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Russian Cabbage Soup Recipe for Shchi (Щи) – Vegan Shchi Recipe. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
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5 from 1 vote

Russian Cabbage Soup Recipe for Shchi, the Most Russian of Soups

This Russian cabbage soup recipe makes shchi (Щи), the most Russian of soups. If my baboushka wasn’t cooking borscht, she was making a big pot of shchi. An old Russian dish dating to the 9th century, when cabbage came to the ‘Land of the Rus’ from Byzantium, shchi has long been eaten by nobles and peasants alike. While the rich included meat, the poor made a vegetarian broth (shchi vegetarianskiye). My easy Russian cabbage soup recipe makes a vegan shchi if you skip the sour cream. Like borscht, this comforting Russian soup tastes even better the next day.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Russian
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 124kcal
Author: Lara Dunston

Ingredients

  • neutral cooking oil
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • 1 head cabbage roughly shredded
  • 1 large carrot grated (optional)
  • 550 g potatoes cut into cubes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 litres water
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp sea salt or to taste
  • 2 tsp black pepper or to taste
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp virgin olive oil
  • Fresh dill handful roughly chopped
  • Fresh curly-leaf parsley handful roughly chopped

Garnish

  • Sour cream optional
  • Fresh dill roughly chopped

Instructions

  • Peel and chop the onions and garlic cloves finely, shred or chop the cabbage roughly (avoid fine shredding as you want the texture of wider pieces), grate the carrot if using, and peel and cut potatoes into cubes.
  • In a large fry pan, skillet or Dutch oven, fry the finely chopped onion in a neutral cooking oil until soft, then add the finely chopped garlic cloves, and continue frying until the onion is translucent, taking care not to burn the garlic. Transfer to a large soup pot.
  • Fry the roughly shredded cabbage with bay leaves in neutral cooking oil until soft. If using carrot, add this now also. When soft, transfer to the soup pot.
  • Add the potatoes and 2 litres of water to the soup pot, along with the tomato paste, turmeric, salt, pepper, sugar, and extra virgin olive oil, and stir. Turn to high heat to bring to a boil, then turn down to medium to allow to simmer for an hour. Add another litre of water; feel free to add more if needed.
  • At around 30 minutes, add the rest of the water, taste the soup, season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
  • When the soup is done to your liking (feel free to simmer for more than an hour if you like; the longer the broth simmers the better it tastes), add the chopped fresh dill and curly-leaf parsley and combine well so that it doesn’t clump together.
  • Ladle out the cabbage soup into bowls and (if you’re not vegan) plop a dollop of sour cream into each bowl and sprinkle on more dill and parsley. Provide additional bowls of sour cream and dill on the table for guests to help themselves.

Nutrition

Calories: 124kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 1279mg | Potassium: 594mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 2902IU | Vitamin C: 89mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 2mg