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.

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

FAQs

What is sorrel sauce made of? ›

Fresh sorrel sauce is a classic French sauce made from fresh sorrel leaves, shallots, butter, cream, lemon juice, and seasoning. It has a tangy, lemony flavor and adds a vibrant zest to spring dishes. What does sorrel taste like? Sorrel has a tangy, lemony taste with a slightly sour and citrusy flavor profile.

How do you prepare sorrel to eat? ›

Preparation. Because of its bitter flavour, sorrel is often combined with other ingredients. It can be eaten raw in salads or cooked in soups, purées and stuffings and goes particularly well with fish and egg dishes.

Should sorrel be cooked or raw? ›

You can also use the raw leaves like you would an herb: chopped up and added to legumes or eggs, or as an addition to yogurt or sour cream as a refreshing, lemony dip. Cooking reduces sorrel's oxalic acid content, and it also makes the leaves soft and rich and delicious, like really good spinach.

Can you eat French sorrel? ›

Regular green French Sorrel, is a fabulous herb/salad green. It's one of the things that I have people taste when I'm showing them the garden. They are amazed at it's very lemony flavor.

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 is sorrel called in America? ›

Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus Rumex). L. Acetosa agrestis Raf. Acetosa amplexicaulis Raf.

Is sorrel good for your stomach? ›

Improved digestion: Sorrel is a good source of fiber, which helps to promote healthy bowel movements and digestion. It may help to reduce constipation, and can also help in preventing heart disease by reducing cholesterol.

Is sorrel a laxative? ›

The fresh or dried leaves are considered astringent, diuretic (increasing urination), laxative (softening the bowel), and cooling. Juice of the leaf has also been applied topically for the treatment of itchy skin and for treatment of ringworm.

Who should not eat sorrel? ›

Children: It is UNSAFE give wood sorrel to children. It contains crystals made of oxalic acid that can damage the organs. One four-year old child died after eating rhubarb leaves, which also contain oxalic acid. Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Wood sorrel is UNSAFE for both mothers and infants.

How much sorrel is safe to eat? ›

Sorrel is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth in large amounts, since it might increase the risk of developing kidney stones. There is also a report of death after consuming a large amount (500 grams) of sorrel.

Does sorrel detox your body? ›

Sorrel can be used as a detoxifying food as it is rich in vitamin C. Sorrel is an excellent diuretic and purgative since it contains flavonoids and other antioxidants. This aids in the elimination of toxic poisons from the body. Protocatechuic acid, found in sorrel leaves, assists in bodily detoxification.

Is sorrel good for high blood pressure? ›

Also known as roselle or sorrel, it's been used to treat everything from high blood pressure to indigestion. Modern science also supports the idea that this time-tested remedy offers a variety of health benefits.

What is French sorrel good for? ›

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 scutatus (syn. 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".

Is sorrel an anti inflammatory? ›

Sorrel is commonly used to help reduce inflammation and pain that accompanies sinusitis, more commonly referred to as a sinus infection. As a high-antioxidant herb, especially its high vitamin C content, it's awesome at reducing swelling and providing pain relief, which are both key when it comes to sinus infections.

What is sorrel and what does it taste like? ›

Sorrel is a leafy green plant, use alternately as an herb and a vegetable, with a distinctive sour, lemony flavor. It's from the knotweed family, or Polygonaceae, the same botanical family as buckwheat and rhubarb. It also goes by the name "dock."

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 Jamaican sorrel made of? ›

In the Caribbean, the popular terms are hibiscus or sorrel, as it is made from the hibiscus sabdariffa flower. The plant is native to India, but can grow as an annual in all climates. The fleshy, red calyxes that surround the base of the flowers are what we brew to make sorrel, the drink.

What does sorrel contain? ›

Overview. 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.

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