Borscht. Borscht (Russian, Ukrainian: Борщ, Polish: Barszcz) is a thick vegetable soup that originated in Ukraine. Borscht is mostly made from beets, often with potatoes, carrots, spinach and beef cubes, and cream, resulting in a purplish color. Some places use tomatoes as the main ingredient and beets as a secondary ingredient. There is also no beet with tomato sauce orange borscht and green borscht.