Traditional Vegetarian Sour Soup

This simple colorful vegetarian sour soup was inspired by the traditional Romanian cuisine, it’s healthy and delicious, and can successfully be cooked by anyone. You can expect a special sour taste with a bit of a sweet twist, lots of healthy vegetables and an interesting eggy texture. This recipe never gets old!

You will love this vegetarian sour soup

We’ve made this kind of sour soup times and times again, and that is why we decided to share it with you. This vegetarian sour soup was delicious but was much more:

Easy to make by anyone without prior cooking experience.
Has a balanced sweet and sour taste.
Loaded with colorful “good-for-you” vegetables.
Smells amazing and will nourish all your senses.
Perfect to surprise your loved ones with something different.
Healthy to consume and packed with nutrients.
Free of added sugar, wheat, soy, or refined oils.
This recipe is vegetarian and made with colorful veggies.
Perfectly balanced and super tasty!

Ingredients for Traditional Vegetarian Sour Soup

In a nutshell, these are the ingredients that you’ll be using for making this delicious vegetarian sour soup:

• Sweet Potatoes – peeled and cubed
• Carrots – peeled and cut in thick slices
• Parsnip – peeled and sliced
• Bell Pepper – remove seeds and cut in cubes
• Leeks – make sure to cut in thin slices
• Fennel – chopped rather small
• Shallots – peel and chop or cut big pieces
• Garlic Cloves – peel and cut in big slices
• Green Beans (frozen) – I used frozen green beans, fresh is fine
• Broccoli (frozen) – I used frozen broccoli, fresh is fine also
• Celery Stick – wash and chop in thin slices
• Himalayan Salt – use salt to taste
• Parsley – use fresh or dried
• Lovage – use fresh or dried
• Eggs – besten eggs are used at the end of the cooking process (see Instructions for specific details)
• Bors Liquid (or lemon and lime) – traditional bors liquid is used to obtain the sour taste of this soup, alternatively use lemon and lime (see Recipe card for details)
• Water
• Walnuts (on the side) – we served this sour soup with walnuts on the side

Pro Tip: For this sour soup I used frozen green beans and frozen broccoli simply because they are already portioned and only take a few minutes to cook. Frozen vegetables can easily be found all year long and organic frozen veggies are even cheaper compared to fresh organic veggies.

For this sour soup I wanted to use an assortment of vegetables that blend together to obtain a traditional sweet and sour taste, but also to give this soup a bit of texture. I ended-up with a rather long list of veggies and a few spices that will make for a soup that is both delicious and healthy.

Also, since I’m not using texture enhancers in any of my recipes (things like wheat or others) I have to rely on natural ways to obtain some kind of texture in soup. At the end of the cooking process I’ve used 2 beaten eggs to add even more flavor and an eggy texture to this sour soup.

How to obtain the special sour taste?

In the Romanian cuisine, sour soup of prepared using a local ingredient called “bors”. Bors liquid 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 soups from Eastern Europe.

For our recipe though, you have the option of using the traditional bors liquid or a combination of freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice. The combination of lemon and lime juice is pretty close to the traditional Romanian bors liquid without the extra effort.

This works well especially if you don’t have access to traditional bors liquid. If you are in Romania through (or if you have access to bors liquid), I strongly suggest to use the traditional bors liquid instead of the lemon and lime juice.

How to cook Traditional Vegetarian Sour Soup

1. Prepare all the ingredients as needed and add them into a big soup pot.
2. Add enough water to cover the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook on medium heat for about 15-20 min, until all the veggies become temder.
3. When the veggies are almost cooked, lower the cooking temperature and add the traditional bors liquid (alternatively use lemon and lime juice). Also add the spices in this step.
4. Incorporate using a wooden spoon and let the soup simmer.
5. In the meantime, crack eggs into a bowl and beat using a fork.
6. Take one ladle of fresh hot soup and pour it over beaten eggs, mixing a little to homogenize.
7. Pour the contents of this bowl over the main soup. Using a fork mix fast until the eggs have dissolved into the soup, giving it an eggy texture.
8. Finish by adding salt and simmer the soup for another 2-3 minutes.
9. DONE! Remove from heat and set aside to rest.

Cooking Tips

• The ingredients list may look a bit long but don’t worry because this is basically a one-pot recipe with a small twist at the end.
• in this recipe we’re using frozen ingredients, namely broccoli and green beans. Add them into the soup pot without defrosting them.
• Using lovage and parsley are a must because they bring a lot of flavor to this sour soup. Feel free to use either fresh or dried lovage and parsley.
• This soup has a special sweet and sour taste, obtained from the combination or cooked veggies and the traditional sour liquid.
• The star ingredient for this sour soup is the traditional bors liquid specific for Romanian cuisine. Alternatively, you can successfully use freshly squeezed juice from half lemon and half lime.
• In caee you want to use lemon and lime juice for this soup (instead of traditional bors liquid), follow these steps: Cut both the lemon and lime in half and, use a spoon to squeeze the juice from each one into a cup. Use the freshly squeezed juice in the soup recipe when asked to do so.

How to serve this delicious sour soup

I like serving this sour soup as is or with a source of healthy fats on the side. You can successfully pair this sour soup with things like:

• Full-Fat Sour Cream
• Hot Peppers
• Walnuts (what we used)
• Avocado
• Brie of Camembert Cheese
• Cheddar Cheese
• Sourdough Bread

I hope that you will come to like this Traditional Vegetarian Sour Soup as much as we do. Let us know how it turned out for you!

Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and tag it @refreshmyhealth on Social Media because I would LOVE to see what you come up with.

Be creative with the food that you consume and share this sour soup with someone close!

What’s your favorite soup recipe? Have you served sour soup before and did you liked it? Let me know in the comments.

Looking for more delicious sour soups?

I have a feeling you’ll like these soups:

• Romanian Vegetarian Sour Soup
• Spicy Vegetable Sour Soup (Vegan)
• Spicy Colorful Vegetable Sour Soup
• Simple Vegetable Sour Soup

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