Inspired by Lithuanian Saltibarsciai, this easy vegan cold beet soup recipe has cucumbers, scallions, lemon juice, cashews, horseradish and fresh dill. It’s a very tasty creamy vegan cucumber beet soup recipe!
Traditionally, Lithuanian cold beet soup uses buttermilk or kefir, and is topped with hard boiled eggs. For this inspired vegan version, we’ll be using cashew cream with a good amount of lemon juice, and skipping the hard boiled eggs altogether.
This recipe serves 4.
A few things…
- ・For this vegan chilled beet soup, you can either roast beets in the oven or use prepackaged plain cooked beets, like Melissa’s or Love Beets. If you use the prepackaged cooked beets, you’ll need to grate them until you have 2 cups.
- ・I like to peel beets before roasting them, but it’s a matter of personal preference. I use a potato peeler to remove the dirty exterior and rinse the beets off.
- ・Using a box grater works best for grating the cucumbers or beets, and doesn’t take much time at all. Shredding the beets in a food processor can be a crap shoot. Sometimes, it turns the cooked beets to mush.
- ・To make the cashew cream, you’ll need a high speed blender, like a Vitamix or Ninja.
- ・Like a strong scallion flavor? Slice up the white and green part of the scallion and add it. For a more subtle flavor, just use the green part.
This vegan cold beet soup recipe is perfect for summer. It’s very refreshing. After a few hours chilling in the refrigerator, it’s absolutely tasty.
Explore more UVK recipes, like Beet Potato Salad with Sauerkraut, Asparagus Potato Salad with Fresh Dill and Horseradish, Roasted Fennel and Beets, and Carrot and Beet Salad with Fresh Dill and Roasted Pistachios 💚
Vegan Cold Beet Soup
2 medium red beets (OR 2 cups grated cooked beets – see notes above)
1 cup raw whole cashews
3 cups water
1 cup grated English cucumber
⅓ cup thinly sliced scallion (see notes above)
5 Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp prepared horseradish
1½ tsp salt
Chopped fresh dill, to serve
1. If using prepackaged cooked beets for this soup, skip to Step 2. If roasting your beets in the oven, wrap each beet in foil. Place them in an oven-safe pan. Bake at 400º F for 60 minutes or until completely cooked through. Remove from the oven and completely cool.
2. Grate the cooked beets and cucumbers. Add them to a large mixing bowl.
3. In a high speed blender, like a Vitamix or Ninja, add the raw whole cashews and water. Blend until completely smooth.
4. Add the scallion, lemon juice, horseradish and salt to the mixing bowl.
5. Pour the cashew cream from the blender into the mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Taste the vegan cold beet soup and adjust seasonings, if needed (more salt or lemon juice?). Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve topped with fresh dill.
