The rich taste of meat-free kharcho is a well-collected bouquet of spices and herbs. Vegetarian recipe for a traditional Georgian dish with step-by-step cooking instructions.

Taste characteristics of kharcho soup without adding meat

In national Georgian cuisine, kharcho soup is a dish with many flavors. Each ingredient in the soup plays a special role. The basis of the dish is rice, garlic and sour tklapi. Without these ingredients, the dish is unthinkable for a real Georgian. A vegetarian version of the soup without meat retains its richness of flavor, but has lower calorie content and is easily digestible. When preparing it, much attention is paid to the selection of spices and herbs. You can't go overboard or undersleep here. The slightest deviation leads to a loss of harmony, and kharcho turns into an ordinary lean vegetable soup with rice.

We chose a recipe in which the meatless soup retains its inherent heat and richness, despite the fact that it is lean. The spices and individual ingredients collected in it create an amazing melody of taste, indicating that this is kharcho. The soft sourness of tomatoes, the pleasant bitterness of walnuts, the spicy aroma of garlic and the exciting spiciness of pepper are organically combined with delicate notes of greenery. This is how the vegetarian soup kharcho without meat is born, which is not much inferior in refinement of taste to the same soup with meat.

What products to take for soup

To bring our recipe to life, you will have to check the shelves with spices and buy a few things. Since the soup is lean, we will refuse butter and replace it with vegetable oil. What do you need to take to make a real vegetarian kharcho?

The following products will be required:

  • rice – 100 grams;
  • tomatoes – 3 large pieces;
  • carrots – 1 large piece;
  • onion – 1 large head;
  • walnuts – 50 grams;
  • garlic – 2 large cloves;
  • vegetable oil for sautéing – 1-2 tbsp. spoons;
  • hot pepper, turmeric, sweet paprika, salt - to taste;
  • greens – parsley, dill, cilantro;
  • sugar – 1 tsp;
  • water – 2.5 liters.

Tip: you can use suneli hops as a seasoning. They will give the dish a Georgian flavor and enhance the taste characteristics.

The recipe used is for 4 servings. It takes approximately 1 hour to cook.

Preparing the soup ingredients

Properly organized preliminary preparation of the components of any dish helps the housewife save time, avoid unnecessary fussiness in searching for the right ingredient and ensures comfort of action.

Our kharcho recipe includes products that do not require long processing. Since the soup is lean, there is no need to prepare the meat.

We have to:

  1. Rinse the rice several times and leave it in a deep plate.
  2. Peel the onions and carrots. Finely chop the onion and grate the carrots.
  3. Wash the tomatoes and cut into small cubes.
  4. Peel the garlic and chop finely.
  5. Peel and crush walnuts.
  6. Chop the greens.
  7. Select the seeds from the hot pepper and chop it finely.

For convenience, place all prepared ingredients on separate plates.

The basic preparation is now complete, it’s time to start preparing the first dish.

Step-by-step preparation

Now everything is at hand, it remains to remind you that you can make some changes to our recipe. Let's say you take less garlic and hot pepper, thereby reducing the hotness of the soup. Lenten broth will acquire a delicate flavor if you replace the vegetable oil with butter. Try different options so that not only you will like the masterpiece you have prepared.

Let's get to cooking

  1. Pour water into a pan, put it on the stove, turn on the burner to maximum and wait for the water to boil.
  2. Take a frying pan, add oil, use medium heat.
  3. Pour the onion into the pan, fry lightly, add the carrots.
  4. Mix cilantro, garlic, hot pepper and nuts. We send them to the onions and carrots, sauté for 2-3 minutes, add a little hot water and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
  5. Pour rice into boiling water. Add sautéed ingredients. Continue cooking until the rice is ready.
  6. Place the tomatoes in a frying pan and simmer until smooth.
  7. When the tomatoes are ready, put them in the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes and turn off. We wait a few minutes for the broth to brew and pour it into plates.

Step 1: prepare the potatoes.

First of all, prepare the potatoes. We rinse the tubers under cold running water to remove soil and any other contaminants. Place them in a deep saucepan and fill with plain water so that the liquid is at least one level above the level of the potatoes. 10 – 12 centimeters and place the container on the stove, turned on at a high level. After the water boils, turn the stove level to medium temperature and cook the potatoes until fully cooked, this process will take approximately 20 – 25 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare the remaining ingredients.


