The world-famous Frankfurter Green Sauce is green, as the name indicates. If you ever visit Frankfurt am Main or Hessia, you should try this traditional herb sauce. Refreshing, delicious and yet so simple, these are the characteristics of the original Frankfurter Grie Soß (as it is colloquially known).
I know this sauce well, as I grew up in Schwalbach am Taunus, a little town on the outskirts of Frankfurt. This herb sauce is one of my fondest childhood memories.
What we will cover in this post:
What is Frankfurt Green Sauce?
It is a cold herb sauce made from seven distinct herbs, sour cream and yoghurt. Every Frankfurt family has its own recipe, but the herb mixture remains the same.
Although this green sauce is famous all over Germany, you may only find the ingredients fresh in the market stalls if you are in Frankfurt or Hessia. There you can buy the fresh herb mixture prepacked, wrapped in paper.
For the rest of Germany, you can sometimes buy them frozen, or make do with other herb mixtures.
Seven Herbs of the Original Frankfurter Grüne Soße
- Borretsch - Borage - Borago officinalis
- Kerbel - Chervil - Anthriscus cerefolium
- Kresse - Garden Cress - Lepidium sativum
- Petersilie - Parsley - Petroselinum crispum
- Pimpinelle - Salad Burnet - Sanguisorba minor
- Sauerampfer - Sorrel - Rumex acetosa
- Schnittlauch - Chives - Allium schoenoprasum
History of this famous Frankfurt Sauce
The roots of the original mix of seven herbs of the Frankfurt sauce is unknown. It is thought that the herb sauce was introduced by the French Huguenots who fled to Frankfurt mid 16th century. Another unproven, theory is that merchants from Lombardy settled in Frankfurt and imported Mediterranean herbs.
Popular folklore is that the mother of the famous German poet Goethe invented the sauce. It is accepted that this is not true, but nevertheless Goethe was an admirer of the traditional green sauce from his birth town Frankfurt.
The first recipe for green sauce was published in 1860 by Wilhemine Rührig. Since 2016 the green sauce herb mixture is protected by the EU, meaning that only herb mixes that fulfil certain geographical requirements are allowed to call themselves Frankfurter Grie Soß (Source Frankfurt.de)
How to make Frankfurt green sauce
You will see, it is pretty easy to prepare this sauce. The star ingredients in this recipe are the fresh herbs.
Frankfurt Green Sauce Recipe
- 150 g (5 oz) herbs for green sauce (borage, chervil, cress, parsley, burnet, sorrel and chives)
- 150 g (5 oz) crème fraiche or sour cream
- 150 g (5 oz) full fat yoghurt
- 1 small (50 g or 1.7 oz) onion
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Wash the herbs. If necessary, remove the leaves from the stems and roughly chop them. Place in a deep bowl.
- Add the yoghurt and crème Fraiche or sour cream to the herbs. With a hand blender, puree the herbs. Alternatively, you can chop the herbs very finely and then mix them in with the yoghurt-crème Fraiche mixture.
- Peel the onion and cube very finely.
- Add the onion cubes, olive oil, mustard and lemon juice to the mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Allow the mixture to rest for an hour in the fridge or a cool place before serving.
Grow your own Frankfurt Green Sauce herb mix
The tourist information in frankfurt said they will send you the seeds for the herbs, so you can grow them in your garden at home. Here is a link to their website.
- If you are in the US you can find most seeds on this seed website. Strictly Medicinal Seeds
- UK residents can find most seeds on the Morgan Thompson seed website.
- For the authentic German mix, I found this German gardening website that ship abroad. Samenshop 24.
- Here is a good guide on how to harvest herbs.
Substitute for the original seven green sauce herbs.
I have been asked by readers how to substitute some of the original herbs, that are not available as easily outside Germany. I assume that parsley and chives are quite easy to get hold of, but I did some research on the other herbs. If you tried this herb sauce with substitute herbs, send me a message, because I would love to hear how it worked out.
Substitute Herbs for Frankfurt Green Sauce
- Borage: Spinach leaves, Escarole.
- Chervil: tarragon
- Garden cress: Watercress or Arugula (Rocket)
- Salad Burnet: Difficult to substitute- cucumber has a similar taste, but it not a herb.
- Sorrel: Arugula (Rocket), lemon balm or kale
If you are in Germany, just not near Frankfurt, I would suggest the frozen Iglo 8 Kräuter Mix - which has all the herbs from the Frankfurt Green Sauce Plus Dill.
How to serve Frankfurt Green Sauce?
In Germany, we eat this sauce typically in spring. It is one of the most popular dishes to eat on Maundy Thursday (Gründonnerstag) in Germany. On this day you traditionally eat a green dish, so that this green herb sauce is quite fitting.
In Frankfurt, we eat this sauce with anything. But here is a list of the most common combinations.
- Green sauce with potatoes and boiled eggs (this is the most common way of serving Frankfurter Grie Soß)
- Frankfurt Schnitzel (A pork schnitzel served with a side of green sauce)
- Frankfurter Grüne Soße with Tafelspitz
- The sauce also tastes very good as a side with fish or roast beef.
How to store Frankfurt Green Sauce
I would suggest consuming this sauce the same day it is made. If necessary it will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. I would not recommend freezing this sauce, but if you like you can freeze the fresh herbs.
More German Sauce Recipes
Frankfurt Green Sauce (Frankfurter Grüne Soße)
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 150 g herbs for green sauce herbs for green sauce (borage, chervil, cress, parsley, burnet, sorrel and chives) (5 oz)
- 150 g creme fraiche (5 oz) if not available use sour cream
- 150 g full fat yoghurt (5 oz) (3.4% fat)
- 1 small onion about 50 g or 1.8 oz
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the herbs. If necessary, remove the leaves from the stems and roughly chop them. Place in a deep bowl.
- Add the yoghurt and crème Fraiche or sour cream to the herbs. With a hand blender, puree the herbs. Alternatively, you can chop the herbs very finely and then mix them in with the yoghurt-crème Fraiche mixture.
- Peel the onion and cube very finely.
- Add the onion cubes, olive oil, mustard and lemon juice to the mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Allow the mixture to rest for an hour in the fridge or a cool place before serving.
As a German person, living in Florida, I bought seeds for Thesauren in Germany each year, and since we can put seeds out in Februar, my sauce is always ready. It is one of my favorites, but I am vegan or plant based eater and changed to vegan. Not even a meat eater knows the difference. Thanks these are my little nice memories
Hi Kerstin,
thank you very much for sharing this with me. Buying the seeds and growing them yourself is such a good solution for when you live abroad. The unique taste makes it worth while. Best Wishes Marita
I have been to Germany so many times, somehow never tasted this sauce. Adding this herby sauce to my list to try.
Thanks, another reason to visit Germany again.