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

What do you do with French sorrel? ›

How to Use Sorrel
  • 1 / 8. Brown Butter Polonaise Sauce. ...
  • 2 / 8. Creamy Spinach and Sorrel with Dill. ...
  • 3 / 8. Salmon with Sorrel Butter. ...
  • 4 / 8. The New Spring Mix. ...
  • 5 / 8. KBBQ Perilla Wraps. ...
  • 6 / 8. Spring Quiche with Leeks and Sorrel. ...
  • 7 / 8. Spring Pesto. ...
  • 8 / 8. Ricotta Dumplings with Chèvre & Herbs.

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. It will turn a nasty dark color with a nasty taste to match.

How do you prepare sorrel for eating? ›

Steam leaves until wilted or cook them in a little butter. Sorrel cooks and reduces in volume quickly. The cooked leaves may turn a drab khaki color. Sorrel is best served in combination with other foods.

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 the difference between French sorrel and common sorrel? ›

Sorrel sort of looks like spinach; common sorrel has spear-shaped, deep green leaves, while French sorrel's leaves are a bit wavier. Both have reddish-brown flower clusters when allowed to bolt. French sorrel is said to be more mild (i.e., less sour) than common sorrel.

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.)

Can you eat French sorrel raw? ›

It bump up the acidic quality of salads (just use less vinegar or lemon juice), and is great eaten raw. It also cooks down quickly in a sauté pan. It gets "mushy," which makes it ideal for blending into sauces and vinaigrettes. Sorrel adds some kick to this simple salad.

What can I substitute for French sorrel? ›

Still, if you do run across a recipe with sorrel in it and you want to find a substitute, you could simply add some lemon juice or lemon zest. Mustard greens, arugula, rhubarb, and even spinach, along with a squeeze of lemon juice, can also stand in for sorrel.

Who should not eat sorrel? ›

If you experience any adverse symptoms after eating it or are allergic to other plants in the same family, such as rhubarb, buckwheat, and knotweed, you may need to avoid it. It's also worth noting that sorrel contains oxalate, a common plant compound that can block the absorption of minerals like calcium (17, 18).

What are the disadvantages of sorrel? ›

Wood sorrel is UNSAFE, especially when used when used in higher doses. Wood sorrel can cause diarrhea, nausea, increased urination, skin reactions, stomach and intestine irritation, eye damage, and kidney damage. Swelling of the mouth, tongue, and throat can make speaking and breathing difficult.

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.

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.

Can sorrel upset your stomach? ›

Toddlers and kids might find Common Sorrel's sourness a fun novelty, yet their smaller bodies mean greater sensitivity to oxalic acid. Mild stomach upset isn't uncommon, and it's a sign to dial back on the sorrel.

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.

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 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.

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).

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