters of purified water and season with sour cream. Salt, add citric acid, pepper and mix. Place in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.

Recipe 8. Okroshka from beet tops with mozzarella cheese

Ingredients

mozzarella cheese - 200 g;

• beet tops - half a kilogram;

  fresh dill;

  fresh cucumbers - two pcs.;

• radish - a bunch;

  green onions;

  sorrel - 200 g;

  three eggs.

Cooking method

1. Wash the leaves of the tops, place them in a saucepan and fill with hot water. Put on fire and cook for a quarter of an hour.

2. Wash the sorrel, chop into strips and add to the pan with the tops. Continue cooking for another ten minutes.

3. Throw the boiled tops and sorrel into cold water, then squeeze and twist the mixture through a meat grinder. Pour the broth back into the pan and cool. Place the mixture of greens into the cooled broth. This will be a gas station.

4. Boil the eggs hard. Peel and separate the yolks from the whites. Grind. Wash the radishes and carrots, wipe them and cut them into circles.

5. Cut the cheese into cubes. Rinse the greens, dry and finely chop. Place all ingredients in an empty saucepan. Pour the dressing over the contents and add sour cream and mustard. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for an hour.

Okroshka with beets - tips and tricks

The main secret of delicious okroshka is to chop all the ingredients as finely as possible.

It is better to coarsely grate beets for okroshka.

If you use meat to prepare okroshka, it should not be fatty. Beef, chicken fillet or lean pork are perfect.

Grind the yolks with a small amount of kvass to make the okroshka taste richer.

Add grated horseradish or mustard to the okroshka. This will add piquancy to the dish.

Prepare the filling with low-fat kefir or yogurt if you want a low-calorie dish.

Grind fresh onion, dill, basil and parsley with salt to give the okroshka an extraordinary aroma.

Preparation

• 

  Wash the cucumbers and cut into small cubes (if the peel of the vegetable is dense, then it is better to remove it). Place the chopped cucumbers in a container in which it will be convenient to mix the ingredients.

• 
• 

  Now cut the eggs. They should also be cut into small cubes.

• 

  Potatoes boiled in their jackets must be peeled. Try to chop the vegetable as finely as possible.

• 

  Greens: wash the dill and parsley and chop finely. Mix all ingredients. Add a little salt, add mayonnaise, vinegar (you can easily replace it with lemon juice), add water. Stir again.

• 

  Boiled beets must be peeled and grated on a fine grater in a separate plate. Add a few tablespoons of grated vegetable to the okroshka. You shouldn’t add all the beets at once; try the dish first.

• 

  Classic Lithuanian okroshka with beets is ready. Before eating it, cool the dish a little: it will taste even better cold. As you can see, making the dish is quite easy and anyone can do it. We hope this recipe with photos was useful to you. Bon appetit!