National Dish Ukraine: Okroshka (Recipe)
In this article
Okroshka is a cold soup of diced everything — cucumber, radish, spring onion, egg, boiled meat — floating in either kefir or kvass. Which base you use is a matter of genuine partisanship: kvass gives a sour, faintly bready tang, kefir a creamy one. Either way it is a summer dish and it is served ice cold.
About Okroshka
Okroshka is Ukraine’s invigorating cold summer soup. Crisp cucumbers, radishes, spring onions, egg and tender boiled meat float in a refreshing base of kefir or kvass. Perfect on a hot day. Okroshka is about as simple to make as a dish can be and remarkably refreshing, which is why it appears on every table between June and August.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 200 g cooked lean meat (chicken, beef or ham), diced
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 4–5 radishes, sliced
- 2 spring onions, sliced into rings
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, diced
- 2–3 sprigs dill, chopped
- 750 ml kefir or kvass (thinned with cold water if you like)
- 1 teaspoon mustard, optional, for the kvass version
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Shopping for the ingredients
Kvass is sold in Eastern European shops, buy the sour, traditional kind rather than the sweetened soft-drink version, which ruins the dish. Kefir is the easier and increasingly more common base. Any leftover cooked meat works; boiled chicken is the standard.
Preparing the dish
Dice everything to roughly the same small size, which is what makes okroshka pleasant to eat rather than awkward. Chill all the components. Assembling takes five minutes once the chopping is done.
Step-by-step instructions
- Dice the cooked meat, cucumber and eggs to an even small size.
- Slice the radishes thinly and the spring onions into rings.
- Combine everything in a large bowl.
- Season with salt and pepper and add the mustard if using kvass.
- Pour over the chilled kefir or kvass.
- Thin with cold water to the consistency you prefer.
- Fold through the chopped dill.
- Chill for at least 1 hour and serve very cold, with ice cubes if you like.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
The kefir version is gluten-free; kvass is made from bread and is not. For lactose-free, use kvass or a plant kefir. Both work, though they give quite different soups.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
Leave out the meat and use extra egg or boiled potato, and okroshka is vegetarian; with plant kefir or kvass and no egg it is vegan. The vegetable version is common in its own right, not merely a substitution.
More tips and tricks
Serve it genuinely cold, with ice if necessary. This is the entire point of the dish. Dice everything evenly. And season more than feels right, since cold food needs more salt than hot.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Boiled potato is a common addition and makes it more filling. Sour cream stirred in enriches the kefir version. Horseradish is the traditional sharpener alongside mustard.
Ingredient substitutions
Buttermilk or thinned yoghurt replace kefir. Ham, sausage or boiled beef all work as the meat. Mineral water with lemon makes a light, non-traditional base.
Drink pairing ideas
Kvass alongside, if you made it with kefir. Cold beer suits it. Water is genuinely enough, since the soup is mostly liquid.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve okroshka in deep bowls straight from the fridge, with extra dill and sour cream on the table. Dark rye bread on the side. In summer it is often the whole meal rather than a starter.
A bit of history
Okroshka is old, versions are recorded in the eighteenth century and its ancestors go back further, to the practice of eating leftover cold meat with kvass. The kvass-versus-kefir question divides households and regions, and the argument is conducted with some feeling. It offers a genuine window onto Ukrainian cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Okroshka
Okroshka is diced cucumber, radish, egg and cooked meat in cold kefir or kvass with plenty of dill. Dice it evenly, season boldly, and serve it as cold as you can get it.
