Meatballs in lemon-egg sauce

A classic Greek dish, the eggs and lemon juice combine to create a luscious, creamy, tangy sauce for meatballs.

Meatballs in lemon-egg sauce Credit: One World Kitchen

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g ground beef
• ¼ cup long-grain uncooked white rice, rinsed
• 1 cup onion, grated
• 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups (1 L) chicken stock

Lemon-egg sauce

• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp dill, chopped for garnish

Instructions

1. Use hands to mix together beef, rice, onion, dill, parsley, salt, pepper, egg, and olive oil in a large bowl. Roll beef mixture into 16 small meatballs. 
2. Place meatballs in a large saucepan full of the chicken stock. 
3. Bring stock to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until meat is cooked through. Remove saucepan from the heat.
4. To prepare the soup, beat eggs vigorously in a bowl until they are frothy. Add lemon juice to frothy eggs slowly, stirring constantly. Ladle some of the hot chicken broth into the egg-lemon mixture to temper it, stirring constantly as you do, then stir the entire egg-lemon mixture into the saucepan with the hot chicken broth. 
5. Add meatballs into 4 individual serving bowls, then ladle some of the soup over each bowl.
6. Sprinkle with fresh dill.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.