Tender meatballs of minced meat and raw rice poached in a light broth, the grains swelling and bristling from the surface as they cook that is finished with avgolemono — the silky egg-and-lemon emulsion — into a creamy, tangy soup. The ultimate Greek winter comfort bowl.
Youvarlakia is a comforting Greek soup of ground-meat-and-rice balls finished with avgolemono, the egg-and-lemon liaison that turns the broth velvety and tart. It is classic winter home cooking, made in pots across Greece.
Spoonfuls reveal soft meatballs flecked with plump rice in a broth gone velvety and lemon-bright from the avgolemono. The sourness lifts the savoury meat, and the texture sits between soup and a loose sauce. It tastes like being looked after.
The rice releases starch as it cooks inside the meatballs, gently thickening the broth. Tempering whisked eggs with hot liquid before returning them to low heat emulsifies the soup without curdling, the heart of avgolemono.
Variations
Beef-pork blend, with dill instead of parsley, tomato-based (without avgolemono), gluten-free with extra rice
On the Palate
Where Youvarlakia sits in the Greek flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 5
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min
- 120 min
Mix ground meat with raw rice, grated onion, parsley, salt and pepper and shape into walnut-size balls.
- 28 min
Bring a pot of lightly salted water or broth with olive oil to a gentle boil.
- 335 min
Lower the meatballs in, cover and simmer until the rice is cooked and the balls are firm.
Watch outSimmer gently, never a hard boil — a rolling boil knocks the meatballs apart before the raw rice inside has cooked through and set them firm.
- 43 min
Whisk eggs until frothy, then whisk in the lemon juice.
- 54 min
Slowly ladle hot broth into the egg-lemon mixture while whisking to temper it.
Watch outAdd the hot broth to the eggs a ladle at a time while whisking — dump it in fast and the eggs cook into threads instead of thickening the soup silky.
- 63 min
Pour the tempered avgolemono back into the pot off direct heat and swirl gently.
- 75 min
Warm through without boiling so the soup turns creamy and thickens slightly.
Watch outWarm it back through off the boil until it just thickens and turns creamy — let it boil now and the egg-lemon curdles and splits.
- 82 min
Serve hot with extra pepper and a wedge of lemon.
