Sorrel substitute

Substitutes for Sorrel with ratios

1. 2Spinach plus dry white wine or white wine vinegar

   Different taste

   Use Equal weight spinach, plus 2 tbsp wine or 2 tsp vinegar for every 4 oz (115 g)

   The same substitution using a wine-based acid instead of citrus.

   What changes

   Best for

   cream sauces, fish, veal, soups

   Better than lemon in a butter or cream sauce, where lemon can read as too fresh and fruity against the dairy. Reduce the wine in the pan before adding the spinach so the alcohol cooks off. Vinegar is sharper and more one-note, so add it in small increments right at the end.

2. 3Watercress plus lemon juice

   Different taste

   Use Equal weight, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice for every 4 oz (115 g)

   Peppery green leaves with a slight bitterness of their own.

   What changes

   Best for

   sorrel soup, green sauces, fish

   A very good soup substitute. Watercress adds a mustardy pepperiness and a touch of bitterness that sorrel does not have, so the soup tastes sharper and more assertive rather than purely sour. It wilts cleanly and the colour holds up better than sorrel, which always goes drab.

3. 4Arugula plus lemon juice

   Taste and texture differ

   Use Equal weight, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice for every 4 oz (115 g)

   Sharp, peppery salad leaves.

   What changes

   Best for

   salads, green sauces, soups

   Works, but it is the most assertive option here. Arugula is strongly peppery and turns slightly bitter when cooked hard, so a sorrel soup made with it tastes distinctly of arugula. It also does not break down as smoothly, leaving more discernible leaf. Best in raw or barely-cooked applications where sorrel was going into a salad.

4. 5Rhubarb, finely chopped and cooked down

   Different taste

   ⅓ the weight of the sorrel called for

   Genuinely sour stalks that break down into a soft, tart puree.

   What changes

   Best for

   sauce for salmon, mackerel, oily fish

   The unexpectedly good one for the classic oily-fish pairing, because sorrel is used there specifically to cut richness with acidity, and rhubarb does that better than almost anything. Chop it fine and cook it in butter with a little water until it collapses, about eight minutes. There is no green flavour at all and the sauce turns pinkish rather than olive, so it looks different, but it tastes right against salmon.

5. 6Swiss chard or beet greens plus lemon juice

   Taste and texture differ

   Use Equal weight, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice for every 4 oz (115 g)

   Sturdier cooking greens from the same family as sorrel.

   What changes

   Best for

   soups, gratins, braised dishes, tarts

   The closest botanical relatives to sorrel that supermarkets actually stock. Milder and slightly earthy, and they need a couple of minutes longer to soften than spinach does, so start them earlier. Good in a rustic soup or a savoury tart, less good in a fine sauce because the leaves stay more fibrous.