Greek Meatball Soup | Youvarlakia Avgolemono
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A delicious winter comfort soup from Greece
Author:
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: serves 5-6
Ingredients
  • For the Rice Meatballs
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef
  • ½ cup medium (or short) grain rice
  • 1 small onion, finely grated
  • ½ fresh parsley, minced
  • 3 TBSP. fresh dill, minced
  • 1½ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • 2 TBSP. olive oil
  • 2 TBSP. water
  • ½ cup of all-purpose flour (for rolling)
  • For the egg-lemon broth (Avgolemono)
  • 1 whole egg and two egg yolks
  • 3-4 TBSP. lemon juice (one medium lemon) - or more
  • 2 tsp. cornstarch
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, mix the meat, rice, onion, parsley, dill, salt & pepper, olive oil and water. Use your hands so everything is well incorporated. If possible, leave the mixture to rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes (this will prevent the meatballs from breaking up when boiled.). Form the mixture into about 30-35 meatballs and set them aside.
  2. In a small bowl, place the flour and roll each meatball in it, coating each one well.
  3. In a large pot, bring 8 cups of water to a boil.
  4. Drop the meatballs gently into the water, drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes or until the rice is soft. (The water should be enough to almost cover the meatballs, so add some more hot water if needed.)
  5. To prepare the egg-lemon base for the meatball soup, put the egg and the egg yolks into a medium bowl and whisk very well until frothy. (For best results, use a hand held mixer or an immersion blender). Add the lemon juice and the cornstarch and whisk again. Start “tempering” the eggs by adding a ladle of hot soup to the bowl while whisking constantly. Add one more ladle and whisk again until combined. Stir in the egg-lemon broth into the soup, mix well and bring to a very gentle simmer, over medium-low heat, for just a minute or so, making sure the soup doesn't come to a boil.
  6. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the soup right away with some crusty bread on the side.
Notes
If you cannot find medium grain rice, you can use short grain rice or even Arborio rice. Before serving, taste and adjust the seasoning and add more lemon if necessary.
Recipe by Marilena's Kitchen at https://marilenaskitchen.com/greek-meatball-soup/