While the potatoes are cooking, prepare all the other ingredients you will need to make the soup. We take the required amount of walnuts, put them in a plastic bag, release the air from it, close it with a zipper, and using a rolling pin, chop the nuts into pieces of arbitrary shape and approximate diameter from 7 to 8 millimeters and transfer them to a deep plate. We sort the rice, remove damaged grains, place in a colander with a fine mesh and rinse under cold running water to remove dust. Then leave the rice grains in a colander for 5 – 7 minutes, to drain excess liquid and then transfer them to a deep plate.
Peel the onions, carrots, garlic, wash the vegetables under running water along with a bunch of fresh parsley, dry them with paper kitchen towels to remove excess moisture, then place them one by one on a cutting board and chop the onion into cubes up to 1 centimeter
Cut the carrots into rings up to a thickness 5 millimeters and then into straws.
Cut the garlic into pieces of arbitrary shape with an approximate diameter of up to 5 – 7 millimeters.
Shake fresh parsley over the sink to remove excess liquid and simply chop finely. Place the cuts on separate deep plates. While the vegetables were being prepared, the potatoes were cooked, drain the water from the pan, holding it with a kitchen towel, transfer the potatoes to a plate and let cool. After that, remove the peel from it, put it on a cutting board, cut into cubes with a diameter of up to 3 – 4 centimeters and transfer back to the plate.
Pour the required amount of pure distilled water into a measuring glass and place the container on the kitchen table along with tomato paste, vegetable oil, salt and all the necessary spices indicated in the recipe.

Step 3: prepare lean kharcho.


We take a large cauldron, place it on the stove, turned on to medium level, and pour the required amount of vegetable oil into it. When the fat is hot, very carefully add tomato paste to it and simmer it, stirring with a kitchen spatula for 2 – 3 minutes. Then add the onions and carrots, and fry the vegetables until half cooked for 3 – 4 minutes. Then put chopped walnuts and all the spices indicated in the ingredients into the cauldron. We continue to fry the ingredients of the soup 3 – 5 minutes and then fill them with the required amount of clean distilled water.
When the liquid comes to a boil, pour the washed rice into the cauldron, reduce the stove temperature to a level between low and medium and cook the grains until fully cooked for 15 – 20 minutes. Then add boiled potatoes to the cauldron.
Add chopped herbs and cook the soup some more 5 minutes.
Then turn off the stove, cover the cauldron with a lid and let the soup brew 7 – 10 minutes. After some time, we arm ourselves with a ladle, pour the soup into deep plates and serve it as the first hot dish for lunch.

Step 4: serve lean kharcho.


Lenten soup kharcho is served hot. You can complement this yummy with lean mayonnaise based on apples, soy or starch. Also, if desired, before serving, each serving of soup can be sprinkled with chopped cilantro, parsley, dill, basil or green onions. This soup is a pleasure to savor with a piece of lean rye bread or with lean rolls! Cook with love and enjoy delicious Lenten food! Bon appetit!

- – The spices indicated in this recipe can be supplemented with any others that are suitable for making soups, such as garlic powder, savory, sage and many others.

- – Instead of dried parsley root, you can use fresh one by chopping it in the same way as carrots and simmering it along with all the vegetables before adding water.

- – The amount of water can be adjusted from 2 to 3 liters, it all depends on how thick the soup you want to get in the end.

- – Nuts can be chopped in any other way convenient for you, for example in a blender.

Lenten soup kharcho with rice, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers and tomatoes. Today we will prepare a lean/vegan high-calorie and filling soup from rice and vegetables.

Lenten soup kharcho recipe

Compound:

Rice 2 tablespoons
Potatoes 70 gr
Carrots 50 gr
Sweet bell pepper 50 gr
Tomatoes 70 gr
Vegetable oil 40 ml (2 tablespoons)
Salt 5 g (1 teaspoon)
Ground black pepper 3 g (1/2 teaspoon)

Cooking time:

25 minutes


Step 1 Preparing the base

The basis of kharcho soup is rice.

Rinse the rice well. (You can use short-grain, readily available rice.) Pour in 400 ml of water. Place on the fire and cook for 5 minutes after boiling.


Step 2 Preparing vegetables

Rinse and peel the carrots well. Cut into 0.5 cm cubes. Add to rice.

Wash the sweet bell peppers. Clean and do not throw away the core. Remove seeds and add to rice and carrots. Cook until carrots are done (7-10 minutes)


ATTENTION!!! Cook the soup with the lid open as the soup will boil over. And stir regularly to prevent the rice from burning.

Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut into 0.7 cm cubes. Add to the soup when the carrots are ready. Add salt and ground black pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes.

