The main ingredient of cabbage soup is sauerkraut, which gives the dish an appetizing sourness and unique taste. The season for cooking cabbage soup in villages began in late autumn, when housewives salted cabbage for the winter, and lasted until spring. Cabbage soup still remains the most common first dish among many Slavic peoples.

Any broth for cooking cabbage soup can be used: vegetable, meat, fish or mushroom. Even in ancient times, cabbage soup was divided into lean or “empty”: only sour cabbage and onions with carrots and “full” - meat, rich with mushrooms, eggs and seasoned with sour cream or heavy cream. But the most main secret unique, special taste The cabbage soup was that cabbage soup was cooked in a Russian oven, where the dish was simmered and infused for several hours.

Classic recipe for sour cabbage soup

There is no Russian person who has never eaten cabbage soup with sauerkraut, but there are probably housewives who do not know how to cook this soup. Although it is very easy to prepare, if you strictly follow our step by step diagram with photo.

Classic recipe for cabbage soup from sauerkraut contains the following ingredients:

• Sauerkraut – 500 kg.
• Potatoes – 5 pcs.
• Onion – 1-2 heads.
• Small carrots.

Cooking instructions:

1. Rinse beef on the bone under running water. Place in a saucepan and pour clean water. Place the pan over high heat. When the water boils, reduce the heat to almost a minimum so that the water does not boil. We remove all the foam. It takes 60 minutes for the broth to cook, perhaps a little more.
2. As soon as the meat is cooked, take it out and add the “sauerkraut” to the broth. Separate the meat from the bone and cut into small pieces, and return to the pan.
3. While everything is cooking, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Add the potatoes to the pan.
4. While the potatoes are cooking, you need to fry the carrots and onions. Grate the carrots and finely chop the onion. Fry a little in vegetable oil.
5. Check the potatoes for doneness; if they are ready, you can fry them in the pan.
6. Add salt, allspice and allspice to sour cabbage soup as needed. Bay leaf ik. And cook for another 5 minutes.
7. Then the “brew” is turned off and allowed to brew a little, at least 30 minutes.

The sauerkraut soup is ready. This soup is served with sour cream and herbs.

Sour cabbage soup in a slow cooker

Today, the multicooker is the most modern and multifunctional appliance. kitchen appliances who can cook a lot different dishes including the first ones. Cabbage soup made from sauerkraut in a slow cooker turns out no less tasty than on the stove, so if you have a slow cooker, you can safely use it.

Ingredients:

• good beef tenderloin on the bone – 500-1000 g.
• Sauerkraut – 500 kg.
• Potatoes – 5 pcs.
• Onion – 1-2 heads.
• Small carrots.
• Table salt – as needed.

Preparation:

1. Only the meat needs to be cut into pieces and fried a little in a slow cooker on the “fry” mode. This mode usually takes about 15 minutes.
2. Afterwards, place sauerkraut, diced potatoes and grated carrots on top of the meat. Fill with clean water and set on “soup” mode for 2 hours.
3. As soon as the soup is cooked, the multicooker will automatically switch to the heating mode. Let the cabbage soup brew and you can serve it with sour cream and fresh herbs.

How to make sauerkraut correctly

Of course, you can buy sauerkraut in the store, but before, every housewife fermented it at home. We will tell you how to ferment cabbage yourself so that you can later prepare delicious cabbage soup or other dishes.

To get started we will need:

• Fresh fork – 1.5-2 kg.
• Carrot.
• Salt – 50 gr.
• Sugar – 4 tbsp. l.

1. Wash the head of cabbage thoroughly and finely chop it.
2. Peel the carrots, wash them and cut them into three strips on the coarsest grater.
3. Place cabbage and carrots in a container where they will ferment. Add sugar and salt.
4. Now mash the contents thoroughly until the juice appears.
5. Then we press the mass with a weight and leave it for 3 days.
6. After 3 days, foam should form on the surface. This foam must be removed. The process will last another 4 days.
7. Then it must be divided into containers and stored in the cellar or refrigerator.

This sour dip recipe is a classic and quite time consuming.

