This Balkan Meatball Soup is a budget-friendly, yet rich and nourishing dish with wonderful flavours and texture. The recipe comes from classic Bulgarian cuisine and is one of my father’s favourites. He often cooks it at home and I know the recipe from him. It’s a good dish to have at any time of the day. In the Balkans, we often have it for breakfast. Soups are great for breakfast, easy to digest and can boost your energy levels.

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HOW TO PREPARE MY MEATBALL SOUP?

📋 INGREDIENTS IN THE BULGARIAN MEATBALL SOUP

for the MeatballS

Although the meatballs in the traditional recipe are made with a blend of beef and pork mincemeat, you can substitute it with any meat of your choice, even with vegan Quorn mince.

The meat mixture contains rice, soaked bread and fresh parsley.

The rice adds texture to the meatballs and the bread helps to bond the meat mixture making it easier to shape. It also retains moisture and makes the meatballs tender. Use larger grain rice, like everyday rice, because it keeps its shape better.

Traditionally, the meatballs are very simply spiced, only with parsley and pepper. Their role in the soup is to add texture.

As a whole, the authentic Bulgarian meatball soup has rather settled flavours. I like to jazz it up with a bit of fresh chilli and a teaspoon of Winchester sauce.

If you prefer to take a shortcut that will save you time and will add more flavour to the meatballs, you can use ready-made sausage meat or the meat from your favourite butcher’s sausages. Also, you won’t need to add the soaked bread to the sausage meat because it’s already dense and easy to shape into meatballs.

Vegetables in thIS SOUP

Root vegetables play important role in any soup because they create texture and bring earthy flavours. This recipe contains onions, carrots and celery.

Potatoes, rice or soup pasta are commonly used in meatball soup to add texture.

We make the soup thicker with a mixture of yoghurt and egg yolk. The thickening mixture not only improves the texture but adds flavour and nutrition to the soup.

📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Making this soup is not overly complicated, however, there are a couple of steps that require special attention. I love shortcuts, anything that makes life easier and preparing food quicker. I often make meatballs for this soup with sausage meat. If you want to try this, read my instructions below.

Step 1: Make the meatballs

Take the meat out of the fridge 30 minutes before making the meatballs.

Par-boil the rice for 5-6 minutes. Use a type of rice that does not cook too quickly.

Soak one slice of bread in a small bowl of milk or water. Soft white bread will absorb the water quickly and will become soft within seconds, but dense bread may need to soak longer. Do not leave the bread in the liquid for too long because it may disintegrate. Squeeze the bread in your hand to remove the liquid inside it.

Place the mincemeat in a large bowl. It will be easier to mix it with the rest of the ingredients.

Add the wet bread, the chopped onion and the par-cooked rice to the bowl with the mincemeat. Season the meat mixture with black pepper and salt and add finely chopped parsley.

Start kneading the mixture with your hands until all ingredients are combined well.

Leave the ready meat mixture in the fridge for 15-20 minutes or until it is no longer sticky and is easy to shape.

Meanwhile, spread 1 cup of plain flour onto a plate. Break small pieces of meat mixture and roll them between your palms to 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch meatballs, then toss the meatballs in flour and coat them lightly on all sides.

How to make meatballs for this soup with sausage meat?

If you are making meatballs with sausage meat, remove the casing from the sausages and combine the sausage meat with the par-cooked rice. You do not need to add the soaked bread to this mixture, as the sausage meat is already quite dense and holds its shape. Shape the meatballs by rolling them onto your palm.

Step 2: Prepare the meatball soup

Heat oil in a large saucepan on your hob and sauté the chopped onion until translucent.

Next, add the finely chopped carrots to the pot and saute them for a couple of minutes.

Last, add the cubed tomatoes and celery to the pot and saute them for 3-4 minutes. If the vegetables are starting to burn, add 1-2 tablespoons of stock to the saucepan. Keep the lid on to cook the vegetables quicker and to lock the flavours.

Pour the stock into the saucepan with the sauteed vegetables and stir all ingredients well. Bring the stock to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer the soup for 10 minutes.

Drop the meatballs in the simmering stock. Meatballs cook very quickly. It should not take more than 5 minutes.

As soon as the meatballs are cooked, add the soup pasta, salt and pepper to the soup and let it simmer on low heat for further 5 minutes or according to the instruction on the packaging for the specific pasta you are using.

Step 3: make the meatball soup thicker

For the thickening mixture, you will need one egg yolk and a couple of tablespoons of natural yoghurt. Take the yoghurt and the egg out of the fridge for at least 15 minutes before cooking with them and let them get to room temperature.

Into a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and the yoghurt to combine them. Pour 3-4 spoonfuls of hot stock into the bowl with the egg and the yoghurt and stir it. The hot stock will raise the temperature in the thickening mixture and will prevent the yoghurt and the yolk from curdling when added to the soup.

Remove the soup from the hob and add the thickening mixture slowly to the soup while stirring it constantly. You can control the thickness of your soup by adding less or more thickening mixture.

🍲 SERVE DELICIOUS MEATBALL SOUP

This delicious and nourishing soup keeps well for a few days in the fridge, but always heat it up on the hob or in the microwave and serve it hot.

Traditionally in Bulgaria, locals garnish their bowls of soup with fresh finely chopped parsley, a splash of fresh lemon juice and cracked black pepper. I prefer mine with a splash of apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice and add a few drops of soya sauce.

Bon Appétit! 👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