Barszcz Bialy Recipe: An Easy Recipe for Polish White Borscht

Barszcz biały is a traditional Polish soup that is typically made with potatoes, onions, garlic, and sour cream. It is a delicious and comforting soup with a creamy, smoky, and sour flavour due to the ingredients in the Barszcz Bialy recipe.

Barszcz bialy is sometimes called white borscht. However, there is minimal similarity between this soup and traditional borscht, a deep red soup made with beetroot and often served cold. It is also known as Polish Easter soup because it contains the ingredients from the baskets Polish people present at Easter time. Each of the foods is symbolic. For example, the eggs represent life and new things.

Barszcz bialy is similar to zurek, another popular Polish soup, as they are both sour soups. The main difference is that zurek is made from a fermented rye starter, while Barszcz bialy uses a fermented wheat starter called zakwas. You can use our zakwas recipe and replace the rye flour with wheat flour. Another difference is that zurek is slightly less creamy and has a sourer taste.

People usually serve the soup with a side of crusty bread or dumplings. If you’re looking for a hearty and satisfying meal, be sure to give barszcz biały a try. Here is our easy and delicious barszcz bialy recipe.

Useful Information

Preparation time:	20 minutes
Cooking time:	25 minutes
Servings:	6
Vegetarian:	NO
Vegan:	NO
Gluten-free:	NO
Dairy-free:	NO

Ingredients for Barszcz Bialy

• 12 oz (340g) Polish white sausage (biała kiełbasa)
• 1.5 litres of chicken stock
• 5 oz (140g) smoked bacon, chopped
• 1 lb (450g) potatoes, peeled and diced
• 6 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons marjoram
• 1 – 1.5 cups sour wheat starter or to taste
• 80 ml double cream 30-36%, 80ml
• 1/2 teaspoon grated horseradish or horseradish sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

How to Make the Barszcz Bialy Recipe

1. Put a large pot of water over high heat and add the eggs. Cook until hard-boiled, then remove to cool before slicing in halves or quarters.
2. Meanwhile, put the vegetable broth in another large pot and bring it to a boil.
3. Add the Polish white sausages to the broth, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Prepare the other ingredients while the sausages are cooking.
4. When the sausages are cooked, remove them from the water and cut them into thick slices.
5. Put the diced potatoes into the stock you used to cook the sausages and cook for approximately 10 minutes.
6. While the potatoes are cooking, add the vegetable oil to a frying pan and put over medium-high heat.
7. Next, add the sausage slices and chopped smoked bacon to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes to brown.
8. Add the marjoram and garlic to the pan and cook for another minute.
9. Spoon a little of the vegetable stock into the frying pan and stir to loosen the brown from the bottom of the pan, as doing so will add flavour to your soup.
10. Pour the contents of the frying pan into the stock with the potatoes.
11. Then, stirring continuously, gradually add the sour wheat starter to the Barszcz bialy recipe.
12. Finally, add the cream, horseradish, salt and freshly ground black pepper to the soup and cook for another two minutes.
13. Serve the soup in bowls and add the hard-boiled eggs as garnish.

Additional Tips for Making Polish White Borscht

If you cannot get hold of Polish white sausage (kielbasa), substitute it for any Polish sausage. Avoid using German sausage. Although they look similar, the seasonings in the sausage meat are different.