A few secrets of cooking cabbage soup

1. Perhaps the biggest secret delicious cabbage soup is that “yesterday’s” sauerkraut cabbage soup tastes better than freshly prepared cabbage soup.
2. Before adding sauerkraut to the soup, check to see if it is too salty. If it is over-salted, it must be soaked or thoroughly washed.
3. Real cabbage soup is cooked in the oven in clay pots, but today there are a lot of ways to cook cabbage soup from sauerkraut. The soup can be cooked on the stove, in a slow cooker, and even in the oven.
4. And further, classic recipe sour cabbage soup prepared with sauerkraut beef broth, but if you don’t like beef, you can make sauerkraut cabbage soup with chicken.

Sour lean cabbage soup from sauerkraut

Sour lean cabbage soup made from sauerkraut is the main recipe for cabbage soup. With this base you can easily prepare other versions of this old Russian recipe. By the way, when there were no potatoes in Rus' yet, such soup was prepared with the addition of turnips or rutabaga.

Products:

• 300g sauerkraut
• 3 potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 2 liters of water
• 1-3 cloves of garlic
• Bay leaf
• 5-10 black peppercorns
• salt to taste
• greens in each serving to taste

Preparation:

1. Sour lean cabbage soup made from sauerkraut is in no way inferior meat soup, but they are very good to eat during Lent or when you want to unload.
2. So, take three handfuls of sauerkraut from a jar, this is about 300g and squeeze it out a little. There is no need to pour out the brine; you will need it at the end of cooking the soup. Place it in a saucepan and fill it with one liter of water. Cook, or more correctly, simmer over low heat for about an hour.
3. At this time, peel and chop the potatoes into strips, and then add them to the cabbage. Add another liter of water and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes.
4. While the cabbage and potatoes are boiling, finely chop the carrots or grate them on a coarse grater, and then simmer with a small amount oils Then add to the soup.
5. Finely chop the onion and also simmer in the same pan as the carrots. It is important not to fry onions and carrots, but to simmer them, avoiding any burnt particles. Add sauerkraut cabbage soup to the sour lean soup you are preparing.
6. Mix everything, cook for another 15 minutes and check the readiness of the vegetables, as well as the “sourness” of the dish. Salt and add brine, which was previously drained from the cabbage, if this very “sourness” is not enough, or, on the contrary, add water if the cabbage soup turns out to be too sour.
7. In order for the soup to have a very pleasant, rich and velvety consistency, you should prepare a “flour sauce” for it.
8. Fry the flour in a spoon of vegetable oil, stir constantly and do not allow the color of the flour to change. Dilute everything with water, about half a glass, stir vigorously so that there are no lumps, and boil for one minute.
9. Add the resulting dressing to the soup. Add bay leaf, pepper, and finely chopped garlic. Simmer for another 5 minutes, and that’s it, the sour lean cabbage soup is ready. Before serving, add chopped herbs to the pan. Or just place it on the table so each person at the table can do it on their own plate.

Sauerkraut cabbage soup in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• 450 grams of pork,
• 1 carrot,
• 4 potatoes,
• 1 onion,
• 1 spoon tomato paste,
• 300 grams of sauerkraut,
• sunflower oil,

Preparation:

1. To prepare cabbage soup from sauerkraut, you need to wash and cut the meat. Place the chopped meat in a multicooker bowl, then add a few tablespoons of sunflower oil, turn on the “Baking” mode and fry for 25 minutes. If you want to make this dish in the slow cooker with chicken, you don't need to fry it. Place the chicken in the slow cooker along with the sauerkraut and potatoes.
2. While the meat is frying in the slow cooker, peel the onions and carrots, cut the onions into small cubes, and chop the carrots using a grater. Peel the potatoes, rinse several times and cut into cubes. If the sauerkraut is very sour, it needs to be soaked a little in cold water.
3. Add chopped carrots and onions to the meat, mix all the contents thoroughly. Close the lid on top and continue to simmer the entire contents for fifteen minutes. From time to time, remove the lid from the multicooker and stir all the contents.
4. A few minutes before final cooking, add tomato paste to the dish. After this, add bay leaf, chopped potatoes and cabbage to the slow cooker. Sprinkle with soup spices and salt, fill the entire contents with water. Close the lid on top, set the “Stew” mode and continue cooking the dish for an hour. Delicious sauerkraut cabbage soup is completely ready. Bon appetit!

