Borsch

Name: Borsch
Prep time: 11 min
Cook time: 21 min
Total time: 32 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Ukrainian
Ingredients: 1kg Beef Shin; 1 Onion; 1 Bay Leaf; 2.5kg Potatoes; 2 tablespoons Sunflower Oil; 1 Diced Onion; 1 Carrots; 200g Beetroot; 1 chopped Red Pepper; 200g Tinned Tomatos; 6 Prunes; 1/2 White Cabbage; 400g Kidney Beans; 100 ml Creme Fraiche; Bunch Dill; To serve Crusty Bread

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Beef recipe with Ukrainian flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 50 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 32 min total

1kg Beef Shin
1 Onion
1 Bay Leaf
2.5kg Potatoes
2 tablespoons Sunflower Oil
1 Diced Onion
1 Carrots
200g Beetroot
1 chopped Red Pepper
200g Tinned Tomatos
6 Prunes
1/2 White Cabbage
400g Kidney Beans
100 ml Creme Fraiche
Bunch Dill
To serve Crusty Bread

Step-by-step instructions

To make the stock, put the meat, whole onion, bay leaf and 2 litres of lightly salted cold water in a large saucepan. Cook over a very low heat for 1 hr 30 mins or until the beef shin is soft and falls apart easily – this can take up to 3 hrs. Skim off the scum with a spoon from time to time. Break up any larger pieces of beef into the broth, remove the whole onion and discard.
Add the potatoes to the borscht, season well with salt and pepper and cook for 10-15 mins until tender. Meanwhile, heat the sunflower oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the diced onion and carrot, and cook over a medium heat, stirring, until the carrot is soft and is about to start caramelising.
Add the beetroot and cook for around 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the red pepper, if using, and cook for another 2 mins, then add the tomatoes and prunes, stir, then increase the heat and boil to reduce slightly, before adding everything to the borscht.
Add the shredded cabbage and the kidney beans, and cook for 7-10 mins or until tender. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche, lots of chopped dill and some crusty bread.

Why this works on a weeknight

Borsch lands at about 32 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Borsch actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Beef Ukrainian