Last updated on June 30th, 2018 at 11:02 am
This Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de Perisoare) is my mom’s recipe for the most delicious meatball soup out there. Just saying.
This is probably the most common soup I make at my house simply because it’s everyone’s favorite. I always love sharing my Romanian recipes with you because I don’t feel that I have that many, so every single one that I have is really special. Pretty much all the Romanian recipes that I share with you are either my mom’s or my mother in law’s. This one is my mom’s and it’s a soup I grew up eating. It’s really the best meatball soup out there.
In Romanian we call these types of soups “ciorba”. “Ciorba” in Romanian usually refers to sour soups with vegetables and some form of meat. They are made sour by adding either lemon juice, “bors” which is fermented wheat bran, sauerkraut juice, or sometimes even vinegar. Most of the time I just use lemon juice and this gives the soup a very nice sour taste. Also Romanians differentiate between “ciorba” and soup, soup is usually clear and has no added acid.
The meatballs are quite simple and although I used pork in these recipe, any type of ground meat will work. I’ve made them with ground beef or even ground chicken, you could even mix the meats. I also used a lot of dill in the meatballs, because it’s one of my favorite herbs.
You’ll notice a couple ingredients in this soup that you might not be familiar with. One being “vegeta” which I’ve talked about before, It’s a condiment that’s very commonly used in Eastern Europe in soups and stews, or if you’re like my mom, you can put it on everything. You can pretty much find this in all grocery stores with all the other spices or just replace it with chicken bouillon.
The other ingredient that you may not be familiar with is lovage which is simply an herb that comes from the parsley family but I really really love its flavor, which is almost celery like but it smells incredible and it’s just wonderful in soups. I got my lovage from my mom who grows it in her garden, but I do know that you can buy the seeds and grow it yourself, if you have a green thumb. I don’t, I’m lucky my mom does.
This soup is really quite simple to make, but it’s so delicious and so worth making, which I hope you do!
Check out some of my other authentic Romanian recipes!
- Romanian Stuffed Peppers
- Romanian Meatballs
- Romanian Cabbage Rolls
- Traditional Romanian Polenta with Feta Cheese, Bacon and Sausage
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
This Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de Perisoare) is my mom's recipe for the most delicious meatball soup out there. Just saying.
- 1 lb ground pork or ground beef
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp dill chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup rice long grain and uncooked
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper or to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 large carrots chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper or to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 tsp vegeta or 1 chicken bouillon
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- 2 tbsp lovage chopped
- 1 egg beaten
- parsley for garnish
In a bowl add all the meatball ingredients together and mix well. Shape into meatballs about 1 inch in diameter. You should get about 30 to 35 meatballs, depending on how big you make them. Place meatballs in fridge until ready to add to soup.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom 5 qt pot to medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions soften and are translucent.
Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil then add the meatballs one at a time.
Cook for about 10 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through, they will rise to the top when they are done. Season with vegeta then add the lemon juice and lovage. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as necessary. Very slowly pour in the egg in a steady stream. To make shreds, stir the egg rapidly in a clockwise direction for one minute. Cook for another minute then garnish with parsley.
Serve hot with a bit of sour cream.
Recipe Video
Vegeta is a condiment of salt with flavor enhancers used a lot in soups. It's a condiment that's quite popular in Eastern Europe.
Lovage is a herb belonging to the parsley family, commonly used in Europe for flavoring foods. The leaves add an intense celery-like flavor to soups, stews or stocks. If you do not have it, simply omit it in the recipe.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
My mom had to learn how to cook Romanian dishes because of my father. Over the years I have learned how to make our favourites but it’s nice to see them written out. For the most part they are very familiar. One difference though is in the ciorba de perisoare. We don’t use any tomato sauce at all. I don’t know if this is a regional difference or my father’s preference- he wasn’t mad about tomato sauces. Anyway, we add sour cream mixed with an egg to the broth at the end once it’s cooked. If extra sourness is needed a bit of sour salt is added. Now I have an added complication, my family isnt crazy about the sour taste so I tend to leave it out and just add it to my soup. I guess this is how recipes evolve. The non-sour version is delicious as well.
Thanks so much for your Romanian recipes. I’m making mititei tomorrow with my 92 year-old mom.