Sour cabbage soup with mushrooms, lean

Ingredients:

• sauerkraut - 1 kg;
• fresh mushrooms - 250-300 g;
• carrots - 1 pc.;
• onions - 2 heads;
• parsley root - 2 pcs.;
• celery root - 1 pc.;
• wheat flour - 1 tbsp. spoon;
• sugar;
• salt;
• greenery.

Method for preparing sour cabbage soup with mushrooms:

1. Sauerkraut, if any coarse cuts, can be crushed by cutting into cutting board. Stew the cabbage until soft with the addition of water, finely chopped onion and carrots, chopped into strips or slices.
2. Boil the mushrooms, pour the broth into a saucepan, cut the mushrooms into slices. Strain the mushroom broth, add cabbage, mushrooms, chopped parsley and celery roots.
3. Dry the flour in a dry frying pan; when the flour has cooled slightly, dilute the mushroom broth, stirring continuously, until it reaches a creamy consistency. Add flour dressing to cabbage soup. Season with salt and sugar, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let simmer. When serving, sprinkle with finely chopped herbs.
4. Similarly, you can cook cabbage soup in meat broth, with or without mushrooms, with the addition of potatoes. Then, it is better to sauté the onions and carrots separately in vegetable oil; the cabbage soup will be more aromatic. When serving, add sour cream.

Sour cabbage soup and its recipe

Ingredients:

• meat,
• sauerkraut,
• potato,
• carrot,
• salt,
• pepper,
• sour cream,
• greenery,
• seasonings

Preparation:

1. Sour cabbage soup and its recipe are probably found in every family in our country. After all, cabbage soup is one of the most popular dishes Russian cuisine, and there are a great many recipes for their preparation.
2. Sour cabbage soup is different from fresh cabbage soup white cabbage more bright taste thanks to the fact that they are prepared from sauerkraut.
3. Most often, cabbage soup is cooked in meat broth, but in theory you can cook it vegetarian option cabbage soup in vegetable broth.
4. If you decide to cook sour cabbage soup in meat broth, then a piece of beef weighing about 700 grams must first be boiled for an hour to an hour and a half. Then the meat is removed from the broth and cut into small cubes. After this, the meat is again placed in the broth.
5. A couple of medium carrots need to be grated on a coarse grater, and a medium-sized onion onions chop into small cubes with a knife.
6. After heating a frying pan with vegetable oil, you first need to lightly fry the onion and then add grated carrots to it.
7. About 400-500 grams of potatoes need to be peeled and cut, preferably into equal-sized cubes. Place it in the broth and simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
8. Next, add sauerkraut to the broth. A four-liter pan will require about 300 grams of sauerkraut. Boil it in boiling broth for 10 minutes.
9. After this, add the sautéed carrots and onions to the pan. Read more
10. To make sour cabbage soup fragrant, add dried parsley root, dried herbs parsley, dill, peppercorns, salt, bay leaf.
11. The readiness of cabbage soup is checked by the condition of the potatoes

Shchi is traditional Russian dish, which is boiled with cabbage, sorrel or other greens and served as soup or stew. The preparation of cabbage soup supposedly began in the 9th century, when peasants in Rus' began to grow cabbage. From century to century, cabbage soup was considered the main first course on the table in a Russian hut. Our great-grandmothers did not cook cabbage soup like we do now, but simmered them in clay pot in a Russian oven for several hours. As a result, the dish acquired a special aroma and amazing taste. A lot has changed since then: Russian stoves were replaced by gas and electric stoves and ovens, let alone the variety of products on the market. Nevertheless, cabbage soup has remained a very popular first dish in our time. And no wonder, because rich broth, in which pieces float tender beef, aromatic frying with tomato and sourness of cabbage form a unique, tasty and aromatic soup. Everything is harmonious in it. It’s not for nothing that our ancestors loved cabbage soup so much!

Now every housewife prepares them in her own way, and there are countless recipes. Cabbage soup is made from fresh cabbage, sauerkraut, sorrel, and even nettle. I would like to suggest making cabbage soup from sauerkraut - this is a classic recipe and, in my opinion, the most tasty option cabbage soup In common parlance, this soup is also called “sour cabbage soup.” But don’t be afraid, the soup will not be overly sour, the sauerkraut will only impart sourness to the broth, and it will taste like fresh cabbage. This cabbage soup recipe is very reminiscent of a meat solyanka, which is prepared with pickled or pickled cucumbers. Therefore, solyanka connoisseurs will definitely love this sauerkraut cabbage soup recipe.

