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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.
What can replace sorrel? They don’t sell it here in Philadelphia.
I would use fresh spinach or kale. Let me know how it will turn out :).
Before my mom moved closer to me and started supplying shavel, I was using spinach and some lemon juice. Not the same, but works somewhat. Or get shavel in a can fron russian food store.
For my recipe I use a lot more eggs and I boil and cut them. Also, I add a little bit of ketchup to onions, but this recipe sounds like what my mom made…….
I haven’t tried with spinach. My mom always grows loads of shavel and we rinse, dry, chop and freeze it so we can still make the soup in winter and frozen works just as well as fresh.
Natasha, I have just started my adventure with food blogging, published my Polish Sorrel Soup and found out that you are eating the soup as well with the beaten egg 🙂
Ok, Polish and Ukrainians have many almost the same recipes because of our history, so it will be nice to deep dive into your blog.
In Polish cookery books you can find a soup as a mixture of sorrel and spinach, although I have never done it. Maybe I need to try. I did however with spinach and with Swiss chard, and the taste is totally different. To those ones I am using a white wine to taste.
I’ve heard that spinach works too but haven’t tried it either.
FYI: Chicken broth – NOT vegetarian………………………….
I’ve had Shchavel once and dream of it ever since. I’m so excited to try this recipe. Thanks so much!
You’re welcome Laura. I love this too. I wish my son felt the same way 🙂
This is one of my favorite Borsh., but instead of adding eggs non cook to the borsh. I usually cook the eggs than peel them off and cut them into small pieces. I love this way a lot better:)) u should try if u havent yet.
I will definitely try that next time I make this soup! Thank you!
Hi, I just made this soup, although I followed a French recipe that was essentially the same but blended. Looked up yours as my DH is Russian and prefers his soup unblended. I was interested to see if the French and Ukraine versions were different, but the only difference was the lack of blending and addition of dill!
A tip to those that can’t find the sorrel pictured. It has a very different flavour to spinach and silver beet/Swiss chard so those would not be the same recipe but you can get sorrel for free very easily as it grows as a weed. It is very very common in Australia and all over US and Europe too, but it doesn’t look exactly the same as the picture. It’s called wood sorrel, oxalis, sour grass or sourob depending on where you live and it is a rampant and very common weed.
That’s why I’m cooking it… The soursob has taken over my whole garden!!
I have used Swiss Chard in place of sorrel and it is also tart and very good. It got it free from a farmer that wanted to give away some. I love this site.
Hmmm, I’ve never tried that before! Thanks for the tip!
I am unable to get sorrel, can I use baby spinach instead?:)
It won’t be the same because sorrel is tart and I haven’t tried spinach and lemon to see if that would taste ok.
I have sorrel growing in my garden in my garden and it grows all year long. And i also use about 7 boiled eggs in my soup. I love your blog Natasha .
i love sorrel soup after my mom introduced me to it. They sell sorrel at russian stores and for a whole bunch i believe its around $2 or even less. The only difference that i make and i see that others commented above, i boil 3 eggs, cut them in cubes and add to the soup close to the end. And also, i add 1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream at end, garnish it with chopped dill and italian parsley. Its delish, except don’t know if it will go with pork, i use chicken instead. I will have to try your version because i love pork, sorrel, and trying new soup versions. Thank you for the recipe.
This is how I make it.. and its my favorite soup..
i pre boil and cut up 7 eggs and put in soup..
als i add some carrots..
another thing before serving i add some green onion and cut up cucumber and eat with sour crem 🙂 YUM YUM
That does sound good! Do you bring the soup to a boil again after green onion and cucumber or is it more of a garnish?
dont bring it to a boil..just garnish at the end but it makes the soup SO GOOD 🙂
Erica, is yours served hot or cold?
Hi Natasha…..
I haven’t had this soup in years. My Mom and Aunt use to grow “щавель” in their garden and every week we would have this soup. This year I’m going to go to the Garden Nursery and get some to plant some in my veggie garden. I love how they pop up every year in the garden.
This recipe is so similar to my families recipe.
Thanks again for posting one of your graet recipes. Have a great weekend. 🙂
I never knew the correct name for it either, I always thought it was ‘spinach’. This soup is really good, I use chicken though since we are not that fond of pork. You gave me a good idea how to use up my left over Easter eggs:) It will be served at my table at the end of the week for sure!
Hi Natasha,
Love your site! Good job girlie! This might seem funny, but in my 25 years of living and making this borscht many times I finally know the English name for щавель thanks to you!! 😀
Thanks for the many great recipes! Keep it up!
-Olga-
Alot of people put chopped boiled eggs in schavel..i serve it with chopped eggs and sour cream and its delicious! you should try it, im sure you’ll like it! 🙂
That’s what I can do with all the eggs left over from Easter. Thank you! 🙂
For some reason I thought “schavel soup” was with spinach? Or do you use spinach with the soup with the boiled eggs?
Schavel is sorrel and it has a sour taste. I don’t use spinach in any of my soups.
What kind of soup are you referring to with boiled eggs?
I make a soup with boiled eggs and spinach. We call it green borscht too though. I know that it is sorrel here but it was hard to find so we always just used spinach. My DH is Ukranian and it is his recipe so i think it is just a highly different variant of the schavel borscht you make… a recipe for every cook 🙂
We do it with meat+potatoes+spinach+eggs+parsley+dill
its like : 3lb beef chuck, 5-6 potatoes, 4boxes frozen chopped spinach, 6-8 eggs, 1 bunch dill, 1/2 bunch parsley.
Make broth with the beef, use carrots, onions, etc. Remove everything add thawed spinach, boil 10 min, add chopped eggs and greens, add back the meat. Serve with sour cream.
Ohh i forgot to add the green onions- 3-4 bunches
Sounds really healthy and tasty! I printed your instructions. I will have to try that too. Thanks again Anna!
This soup is one of my favorites! That’s alot of shchavel your mom grows! Where did she get seeds from?
Thanks!
Can you buy sorrel at a store?
I saw it at Albertsons but it’s not cheap considering how much you need for the soup. Try a farmers market or planting it- it re-grows every year 🙂