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Youvarlakia Avgolemono (Lemony Greek Meatball Soup)

Avgolemono is a Greek egg and lemon mixture that’s tangy and silky, and used to thicken sauces and soups. This recipe is a riff on a more traditional avgolemono soup. Ground chicken, rice, carrots and herbs are rolled into meatballs, then simmered in the broth. This is a comforting soup that is both hearty and healthy.
Course Appetizer, main
Cuisine Greek
Keyword Create "Youvarlakia Avgolemono (Lemony Greek Meatball Soup) ", Greek Lemon Soup
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4
Author Debby - www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

  • 1 pound ground chicken or ground turkey or beef, very cold
  • ¾ cup chopped fresh dill or parsley plus more for garnish
  • ½ cup yellow onion grated; from about 1 small onion; don't chop!
  • ¼ cup carrot grated; from about 1 carrot
  • ¼ cup uncooked long-grain rice such as basmati or Carolina, well rinsed and drained
  • 1 garlic clove finely grated, pushed through a garlic press, or minced
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt plus more as needed
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more as needed
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest finely grated l

For the soup:

  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice from about 2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp potato starch optional; I used this to thicken the broth to my liking
  • Freshly grated nutmeg for serving (optional)

Instructions

For the meatballs:

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, 1/4 cup dill, onion, carrot, rice, garlic, salt, pepper and lemon zest.
    Gently mix with your hands until well combined.
  • Gently form the mixture into 24 meatballs, each about 1 1/4 inches in diameter, placing them on a plate or baking pan.
    Cover and chill for at least 20 minutes or up to 24 hours. (This helps the meatballs keep their shape while cooking.)

Soup:

  • In a large pot, bring stock to a boil over high heat.
    Reduce to medium and use a slotted spoon to carefully add meatballs to the pot. The broth should cover the tops of the meatballs by about 1/2 inch. If not, add a little water.
    Simmer gently, adjusting the heat so the broth doesn’t boil, until meatballs are cooked through and rice is tender, 25 to 35 minutes.
    (Break open a meatball to test it.) Remove pot from heat.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and lemon juice until just mixed.
    Slowly add a ladle of warm broth to egg-lemon mixture, whisking constantly. Whisk in another two ladles of broth to temper the egg mixture.
  • Slowly drizzle the egg-lemon mixture back into the pot with the meatballs, stirring gently so you don’t break apart the meatballs.
    NOTE: I chose to gently remove the cooked meatballs, to add the egg-lemon mixture to the broth. I found this easier to whisk and thicken the brother. I then returned the meatballs, once the broth had thickened to my liking.
  • Return the pot to medium-low heat until it just starts to simmer. (Wait for a bubble or two to appear, but don’t let the pot boil.) The broth should be silky.
    NOTE: I wanted a slightly thicker broth. I used 1 Tbsp. potato starch and whisked in 1 ladle of the broth. Perfect!
  • Remove from heat, stir in remaining 1/2 cup dill. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed. (It may need quite a bit of salt if you are starting with unsalted broth.) Garnish with nutmeg, if you like, and dill, and serve.

Notes

Recipe source: Slightly adapted from the New York Times Cooking.
I opted for ground chicken breast, to cut back on calories. Substitutions of any combination of pork, lamb or beef would be good.  Adding fresh spinach, at the end, could add extra veggies.