Ingredients (for a 3 liter saucepan):

• 700 g beef on the bone;
• 600 g sauerkraut with juice;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 onion;
• 3 medium potatoes;
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste;
• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil for frying;
• 1 bunch of parsley;
• 2 bay leaves;
• 2-3 cloves of garlic;
• salt, pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each);
• sour cream for serving (optional).

Cabbage soup recipe

1. For the broth we will use beef on the bone (preferably). Due to the bone, the broth becomes richer and more satisfying. Pour water into a 3-liter saucepan. We wash the meat on the bone under cold running water and place it in a saucepan. Place on high heat and bring to a boil. As it appears, remove the foam from the surface of the broth. When the water boils, set the heat to minimum, cover the pan with a lid so that the broth does not escape, and leave the beef to cook for approximately 2 - 2.5 hours. We determine the readiness of the broth by the meat, which should be partially separated from the bone and easily pierced with a fork.

2. Remove the beef from the pan and cover it with a plate on top so that the hot meat does not scorch and become dry. We'll deal with that a little later.

3. Strain the broth through a small metal sieve or cheesecloth until ready dish We did not come across small pieces of bone.

4. Prepare a frying dish for cabbage soup from sauerkraut. Let's deal with the onions first. To prevent the onion from causing tears, rinse it under running water. ice water. Then cut it into half rings, so it will look like cabbage in the soup.

5. Peel and wash the carrots. Grate on a medium or coarse grater.

6. Place the frying pan on medium heat, pour 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Fry the onions and carrots together until the onions are transparent.

7. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste to the roast. Mix everything thoroughly.

8. Pour half a glass of water into the pan so that the vegetables do not burn. Simmer the onions, carrots and tomatoes for a couple more minutes over medium heat under the lid. Then remove the roast from the heat.

9. Peel the potatoes and rinse thoroughly under running water. Cut into strips or small cubes, whichever you prefer.

10. Clean and clear broth Pour back into a clean 3-liter saucepan. Add a little filtered water so that the pan is 2/3 filled with liquid. Add chopped potatoes to the broth. We also drop 2 bay leaves here. Place the pan on medium heat.

11. The meat has already cooled down by this point, separate it from the bone. Cut into small pieces.

12. Add the chopped meat to the pan.

13. Now add the main ingredient - sauerkraut. If you have juice left from sauerkraut, pour it into the pan as well, it will make the cabbage soup even tastier. And here's a note for the recipe for sauerkraut.

14. Add the fried onions and carrots. Mix everything and cook the cabbage soup until the potatoes and cabbage are soft.

15. Wash fresh greens under running water. Finely chop and sprinkle on top. Salt and pepper the cabbage soup to taste.

16. Using a garlic press, squeeze a couple of cloves of garlic into the sauerkraut soup; it will give the dish a special flavor. Mix the cabbage soup and remove from the heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let it brew for 15-20 minutes. And some housewives put cabbage soup in a preheated oven to make it closer to our great-grandmothers’ recipe.

17. Shchi can be served with freshly baked buns or garlic donuts. Sour cream and fresh herbs are also served with cabbage soup.

Classic sauerkraut cabbage soup is ready. Can be served. Bon appetit!

Today we will talk about sauerkraut cabbage soup.

A very popular Russian soup, which every Russian person has repeatedly used in their menu in their life.

I will offer you several step-by-step recipes for preparing this dish.

You can cook cabbage soup with different varieties meat - beef, pork, lamb, chicken, use additional mushrooms and other products.

Sauerkraut cabbage soup is a very easy soup to prepare and at the same time very tasty and satisfying.

