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Hearty, comforting and delicious, this Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorbă de Perișoare) is a beloved staple in households all across Romania. The irresistible combination of tender meatballs, aromatic vegetables and fresh herbs simmering away in a savoury and slightly sour broth will have you going back for bowl after bowl. It also happens to be gluten-free and easily adaptable to Whole30 and Paleo. I personally make this soup once a week in the winter months and every sip transports me back to Romania.
Ingredients You Need for Romanian Meatball Soup
- Ground Meat: In Romania, ground pork is most commonly used to make the meatballs for ciorbă de perișoare. It gives the broth a very rich flavour and makes for some very tender and juicy meatballs. I’ve personally tested and tasted this recipe dozens of times with various combinations of ground meat all across Romania. Beef and pork, just pork, beef and turkey, just beef, just turkey and even ground lamb.
While any and all combinations of ground meat can be used depending on what you have on hand, I personally prefer to use just ground turkey because the meat gets tender after only 30 minutes of simmering time and it gives the broth a lighter taste than when using pork. I also stopped eating pork a year ago, so there’s that. - White Rice: Adding a small amount of short grain white rice to the meatballs gives them their signature fluffy texture and also helps thicken the broth as it cooks. I like to use 1/4 cup of rice for every pound of meat. I recommend using carnaroli or arborio because the grains are small and they have a neutral flavour. These varieties are also sometimes packaged as “Italian rice”. If you use something like basmati or jasmine, which have a pronounced aroma, it will interfere with the other flavours in the soup.
You can also keep this recipe grain-free, Paleo and Whole30 compliant by simply omitting the rice or substituting almond flour instead. The texture of the meatballs and consistency of the soup will be slightly different but still delicious. - Egg: You’ll need 1 large egg for every pound of meat. If someone has an allergy in the home, you can also omit the egg altogether. The flavour will not be significantly noticeable but the meatballs may not hold their texture as well.
- Herbs: A combination of fresh dill and fresh parsley are used to flavour the meatballs and give them some colour. For the soup, you will need a couple of bay leaves and some extra fresh parsley towards the end.
- Lovage (tr. leuştean in Romanian): This is the secret ingredient to making Romanian meatball soup taste quintessentially Romanian. Lovage is an intensely aromatic herb and tastes like a cross between fresh parsley and celery leaf. It’s what gives soup the smell and flavour of soup, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, it’s next to impossible to find fresh lovage sold in North America so you will either have to plant seeds and grow your own in the summer or use the dried version, which is what I do. You can most often find dried lovage at Eastern European markets.
- Aromatics: A combination of carrot, red bell pepper, parsley root, celery root and onion form the flavourful base for this Romanian meatball soup. If you can’t find parsley root, you can substitute parsnip. If you can’t find celery root, you can substitute celery ribs.
- Chicken Broth: Homemade is always best, but if you’re short on time and don’t have any tucked away, I recommend using Kettle & Fire Organic Chicken Broth. It’s delicious, made with organic and free-range chicken bones, all natural ingredients, no sugars, no starches, no junky fillers. It’s also shelf-stable, which is great for anyone with limited freezer space. This will give the soup much more flavour than if you were to just use water.
- Tomato Paste: I like to use tomato paste because it has a more concentrated tomato flavour without the chunky texture of a tomato purée or crushed tomatoes. To evenly distribute the paste into the soup, I add it to a ladle first and slowly mix it into the hot broth using a spoon.
- Lemon Juice / Souring Agent: It wouldn’t be a ciorbă if it wasn’t sour. In Romania, Ciorbă de Perișoare and most other ciorbe (pl.) are almost always soured with something called borș (pr. bor-sh), a sour liquid made from fermented wheat bran. Unfortunately, borș is difficult to find in North America so my mother-in-law uses lemon juice instead. I recommend adding the lemon juice a little bit at a time only at the end of the cooking process. That way you can taste it and adjust the level of sourness to your own preference. It’s also very common to serve the soup with some vinegar or extra lemon at the table so people can add more if they like.
- Sour Cream: It’s very common, almost mandatory, to serve this Romanian meatball soup with sour cream on the side. Some recipes also call for mixing in sour cream and egg yolks into the soup, similar to an avgolemono. It gives the soup a rich and creamy texture and beautiful orangey colour.
- Spicy Pepper: If you enjoy spice, try serving the soup with a fresh or pickled chile pepper on the side. Normally, you would eat a spoon of soup and take a bite of the pepper so that the flavours meld together in your mouth. Green finger chile peppers are the most commonly served variety in Romania, but you can use any spicy pepper you like, such as serrano or jalapeño. Just go with whatever your spice tolerance can handle.
- Bread: If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Romanians it’s that bread must always be on the table. Especially when there’s soup! This one goes particularly well with any fresh and crusty loaf, or some soft slices of rye bread.
What is Ciorbă?
The word ciorbă (pr. ch-or-buh) in Romanian comes from the Ottoman Turkish word for soup or broth. In Romania, the word ciorbă is most often used to describe a type of sour soup most often made with borș (fermented wheat bran), lemon juice or vinegar. For example, ciorbă de perișoare (meatball soup), ciorbă de burtă (tripe soup) or ciorbă de fasole (bean soup). Each of these soups is soured at the end of the cooking process, giving it a tangy flavour.
