This clear beet broth slightly tangy and peppery balanced by the mild flavour of mushroom tortellini adding the perfect punch of flavour to a Christmas meal.

A true Polish Christmas dinner, called Wigilia, is incomplete without a hot bowl of beet soup with mushroom tortellini.

If you didn’t know this already, in Poland the big Christmas dinner is on Christmas Eve. And, it involves no meat! Shocking, I know. Wigilia, the Christmas Eve dinner, is a pescatarian meal which involves this delicious soup, Polish potato salad, carp, perogies and a bunch of other delicious dishes.

In my house, we also evolved over the years to include the most incredible smoked salmon tartare spread. Now that I think about it our grilled herb and garlic shrimp and spicy chili shrimp would also be great additions to our Christmas Eve dinner.

Preparing Beet Soup with Mushroom Tortellini

Ingredients

Vegetable stock: I use vegetable stock in this recipe because of its mild flavour. It also makes this soup vegetarian. Vegetable stock is made by cooking vegetables and some spices to release the flavours. The liquid is the broth or stock that is then used for other means, such as the base for this cauliflower soup.

Beets: Beets or beetroot are the roots of the beet plant. The leaves are also edible and very healthy. Beets have a deep purply-red colour and are full of nutrients. They are high in sugar so, when cooked do have a slightly sweet taste. Canned whole beets in water are simply cooked beets that are canned.

Bay leaves: Bay leaves are the leaves of the bay laurel tree. Bay leaves are most often added to dishes whole and then removed after cooking, before serving. When used in their dry form they don’t soften during the cooking process so are not pleasant to eat.

Allspice: Allspice is a ground unripe berry that comes from a tropical plant called Pimenta diaoica. It is used in many cuisines including Mexican, Jamaican and middle eastern. It is a very strong, smoky and almost sweet flavour and should be used carefully as it can easily overpower a meal.

Garlic: Garlic is a bulb that is edible and is grown in soil. Though the green shoots it sprouts, called garlic scapes, are also edible, we are referring to the actual bulb that the scapes grow from. Garlic bulbs are made up of multiple cloves and depending on the variety you may have anywhere from 4 to 10 cloves, if not more. This is important to know because recipes will often call for a specific number of cloves which can vary in size greatly.

White vinegar: Vinegar is made of acidic (<10%) acid and water (>90%). It is a clear liquid that is very acidic in taste. It is typically used in cooking or for pickling.

Red borscht concentrate: Made from concentrated beet juice, citric acid, sugar and other spices. This concentrate is an added flavour booster to the traditional Christmas Eve beet soup, or barszcz czysty.

Sugar: White or granulated sugar is refined sugar made from either cane sugar or beet sugar. It is completely freed of molasses through the refining process and ground into granules smaller than salt.

Mushroom tortellini: Tortellini is a pasta that is filled with stuffing, often beef cheese or mushrooms. The pasta is cut into small squares, the stuffing is placed in the middle of the square. Then one corner is folded onto the opposite corner and the sides are pressed together to seal the edges leaving a stuffed triangle shape. The last step is to take the bottom two edges of your triangle and stick them together to make a ring shape that in Polish we call uszka.

How to Make Beet Soup with Mushroom Tortellini

This soup is deceivingly simple. There is minimal prep, and it basically cooks itself. So grab your ingredients and let’s get started.

Step 1: Make the Beet Stock

Start by opening the cans of beets, but don’t get rid of the liquid!! Pour the can contents into a large pot with, liquid and all.

If you are using whole beets, cut them into smaller pieces.

TIP: While still in the can, take a knife and randomly chop up the beets. No need to be precise or consistent since we won’t be using the beets anyway.

Then add the stock, bay leaves and allspice and boil for 30 minutes on medium heat.

Step 2: Cook the Tortellini

While the soup is cooking, you need to cook the tortellini. Typically the tortellini doesn’t take long, so read the package instructions before starting to make sure everything is done roughly at the same time. Add water to a large pot and cook the tortellini according to package instructions. Once it’s ready, strain the pasta and set it aside until you’re ready to serve.

Step 3: Flavour the Soup

After 30 minutes, peel the garlic and press or grate it into the pot.

Stir and cook for another 10 minutes.

Strain the soup to remove the vegetables and herbs then pour the clear liquid back into the same pot.

To finish off the soup, add the vinegar, salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and stir in ½ the bottle of concentrate continuing to stir.

Taste the soup to see if you want to add any sugar. Add ¼ tsp of sugar at a time stirring and tasting in between.

Substitutions

Sliced Beets: You can use whole beets instead just cut them up into smaller pieces before pouting the can into the pot.

Mushroom tortellini: If you’re not trying to stick to Polish tradition then you can use beef or cheese tortellini for this recipe.

Serving Christmas Eve Beet Soup with Mushroom Tortellini

All the ingredients that you need to serve the perfect Christmas Eve beet soup with mushroom tortellini is right there in the title.

Scoop some of the tortellini into a bowl and pour a couple of ladles of soup over the noodles.

Serve immediately while still hot.

Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.

Are you looking for dinner ideas? Check out our recipes:

Christmas Eve Beet Soup with Mushroom Tortellini (Barszcz Czysty)