Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Shchi
One of Russia's oldest soups: sauerkraut and cabbage simmered with beef into a tangy, comforting bowl finished with sour cream and dill.
Russian · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 150 min
~520 cal · 34g protein · 30g carbs · 29g fat · 7g fiber · 9g sugars · 12g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Shchi is one of Russia's oldest and most beloved soups, cooked in some form for well over a thousand years. There are two great families: "summer shchi" made with fresh cabbage, and the sour "winter shchi" built on sauerkraut, whose tang is its signature. Both cabbage slowly with a little meat and a few aromatics into deep, comforting broth.
A rich beef broth is the classic base, with potatoes, carrot and onion, and the sauerkraut simmered separately so its acid does not keep the potatoes firm. Finished with a dollop of sour cream and a shower of fresh dill and eaten with dark rye bread, shchi is, like so many good soups, even better the next day.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
1 1/2 lb bone-in beef (shank or short ribs)
12 cups water
2 1/2 cups sauerkraut
3 cups green cabbage, shredded
3 medium potatoes, diced
2 carrots, grated
2 onions, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream, to serve
to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
1
Put the beef in a large pot with the water, bring to a boil, skim the foam, then add the bay and simmer gently about 1 1/2 hours until tender. Lift out the meat, shred it and return it.
2
Simmer the sauerkraut separately in a little water for about 40 minutes to soften and mellow it.
✎ Chef’s note
Cooking the sauerkraut apart keeps its acid from stopping the potatoes cooking through.
3
Soften the onions and carrots in the oil, stir in the tomato paste, then add to the broth with the potatoes and fresh cabbage and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
4
Stir in the softened sauerkraut, season, and simmer 15 minutes more, then let it stand off the heat 20 minutes.
5
Serve hot with a spoon of sour cream, a shower of dill and rye bread.
Russian home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Moscow. Moscow is a capital of sour cream, dill, and long winters, where beetroot borscht, pelmeni dumplings, and layered Olivier salad hold the table. Preserving shaped the pantry: pickles, salted fish, smetana, and rye bread in every form.
🗺️
Russia. Kasha is the spine of the older cooking, buckwheat above all, dry-toasted before it is cooked so it smells nutty, and served under butter or with mushrooms rather than as a side dish. Pelmeni have a Uralic and Siberian lineage, made in huge batches in winter and frozen outdoors, which is why they are small and thin-skinned rather than plump.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Russia
Beef StroganoffSeared strips of beef and mushrooms in a mustard-spiked sour cream sauce over noodles, 19th-century Moscow at its most elegant.
Grechnevaya KashaToasted buckwheat simmered until fluffy and served with butter, the quintessential Russian porridge.
PelmeniSmall dumplings of thin dough around a juicy meat filling, boiled and served with sour cream, a Russian staple.
Browse all Russia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Russia meal
KvassDrink
MedovikDessert
PelmeniLunch
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Shchi?
One of Russia's oldest soups: sauerkraut and cabbage simmered with beef into a tangy, comforting bowl finished with sour cream and dill.
Where does Shchi come from?
Shchi is a Russian dish from Moscow, Russia.
Can Shchi be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Shchi recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Shchi safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Shchi take to make?
About 170 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 150 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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