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Home » Soups & Salads » Soup Recipes » Kharcho Beef Soup

Kharcho Beef Soup

December 27, 2018 by victor 27 Comments

Top down view of a bowl of Kharcho with a piece of bread beside it.

Beef soup Kharcho is a traditional dish of the Republic of Georgia and is known well outside of Georgia itself. There is a good reason for that – the soup is exceptionally delicious and has a characteristic rich flavor thanks to the spice mix that goes in it. This soup is traditionally made of fatty cuts of beef – chuck or brisket. As a result, the soup is rich and comforting. To balance out the richness of the soup sour plum sauce called Tkemali is traditionally added, which can be substituted by tomato puree or red wine vinegar. For a cold, wintry day I can’t think of a much better dish than a bowl of this delicious soup.

This soup has two key and quite unfamiliar to Westerners ingredients that will likely intimidate most of us. But, fear not, I will explain how to easily get or substitute them so you can enjoy this soup they way it has been enjoyed for centuries.

Spices for Kharcho

To really appreciate the depth of the traditional Kharcho flavor, you must use the spice mix known in Georgia as khmeli-suneli. This is a traditional spice mix that is added to many Georgian dishes. You can buy it at most ethnic Caucasian or Russian grocery stores. Amazon also sells khmeli-suneli. You can also make your own mix using the following easy formulations.

Short version of the spice mix

Combine equal parts (about a teaspoon) of ground coriander seeds, dried basil, dried marjoram, dried dill plus a small pinch of red hot pepper powder (about 2%) and one strand of saffron (about 1/10%).

Full version of the spice mix

To make the full version, simply add equal parts of fenugreek, bay leaf, mint, celery and parsley to the ingredients listed above.

That’s it. The first key ingredient with a funky sounding name is done. I can guarantee you, most of us have all of the spices necessary for both short and long version in our kitchens.

Beef Soup Kharcho spices.

Acidic ingredients for Kharcho

As I mentioned above, Kharcho is a rich soup and adding some acidity helps balance its taste out. Traditionally, cherry plum purée called Tkemali is added for acidity. But it’s not uncommon to see tomato puree or red wine vinegar used as substitutes. My personal favorite approach is to use a combination of the two. I use pureed tomatoes in combination with two tablespoons of Tkemali or red wine vinegar. So there you have it, the second key ingredient that seemed so hard to acquire has actually been sitting right there in your kitchen all along. Alternatively, you can buy it on Amazon or from a local ethnic grocery store.

Beef Soup Kharcho plum sauce.

A few final notes on how to make proper Kharcho

  • Beef chuck or brisket are the only two beef cuts that will make superb Kharcho. That is, you want the meat that is beefy, rich and fatty. You can trim some excess fat off, but leave some. It’s part of the soup’s character. Lean meat will not  make a great Kharcho. Kharcho in this respect is akin to a great burger, which must have at least 20% fat to taste great. Lean Kharcho, just like a lean burger, is a waste of time.
  • Just like chili, this soup only benefits from low and slow cooking. You want to simmer the meat over a gentle heat. Don’t try to boil it and make the soup ready in half an hour. It won’t work. Take your time, let the the meat simmer slowly until it’s melt-in-your-mouth tender. Then add the rest of the ingredients and slow simmer for a little longer. You will be rewarded with one of the most amazing tastes and textures that you will ever experience in you life.
  • Now, some of you may say that the real Kharcho also uses walnuts. Yes and no. This soup has many variations and this classic version of the soup is just as popular as the one with walnuts.

What to serve Kharcho with?

You don’t need anything other than a piece of freshly baked, crusty sourdough bread, pampushki, or a slice of country flaxseed bread.

Close up of Kharcho soup in a bowl with a spoon inside.

This recipe was translated and adapted with minor changes from the ‘Georgian Dishes’ book that came out in Georgia back in 1959.

