 Borscht is a tart soup popular in several East European cuisines , including Ukrainian , Russian , Polish , Belarusian , Lithuanian , Romanian and Ashkenazi Jewish . The variety most commonly associated with the name in English is of Ukrainian origin and includes beetroots as one of the main ingredients , which gives the dish a distinctive red color . It shares the name , however , with a wide selection of sour @-@ tasting soups without beetroots , such as sorrel @-@ based green borscht , rye @-@ based white borscht , cabbage borscht , etc . 
