Carrot

Creamy Sorrel Soup

September 10, 2012
4.4
7 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

This soup is built for comfort. In all honesty it is nothing more then creamy vegetable soup with rice but when you add the sorrel something sublime happens and you end up with a soup that is extraordinary. —thirschfeld

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Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup yellow onion, small dice
  • 1/4 cup carrots, peeled and diced small
  • 1/4 cup celery, washed, trimmed and small dice
  • 2 cups starchy potatoes, small dice
  • 1/3 cup basmati rice
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup cream
  • 2 1/2 cups sorrel, washed, spun dry and chopped
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
  • kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Directions
  1. Place a 3 quart enameled Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter and as it melts add the onions, carrots and celery. Season them with a two finger pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper.
  2. Let the vegetables sweat until tender then add the potatoes, rice and vegetable stock. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer.
  3. Cook until the rice and potatoes are tender. Anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes. Once they are tender add the cream, sorrel and fresh thyme. Heat the soup through and until the sorrel is wilted. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
  4. Serve.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

25 Reviews

Tina H. October 31, 2020
This is a perennial favorite and I'm making it again now!
Brenda W. June 8, 2020
I forgot that I added after reading reviews only 1/2 of the cream. I used half-and-half that was plenty. I also use 5 cups of chicken stock to ensure that it would have more soup consistency with the rice and potatoes .
Brenda W. June 8, 2020
I planted sorrel and was surpried at how easy and quickly it grows. I made the soup yesterday and I added juice of 1/2 a lemon and sauted portobello mushrooms after reading someone had used morel mushrooms.That did it!! I even tried a little sherry drizzle!! I think it is also important that you really season the celery, potatoes and carrots...it needs it!!
Arleigh H. January 19, 2020
Love love this easy recipe! I couldn't find sorrel so substituted spinach and 1.5 TBS of red wine vinegar and it was amazing! Think this would even be good without the cream. Will be making this again. Thanks!!!
Michael May 27, 2015
Get this . . . in my mind I thought the magical addition was Morel mushrooms not Sorrel, and even after reading the recipe several times, it was destiny that lead me to here. And while I'm sure the sorrel adds something magestic; the flavor profile and the nutritional profile, by adding a pound Morel mushrooms that I picked up at the farmers market, bowled me over and keeps me coming back for more.
Maia B. May 21, 2015
I was looking through the comments and saw people had difficulty finding sorrel. It's easy easy to grow and comes back each year!
Grace H. April 21, 2015
This soup is fantastic! Very easy and filling! The sorrel really adds something special.
Joanna J. April 14, 2015
This soup came out amazing and not hard to make! Wanted to share a documentary on Renowned Women Chefs & any help you could provide to spread the word on it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1479753293/celebrity-women-chefs-transforming-the-food-indust
RahChaChow November 27, 2013
Hi, I'm the director of marketing for a CSA program and, as part of my duties, make a dish for people to taste each week. I made your soup (with a few small variations) and it was a hit! Our sorrel disappeared! People were saying that it was like a soup you'd have a good restaurant. Thanks so much for a STELLAR recipe!
Annie S. September 3, 2013
I also wanted to find Sorrel and not eve WFM hadit. I remembered from my childhood that my Polish and Ukrainian friends had soups with Sorrel. So I checked out ethnic markets and found them to be the cheapest and most reliable source. ( I live in Chicago which has a large eastern European population.)
I A. August 26, 2013
I say once again..... where do you get sorrel? Please! Thank you!
Greenstuff August 31, 2013
You don't say where you live. I get my sorrel from my garden, and I've found that to be the most convenient for a pretty wide climate range--places that get snow and places that don't freeze at all. It's a perennial, and you can pick it in the spring through fall. Sorrel is also available a grocery stores, but only if you live in places that have pretty great grocery stores, and at farmers' markets.
marialissio August 24, 2013
I cooked this yesterday. Held back on the rice, doubled the celery and carrots, ran wild with a range of green leaves and green herbs from the garden, and went very light with the cream ... and still it was delightful. In hot weather I seem to need to minimize the starch. The potatoes were enough. I'll back up in winter and cook this exactly by your recipe Tom. As always you lead by example. Love your work.
Elizabeth August 12, 2013
I always add a tablespoon or two of cream sherry to creamy mushroom or chowders, really enhances cream soups in my opinion.
bcstarke September 20, 2012
Great soup!

Sorrels weren't available for me, so I substituted Chantrelles and it was good - but a litte too much cream - I would recommend halving the cream if substituting a more subtle mushroom.

Also, I added a tbsp of rice wine vinegar at the end to bring out a little more of the brightness.
mwm September 19, 2012

This soup is just fantastic, elegant. And so much easier, imho, than the traditional sorrel soup... thanks so much for this recipe. I used 1/2 and 1/2 instead of cream....did not notice the difference.
I A. September 19, 2012
sorrel? Where does one acquire sorrel? When is it in season?
rparagus September 17, 2012
Thank you half pint. That is what i wanted to know
rparagus September 17, 2012
Thank you half pint. That is what i wanted to know
rparagus September 16, 2012
Can you use swiss chard instead of sorrel?
HalfPint September 17, 2012
No, sorrel has a tart flavor that is missing in swiss chard. You can substitute in the chard, but it's a totally different soup in flavor.
bthelove September 16, 2012
I have sorrel in my garden and I'm usually at a loss for what to do with it. Is it bitter in the fall?