Greek Meatball Soup Recipe (Youvarlakia)
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Jump to Recipe Watch VideoThis youvarlakia is a delicious Greek meatball soup recipe simmered in a creamy lemon egg sauce. This classic dish is made with ground beef and rice meatballs with loads of fresh chopped greens for a hearty and comforting dish.
This is a new favorite for us to enjoy at lunch, perfect for these cooler fall and winter months. Serve with a large chopped salad and a thick slice of crusty bread for a delicious meal.
Want more fantastic Greek recipes? Try our authentic spanakopita, classic fasolatha soup, and delicious baked Greek giant beans!
Another fantastic soup recipe from our family friend George! He gives us the BEST Greek recipes. He shared his family’s Greek avgolemono soup recipe a while back, and we’ve made that about once a month since.
This youvarlakia avgolemono (I’ve also seen it spelled giouvarlakia) recipe is just as delicious, and brings some fantastic greens into the mix. Start by making a flavorful meatball mix, and cooking them in a creamy lemon egg broth.
Why This Recipe Works
- It’s a classic Greek dish, delicious comfort food!
- The meatballs are juicy and flavorful, and add great taste to each bite of soup.
- It’s great to make ahead or to meal prep for lunch or dinners.
- A great fall or winter soup dish, the perfect cozy meal.
- It has a great combination of hearty meatballs in a light citrusy broth, with fresh greens!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground Beef – this recipe calls for 85/15 ground beef. You could use ground turkey, ground pork, or chicken mince for this recipe instead.
- Rice – I used a medium grain white rice for this recipe. But you could use a short grain rice or long-grain rice as well.
- Onion
- Eggs – this recipe uses both the egg whites and yolks for different parts of the recipe. Use the whites when forming the meatballs, and whisk the yolks to the avgolemono sauce at the end.
- Fresh Parsley – which adds amazing flavor to the meatballs – make sure to use fresh parsley and not dried.
- Fresh Dill – also use fresh for this Greek soup.
- Low Sodium Chicken Broth – we like to limit salt content where we can, so we always cook with a good low sodium chicken broth.
- Escarole – which George notes in his recipe is optional, but he likes to add it to make it similar to a Greek wedding soup. Who can argue with that, we added it! If you can’t find escarole, you could try substituting spinach or fresh chopped kale instead. It’s not traditional, but would work in a pinch.
- Lemon Juice – from fresh squeezed lemons.
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Be sure to visit the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions!
Additions and Substitutions
- You could use dried herbs instead of fresh, just be sure to cut down the quantities by half.
- Instead of escarole if you can’t find it, you can use fresh kale or baby spinach.
- You can swap the ground beef for pork, lamb, or a plant-based ground meat substitute!
- You could also swap the rice in the meatballs with quinoa or breadcrumbs.
How To Make This Soup
Step 1: Parboil the rice: In a pot, boil 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of salted water or chicken stock. After 5 minutes, drain and allow rice to cool in the refrigerator.
Step 2: Make the meatballs: In a food processor add the onion, parsley, dill, and two egg whites (save the remaining 3 yolks for later in the recipe). Add pinch of salt and pepper to mix. Process for 1 minute until herbs and onion are finely chopped.
Step 3: In a large bowl, add the herb mixture, cooled parboiled rice, and the ground beef. Mix well to combine, and refrigerate mixture for 30 minutes.
Step 4: Form the meatballs into golf ball sized meatballs, and lightly flour them (or roll them in flour). To a large pot or Dutch Oven, and add the olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add the floured meatballs to the olive oil and cook lightly for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned.
Step 5: Pour the chicken stock over the meatballs, bring to a boil, then reduce soup to a summer. Allow soup to cook for 30-40 minutes.
Step 6: Add the chopped escarole, and cook for another 20 minutes.
Step 7: In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks and the lemon juice, and whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly add a few ladles of the hot soup broth to the egg mixture, until it becomes creamy. Add the egg lemon avgolemono sauce to the soup pot. Serve hot!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can form the meatballs ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze them if you aren’t making the soup at the moment. Be sure to store the meatballs and soup separately if you are planning to freeze the meatballs
Absolutely – make the meatballs with a plant-based ground ‘meat’ substitute instead of ground beef.
Youvarlakia soup pairs well with a side of Greek salad, crusty homemade bread, or warm pita. For dessert, you can serve a simple and light dessert like baklava or Greek yogurt with honey to finish to the meal.
More Cozy Fall Soup Recipes You’ll Love!
- Simple French Onion Soup with White Wine
- White Pasta Fagioli With Spinach Recipe
- Tomato Soup with Noodles Recipe
- Mushroom Soup with Coconut Milk Recipe
- Black Bean Soup with Avocado Recipe
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If you made this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
Greek Meatball Soup (Youvarlakia)
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb ground beef 85/15
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 cups water or chicken broth
- 1 sweet onion
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- 1/3 cup fresh dill
- 3 eggs whites and yolks divided
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or enough to lightly coat the meatballs
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 cups Chicken broth we use low sodium
- 1 bunch Escarole chopped, about 4 cups fresh chopped
- 2 lemons juiced
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Parboil the rice: In a pot, boil 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of salted water or chicken stock. After 5 minutes, drain and allow rice to cool in the refrigerator.
- Make the meatballs: In a food processor add the onion, parsley, dill, and two egg whites (save the remaining 3 yolks for later in the recipe). Add pinch of salt and pepper to mix. Process for 1 minute until herbs and onion are finely chopped.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the herb mixture, cooled parboiled rice, and the ground beef. Mix well to combine, and refrigerate mixture for 30 minutes.
- Form the meatballs and lightly flour them (or roll them in flour). To a large soup pot or Dutch Oven, and add the olive oil and heat on low heat. Add the floured meatballs to the olive oil and cook lightly.
- Pour the chicken stock over the meatballs, bring to a boil, then reduce soup to a summer. Allow soup to cook for 30 minutes.
- Add the chopped escarole, and cook for another 20 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks and the lemon juice, and whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly add a few ladles of the hot soup broth to the egg and lemon mixture, until it becomes creamy. Add the egg lemon avgolemono sauce to the soup pot.
- Taste, and add salt and pepper if desired. Serve hot with extra dill or parsley to garnish.
Video
Notes
- You could use dried herbs instead of fresh, just be sure to cut down the quantities by half.
- Instead of escarole if you can’t find it, you can use fresh kale or baby spinach.
- You can swap the ground beef for pork, lamb, or a plant-based ground meat substitute!
- You could also swap the rice in the meatballs with quinoa or breadcrumbs.
Nutrition
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This looks delicious