Beef Soup Kharcho - a famous Georgian soup known and loved all over the world. This is a classic version that is absolutely the best. Hearty, beefy and so delicious. A perfectly comforting soup for a cold wintry day. | ifoodblogger.com

Beef Soup Kharcho (Classic Version)

5 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Georgian
Keyword: kharcho
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 358kcal
Author: Victor

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs beef (traditionally chuck or brisket)
  • 2 medium onions (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 cup rice (uncooked, rinsed in 5 waters)
  • 2 large tomatoes (peeled and pureed in a blender)
  • 2 Tbsp Tkemali sauce (or 1-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar)
  • 8 twigs fresh parsley (2 whole, 6 finely chopped)
  • 8 twigs fresh cilantro (2 whole, 6 finely chopped)
  • 1 Tbsp khmeli-tsuneli spice mix (see notes)
  • 2 cloves garlic (pressed)
  • 2 red hot chili peppers (whole and undamaged)
  • Kosher salt (to taste)
  • Black pepper (to taste)
  • More chopped parsley and cilantro for garnish when serving.

Instructions

  • Cut beef chuck or brisket into bite size pieces, place in a large boiling pot, add 8-10 cups of water and bring to a boil. Remove scum, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until the meat is tender.
  • After 1 1/2 - 2 hours, add the rinsed rice, chopped onions, two twigs of parsley and two twigs of cilantro. Continue simmering for another 20 more minutes.
  • Add the finely chopped parsley and cilantro, pressed garlic, whole red hot chili peppers, spice mix, Tkemali sauce or red wine vinegar, pureed tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.
  • Serve hot, garnished with more fresh chopped parsley and cilantro.

Notes

To make khmeli-suneli spice mix, combine equal parts (about a teaspoon) of ground coriander seeds, dried basil, dried marjoram, dried dill plus a small pinch or red hot pepper powder (about 2%) and one strand of saffron (about 1/10%). This is the basic version. To make the full version of the spice mix, simply add equal parts of fenugreek, bay leaf, mint, celery and parsley to the ingredients above.

Nutrition

Calories: 358kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 80mg | Sodium: 83mg | Potassium: 571mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 895IU | Vitamin C: 15.5mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 2.6mg
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    Recipe Rating




     

  1. Meelis

    December 28, 2022 at 5:36 am

    I love it

    Reply
    • victor

      January 20, 2023 at 1:05 pm

      Happy to hear it, Meelis. Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Tony

    November 14, 2021 at 1:48 am

    Do you have to put the rice in this? Could I leave the rice out, or if a starch is required, add some cubed potato towards the end?

    Reply
    • victor

      November 14, 2021 at 11:23 pm

      Tony, I’ve never made this soup without rice, that’s how it’s made traditionally and I don’t mind rice. I am also a big proponent of ‘make it how you like it’ so I often change recipes to suit my taste. If you don’t like rice, don’t add it. I imagine it will be thinner without rice so adding some starch back makes perfect sense to me. Good luck and enjoy! Oh, if you like soup, I highly recommend trying my mulligatawny and chicken lentil soups, those are really good, my favorites.

      Reply
  3. Isabel

    June 18, 2021 at 10:45 pm

    I loved it very much.

    Reply
  4. Pete

    June 09, 2021 at 1:23 am

    Hi, I was wondering with the Tkemali sauce if it mattered if it was the red or green sauce?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • victor

      June 16, 2021 at 3:08 pm

      You can use both interchangeably, I do. It’s the same sauce except the green tkemali is made with green, not fully ripe plums whereas the red one is made with fully ripe plums. The green one is slightly more tart, the red one has sweeter notes.

      Reply
  5. Michael

    May 08, 2021 at 7:27 pm

    Mine tasted too much of Cilantro.

    Reply
    • victor

      June 16, 2021 at 4:53 pm

      Consuming lots of cilantro and other greens is very traditional in Georgia but you can always adjust to your taste. I love Central-Asian and Caucasian cuisine but I modify some dishes to my taste, nothing wrong with that.

      Reply
  6. Larisa

    March 09, 2021 at 4:37 am

    A great recipe, the way you explain things is so easy to follow and everything makes perfect sense. I’m so glad I found your website!