The preparation itself can become a holiday, bring you pleasure not only as the product that you eat, but also the process of preparing it you will perceive with great pleasure

Sauerkraut cabbage soup with beef – a classic of Russian cuisine

Let's start making classics

1. The beginning is like the basis of all soups, this is the preparation of the broth

2. Choose meat for the broth, the best for broth is beef brisket

3. Place the meat in a pan and pour cold water, after that we put it on fire

4. While the meat is cooking, put a frying pan on the stove

5. Now take carrots, onions and celery root

6. Cut two pieces of celery and place the cut side in a dry frying pan.

7. Peel the carrots, cut them in half and also next to the celery, in a dry frying pan, place them cut side down.

8. Pre-peeled and washed onions, also cut in half and place in a frying pan cut side down

9. Place sauerkraut in a separate pan and add a little water

10. Add a little tomato and cover with a lid - the cabbage will slowly simmer until it becomes soft

11. Cut another small onion into cubes and send it to the cabbage

12. Before boiling, a foam appears on the broth; this is coagulated protein; it should be removed with a spoon.

13. To get a clear broth, you need to remove the foam in time.

14. After high fire the broth will boil, reduce the heat and add the vegetables from the frying pan, baked until burnt, then we will remove them from the broth, but they will give us a unique taste and beautiful color

15. And so - we slowly cook the broth over low heat

16. Cabbage is also stewed over low heat; further cooking will take you about 40 minutes.

17. While the broth is cooking, finely chop two cloves of garlic

18. Cut a sprig of parsley directly onto the garlic

19. And cut a small bunch of green onions, you get a very aromatic dressing

20. After 40 minutes of cooking, remove our added vegetables from the broth

21. When ready, take out the meat and let it cool a little

22. Transfer the stewed cabbage to meat broth, and let it cook a little

23. For richness, in a small cup, dilute a spoonful of flour in cold water and stir the broth, in small portions pour in the diluted flour

24. Taste the broth and, if necessary, add salt, add a few black peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves

25. Cut the meat off the bone, cut it into small pieces and put it in the broth

26. Pour the prepared cabbage soup into portioned pots

27. Add prepared dressing of onion, parsley and garlic

28. Take two layers of frozen puff pastry and place it on the table, adding flour to prevent it from sticking.

29. Drive an egg into a bowl and beat it with a fork

30. Cut out a circle from the dough, the diameter is larger than our pots

31. Brush the edges with beaten egg

32. Place the dough on top of the pots and crimp the edges, gluing it to the pot, sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the dough

33. Place the pots of cabbage soup in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees.

34. The cabbage soup will simmer in the oven, and the dough, absorbing broth vapors, will bake

35. You will get ready-made cabbage soup with such a big bread cap

Sauerkraut cabbage soup with chicken

Such cabbage soup cooks faster, since the chicken will take less time to cook

For cooking we need - chicken meat, potatoes, garlic, onions, tomatoes, sauerkraut, carrots, herbs, salt, pepper, vegetable oil

1. Prepare the broth - boil the chicken meat in time, remove the foam when boiling
2. When the meat is ready, strain the broth
3. Add salt and spices to taste
4. Add finely diced potatoes to the prepared broth.
5. Grate carrots on a coarse grater
6. Finely chop the onion
7. Finely chop the tomatoes
8. Fry the onion in a frying pan in vegetable oil until golden brown
9. Add carrots and tomatoes to onions
10. Mix thoroughly and fry for 10 minutes
11. Chop the garlic and add to the stir fry
12. When the potatoes are cooked, add our fried vegetables to the broth
13. After frying, add cabbage
14. Add pepper to taste, a few bay leaves and salt
15. Cook until the cabbage is ready, it should become soft
16. Pour into plates, add finely chopped herbs, sour cream or mayonnaise

Step-by-step recipe for making sauerkraut cabbage soup with mushrooms (with photo)

First, cook the meat broth from pork shank, it can be prepared in advance, in your free time, and then just reheated.

Daily cabbage soup with pork

There are several ways to prepare this dish.

Sauerkraut cabbage soup with stewed meat

Delicious cabbage soup with stew

1. Let the sauerkraut drain; if it is very sour, rinse it lightly with running water; if it is coarsely chopped, cut it smaller

2. Place the cabbage in a saucepan, add water and put it on the fire to simmer; it will cook until soft for about 40 minutes.

