Sorrel Sauce Recipe - How to Make French Sorrel Sauce (2024)

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4.60 from 10 votes

By Hank Shaw

June 04, 2014 | Updated June 18, 2020

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Sorrel Sauce Recipe - How to Make French Sorrel Sauce (2)

Sometimes simple is best. Sorrel sauce is a bedrock sauce in classic French cuisine, and while not quite a “mother sauce,” it is as versatile as it is easy to make. After all, there are only really four ingredients to it.

First off, however, I need to tell you about sorrel. Rumex acetosa, common garden sorrel, is one of my favorite things to grow in my garden. Why? For starters, it’s ridiculously easy to grow. It’s basically a weed with a deep root network. Drought tolerant, good to eat all year round, self sowing — hell, it’s borderline invasive.

Sorrel Sauce Recipe - How to Make French Sorrel Sauce (3)

What do you do with it? Well, sorrel is a hybrid herb and vegetable. It looks like a lettuce, but it tastes like lemonade in a leaf. That tartness comesfrom oxalic acid, the same stuff in rhubarb. But sorrel does indeed makea cool salad green. I love it in sandwiches, as an accent in salads, in sorrel soup, another French standby, and of course in this sauce.

Garden sorrel also has wild relatives. Oxalis is one — here in California there is a non-native oxalis with shamrock leaves and warm yellow flowers — there is also wood sorrel, a common weed, as well as sheep sorrel. Both of these last two grow wild all over the United States and Canada. You can absolutely use these sorrels in the kitchen, too, although they are a lot smaller.

Once you have your sorrel, you really ought to make this sauce. The cream tames the sometimes harsh acidity of sorrel, and the result is a lush, balanced sauce that is absolutely ideal for light meats and eggs. It’s the yin to the subtle yang you get witha piece of poached fish or poultry.

Sorrel Sauce Recipe - How to Make French Sorrel Sauce (4)

The ultimate classic is salmon with sorrel sauce, but sorrel sauce is wonderful with any white fish, with poultry like turkey, pheasant or chicken, as well as with egg dishes.

There are lots of versions of this sauce, but here I adapt a stripped down classic that I first read in Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking. My advice: If you catch fish or hunt wild turkeys, or if you like poached meats or eggs, memorizethis sauce. You will not be sorry.

4.60 from 10 votes

Classic French Sorrel Sauce

Sorrel can be tricky to find in markets, although I do see it in farmer's markets occasionally. Your best bet is to grow it. Sorrel is indestructible in the garden and grows really easily. I planted a few plants in 2004 and they're still going strong, and expand every year. You can buy sorrel seeds online or in most seed catalogs. Or you can use wild sorrel.

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Course: Sauce

Cuisine: French

Servings: 10

Author: Hank Shaw

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 pound sorrel leaves, stems removed
  • 2 tablespoons vermouth, or chicken or vegetable stock
  • Salt and white pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Chiffonade the sorrel by curling up a few leaves at a time and slicing them very thin.

  • Pour the cream in a small pot and bring it to a simmer. Doing this will prevent it from curdling when it hits all that acidic sorrel in a few minutes.

  • Meanwhile, in another small to medium pot, heat the butter over medium heat and add the sorrel. Cook the sorrel, stirring often, until it melts -- it will cook down a lot and turn Army green. When it does, stir in the cream and bring the sauce to a bare simmer. It will be pretty thick, so you'll want to add the vermouth or stock to thin it out. You can add another tablespoon if you want the sauce even thinner. Add salt and white pepper to taste and serve.

Notes

Once you make this sauce, you'll need to use it; it doesn't keep well, although it will be OK on the stovetop kept warm for an hour or two.

Nutrition

Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 12mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 610IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

Categorized as:
Featured, French, Recipe

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Read More About Me

Sorrel Sauce Recipe - How to Make French Sorrel Sauce (2024)

FAQs

How do you prepare sorrel for eating? ›

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in the leaves and boil for one minute. Plunge leaves into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Unfortunately, sorrel turns a sort of drab brownish green when cooked; many recipes counter this by adding some spinach to the recipe to perk the color back up.