Ciorbe (pl.), and soups in general, are staples enjoyed across the country regardless of the season. I would equate them to pasta dishes in Italy, where you have regional variations but for the most part the flavours and ingredients remain similar.
What to Serve with Romanian Meatball Soup
There are some very interesting unwritten rules when it comes to eating soup in Romania. Each type of soup has its own very specific set of garnishes or sides. These can vary depending on the region and household, but the passion for what should be served with a specific soup remains the same across the country.
Ciorbă de Perișoare, for example, is almost always topped with sour cream and enjoyed with a spicy pepper and plenty of fresh bread on the side. Depending on the season or availability, the pepper can be fresh or pickled. It’s also very common to serve soup in general with vinegar at the table in case anyone wants theirs a bit more sour.
Can You Freeze Leftovers?
Yes! You can absolutely prepare this Romanian Meatball Soup in advance and freeze any leftovers. In fact, I almost always make a double batch to purposely freeze for an easy meal on a rainy day! Just be sure to let the soup come to room temperature before transferring it to freezer-safe containers. Also be sure to leave some headroom to account for expansion as the liquid freezes.
When you’re ready to eat the soup, simply transfer it to a pot and heat it over medium-high heat until it starts to simmer and the meatballs are warmed through.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Ciorbă de Perișoare
- Ground turkey will give you the most tender meatballs and shortest cooking time. But you can use pork, beef and pork, or turkey and beef.
- A small amount of white rice will make the meatballs fluffy and help thicken the broth a bit as it cooks.
- A small cookie scoop will help you quickly and evenly portion out the meatballs.
- Wet your hands with water before shaping the meatballs to prevent sticking.
- If you can’t find borș, use fresh lemon juice to replicate the sourness.
- Lovage is a key herb in Romanian cuisine and gives this soup one of its quintessential flavours. If unavailable, substitute fresh parsley and fresh celery leaves.
- Tomato paste will give you a concentrated tomato flavour without the thick texture of tomato purée.
Why You’ll Love This Romanian Meatball Soup
- Super easy! The soup comes together in a single pot so you get maximum flavour and minimum cleanup!
- Under 1 Hour! Unlike many Romanian soups, which take hours upon hours to slowly simmer, this soup comes together in around 45 minutes total.
- It’s delicious! The combination of savoury, sour and herby flavours work together to create delicious mouthfuls of soup.
- Feeds a crowd! The best part of this soup is you can make a big pot for a large crowd or freeze leftovers for a rainy day.
Substitution Ideas
- Meatballs: My recipe calls for using ground turkey to make the meatballs. In Romania, it’s most common to prepare the meatballs with a combination of beef and pork, or only pork. I personally think ground turkey gives you the best texture and shortest cooking time. However, you can substitute a combination of ground beef and ground turkey for a heartier flavour without the need for pork.
- Aromatics: If you can’t find parsley root, substitute parsnip. If you can’t find celery root, substitute celery ribs. If you can’t find lovage, substitute parsley and fresh celery leaves.
- Rice: Adding rice to the meatballs is what gives them their signature fluffy texture. However, if you want to keep things grain-free, Paleo and Whole30, simply omit the rice or substitute a small amount of almond flour instead. For every pound of meat, use 1/4 cup of almond flour.
Romanian Meatball Soup (Ciorba de Perisoare) – Gluten-Free
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground turkey, substitute ½ pound ground beef and ½ pound ground pork
- ¼ cup short-grain white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
For the Soup:
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 small parsley root, peeled and diced, substitute parsnip
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- ½ small celery root, peeled and diced, substitute 2 celery ribs
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2 quarts organic chicken broth, such as Kettle & Fire
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon dry lovage, substitute ¼ cup finely chopped fresh lovage
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper, plus more to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- Sour cream, for serving
- Fresh green chile peppers, for serving, optional
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- In a bowl, combine the ground turkey, rice, parsley, dill, egg, salt and pepper. Mix until everything is well combined and the meat becomes slightly tacky. Wet your hands with a small amount of water to prevent sticking and form the mixture into small meatballs, around 1-inch in diameter (I recommend using a small, 1 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to do this). Place the meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook.
For the Soup:
- Preheat a 5-quart sauce pan or pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and heat it until shimmering. Add the carrot, parsnip, bell pepper, onion, and celery root, season with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, around 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, stir to combine, raise the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a steady simmer. Add the tomato paste to a ladle and gradually mix it into the hot broth with a spoon. Add the dry lovage, bay leaves, and black pepper.
- Carefully add the meatballs to the soup, stir to prevent them from sticking, bring the liquid to a simmer, cover the pot with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook until the meatballs are tender and the rice is fully cooked, around 30 minutes. Add the lemon juice and fresh parsley and stir to incorporate. Taste the soup for seasoning and adjust with salt, pepper and lemon juice as desired.
- Ladle the soup into individual bowls, garnish with a dollop of sour cream and serve with chile peppers, if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About the Author
Hi, i’m Ronny! In 2013, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight and body issues, I rehabilitated my relationship with food, lost over 40 pounds and completely changed my life.
Thank you for this recipe! Being Romanian, I can appreciate a good bowl of soup. Having a recipe I can make during Whole30 and still be in touch with roots, it’s a winner!
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