Simple Vegetable Sour Soup

This simple vegetable soup was inspired by the traditional Romanian sour soup. You can expect a very special sour taste, lots of healthy vegetables and an interesting eggy texture. Let’s get cookin’ delicious soup!

Ingredients needed

For this sour soup I like using an assortment of vegetables that blend together to create the traditional sweet and sour taste found in the Romanian cuisine.

These are the ingredients that you’ll be using for making this sour soup:

• Sweet Potatoes
• Green Beans – I used frozen but fresh works great as well
• Green Peas – I used frozen but you can also use fresh
• Celery Stick
• Fennel
• Garlic Cloves
• Shallots
• Risotto Rice (pre-cooked)
• Eggs
• Himalayan Salt
• Parsley or Lovage
• Lemon Juice – use the traditional “bors” liquid if you have it
• Water

In terms of vegetables, I like to include things like green beans, green peas, celery, fennel, garlic, shallots, and even a sweet potato. As an extra and to give even more texture to our sour soup, I’ve also included pre-cooked risotto rice. Sweet potatoes works well for adding a bit of texture to the soup, and the same is true for risotto rice (alternatively use your favorite type of rice).

At the end of the cooking process, I’ve used 2 beaten eggs to add a bit more flavor and an eggy texture to our soup. Lastly, the sour taste is obtained by using either freshly squeezed lemon juice or the traditional “bors” liquid (see next sections for details).

How do we obtain that special sour taste?

In the traditional Romanian cuisine, this soup of prepared using a local ingredient called “bors”. “Bors” is a slightly yellowish sour liquid traditionally prepared from wheat or barley bran fermented in water. In soup it is used to obtain that special sour taste that’s characteristic to Eastern European soups.

In some parts of Romania, instead of “bors” people use another local ingredient, namely the water used to make sour cabbage (another delicacy of the Romanian cuisine). As a result, the taste of the soup will change to something even more “local”.

For our recipe though, we’ll keep it simple by using ingredients that anyone has access to, namely freshly squeezed lemon juice. The lemon taste is pretty close to the traditional Romanian “bors” without the extra effort. If you are in Romania through, I suggest you to obtain the local “bors” and use that instead (see recipe notes).

Steps to make Simple Vegetable Sour Soup

• Start by boiling the rice in a pot with water, and let it cool down while working on the main soup.
• For the soup, add vegetables in a large pot and cover with water.
• Bring to a boil and cook until the vegetables become tender.
• Once the veggies are tender, lower the cooking temperature. Add cooked rice and herbs, and gently mix to incorporate.
• Next, add the sour liquid (lemon juice or traditional bors). Let the soup simmer for a few minutes until it develops the sour taste.
• In the meantime, crack eggs into a bowl and beat using a fork.
• Take one ladle of fresh hot soup and pour it over beaten eggs. Mix for 30 seconds to homogenize with beaten eggs.
• Pour the contents of the bowl over the main soup. Use a fork to mix very fast until the eggs have dissolved into the soup, giving it an eggy texture.
• Finish by adding salt and let the soup simmer for another 1-2 minutes, before closing down the heat.
• Your soup is now ready! Let it cool down on the counter before serving. Enjoy this sour soup as is or with your favorite extras (see below some ideas).

How to serve this Simple Vegetable Sour Soup

In the Romanian cuisine, this type of sour soup is served as the first course in a two-course meal, usually consumed at lunch time.

You can serve this simple vegetable sour soup by itself or pair it with different extras:

• Full Fat Sour Cream – this is how we serve this sour soup in Romania
• Hot Pepper – either green or red peppers that are very hot
• Olives – although olives don’t grow in Romania, I love them with sour soup because of their healthy fats content and salty taste
• White Cheese – sheep’s cheese, cow’s cheese or feta cheese, all are great options to pair with this sour soup
• Walnuts – nuts add texture and lots of nutrients to any soup
• Freshly Baked Bread – Romanians love their bread and, for best results, make sure to only consume bread that was naturally fermented (sourdough bread works best here)

If you make this vegetable sour soup, let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and tag it @refreshmyhealth on Social Media!

Enjoy and share this simple vegetable sour soup with someone you love!

What’s your favorite soup recipe? Would you try this vegetable sour soup? Let me know in the comments.

Looking for more warming soups?

I have a feeling you’ll like these soups:

• Romanian Vegetarian Sour Soup
• Spicy Vegetable Sour Soup (Vegan)
• Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup
• Broccoli and Avocado Cream Soup (Vegan)
• Spicy Keto Cream Soup 
• Very Simple Sweet Potato Cream Soup

If you are new to making vegan or vegetarian sour soup that tastes amazing, check-out my soup making guide.