3. Finely chop the onion and carrots into a frying pan, you can grate them on a coarse grater, add vegetable oil and set to simmer on the stove

4. Stirring occasionally, simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, add stewed meat, pepper, bay leaf and lightly fry

5. Peel and cut potatoes for soup

6. When the cabbage becomes slightly soft, add potatoes, fry, and water if necessary

7. Cook for another 25 - 30 minutes, add salt if necessary

8. Add finely chopped greens to the prepared cabbage soup and let it brew.

9. Serve with sour cream or mayonnaise.

Lenten cabbage soup made from sauerkraut without meat

To prepare we will need:

• Peeled potatoes 2 pcs.
• Onion 1 pc.
• Carrot 1 pc.
• Sauerkraut 300 – 400 g.
• Millet cereal 2/3 cup, you can use buckwheat or wheat
• Spices – pepper, bay leaf, salt
• Vegetable oil

1. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan, squeeze out the juice from the cabbage and add it to fry

2. Finely chop the onion, grate the carrots on a coarse grater and put them in the pan

3. Cut the potatoes for the soup and put them in the pan

4. Add washed millet

5. Add spices and salt

6. Fill with water, a little, level with the laid products

7. Place the pan on low heat

8. Cover the fried cabbage with a lid and simmer for a few more minutes.

9. When the potatoes and cereals are ready in the pan, add cabbage to them

10. Pour boiling water, determine the amount of water based on the thickness of the cabbage soup

11. Bring to a boil and add herbs

12. Taste for salt, if not enough, add more salt

13. Cover with a lid, turn off the heat and let sit for 10 - 15 minutes

14. If you want to prepare lean cabbage soup according to an old Russian recipe, then add rutabaga or turnips instead of potatoes.

Ural cabbage soup. How to cook traditional soup in cast iron

To prepare you need:

Sauerkraut, potatoes, beef, fresh lard, porcini mushrooms – dry, accompanying vegetables

1. First, cut the onion into strips

2. Cut the lard into cubes

3. Heat lard in a heated frying pan

4. Add onion to the melted lard

5. Cut the meat in large pieces and put it in a cast iron

6. Place whole peeled potatoes there; if they are very large, cut them in half

7. Chop dry mushrooms soaked in boiling water and washed

8. Place them in a cast iron pot and pour in the strained mushroom broth

9. Add cabbage to the golden onion fried in a frying pan and lightly fry

10. Add a bay leaf and a few black peppercorns to the cast iron

11. Place chopped tomatoes there and add some salt

12. Ready cabbage put it in the pot too

13. Add spring water, you can simply, close the lid and put the cast iron in the oven, or, of course, in the oven for 2 - 2.5 hours at a temperature of 200 degrees

How to cook delicious sauerkraut cabbage soup with chicken in a slow cooker - video recipe

Lenten cabbage soup from sauerkraut – Russian cuisine, video recipe

If you like Russian cuisine and liked the recipes I suggested, share them with your friends, write in the comments how you prepare this favorite soup

Let's talk today about sauerkraut - a traditional dish Russian national cuisine. It's easy and very tasty! Cabbage soup can be with meat or lean.

Moreover, if you cook cabbage soup with meat, you can choose what you like more - beef or pork. The taste, of course, will be different, with pork it will be fattier, but both are tasty. You can cook it without meat at all - lean cabbage soup: just skip the part of the recipe that concerns meat, everything else remains unchanged. When we took photos for this recipe, we cooked cabbage soup with beef. It makes sense to cook immediately large saucepan cabbage soup: on the second or third day (store, of course, in the refrigerator), the cabbage soup becomes even tastier than it was immediately after cooking. We indicate the quantity of products per 4-liter pan.

Need to:

• Meat (beef or pork, we prefer boneless) – 300-700 grams (depending on how much meat you want in your cabbage soup; we like to have a lot of meat in our cabbage soup and usually take about 700 grams)
• Sauerkraut, also known as “sour cabbage” (the most common one, without sugar, without adding apples, cranberries or beets, only with carrots) – 700-750 grams
• Table salt - about 0.5 tablespoon or a little more - to taste
• Carrots – 1 medium size (can be used)
• Onion – 1 medium sized onion
• Bay leaf – 1-2 pieces
• Black peppercorns – 8-10 peas
• Potatoes – 5-6 medium sized pieces
• Oatmeal (meaning cereals, from which we usually cook porridge, preferably medium grind) – 3 heaped tablespoons
• Granulated sugar – 1 teaspoon
• Vegetable oil – 2-3 tablespoons when frying cabbage
• Garlic – 3-5 large cloves (to taste and optional)

