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Greek Meatball Soup Recipe (Youvarlakia)

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This 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.giouvarlakia avgolemono soup recipe with lemon and egg meatball soup with escarole spinach or kale

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.

greek lemon rice soup recipe youvarlakia avgolemono soup lemon egg sauce

Comfort Food Dinner Recipes for Fall or Winter

This traditional Greek meatball soup with egg lemon sauce is the tastiest, coziest dinner meal. It’s perfect for a hearty meal for the family, and also great to make for company if you are having guests for dinner.

It makes a great holiday appetizer or starter as well. The stove does most of the work, so you can enjoy hands-off time while you prep sides or a salad!

What’s In Youvarlakia with Avgolemono Sauce?

  • 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

youvarlakia recipe healthy homemade greek soups authentic Greek meatball soup recipe with ground beef and rice and escarole

How Do I Make Youvarlakia/Giouvarlakia Soup?

  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.
  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.
  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.
  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.
  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.
  6. Add the chopped escarole, and cook for another 20 minutes.
  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.
  8. Taste, and add salt and pepper if desired.  Serve hot with extra dill or parsley to garnish.

 

Meal Prep Greek Meatball Soup

This youvarlakia meatball soup is the perfect recipe for homemade meal prep.  I am a huge fan of meal prepping, batch cooking, and making recipes ahead.  I love the convenience of cooking once and being able to enjoy homemade meals during the week when I don’t have time to cook. This soup is great to make when you have time on the weekend, then enjoy the leftovers for lunch or dinner throughout the week.

I have many  tried & true meal prep recipes you can browse through.  With just a little planning and prep, you can have a week’s worth of recipes ready in the time it would take to make one portion.  Just batch cook, divide into individual containers, and place in the fridge or freezer for later.

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

meatball soup greek giouvarlakia avgolemono soup recipe with eggs lemon groung beef dill and rice soup

Share This Delicious Greek Meatball Soup with Avgolemono

As always, if you make this dairy free youvarlakia recipe recipe be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe, and tag me @theherbeevore on Instagram so I can feature you.  I love seeing all your photos of my recipes!

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giouvarlakia avgolemono soup recipe with lemon and egg meatball soup with escarole spinach or kale

Greek Meatball Soup (Youvarlaki)

Kelly Jensen
This youvarlakia recipe is a delicious Greek meatball soup 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.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course Dinner, Soup
Cuisine Greek
Servings 8 servings
Calories 419 kcal

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 olive oil
  • 8 cups Chicken broth we use low sodium
  • 1 bunch Escarole chopped, about 4 cups fresh chopped
  • 1.5 lemons juiced

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

Nutrition

Calories: 419kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 21gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 122mgSodium: 951mgPotassium: 604mgFiber: 4gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 2266IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 97mgIron: 4mg
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Posted in Dairy Free, Dinners, Fall Recipes, Favorites, For Entertaining, Greek, High Protein, Make Ahead, Meal Prep, Soups, The Herbeevore Recipes, Winter Recipes

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