Step 3 Preparing the roast

Cut the sweet bell pepper into squares.


Heat the oil in a frying pan or heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add chopped sweet bell pepper. Fry with the lid closed for 5-7 minutes until the pepper is ready.


Rinse the tomato. Cut into cubes and add to sweet bell pepper. Fry for 3 minutes until the tomatoes are soft.



Add the roast to the soup. Bring to a boil. Cook for 3 minutes and remove from heat.

You cannot cook with meat broth or beef on fasting days. An excellent option for Lent would be a dish like kharcho soup. Try the aromatic and satisfying, and, not least important, low-calorie soup kharcho. It is cooked in vegetable broth, rice, vegetables, and tomato paste are added. Mandatory ingredients are various herbs, spices, and garlic. Some recipes include potatoes. Nuts are added for a refined taste. The recipes are simple and can be prepared at home. There are many variations of recipes - classic, traditional kharcho. This dish will be very useful for those who are fasting.

If you don’t know how to cook lean kharcho soup, quickly grab your pens and write down step-by-step recipes with photos.

Classic soup kharcho recipe

An interesting version of kharcho with the addition of cinnamon.

Ingredients:

  • 100 grams of rice;
  • 3 potatoes;
  • carrot;
  • onion;
  • several cloves of garlic;
  • 100 grams of tomato paste or sauce;
  • refined oil;
  • laurel;
  • hops-sunelli;
  • Chile;
  • salt;
  • cinnamon;
  • greenery;
  • allspice;
  • a handful of walnuts.

Let's prepare the vegetables - finely chop the onion, grate the carrots, cut the garlic into small pieces. Save 1 clove for later. Boil the potatoes in advance, do not remove the skins. Simmer the tomato paste (sauce) in a saucepan, then add the garlic and onions and continue to simmer for several minutes. Lastly, add the walnuts and spices. And most importantly, a pinch of cinnamon. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring well. When the roast is ready, pour in 3 liters of boiling water (can be replaced with vegetable broth). Let it simmer until the rice is cooked. Next, add boiled potatoes and turn off after boiling. Add chopped herbs and crushed garlic to the finished soup. Bon appetit!

Lenten kharcho

One of the delicious homemade recipes for lean kharcho. The thick consistency of the dish resembles a stew. The soup turns out nutritious and will lick your fingers.

Ingredients:

  • unparboiled rice 4 tbsp. spoons;
  • potatoes 2 pcs.;
  • water 3 liters;
  • half a kilogram of tomatoes (can be replaced with 3-4 tablespoons of tomato paste);
  • bulb;
  • vegetable oil;
  • a clove of garlic;
  • a bouquet of greens (cilantro, parsley, dill);
  • pepper, salt.

Before cooking, soak the rice in warm water. Pour water into a saucepan and put it on fire. Before the water boils, prepare the vegetables. Cut the peeled potatoes into small cubes. Chop the onion and garlic. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes to make it easier to remove the peel later. Cut the peeled tomatoes into squares.

First, fry the onion in vegetable oil. As soon as it turns golden, add one part of the tomato. Simmer covered for 4-5 minutes.

Look, if the water has boiled, then add the rice, lower the potatoes and tomatoes that were put aside. Stir the contents of the pan. When the potatoes are cooked, you can fry them in a pan. Salt the contents and add spices. The soup will be ready in about 12 minutes. Chop the herbs and garlic into the finished soup. You shouldn’t eat it right away, let it sit for a while.

Lenten soup kharcho in a slow cooker (step by step)

In the modern world, various devices have been invented for comfortable cooking. A multicooker is a necessary item in the kitchen, especially when you don’t have extra time to spend time at the stove. Kharcho soup cooked in a slow cooker without meat is in no way inferior to kharcho cooked on the stove.

The dish will be tastier if cooked in vegetable broth.

For three liters of broth you will need: 0.1 kg of rice, onions (several pieces, depending on size), a handful of peeled walnuts, a couple of spoons of sauce or tomato paste, a bunch of herbs, hot red pepper, suneli hops, salt, garlic, refined oil.

If you like the onion dissolved in the broth, then chop it in a blender. Otherwise, finely chop. Pour washed rice, onions, chopped nuts, salt and bay leaves into the multicooker. Don't forget to add the paste and sunelli hops. For a richer taste, you can add some dried tomatoes. Fill the contents of the bowl with vegetable broth. If it is not there, then boiling water. Mix the contents of the bowl, pour in a little vegetable oil for taste.