Preparation:

Wash the meat thoroughly, cut into small pieces of the size you want to see on your plate, and place in a pan. Pour into this pan cold water(a little more than half the volume of the pan) and put it on the stove, do not cover it with a lid yet. Just don’t ask us why, when we prepare soup or meat broth, we cook the meat in one piece and then cut it, and for cabbage soup we first cut it and then cook it. We have only one explanation for this mysterious fact: this is what my mother and grandmother did. Otherwise, we proceed in the same way as if we were cooking. Perhaps it would be nice to do it the other way too - try it. If you are cooking lean cabbage soup, just pour about half the pan with water and let it boil, but it is better to do this a little later, about 40-50 minutes after you start cooking, in this case, start with the second step - frying the cabbage.

Pour a little vegetable oil into a deep frying pan (saucepan) and add sauerkraut with a small amount of brine there, without squeezing.

Place on a high heat level, cover with a lid, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and fry and simmer the cabbage under the lid for at least an hour, or maybe more, stirring occasionally and, if necessary, adding a little to the pan (about 0.5 cups 1-2 times during the entire process) boiled water so that the cabbage does not burn.

When foam forms in the pan with meat, do not forget to carefully remove it with a slotted spoon. When the water in the pan boils, add salt, peeled onions, carrots (peeled and finely chopped or grated), peppercorns and bay leaves. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cover the pan and leave the meat to simmer for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes, but do not cut them into pieces. When the meat is cooked, put the potatoes into the broth WHOLE, uncut (if the potatoes are very large, cut them in half). In option lean cabbage soup: when the water boils, add salt, carrots, peppers, onions, potatoes at the same time - then we do everything the same for both options. Boil the potatoes until tender (30 minutes is enough after the broth boils again along with the potatoes).

While the potatoes are cooking, peel the garlic. And we put the kettle on, just in case: we might need boiling water.

Remove the cooked potatoes from the broth and mash with a fork until almost pureed.

Now add mashed potatoes, cabbage from the frying pan into the broth (after an hour of stewing the cabbage became soft), finely chop the garlic or squeeze it through a special “masher”, add a little sugar. Slowly, stirring constantly, add the oatmeal (make sure it doesn't stick together into lumps). If necessary, add boiling water to keep the pan full.

Take meat and cartilage, cook some cool cabbage soup,
You rinse the cast iron and cook cabbage soup in the cast iron,
Throw it more vegetables- I can’t live without cabbage soup,
To make me fat, finally, make me some Russian cabbage soup!
“Gas Strip”, song “Shchi”

Cooking cabbage soup, like most other dishes, has three components:

First, these are the products and basic culinary techniques used for cooking most soups (potatoes, meat, onion-carrot dressing + general cooking and frying techniques)

Secondly, this is a product that allows you to position the dish being prepared. For cabbage soup it is cabbage.

Third, products and culinary techniques that allow for a wide variety of food. Usually this is the addition of additional products to the main products, such as mushrooms, cereals, vegetables and (or) special cooking techniques - simmering in a pot, infusing daily cabbage soup.

In the recipe I will show you how to cook classic cabbage soup, and at the end I will tell you about various options cooking cabbage soup.

Composition, main products:

Beef 0.5 -1 kg
Sauerkraut 300-500 gr
Potatoes 0.5 kg
Onion - 1 piece
Carrots - 1 pc.

For cabbage soup, it is best to use fatty beef. What we'll do is take beef brisket.

Of course, you can use other meat, but we’ll talk about this at the end of the recipe, but for now let’s prepare the classic cabbage soup.
Place the brisket in a saucepan, add water, let it boil, skim off the foam and cook over low heat. It is very important to cook the meat without allowing it to boil violently, and ideally boiling at all, at a temperature of about 98 degrees. When boiling strongly, the fats contained in the meat are washed out and the broth acquires an unpleasant taste.
If the burner switch is set to the lowest heat setting and the broth continues to boil vigorously, cook the soup with open lid.
Brisket cooking time is 60 minutes or more. An hour is enough for the meat to cook, but many people like boiled cabbage soup and therefore you can cook the beef longer, until it becomes a stew.

