Giouvarlakia Avgolemono – Traditional Greek meatballs with rice in a lemony sauce

Giouvarlakia (or Youvarlakia) Avgolemono is a Greek traditional dish with meatballs and rice in a lemony sauce. Avgolemono sauce has a magic way of making whatever food you use it on tastes 10 times better and in my honest opinion compliments this dish perfectly.

Giouvarlakia Avgolemono – Traditional Greek meatballs with rice in a lemony sauce

Prep: 10m | Cook: 30m | Total: 40m | Serves:

Ingredients:

500g Minced beef
1 large carrot, grated
1 onion, blended and drained
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 egg
½ cup Dill, finely chopped
½ cup Parsley, finely chopped
½ cup of short grain Rice, washed and drained (125g)
1.5 liter of water
100g all-purpose Flour, for coating the meatballs
A pinch of Salt /Pepper

For the Avgolemono sauce:

2 lemons, their juice
2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1 and 1/2 Τbsp cornstarch*

Instructions:

Peel the onion and cut it into 4 pieces. Blend it with your kitchen processor using the pulse option and drain it from its juices (or finely chop it into very small pieces).
Add the minced beef in a large bowl followed by the grated carrot, the dill, parsley, the rice, the egg, 1 Tbsp olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the finely chopped onion.
Mix all the ingredients with your hands very well until all are combined.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in your fridge for 30 minutes.
Shape the meat patty into balls and roll them in the flour so they get a nice coating.
Add 1.5 liters of water in a pot over high heat and as soon as it boils, through in the meatballs.
Bring to a boil, skim the foam on top, and lower the heat letting it simmer for 20 minutes.
For the Avgolemono sauce: Squeeze the lemons and separate the yolks from the egg whites.
Beat the egg whites with a whisk or your hand mixer and as soon as they double in volume add ½ tsp from lemon juice and continue whisking until they triple their volume.
Add the yolks one by one into the fluffy egg whites, and whisk to combine.
Dissolve the corn starch into the lemon juice and add it to the egg mixture, stirring well.
Then take 2-3 soup spoons of the hot broth that the meatballs were simmering in and pour it slowly, into the egg mixture, stirring constantly.
Then pour the egg mixture in the pot with the meatballs, off the heat, and stir gently to go everywhere.
Bring the meatballs to a boil over high heat and the Giouvarlakia Avgolemono are ready to enjoy!
As a serving suggestion, I would recommend eating them with French fries and feta cheese, they are truly amazing!

Notes:

The amount of corn starch that I add to thicken the Avgolemono sauce for this recipe should change depending on the water ratio you add on a scale of 1/10. For example, if we make a smaller amount of Giouvarlakia and add 1 liter of water, then the corn starch should be reduced to 1 Tbsp.

Nutrition Facts Disclaimer

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