Okroshka (Okroshka - Ukrainian Cold Summer Soup)

  • Total time (including chilling) - 3 hours
  • Active prep - 20 minutes
  • Chilling - 2 hours
  • Servings: 6
  • Country: Ukraine
Cold Okroshka soup in a bowl with chopped vegetables, cold cuts, and poured over with a white kefir base, garnished with dill.

Originally, Okroshka was only poured over with kvass, but in modern kitchens, kefir mixed with water is often used to achieve the necessary sourness and thickness.

All ingredients must be diced into very small, uniform cubes, and the soup must be thoroughly chilled before serving.

Ingredients

Solid Mixture (Filling)

  • 3 pieces boiled potatoes (in their skin, chilled)
  • 4 pieces hard-boiled eggs (chilled)
  • 2 pieces fresh cucumber
  • 10 pieces radishes
  • 200 g ham/boiled beef/cold cuts (Doktorskaya style)
  • 1 bunch green onion (chopped)
  • 4 tbsp dill (fresh, chopped)

Base (Liquid)

  • 1 l kvass OR kefir (buttermilk/sour milk)
  • 200 ml water (or sparkling water, if using kefir)
  • 4 tbsp sour cream (for softening and serving)
  • 1 tsp sharp mustard (Dijon)
  • to taste salt and black pepper

Instructions

Step 1: Preparing Cooked Ingredients

Boil the potatoes in their skin until tender and the eggs until hard-boiled. Let both ingredients cool completely.

Peel them and, along with the cooked meat/cold cuts, dice them into small cubes (approx. 5 mm).

Step 2: Preparing Fresh Vegetables

Wash the cucumbers and radishes and dice them into the same small cubes. Finely chop the green onion and dill.

Step 3: Mixing the Solid Mixture

Combine all the chopped solid ingredients (potatoes, eggs, cucumbers, radishes, cold cuts, onion, dill) in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 4: Preparing the Base (Liquid)

In another bowl, mix the kefir (or kvass) with water and sour cream. Stir in the mustard and taste. If the mixture is not sour enough, you can add a drop of vinegar or lemon juice.

The base must be very cold. If using kvass, only add sour cream and mustard (kvass is already sour).

Step 5: Assembly and Serving

Let the solid mixture chill in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours if you didn't use already chilled ingredients.

The soup is often assembled only when serving: place the solid mixture at the bottom of the bowl and pour over the cold kefir/kvass base.

Serve immediately, extra cold, ideally with ice cubes.