The next step is to add cabbage. Since cabbage soup is, first of all, sour soup, then we’ll use sauerkraut for our recipe.

The cabbage needs to be squeezed out of the brine. If it is very sour, then rinse it. But don’t overdo it, the cabbage soup should be sour. The amount of cabbage again depends on its taste, but it should not be small, no matter how it is the main ingredient. We do this - take out the meat and put in the cabbage. This is necessary in order to cut the meat from the bones and cut into pieces. After slicing, place the meat back into the pan. We throw away the bones.

While the cabbage is cooking, prepare the potatoes.

Another one important detail– since the soup is cooked practically without boiling, then when adding large quantities new products, you need to temporarily turn up the heat a little (switch from 1 to 2). This is necessary so that the brew quickly restores the temperature lowered by the added ingredient. If this is not done, the soup will not only take longer to cook, but will also become less tasty. As soon as the broth boils, be sure to turn the heat back to low.

The cabbage does not need to be cooked for too long; the time spent peeling and cutting the potatoes is quite enough. This means that we immediately lower the potatoes cut into large cubes (about 3x3 cm). Cutting into cubes is more suitable for cabbage soup than into cubes.

While the potatoes are cooking, make the onion-carrot dressing. This is a common dressing for most soups - carrots are grated on a coarse grater or finely chopped. The onion is finely chopped and the whole thing is sautéed in the fat removed from the broth or in vegetable oil.

Usually tomato paste is also added to the sautéing process, but this is not necessary for cabbage soup.

When the potatoes are ready, add the sauté mixture to the cabbage soup, add salt, and add bay leaves and peppercorns if desired. Cook for another 5 minutes and the cabbage soup is almost ready.

For complete happiness, it is better to let them steep for at least 30 minutes. Cabbage soup is usually seasoned with sour cream, but you can also use mayonnaise.

This was the recipe classic cabbage soup. Now comes the fun part! Various options cabbage soup

Sometimes sorrel is used instead of cabbage. Cabbage for cabbage soup is often pre-steamed separately.

Meat is preferable to beef. But pork or poultry will do. In summer, cabbage soup with stew is good. They make cabbage soup with smoked meats. In the recipe for Petrovsky (prefabricated) cabbage soup, meat, ham and chicken are used simultaneously.

The so-called “empty” cabbage soup is cooked in the same way, without meat, with only vegetables.
There is Lenten cabbage soup on mushroom broth.

Instead of potatoes, or together with potatoes, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, and mushrooms are used for cabbage soup.

Spinach or young nettles are often added to green cabbage soup with sorrel.

Ural cabbage soup is made with separately pre-cooked pearl barley.

Sometimes, when serving, half a hard-boiled egg is placed in the cabbage soup.

Daily cabbage soup is prepared in several ways. The main difference between daily cabbage soup is that they are either eaten the next day after cooking, or during the cooking process they are left to infuse for a day.
Often cabbage soup is cooked in clay or ceramic pots in the oven, imitating cooking in a Russian oven.

Note: For those who are afraid that the potatoes will not cook in an acidic environment, simmer the sauerkraut separately and add the finished cabbage to the cabbage soup at the end of cooking.

Classically, this is done like this: put cabbage in a frying pan or saucepan, add a little fat (vegetable oil is fine), add 10-15% water and simmer over low heat for 1.5 - 2 hours, with the lid closed, stirring occasionally. If necessary, add water. This is a recommendation from the recipes Soviet public catering.

Putting potatoes into cabbage soup before raw (both fresh and sauerkraut) cabbage is not recommended for one simple reason - the cooking time for chopped fresh cabbage is 20-30 minutes, for sauerkraut - 30-35 minutes, and the cooking time for chopped potatoes is 15-20 minutes .

That is, if you put sauerkraut after the potatoes, as some people advise in the comments, well, they really “heard the ringing, but don’t know where it came from,” then you risk getting either boiled potatoes or undercooked cabbage.

Once again - at the end of cooking, add STEWED sauerkraut!

But! Often at home and in dining rooms they didn’t bother with separate stewing, but cooked the cabbage first and then added the potatoes. And it turned out quite normally, because coupled with the preliminary removal of excess acid from the cabbage (squeezing, washing, etc.) and a little longer cooking, the effect of the acidic environment on the potatoes is completely neutralized.