National Dish Ukraine: Holodnyk (Recipe)
In this article
Holodnyk is cold borscht, and it is an astonishing colour — beetroot bleeding into kefir turns the whole bowl a vivid pink. Cucumber, radish, hard-boiled egg and a great deal of dill go in, and it is served straight from the fridge on hot days. The name comes from kholod, cold.
About Holodnyk
Holodnyk is Ukraine’s refreshing cold beetroot soup. Sweet, earthy beetroot meets crisp cucumber, radishes, egg and dill in a cool buttermilk or kefir base, a genuine summer pleasure on a hot day. Holodnyk is the cold sister of the famous borscht and wins people over with its brilliant pink colour and refreshing acidity.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 2 small to medium beetroot, cooked
- 1 cucumber
- 4–5 radishes
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 500 ml kefir or buttermilk (thinned with water if you like)
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated, optional
- Fresh dill and parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- A squeeze of lemon juice or vinegar
Shopping for the ingredients
Vacuum-packed cooked beetroot is a perfectly good shortcut. Just avoid the kind in vinegar, which is too sharp. Kefir is better than buttermilk here for its thickness and tang. Dill is not optional; it is the defining herb of the dish and needs to go in by the handful.
Preparing the dish
Cook and cool the beetroot, then grate or dice it small. Everything is cut fine, since this is a soup you eat with a spoon and every mouthful should have some of everything. Chill all the components before assembling.
Step-by-step instructions
- Cook the beetroot until tender, cool and peel; grate coarsely or dice small.
- Dice the cucumber and slice the radishes thinly.
- Chop one egg and reserve the other, halved, for the top.
- Combine the beetroot, cucumber and radish in a bowl.
- Pour over the kefir, thinning with cold water to the consistency you want.
- Add the garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Fold through plenty of chopped dill and parsley.
- Chill for at least 2 hours; serve very cold with the halved egg on top.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Holodnyk is naturally gluten-free. For a lactose-free version, use a plant kefir or thinned plant yoghurt, the beetroot and dill carry the flavour and the substitution works well.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
The soup is vegetarian as written. Leave out the eggs and use plant kefir and it is vegan; diced boiled potato restores some of the substance the eggs provided.
More tips and tricks
Serve it genuinely cold. This is a soup that depends entirely on temperature, and a lukewarm holodnyk is a sad thing. Chill every component before mixing. And add the acid carefully, since kefir is already sour.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Diced boiled potato makes it more substantial. Spring onion in place of garlic is milder. Some households add a little of the beetroot cooking water for a deeper colour and earthier flavour.
Ingredient substitutions
Buttermilk, kefir and thinned yoghurt are interchangeable. Beetroot leaves cooked and chopped can go in too. Vinegar substitutes for lemon.
Drink pairing ideas
Kvass, the fermented bread drink, is the traditional Ukrainian summer pairing. Cold water with lemon is refreshing. A crisp white wine works at a meal.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve holodnyk in bowls straight from the fridge, with a halved boiled egg on top, extra dill and a spoonful of sour cream if you like. The pink is the whole visual appeal, so use white bowls. Dark rye bread on the side.
A bit of history
Cold soured-milk soups are made across the Baltic and eastern Europe, the Lithuanian šaltibarščiai is the same dish under another name, and they belong to the brief, intense summers of the region. Holodnyk is Ukraine’s version and is genuinely seasonal, appearing in June and gone by September. It offers a genuine window onto Ukrainian cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Holodnyk
Holodnyk is cooked beetroot, cucumber, radish and egg in cold kefir with masses of dill. Chill everything, serve it very cold, and do not be shy with the herbs.