Cook lean kharcho for 10-12 minutes. Open the lid of the multicooker, add chopped herbs and garlic.

Traditionally it is cooked over a fire, but this recipe for lean kharcho soup will definitely please you.

Recipe for meatless kharcho soup with nuts with photo

There are many recipes for preparing Georgian dishes without meat. This option is so simple that even a beginner in the kitchen can handle it.

Products:

  • 125 grams of rice;
  • 3 potatoes (cook in advance, do not peel the skins);
  • 3 onions;
  • carrot;
  • garlic;
  • a handful of peeled walnuts;
  • 130 gr. tomato;
  • refined oil (can be replaced with olive oil);
  • hops-sunelli;
  • two bay leaves;
  • a couple of allspice peas;
  • parsley (root and leaves);
  • clean water 2 liters.

Pour boiling water over the rice and steam the multicooker containers for about 13 minutes. Pour oil into a hot frying pan and lower the tomatoes (finely chop them first, it’s better to peel them). Place the chopped garlic and onion in a frying pan, mix and fry. Pass the nuts through a blender (you can grind them in a mortar), grate the carrots and add them to the roast. Simmer for 3 minutes and put the mixture into a saucepan. Salt, pepper, add boiled potatoes. You need to cook over moderate heat so as not to boil. Let it cook for 15 minutes with the lid closed. After turning off the heat, add the greens.

These are incredibly simple and delicious recipes for lean kharcho soup, prepared at home. We look forward to your comments after preparing the dish. Bon appetit everyone.

Kharcho soup is a dish of Georgian national cuisine. A dish familiar and loved since childhood. The article will talk a little about the history of this famous soup and describe in detail the preparation of kharcho without meat.

The soup of national Georgian cuisine was traditionally prepared from beef. The basis was a special plum broth called tkemali. Now this is the name of Georgian sauce for meat and fish. The soup is very nourishing, rich and thick, with the addition of various spices, fresh garlic, suneli hops and hot pepper.

The peculiarity of this oldest Georgian soup is that only beef could be used to cook it. Although lamb meat is also delicious to add to first courses.

In different regions of Georgia, kharcho was prepared in its own way. Somewhere they added pomegranate sauce, somewhere fresh ripe tomatoes or tomato paste.

Only three ingredients remained constant: rice, beef and plum sauce.

Of course, modern kharcho soup is already far from the original recipe. It is cooked from various types of meat, without adding plums and so many national spices. They even prepare Lenten soup, the recipe for which will be given below.

Lenten soup kharcho - recipe

Some of us fast or for other reasons do not eat meat. It doesn’t matter, you can cook kharcho soup without meat. You don’t have to add a lot of spices and hot seasonings, then it will be quite suitable for the daily menu.

What you will need:

  • white rice - half a glass;
  • potatoes - three pieces;
  • onions – two pieces;
  • carrots - one piece;
  • garlic - three cloves;
  • walnuts (shelled) - half a glass;
  • tomato paste - half a glass;
  • vegetable oil - a few tablespoons;
  • khmeli-suneli spice – half a teaspoon;
  • various fresh greens - several medium bunches;
  • pepper mixture;
  • laurel;
  • allspice;
  • purified water - about 2.6 liters.

The process of preparing kharcho soup at home is described below.

  • Rinse the rice well several times in cold water. There is no need to rub the rice between your hands so as not to disrupt its integrity. Then pour hot water over the cereal and cook for twenty minutes.
  • Peel and chop the garlic, onions and carrots. Garlic - in circles, onion - in small cubes, carrots - in thin strips.
  • Heat oil in a cast iron frying pan, add tomato paste and simmer for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the onion and garlic. Continue cooking for a few more minutes.
  • Add walnuts (pre-chopped) and carrots to the resulting mixture. Fry for another three minutes. At the end, add spices and fry for another thirty seconds. The mixture must be stirred all the time.
  • Pour the “frying” into boiling rice. Add salt to taste.
  • Add the potatoes to the pan, cover everything with a lid and cook over low heat for ten minutes. When the potatoes are ready, the soup is cooked.
  • Cut the greens into smaller pieces.
  • Turn off the heat under the pan. Throw all the herbs and garlic into the soup.
  • Leave the kharcho to simmer under the lid for about thirty minutes.

Lenten soup - calorie content is about three hundred kcal per hundred grams.

Benefits of kharcho soup

Georgians are a people who are very sensitive to their traditions, including their cuisine. They try to eat tasty and healthy food. It’s not for nothing that kharcho is prepared even in kindergartens and schools.