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Schavel (Sorrel) re-grows year after year. In Russia and Ukraine, sorrel is called shchavel’ (щавель). Shchaveloviy borscht or Green borsch is a classic Ukrainian sorrel soup – we serve it hot with a dollop of sour cream or mayo.
You can make this sorrel soup with pork or vegetarian using a good broth. It also freezes well so you can enjoy this soup in winter. My mom grows Shchavel in her yard and it’s currently flourishing – time to make soup! If you have a yummy recipe with sorrel, I’d love to hear from you!
Ingredients for Sorrel Soup:
14 cups water
(if not using pork, you will need 8 cups water plus 6 cups chicken broth)
2 large Pork Loin Chops or 1 pound chicken breasts, sliced or diced
1 Tbsp salt
4-5 medium potatoes (any kind will work), diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
2 Bay Leaves
3 Tbsp Dill (fresh or frozen)
4 cups fresh Schavel, packed, rinsed and chopped (or use 3 cups chopped, frozen Shchavel)
Sour cream or mayo to serve
How to Make Sorrel Borscht:
1. Fill a large pot with 14 cups water (or water plus chicken broth if not using pork) and bring it to a boil. Next, add the meat, 1 Tbsp of salt and simmer pork partially covered for 30 minutes (or chopped chicken for 10 minutes – I used chicken this time). Use a spoon to skim off any impurities that rise to the top.
2. After meat is done cooking, add diced potatoes, 2 bay leaves and lightly boil 15 minutes or until potatoes can be pierced with a fork.
3. While potatoes are cooking, saute 1 diced onion in 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat until golden brown and add to the pot with the soup.
4. Next, lightly beat 2 eggs together and stir them in to the pot.
5. When potatoes are cooked through, stir in Shchavel (Sorrel) and Dill. Return pot to a boil and simmer additional 3-5 minutes or until sorrel is soft. Adding more sorrel (щавель) will make your soup/borscht more sour.
Serve hot with an optional dollop of sour cream or mayo.
Shchavel Borscht (Sorrel Soup)
Ingredients
- 14 cups water
- if not using pork, you will need 8 cups water plus 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 large Pork Loin Chops or 1 pound chicken breasts, sliced or diced
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 4-5 medium potatoes, any kind will work, diced
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 3 Tbsp Dill, fresh or frozen
- 4 cups fresh Schavel, packed, rinsed and chopped (or use 3 cups chopped, frozen Shchavel)
- Sour cream or mayo to serve
Instructions
- Fill a soup pot with 14 cups water (or water plus chicken broth if not using meat ). Bring to a boil. Then, add meat, 1 Tbsp of salt and simmer pork partially covered for 30 minutes (or chicken for 10 minutes). Use a spoon to skim off any impurities that rise to the top.
- When the timer goes off on your meat, add diced potatoes, 2 bay leaves and lightly boil 15 minutes or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
- While potatoes are cooking, saute 1 diced onion in 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat until golden brown and add to the pot with the soup.
- Next, lightly beat 2 eggs together and stir them into the pot.
- When potatoes are cooked through, stir in Shchavel (Sorrel) and Dill. Return pot to a boil and simmer additional 3-5 minutes or until sorrel is soft. P.S. Adding more sorrel (шавель) will make your soup/borscht more sour.
- Serve hot with optional dollop of sour cream or mayo.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Pretty delicious! I used Polish jarred sorrel, since I couldn’t find fresh (I actually had some last week, but I ate it all and couldn’t find more this week), and it’s still nicely sour. I don’t like potatoes, so I used celery root, and that’s also delicious. I used leeks instead of onions, since that’s what I had. I’ve seen a whole bunch of shchavel recipes and they’re all really different, so I figured this would be OK, and it was! Thank you for the recipe, and I’m sorry that I didn’t actually follow it that closely, but it came out great!