By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026
Okroshka takes its name from a Russian verb meaning to chop finely, and every spoonful shows why: small cubes of potato, egg, ham, cucumber and crisp red radish, flecked with dill and scallion. Russians make it in summer, when new-season cucumbers, radishes and herbs are at their best. Milk kefir turns the cold broth creamy, pale and gently sour.
Kvass or kefir, the great summer argument
The older base for the soup is kvass, a fermented rye drink with a pronounced bread-like tang. Kefir took its place in Soviet times and gives a milder, creamier soup. The choice still splits Russians almost evenly into a kvass camp and a kefir camp. Either way, okroshka belongs to picnics and to the dacha, the family's summer country house, where it is ladled into clay or enamel bowls.
Why the kefir meets sparkling water
Salt and the juice from cut vegetables tend to thicken kefir, so Russian cooks loosen it with cold sparkling water. Equal parts make a classic thin broth, while two parts kefir to one part water give a thicker, creamier soup. The light fizz also recalls the sparkle of a kvass base. Every ingredient must be cold before it meets the kefir, because warm potato can make it curdle. Cold also dulls flavour, so taste the chilled soup before you decide on more salt.
Garlic-rubbed black bread and dill ice cubes
Okroshka comes to the table cold as a light meal. Serve it with black bread whose crust has been rubbed with a freshly cut garlic clove. Some Russian cooks add two or three ice cubes to each bowl, each one frozen around a dill leaf, with horseradish and egg yolk mashed with mustard on the side. Boiled chicken or beef can replace the ham, but fried meat does not belong in the bowl. For a meatless bowl, keep just the potato and egg.
Okroshka (Kefir Summer Soup)
Ingredients
- 2 medium potatoes About 300 g in total; waxy potatoes hold their shape when diced.
- 2 eggs
- 300 g cooked ham Ready-to-eat ham, suitable for dicing.
- 2 small cucumbers
- 125 g red radishes Small radishes with red skin and white flesh.
- 30 g scallions
- 10 g fresh dill Check herb or specialist produce shops for fresh dill.
- 1000 ml plain milk kefir Chilled and unsweetened; measure with a jug.
- 500 ml plain sparkling water Chilled, unsweetened and unflavoured.
- ½ tsp salt The ham is already salty, so taste the soup before adding salt.
You will need
- Saucepan
- Small saucepan
- Knife and chopping board
- Large bowl with a lid
- Mixing spoon
- Measuring jug
- Shallow containers
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes and put them, unpeeled, in a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 20–25 minutes, until a fork slides in easily.
- While the potatoes cook, put the eggs in a separate saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes, until both whites and yolks are firm, then transfer to cold water to cool.
- Drain the potatoes and let them cool just enough to handle. Peel and dice the potatoes and cooled eggs, spread them in shallow containers and refrigerate promptly until completely cold. Do not wait for them to cool fully on the counter.
- Rinse the cucumbers, radishes, scallions and dill under running water and drain well.
- Trim the radishes and dice them along with the cucumbers. Finely chop the scallions and dill.
- Cut the ham into small cubes.
- Combine the completely chilled potatoes and eggs with the ham, cucumbers, radishes, scallions and dill in the large bowl.
- Mix the cold kefir and sparkling water in a measuring jug.
- Gently stir the kefir mixture into the chopped ingredients. Taste, then add as much of the measured salt as needed.
- Cover and refrigerate for 60 minutes. Taste the cold soup again, add a little more salt if needed, then serve.
Comments
No comments yet.
Comments could not be loaded.
Join the discussion
or