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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.
hmm, Ive never heard or tried this soup using chicken. Its always beef, and the boiled egg in the end.. Do you prefer the chicken? even over pork?
I’ve never tried it with beef but my Mom does frequently make it with pork and it tastes great that way also. A few of my readers said they added egg at the end, but we just add it as an egg drop rather than adding boiled egg.
My sister inn law made this borsch and I got some schevel from a friend. Made it today with pork hocks but never again too much fat will use chickenn ext time. my sister in law added diced hard boiled egg at the end. have no sour cream may try low fat mayo see how that works thankx
I do enjoy a leaner borscht also. Thanks for sharing!!
Natasha,
Runny egg? Hm interesting! My mother in law (Belarusian) always uses boiled eggs. Will try runny next time ;). Also- does shchavel freeze well?! The last batch is still growing in the garden. Would love to freeze it! Great thinking!
Hi Kalynn, yes sorrel freezes really well! Rinse, dry and chop then store in containers or freezer safe ziploc bags in the freezer. Put them into your soup frozen – no need to thaw 🙂
Wow my soup came out so healthy and amazing ! Thank you Natasha ! And by the way my name is also Natasha and I am also a nurse 🙂
So nice to meet you fellow nurse Natasha! 🙂 🙂 🙂 That’s awesome! I’m so happy you enjoyed the soup 🙂
Russian Mennonites call this somma borsch.the eggs look different and we use beet greens instead of sorrel or some real old fashioned use Zurump plant leaves(not sure what its in english) and we add green onions.also we add cream and vinegar instead of sour cream.and some use mayo or butter sandwich on side.yum
It sure sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I made this with pork, and instead of the runny eggs, I used diced hard boiled eggs. Oh and I threw the onions in raw after the pork was cooked because my husband likes it more that way. It’s also one less pan to clean 😉 Very yummy recipe
Lydia, thank you for the nice review and great job improvising 😀.
I made this recipe exactly as you have it except I used half a can of canned shavel from the Russian store. It was very yummy! Will definitely make again. Thank you!
You just gave me a great idea! Freezing shavel! We need to do that while it’s so plentiful in my Mom’s garden. We absolutely love sorrel soup!
Hello Natasha,
Have you heard of lovage? Do you think I could replace the schavel with lovage in this recipe?
Thank you!
I haven’t heard of it or tested it. My readers have reported great results with using spinach and lemon juice but I haven’t tried anything else.
In the past I tried making this for our Unrainian host child, using spinach. She was used to having hers with hard boiled egg and mayonnaise. I didn’t have any sorrel handy so I used spinach, but without the lemon. She said it was close to what she was used to, but it definitely was not sour. Anyway, I recently had this soup in Kyiv and thought the sorrel reminded me of turnip greens without the stem.
Hi Sophie, was the one you tried in Kiev sour or mild?
It was on the sour side for sure. So delicious!
It had a sour taste to it. So yummy!
Most interesting reading a different version of schavel soup, thank you. Mama used to make it with chicken and heaps of chavel leaves with potato and carrot, fried onions, garlic and of course, the beaten eggs added to the mix at the end of cooking…I use quality chicken stock cubes or chicken broth I have made. I deleted making soups with meat content as I found it too filling before a main meal. I enjoy this soup with and without a dollop of sour cream 🙂 A Ukrainian cook told me cooking comes from the heart, not necessarily from a recipe………
Thank you for sharing your Mama’s method. I’m always curious how different people make theirs.
My father makes a sorrel soup a bit differently – here is the recipe:
2.5 quarts of water
7 chicken or vegetable bullion cubes
half pound of sorrel leaves when available, or package of 8 oz frozen chopped spinach
5 oz. rice
3 hard-boiled eggs
some chicken for stock
1. Dissolve cubes in water.
2. Cook 2 chicken thighs for additional flavor in this water (when cooked, take the meat off the thighs and
chop it into the liquid).
3. Cook sorrel or thawed spinach in a little water + tbs butter, Add the greens and rice to liquid and cook for about 20 minutes on low flame. If using spinach, add sour salt (citric acid powder or lemon juice) to taste 4. Before serving add chopped hardboiled eggs.
