Šaltibarščiai (Lithuanian Pink Soup)
You may have seen this viral “Barbie soup” floating around the internet, also known as Šaltibarščiai, or “Lithuanian pink soup”. This soup is both vegetarian-friendly and gluten-free, but unlike my gluten-free cream of mushroom soup, this soup is served cold! The perfect refreshing dish for a hot day!
So what exactly is this soup and why is it pink? Well, let’s start with the pronunciation of Šaltibarščiai, which is said like “shult-ay-bursh-chay”. Okay, that’s the hard part. The actual preparation of the soup is very simple: you start with a base of kefir or buttermilk, then add in cucumbers, herbs, and, the most important ingredient, beets.
You’ve probably figured it out by now but the beets are what give it that rich pink color! Cold beet soup is a staple not only in Lithuanian cuisine, but varieties can be found all over Eastern Europe, such as borscht in Ukraine and chłodnik in Poland.
Šaltibarščiai is typically served with hard-boiled eggs on top, and boiled potatoes on the side! You might want to try your hand at making cepelinai, Lithuanian potato dumplings, or do some research into other Lithuanian recipes!
🥄 Why This Recipe Works
- This recipe is very easy to make and involves almost no cooking (apart from boiling the eggs, but you can always buy pre-cooked eggs!)
- Šaltibarščiai is extremely healthy, as well as vegetarian and gluten-free.
- This soup is very refreshing on a hot day!
- Lithuanian pink soup is a great recipe to try if you’re looking to expand your pallet, or, in my case, if you’re trying to find ways to actually enjoy eating beets.
🛒 What You Need To Make Šaltibarščiai
📝 Recipe Modifications And Substitutions
- Cucumbers: Persian or English cucumbers work best, but any variety will do!
- Fresh dill: This is one of the primary flavors of the soup so I don’t recommend subbing it!
- Green onions: Chives work just as well!
- Beets: I recommend using a combination of both fresh beets (cooked) and pickled beets, but you can use one or the other if you prefer.
- Pickles: Dill pickles are optional but I definitely recommend using them. Try my quickles recipe if you want a quick way to make your own pickles at home.
- Kefir: If you can’t find kefir milk at your local supermarket, you can also use buttermilk. Or, if you want to make this recipe vegan-friendly, you can use soy milk with some lemon juice to add acidity.
- Spices: A bit of salt & pepper are all that is traditionally added!
- Other things to consider: Depending on your taste, you may want to add some pickle juice, freshly squeezed lemon juice, radishes, horseradish, or tofu.
🥒 How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Add eggs to a pot, cover with cold water, and bring the water to a boil. Boil the eggs for 12 minutes, then run under cold water, peel, slice, and set aside.
Pro Tip: Feel free to boil some extra eggs if you want to add more to your soup than the recipe calls for, or if you just want hard-boiled eggs to have on-hand!
Step 2: Chop cucumber, pickles, dill, and green onions and add to a large bowl. Then add kefir, chopped beets, salt, and pepper.
Pro Tip: I used both fresh and pickled beets, both of which came pre-cooked. If you can only find raw beets, boil them for 20-40 minutes or until they’re easy to pierce with a fork.
Step 3: Stir until ingredients are evenly combined, then serve and top with boiled egg.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Kefir is a super healthy fermented milk, similar to a thin yogurt and packed with probiotics. It’s made by inoculating dairy milk with kefir grains, a type of mesophili symbiotic culture.
Beets and beetroot are exactly the same. While Americans usually call them “beets”, they’re more commonly referred to as “beetroots” in the UK.
The exact origins of pink soup are often debated. It’s thought that pink soup was invented in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a European state that was partitioned in 1795 between Prussia, the Russian Empire, and the Hapsburg Empire of Austria. However, the oldest known recorded recipes date back to the 19th century.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Pickled beets are typically gluten-free, but always check the ingredients on the label if that’s a concern.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but keep in mind that the colors will start to change (because of the beets) the longer you wait to eat them.
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Šaltibarščiai (Lithuanian Pink Soup)
Ingredients
- ½ cup cucumber
- ¼ cup pickled cucumbers
- ¼ cup dill
- ⅛ cup green onions
- ¼ lb beets
- ¼ lb pickled beets
- 2 cups kefir
- 2 large eggs
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Add eggs to a pot, cover with cold water, and bring the water to a boil. Boil the eggs for 12 minutes, then run under cold water, peel, slice, and set aside.
- Chop cucumber, pickles, dill, and green onions and add to a large bowl. Then add kefir, chopped beets, salt, and pepper.
- Stir until ingredients are evenly combined, then serve and top with boiled egg.
Notes
- Feel free to boil some extra eggs if you want to add more to your soup than the recipe calls for, or if you just want hard-boiled eggs to have on-hand!
- I used both fresh and pickled beets, both of which came pre-cooked. If you can only find raw beets, boil them for 20-40 minutes or until they’re easy to pierce with a fork.
- Pickled beets are typically gluten-free, but always check the ingredients on the label if that’s a concern.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but keep in mind that the colors will start to change (because of the beets) the longer you wait to eat them.
What a beautiful soup! Another one to put on my list to try, when I have beets.
It’s definitely the prettiest soup i’ve ever made! Hope you enjoy!