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Greek Turkey Meatball Soup - Youvarlakia

Youvarlakia: Greek Meatball Soup

Giorgos Tsoulis
Soft, juicy turkey meatballs surrounded by heart-warming, creamy egg lemon sauce. This is a lighter version of the traditional youvarlakia recipe which uses ground turkey instead of ground beef.
4.92 from 78 votes
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Soup
Cuisine Greek
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
 
 

For the meatballs (youvarlakia):

  • 0.5 kg ground turkey
  • 150 g glace rice glutinous
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 1 medium egg
  • ¼ bunch parsley finely chopped
  • ¼ bunch dill finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 Greek Florina red pepper finely chopped
  • 5 tbsp Greek extra virgin olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper
  • all-purpose flour for dredging

For the soup:

  • 1 liter water
  • 1 potato cut into cubes
  • 1 large carrot shredded
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 20 ml extra virgin olive oil + extra when serving
  • 1 celery stick finely chopped
  • 1 lemon zest
  • salt
  • pepper

For the egg-lemon sauce:

  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 1 tsp corn starch

Instructions
 

For the meatballs:

  • In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients for the meatballs apart from the flour. Mix with your hands until well combined.
  • Pick up some of the ground meat mixture and shape into meatballs the size of a walnut.
  • Fill a large container with all-purpose flour. Add the meatballs and dredge in the flour, until completely coated.

For the soup:

  • Fill a wide pot with the 1 liter/ 4¼ cups of water and place over medium heat. Add the potatoes, carrots, bouillon cube, celery, olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
  • Add the meatballs to the pot, cover with lid and simmer for about 30-35 minutes.

For the egg-lemon sauce:

  • In a large bowl, add the 2 egg yolks, lemon juice and cornstarch. Whisk until mixture is light and frothy.
  • Remove lid from pot and turn off heat. Using a ladle, pick up a ladleful of the hot soup and add it to the egg mixture, while whisking continuously. Repeat the same process, until the egg mixture is warm and thickens a little. This is done slowly in order to temper the eggs gradually so they don’t curdle.
  • Turn heat on low and pour the egg-lemon mixture into the pot. Swirl the pot gently, until the sauce thickens a little.
  • Transfer to deep dishes, drizzle with some Greek extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Notes

Greek Turkey Meatball Soup - Youvarlakia
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