JUMP TO
In this article I’ll show you my simple formula for cooking a delicious vegetable sour soup that comes packed with real nutrients. This article is a simple guide aimed at beginners that haven’t cooked sour soup before.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the show! I promise you that in less than 15 minutes you’ll learn how to cook delicious soup that everybody will love.
Here’s why you’ll love my soup formula. It’s perfect for making your own kind of vegetable soup!
Simple and delicious vegetarian or vegan recipe
Homemade soup is always healthier and more delicious
Naturally low-carb and loaded with different vegetables
Packed with healthy beneficial nutrients
Packed with plenty of healthy fiber, plus vitamins, minerals and enzymes
Has a special sour taste that makes this soup …. SPECIAL!
Very easy to make, basically a one-pot recipe
Will keep your belly happy and yourself nourished
It’s even better when served with different “extras”
Ingredients you’ll need for your first sour soup
Frozen Vegetables
As a general rules, make sure to choose at least three of the following frozen vegetables:
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Green peas
- Green Beans
- Frozen Mushrooms
- Carrots – optional, I usually like using fresh carrots
Fresh Veggies
When it comes to using fresh vegetables, my rule is to use as many from the following list as possible. These are the vegetables that go into our delicious vegetable sour soup:
- Celery – root or stalk
- Onion – shallots, scallions (spring onion), red or white onion
- Leek
- Garlic
- Fennel
- Carrot
- Parsnip
- Peppers (bell pepper, kapia pepper, paprika)
- Sweet Potato
- White Potato
- Squash
- Mushrooms
Herbs and Spices
When it comes to herbs and spices, you’ll have to decide on yourself what spices to use and how much to use. The list below includes the herbs and spices that I use most often when cooking any kind of soup. Depending on my mood and/or the vegetables that go into my soup (see above), I may use only some of these herbs and spices, or I may use all of them in the same recipe.
These are the herbs and spices that I like using when cooking sour soup:
- Bay Leaves
- Parsley – fresh or dried
- Lovage – fresh or dried
- Basil – fresh or dried
- Salt – use your favorite kind, I like Himalayan salt
- Chili Powder – sweet or hot
- Black Pepper – powder or whole
Others Ingredients
Besides vegetables, spices and herbs, there are a few extras that will enhance this soup, as follows:
- 1-2 Eggs – used for texture, skip for vegan soup
- Water – we need plenty of fresh water for making a soup
- Lemon or Lime Juice – you’ll be using freshly squeezed lemon or lime in order to obtain that special sour soup taste
Other things you will need
- Cooking pot – I like using a 2-3L pot made from stainless steel or enameled cast iron.
- Wooden spoon or spatula – You’ll be using it to steer through the soup from time to time.
- Teaspoon – You’ll be using a teaspoon to measure spices.
- Soup Ladle – You know what that is used for, right?!
- Soup Bowls and Tablespoons – Well … these are for serving amazingly delicious sour soup.
Tips for making perfect vegetable sour soup
Use only quality ingredients – For this soup we do not use processed products or things like flour, soy, corn, sugar, trans fats, refined seed oil and other nasty unhealthy foods or chemicals.
We rely only on basic ingredients, no processed foods, nothing complicated. The most “processed” foods that we’ll use in this recipe are dried herbs and chili powder. Besides those, everything here is either fresh or frozen – both are great options in terms of nutrients and health benefits.
I like using frozen vegetables – I like using frozen vegetables because it’s faster to cook them since frozen veggies are cut and always available, no matter the season. Also, the nutrients in frozen veggies are always intact and it’s even cheaper to buy frozen organic vegetables than to buy fresh organic vegetables (especially when these vegetables are not in season).
It’s worth mentioning that frozen vegetables will cook faster and they will cook a bit different compared to fresh vegetables. You see, in order to obtain that special rich texture in soup, I use frozen broccoli and cauliflower, which when cooked will “dissolve” themselves, making for a rich soup texture.
Lastly, i don’t like using frozen carrots or frozen potatoes since they tend to be too soft and not crunchy as fresh ones.
How about frozen mushrooms? – Sometimes I may use frozen mushrooms but fresh mushrooms are equally great. Often I can find different types of frozen mushrooms mixed in the same bag and I love using those in soup. Mixing different types of mushrooms will make the soup much more interesting in terms of taste and smell, and more nutritious as well. Of course, if mushrooms are in season, I always go for fresh organic mushrooms.
Use different kinds of herbs and spices – You can use fresh or dried herbs, both work great for this recipe. Same goes with chili, you can use chili powder or fresh chili (chopped small).
How to obtain the sour taste – We prepare this sour soup using the juice from one fresh lemon or one fresh lime. The lime will make it a bit sweet while the lemon will give it a more sour-ish taste. Keep this in mind and make sure to taste the soup before deciding to add more juice. You can also use a combination of both lemon and lime juice.