    Reply
    • victor

      March 09, 2021 at 4:45 pm

      Glad I could help, Larisa. Happy cooking!

      Reply
  7. Jean Kamens

    February 10, 2021 at 10:44 am

    This soup! Very easy to make and just delicious. I love to cook but own an essential business and very little time to enjoy my kitchen so appreciated the tasty result. The fresh cilantro and khmeli-tsuneli spice mix (I blended my own) comes through in big ways and the dish overall really delights. I’m going to try this with some fresh basil & mint next time to really make the taste buds sing. I’m going for the salmon thai next. I’m thinking of hosting a “family soup day” with a close group of friends and including this dish.
    Finding Craving Tasty is a win!

    Reply
    • victor

      February 21, 2021 at 8:04 pm

      Enjoy!

      Reply
  8. Ailene Oliver

    February 09, 2021 at 11:51 pm

    This soup is absolutely delicious. It is easy to make and so tasty! I followed the recipe exactly and it was pure Perfection!

    Reply
  9. Kris Barber

    January 27, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    This recipe looks delicious.
    I have a question about the full spice mix recipe. Am I supposed to grind the the “additional” ingredients? And are you speaking of dried celery seeds? dried parsley and mint?
    Thanks1

    Reply
    • victor

      January 27, 2020 at 5:02 pm

      Hi Kris, yes, all spices should be ground, you can use a coffee grinder or grind in a mortar. Dried parsley or mint flakes will work as-is, not need to grind then but you can if you want.

      Reply
  10. Az

    January 09, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Is there no broth added? Another recipe I was comparing had 4 cups of beef broth plus 4 more cups water.
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • victor

      January 09, 2020 at 10:36 pm

      It’s a good question, I’ve reviewed a number of Georgian books with traditional kharcho recipes and none of them called for beef broth. If you think about it, simmering chuck or brisket for 2 hours will, in fact, produce a good quality beef broth. Perhaps those recipes that call for beef broth are of a ‘quick’ type so using broth would add the missing flavor. In this recipe, it would be redundant IMHO.

      Reply
      • Az

        January 11, 2020 at 5:47 pm

        Thanks!

        Reply
  11. Bern

    December 28, 2019 at 8:40 pm

    What kind of red chili pepper do you use?

    Reply
    • victor

      December 28, 2019 at 10:27 pm

      It depends on what I can find, but typically it’s Thai red chili peppers, the ones that are larger than the Bird’s eye peppers.

      Reply
  12. Michelle Belan

    October 21, 2019 at 1:19 pm

    Looking forward to making your version of this soup. Any idea how big the serving size is? I’m tracking my eating and it’s hard to know how many cups/grams are in a serving so I can accurately record it. Thanks!

    Reply
    • victor

      October 21, 2019 at 7:47 pm

      Michelle, I never actually measured precisely how many cups I get but I would estimate it’s about 2 – 2.5 cups per serving. The simplest thing to do would be to use the ingredients in the recipe, measure how many cups you get in total then divide by 8. That will be your serving for which you have the calories calculated below the recipe.

      Reply
  13. Nina

    September 16, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    First time making this soup. Followed your recipe word for word and my kharcho turned out terrific! My father used to make this soup and it reminded me of his cooking. Great recipe!

    Reply
    • victor

      September 17, 2019 at 2:36 pm

      Thank you for the feedback, Nina. Glad you liked it.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. When you see Sky Diving Penguins' Bio, what do you think? @SDPenguinsmusic - Indie Music Bus says:
    October 19, 2021 at 7:58 am

    […] Georgian dish is a poem.” We think that each song that we write is a Georgian dish. We might stew it for a while with our own ‘khmeli suneli’, or we might grill it over hot coals with […]

    Reply
  2. Pampushki - Taste of Artisan says:
    September 16, 2019 at 11:12 pm

    […] served with Ukrainian Borsch and other dishes. These tasty rolls also go well with other soups like Kharcho. Served drizzled with garlic and herb sauce, they are exceptionally flavorful, soft and […]

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Hi, I am Victor and welcome to my blog dedicated to simple and delicious everyday food... Read more...
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