Youvarlakia Avgolemono (Lemony Greek Meatball Soup) Recipe (2024)

Haven't made it yet, seems pretty faithful to traditional version. A tip: if you think you might have leftovers which you want to reheat, add a teaspoon of corn starch to the egg-lemon mixture before incorporating into the broth. This will prevent the egg from curdling during reheating.

Dill freezes beautifully. Spread it out on a tray and freeze for about an hour, then place it in a freezer container or bag. Take out bits as needed. No need to defrost before using if it will be cooked. Can defrost first to mix into cold sauces (yogurt, sour cream, etc.) Almost as good as fresh.

This sounds wonderful and I will try it soon. In the meantime let me call your attention to a classic IMO recipe by Pierre Franey from his time as the 60 Minute Gourmet. It is for Meat Balls Avgolemono which he made with veal, but I have made with both ground chicken and ground turkey when veal was not available. It is not a soup, but a wonderful dish with a smooth sauce that pairs well with brown rice mixed with pine nuts. It has been a family favorite for close to forty years.

I can’t wait to make this. I’m obsessed with avgolemono. Here’s a tip- When I make avgolemono sauce, I always use my blender (or electric hand mixer) rather than a whisk. The result is a super smooth avgolemono sauce that’s completely foolproof.

In Greece, they add cubed carrots, celery and potatoes to the broth; the vegetables cook together with the meatballs adding more sustenance to the meal.

Cooked this last night. Was very easy to put together and we loved the results. I apparently dreamt that someone suggested putting some baby spinach in at the end, which I did. It was a lovely meal.

Adding an egg to the meat mixture will help the meatballs from breaking up when you’re adding them to the boiling broth. I shape the meat into balls first then drop them right in. No breakage.

This is a perfect and delicious recipe as written. I found the carrot optional except to add a touch of color.

A tip: if you think you might have leftovers which you want to reheat, add a teaspoon of corn starch to the egg-lemon mixture before incorporating into the broth. This will prevent the egg from curdling during reheating.

If using beef, use half cup of chopped fresh mint and half cup of chopped parsley to the meat Onion has to be grated --do not chop!When you create the "sauce" mix add the hot liquid to the eggs slowly while whisking vigorously (you may want a helper to pour the liquid to the eggs). add as many laddles as possible, to closely approach the heat of the pot before mixing to avoid the "egg drop" look in your soup. Garnish just with freshly ground pepper.

This soup was relatively easy to prep (except for grating the onion and carrots-- sniff). I cut back on the dill, ONLY because my husband swears he doesn't like it. My only change in cooking this soup, was that I removed the cooked meatballs before adding the egg/lemon mixture. Why? I didn't want to risk breaking them up. I found that the broth wasn't quite as thick as I'd like. Solution? 1 Tbsp potato flour with a ladle of broth whisked in, then added to the broth. Perfect!

Really good…We added an egg to the meatball mix (so they’d be able to actually be balls)

I pulled out my old Greek cook book by Daphne Metaxas. Put 1/2 cup rice in the nickel size meatballs, with 1 egg also added to meatball mixture. Then added 1/2 cup rice to the broth after I put the meatballs in the broth, cooked covered for 20 minutes. Following Metaxas’s instructions to make the avgolemono: I separated 4 eggs. Beat the egg whites until peaks formed. Add yolks. Mixed until blended. Added juice of 4 lemons. Stirred in 2 ladleful of broth, then poured mixture into soup pot.

It looks like the rice goes into the meatballs, not into the soup like traditional avgolemono soup. Easy to miss it in the list of meatball ingredients!

Since lamb is the dominant meat in much of Greece, I make this with lamb meatballs. The meat, lemon and dill is the taste of every souvlaki sandwich I ate there. Add a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and reduce the lemon and you're good to go.

I made it yesterday with ground Turkey for the meatball and homemade chicken bone broth. I had it for lunch today. It exceeded my expectations. I am adding this to my soup bible for future reference.

Greeks grate the onion. The grated onion blends well with the minced chicken (or veal, beef, etc) and helps to keep the meatball together. Chopped onion will not do the trick.

I made this exactly as the recipe lists, with parsley instead of dill. It came out wonderfully- a huge hit. I made it for 4, and everyone was clamoring for more. Recommend eating with a crusty bread.

And added spinach at the end. 1 teaspoon corn starch in avoglemono

This is a great version and pretty traditional. Like others said add cornstarch so the eggs don’t curdle when you reheat. This is a cozy meal on a cold winter day. I always make mine with turkey- it goes so much better with the sauce

Delicious! Nutmeg & plenty of fresh dill at the end are key. So is letting the broth cool for 10-15 min before whisking it into the egg, then adding egg to the soup. I rushed that step and had to fish out a few pieces of cooked egg from my soup. It wasn’t a disaster. I did follow tips to add an egg to the raw meatballs. That worked well. This recipe is on the fussy side as you must closely manage the temperatures of its components, so it’s not great for a busy weeknight.

Followed recipe exactly and love it! Used ground chicken, a combination of vegetable and chicken broth for soup, and added some cubed carrots and potatoes to the soup. The flavors were reminiscent of my local Greek restaurant avgolemono soup and the meatballs were perfectly cooked. Tempered egg did not thicken the soup enough for my liking so I added a tsp or so of cornstarch slurry to thicken and prevent curdling (when reheated). Delicious!!

I used ground turkey, 1/2 fresh and 1/2 dried dill and no carrot based on what I had. I added the egg to meat mixture and no problem with meatballs. It was bright and fresh but I'm not sure it's my favorite ever. The nutmeg really adds nice dimension.

Could this be made with “fake” meatballs (like the impossible ground beef or something similar)? I think so, but I’m not sure how it’s consistency would hold up.

I'll try this with lentils in place of meat and thicken with corn starch.

Assuming you add rice at the same time as the meatballs? It doesn't say.

Such a delicious soup, you don't even care when the meatballs totally disintegrate when adding the egg lemon mix to the hot broth. Next time I'll add an egg to the meatball ingredients. But still a great balance of flavors. I used ground grass fed beef from cows next door.

This was so tasty. I followed a comment that said to add potato, celery, and carrot, and I really think it made for a great meal. I made it with turkey this time, but I think I'll try it with chicken next time to see which one is best.

I add spinach to this soup and cut up carrots. So good!!

1. Too much lemon, half the amount. Def don't use all dill in the meat mixture - too much.2. I added eggs to the meat mixture as a binder. 3. 1 commenter suggested adding 1 t cornstarch to egg mixture to keep it from curdling when re-heating. I did this, will know tomorrow if that worked. 4. Added some spinach at the end for some extra nutrition. Red pepper flakes might be a nice addition.5. Yummy, velvety, but I doubt I make it again. It's missing something I can't put my finger on.