Note: Traditionally to Eastern-European cuisine, this soup is prepared using a sour liquid called “bors”. “Bors” is a slightly yellowish sour liquid traditionally prepared from wheat or barley bran fermented in water. Since most of you probably don’t have access to “bors” right now, you’ll be using a mix of freshly squeezed lime and lemon juice.
Steps to make delicious vegetable sour soup
1. Add Frozen Vegetables
- Prepare the working area, get the bags with frozen vegetables out from the refrigerator.
- Add 1 handful of cauliflower and 1 handful of broccoli into your cooking pot.
- Add 1 handful of green beans or peas.
- Add 1-2 handful of mushrooms – In case you don’t like using too many mushrooms or if you’re not sure, use just 1 handful and maybe add more later if needed.
2. Add Fresh Vegetables
- Start by washing and peeling all your fresh veggies: carrots, potatoes, squash, onion, etc.
- Add 1-2 sliced carrots into the soup bowl.
- Next, add 1 sliced parsnip.
- Add 1 sliced squash (you can let the slices as they are or you can cut them in half).
- Cut your sweet potato into small cubes and add it into the soup bowl.
- Add 2 shallots (slices) or 1 medium red/white onion.
- Add min 5 cm of leeks (sliced).
- Add 1-2 legs of fennel (sliced small).
- Add 1/2 of a medium pepper (chopped).
- Finish by adding 2-3 cloves of garlic (whole or sliced).
3. Add Spices
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1-2 tsp black pepper
- 1-2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp dried basil (fresh works even better)
- 1 tsp dried lovage (fresh works better)
- 1 tsp of Himalayan salt
4. Cooking Instructions
- Add enough water to cover the ingredients and a bit more.
- Bring to a boil and keep it there until the veggies become tender.
- In the meantime, in a medium bowl, beat eggs using a fork. This won’t take you more than 30 seconds.
- Now we need to combine a bit of hot soup with those beaten eggs. Use a ladle to add a bit of hot soup in the bowl with beaten eggs. Gently mix for 30 seconds until the eggs are creamed.
- Pour creamed eggs over the simmering soup. Use a fork to mix fast at the surface of the soup until the eggs will dissolve into the soup, forming a specific eggy texture.
- Finish by adding freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon or lime. Also add salt, herbs and spices to taste.
- Simmer the soup for another minute or two, until it develops that perfect sour taste.
- Remove from heat and set aside to rest for a few minutes.
- Your soup is now ready! Use a ladle to portion into a bowl and serve as is or with different extras (see last section for suggestions).
Notes
- Our goal is to cook the soup until the veggies get tender. Since the nutritional content of vegetabless (vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytonutrients) gets lower when the cooking process lasts longer, you’ll want to cook the soup as little as possible thus keeping most of the nutrients into the soup.
- This soup takes about 15-20 minutes to put together. It takes another 15-20 minutes more to cook it.
- For vegan recipe, skip the egg at the end or replace it with a bit of coconut milk.
- When it comes to the nutrient contents, since this soup is prepared by using lost of vegetables, you may say that it comes with lots of vitamins, minerals, fiber (also resistant starch which is prebiotic food for your friendly gut bacteria).
Tips for serving your freshly made vegetable soup
Sour Cream – This type of sour soup was made to be served with some type of full-fat dairy cream. Sour cream or creme fraiche are your best options here, but you use any type of full-fat local cream. These creams will add a special flavor to any type of sour soup, plus the healthy fats will enhance the soup’s texture like few things will;. Mix 1 tablespoon of full-fat cream to a soup bowl and enjoy it without guilt!
Make sure to choose a type of sour cream that looks yellow-ish in color. The yellow color means that the cows who produced the milk ate a diet that was rich in grass and spent time outside on the pasture. Buy your cream from local farmers and stay away from industrially grown cows and processed products.
Cheeses – I like serving this type of soup with aged cheesed like vintage Cheddar, Brie, Cammembert, Comté, Parmesan, but even Greek Feta works well. Slice the cheese and serve it alongside a hot bowl of freshly made sour soup.
Avocado – Slice the avocado and add a few slices on top of the soup bowl or on the side. The fatty acids from avocado will add even more flavor and real nutritents to this wonderful soup.
Hot Chili – No matter if it’s ed or green chili, both work great and will add a strong hot flavor to this sour soup.
Sour chili peppers – These are simply hot chili peppers mixed with vinegar and salt. You’ll find them in the preserves section of any supermarket. Served alongside this sour soup, these chili peppers will balance that sour taste like few things can.
Olives – Sometimes I will add a few green onions, kalamata or even zaromenes (dried olives) alongside my bowl of freshly made vegetable soup. Olives will add texture, plenty of healthy fats and other beneficial nutrients, blending nicely with the taste of this sour soup.
Thanks for reading so far and I hope that you’ll enjoy making vegetable sour soup using this simple guide.
I’m curious to know if you’ve made sour soup before? What’s your favorite ingredient that you enjoy most in soup? Share in the comments.
