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Traditional Youvarlakia Greek Meatball Soup with Avgolemono

A white bowl filled with youvarlakia Greek meatball soup, featuring seven meatballs in a creamy, pale yellow avgolemono sauce.
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Make authentic Youvarlakia, a comforting Greek meatball soup featuring tender meatballs cooked in a light, creamy egg-lemon (avgolemono) broth.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound ground beef or a mix of beef and pork
  • 1/2 cup short-grain rice, uncooked
  • 1 small onion, finely grated
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch (high-CPC phrase)

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, uncooked rice, grated onion, parsley, 1 egg, flour, salt, and pepper. Mix gently with your hands until just combined; do not overmix.
  2. Shape the mixture into small, uniform meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter. You should have about 30-35 meatballs.
  3. Pour the chicken broth into a large pot and bring it to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
  4. Carefully drop the meatballs into the simmering broth. Do not stir immediately. Let them simmer gently for 20 minutes, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
  5. While the meatballs cook, prepare the avgolemono sauce. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the 3 room temperature eggs until they are light and frothy.
  6. In a small cup, whisk the cornstarch with the lemon juice until smooth. Add this mixture to the beaten eggs and whisk well to combine.
  7. Temper the egg-lemon mixture: Slowly ladle about 1 cup of the hot broth from the soup pot into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. This prevents the eggs from scrambling.
  8. Reduce the heat under the soup pot to low. Slowly pour the tempered egg-lemon mixture back into the soup pot in a thin stream, stirring the soup gently and continuously.
  9. Heat the soup gently for 5 to 7 minutes until it thickens slightly. Do not let the soup boil after adding the avgolemono, or the sauce will curdle.
  10. Remove from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes before serving hot.

Notes

  • Use room temperature eggs for the avgolemono to help the sauce emulsify smoothly.
  • If you prefer a richer flavor, substitute half of the chicken broth with water and bouillon cubes.
  • Serve this soup with a drizzle of good quality olive oil, if desired.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://delishcraze.com/youvarlakia-greek-meatball-soup/