 Mass migration from the Russian Empire to North America – initially mosty by members of persecuted religious minorities – was instrumental in bringing borscht across the Atlantic . The earliest waves of migration occurred at a time when cabbage @-@ based borscht was still the dominant variant of the soup in at least parts of Russia . The Mennonites , who began arriving in Canada and the United States from Russia 's Volga region in the 1870s , still eschew beetroots in their borscht ; instead , Mennonite varieties include Komst Borscht ( with cabbage or sauerkraut ) and Somma Borscht ( sorrel @-@ based " summer borscht " ) . According to the Jewish Encyclopedia published in 1906 , cabbage @-@ based kraut borscht was also more popular than the beet @-@ based variant in American Jewish cuisine at the time . Subsequent Jewish immigration helped popularize the red borscht in America . 