What do you do with French sorrel? ›

Sorrel falls straight between herbs and greens. Use it as a leafy herb, like parsley or basil or mint, chopping it up to use in marinades and dressings, or stirring it into soups or casseroles for a bit of fresh flavor. Or, use it as a green, ripping the tender leaves into salads and stir-fries.

Should sorrel be cooked or raw? ›

Young sorrel leaves can be eaten raw (tossed in salads, for example), but as sorrel grows, you will need to cook it. Because the herb is high in oxalic acid, don't cook it in a cast-iron pan.

What is the difference between sorrel and French sorrel? ›

Broad leaf sorrel has slender, arrow-shaped leaves. French or Buckler leaf sorrel has small, bell-shaped leaves, while red-veined sorrel has a slender, tapered leaf with the namesake screaming red veins throughout.

What does sorrel contain? ›

Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is a plant that grows in mild climates worldwide. It contains oxalate, which gives it a sour flavor. Sorrel contains tannins, which have a drying effect that reduce mucous production.

Who should not eat sorrel? ›

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Wood sorrel is UNSAFE for both mothers and infants. Avoid use. Blood-clotting (coagulation) problems: Chemicals in wood sorrel can make blood clot too fast. Stomach or intestinal disorders: Wood sorrel can irritate the lining of the stomach and intestines and might make ulcers worse.

Can you eat French sorrel raw? ›

Sorrel is a veggie with a tart, lemon-like taste when eaten raw, but cooking mellows the taste (similar to spinach). It's popular in French cuisine and is traditionally served with fish. French sorrel can also be mixed into soups, or baby leaves can be added to a salad for a citrus punch.

What is the best way to use sorrel? ›

As a rule of thumb, any recipe that could benefit from a squeeze of lemon juice will also be complimented by the addition of sorrel. The pungent sour flavor of sorrel is best put to use when combined with rich ingredients, as it can easily overpower milder dishes.

Is French sorrel good for you? ›

It's also used medicinally, as it's touted to promote healthy digestion, decrease inflammation, and treat mouth ulcers. The two most commonly grown types are known as French and common sorrel. Compared with common sorrel, the French version is less bitter and grows taller with smaller, more rounded leaves.

What is the common name for French sorrel? ›

Rumex alpestris) is a plant in the buckwheat family, used as a culinary herb. Its common names include French sorrel, buckler sorrel, shield-leaf sorrel, and sometimes the culinary name "green-sauce". L. Acetosa scutata (L.)

What does French sorrel look like? ›

Sorrel is a mound shaped plant growing in the form of a rosette. The leaves are lance-shaped, shiny green and can be from 6-12 inches in length. The flavor is very acidic and lemon-like.

How do you eat French sorrel? ›

Sorrel serving suggestions
  1. Sorrel can be served raw or cooked.
  2. Use raw whole French sorrel and shredded garden sorrel in salads. ...
  3. Adding lettuce leaves to sorrel moderates its flavor raw.
  4. Sorrel makes a good garnish for fish and veal.

How much sorrel is safe per day? ›

A. The recommended dosage of sorrel is around ½ cup of sorrel leaves, which provides about half of your daily vitamin C and vitamin A needs. It is also rich in potassium and magnesium.

How do you know when sorrel is ready? ›

Sorrel is ready to harvest when the leaves are about 4 inches long. Tender leaves are best for eating. If you collect the older outer leaves through a process called “cut and come again,” you will have a steady supply throughout the season.

What is sorrel and what does it taste like? ›

Sorrel has a vibrant tart flavor similar to cranberries or currants. It is most often served as a sweet tea over ice, though you can have it hot too. The flower is edible, and can make a bright addition to salads.

What Flavour is sorrel? ›

Sorrel is a herb with a sharp, lemony flavour. Highly regarded in France, where the leaves are used in soups and sauces, sorrel can also be served with fish and egg dishes. Only the younger leaves, available in the springtime, should be used in salads.

What is sorrel called in America? ›

Sorrel (Rumex acetosa), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus Rumex).

What kind of herb is sorrel? ›

sorrel, any of several hardy perennial herbs of the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae) that are widely distributed in temperate regions and cultivated for their edible leaves. Sorrel leaves are typically pungent and sour and derive their flavour from oxalic acid.

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