Смачного!
I bet it tastes great cooking the chicken thighs into the soup Yum!!! I’ve never tried with spinach but it sounds like a great alternative with the lemon juice. Thanks Natalia! 🙂 I will have to try your father’s version.
Do you know how to freeze it so it can be used during winter time? Thanks
Yes, rinse, thoroughly dry on paper-towels or in a salad spinner and coarsely chop as you would for soup then transfer to freezer safe bags and pop them in your freezer.
Wow – this was delicious!!!! I made the chicken version. Thanks so much for this recipe – really good! 🙂
I’m so happy you loved it! I’ve made it with chicken before too when I didn’t want to go to the grocery store 🙂
I just want to say addition of sautéed onions gives such a good flavor. I used to make without. I love your way, reminds borscht we ate in Ukraine 🙂
I’m so glad it reminds you of Ukraine :). I love how food brings back memories 🙂
You can use spinach as we’ll. chop spinach and squeeze fresh lemon juice mix it and let it sit for about 20 min the add to you’re borsch. The best. In my opinion better then schavel and spinach has more health benefits. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
I make shchavel soup with spinach here, just add some lemon juice for sourness. Delicious!
I’ve heard of people making it that way with good results. I will have to give it a try! Thanks Natalie 🙂
Hi Natasha .. Have u ever tired doing pho soup? Do u like it?
I haven’t tried it. Have you? I’m actually making this sorrel soup for lunch today though 😉
oh yes many times, its one of my favorite soup. I just can not make it at home. Nice, it looks good, i need to try it!
Do you not have the sorrel available? It’s one of my favorites too. I love the sourness; so satisfying! 🙂
no i don’t have the sorrel available, i need to buy it. i think my mom used to do this kind of soup except a little different. ohh i bet, i love sour stuff. i add all the times to my borsh lemon and to my uha. I love ur uha btw, especially with the shrimp and tilapia, yummm i still have some..
Natasha,
Can you use pork riblets for the meat or is it too fatty? What do you prefer?
You can use pork riblets; my mom does all the time! I don’t like picking at it to get the meat off in the end so I use pork loin chops or chicken breast. 🙂
Can I use sorrel in a jar as cannot grow it and cannot find any where I live?
To be honest I haven’t tried any in a jar; I don’t think I’ve ever even seen it. I know some folks have even used spinach but I imagine you’d need some lemon juice to give it that sour kick. It might work from a jar but I just haven’t tested it. My mom grows a bunch in summer and then freezes it so we use her stash to make the borscht. Sorry I’m not too helpful.
I’m old now, when I was young my grandma made soup with sorrel and I could still feel the taste. I spoke to my mom and she says she has it in her garden many miles away. She did say she would give me seeds.
My husband just went to Poland after 62 years. I asked him to buy me some, thinking it might be dry leaves. He could only find some in jars that he brought back. I still need to try it. I will also look it up on the internet for seeds.
Thank you for posting all the loved Ukrainian recipes! I always refer back to your website when making something that I don’t do regularly! This blog helped me when I was a newlywed and my husband wanted me to make some foods that my mom never made 🙂 Keep up the great work and God bless!
Thanks Julia. God bless you too and I’m so glad you’ve found this site useful and helpful 🙂
I also use wild sorrel which is a weed here growing wherever there’s been a fire (it likes less acidic soil) but here’s one place you can get the seeds. It’s a hardy perennial AND it will self seed. It comes up early in the spring and then will give you good crops in the fall. Don’t let it get too hot or too dry in the summer. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6104-sorrel.aspx At one point I was growing so much of it that I began selling through our on line farmers market and everyone was going wild over it.
Thank you for sharing it with us Mark :).
Natasha, delicious recipe! How do you make your kid eat sorrel or any rejected veggie for that matter. I just can’t seem to приучит mine. Encouraging it doesn’t seem to help.
He doesn’t usually like sorrel, but I try to make eating fun. I first got him to eat broccoli by laughing together and pretending we were eating trees. 🙂 Also, dipping into ranch for green beans, or carrots, or broccoli work really well!