Solyanka (also spelled soljanka) is a Russian soup that dates back to the 15th century. The recipe has been adapted and changed over the years to accommodate what meats and vegetables are available, and like many time-tested dishes, there are several renditions.
The Many Faces of Solyanka
Solyanka is also made in three different versions: meat, fish, and vegetable (most often mushroom), with meat being the most common. Solyanka is an "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" type of soup, but it tastes so much better than that name implies. It's often considered the ultimate hangover cure because it replaces the salts lost after a night of revelry.
What Ingredients Are In Solyanka?
This hearty, thick soup is made with salty cured meats, sausages, olives, capers, pickles, cabbage, and sometimes carrots. The broth is a combination of beef base and an herbal sachet; bay leaves, peppercorns, and allspice berries are bundled in a piece of cheesecloth and tied to the pot handle for easy retrieval.
How to Serve Solyanka
Garnish this soup with fresh dill and sour cream, and serve with whole-grain or rye bread for dunking.
"I've never tried this soup before and it totally amazed me. It's a great soup recipe for winter days. It's wonderfully aromatic and all the flavors are well balanced. This recipe makes enough for a crowd but it also freezes very well, making it perfect to pull out of the freezer and heat up any time you want. I used chopped parsley instead of the dill for garnish and it was great"- Tara Omidvar
Make a spice sachet by adding the bay leaves, peppercorns, and allspice in a square of cheesecloth. Tie with a long piece of butcher's twine.
Using the ends of the butcher's twine, tie the sachet onto the handle of alarge soup pot so that the sachet hangs into the pot.
Add the water and beef base to the soup pot and bring to a boil. Add the shredded cabbage and chopped celery and return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and carrots and sauté until translucent. Add the sausage, chicken, ham, pickles, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Transfer to the soup pot.
Add the stewed tomatoes, sliced olives, and capers, and bring it barely to a boil. Add the wine and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Remove the sachet and discard. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper if necessary.
Ladle the soup into hot bowls and garnish with the sour cream and dill. Serve hot.
Tips
You can substitute homemade beef stock in place of the beef base if you prefer. Use 5 cups stock and reduce the water to 5 cups.
If you don't have cheesecloth, you can use other items you may have in the house such as a coffee filter, fine-mesh bag, cotton fabric, or a small piece of a clean flour sack kitchen towel.
How to Store
Refrigerate leftovers in airtight containers for up to 5 days.
The cooled soup may be ladled into airtight containers (leave a little room for the soup to expand) and frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Traditional Russian Cabbage Soup (Shchi)
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
274
Calories
13g
Fat
17g
Carbs
20g
Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8to 10
Amount per serving
Calories
274
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g
16%
Saturated Fat 4g
18%
Cholesterol 65mg
22%
Sodium 2199mg
96%
Total Carbohydrate 17g
6%
Dietary Fiber 4g
13%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 20g
Vitamin C 23mg
115%
Calcium 105mg
8%
Iron 4mg
20%
Potassium 696mg
15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Recipe Tags:
Tomato
ukrainian soup
sausage
hearty soup
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To make this meat Solyanka, cook the chicken breast in broth, then dice potatoes and add. Fry the sausages, then sauté the pickles and onions before combining everything with tomato paste. Simmer and add spices – then simmer again until the potatoes are cooked. Garnish with sour cream, olives, parsley, and lemon.
The flour also helps protect the meat from the heat of the pan. Stick with wheat flour for this recipe. It acts as a thickener for the beef and barley soup while it is cooking. If you use any other kind of flour, your soup will end up watery.
You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.
If you're looking to upgrade your taco soup into a rich, creamy meal, you could turn to tried-and-true thickeners like cream cheese, heavy cream, flour, or corn starch.
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Use heavy cream as a keto-friendly thickening option for your soups and broths. Heavy cream has more fat than regular whole milk, so you can add it to your soup recipes without worrying about it curdling.
Cornstarch. Cornstarch is a very effective thickener, and a little bit can go a long way. Add cornstarch to a small amount of cold water or other liquid (wine or stock) and whisk into a thick slurry. Then the slurry can be stirred into a simmering soup, a bit at a time to set the final consistency.
The most classic and surefire way to thicken a broth-based soup is with a cornstarch slurry. Whisk together equal parts cornstarch (or arrowroot) and water or broth, then whisk it into the pot of soup. A good ratio to get to a pleasant thickness without your soup tasting goopy or heavy is one tablespoon.
Cornstarch is a common thickening agent in the culinary arts, but if you add it directly to the liquid you want to thicken, it will clump up. To thicken a sauce or soup with cornstarch, you first need to make a slurry, which is a mixture of equal parts cornstarch and liquid (usually water, stock or wine).
All-Purpose Flour. Yep, that's right — all-purpose flour is a very stable thickener. ...
Arrowroot Powder. If you happen to have this starch on hand, you're in luck: It has the same thickening power as cornstarch, and it creates a beautiful, shiny sauce. ...
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If I had to describe the soup with the 3 words, it would be tart, salty and well seasoned. The soup has so much going on! The sourness of the soup comes from pickled cucumbers, lemon, olives or sometimes even capers. I recommend to balanced it out with a bit of sugar or ketchup, or both.
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Introduction: My name is Velia Krajcik, I am a handsome, clean, lucky, gleaming, magnificent, proud, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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