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Romanian Meatball Soup / Ciorba de Perisoare

By Victoria · On: May 05, 21 · Last Modified: Feb 21, 22

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A classic and traditional Romanian soup with meatballs simmered in a flavorful vegetable broth, and some fresh herbs in the end like parsley or dill. It is served with a raw spicy pepper, crusty bread, and a few tablespoons of sour cream over the soup. In Romanian, it’s originally called “Supa cu Perisoare”.

Soup with meatballs and vegetables in a white plate on a wooden cutting board.

Today I’m going to share with you an easy recipe for a meatballs soup with vegetables. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should definitely give it a try.

If you have a dilemma and don’t know what to choose between juicy meatballs and a delicious soup with vegetables, you can go with both, and make a Romanian soup with juicy meatballs. You will not go wrong.

In the traditional recipe of this Romanian Meatball Soup is also added short-grain rice to the meatballs. Because of the rice, the soup becomes more fluffy. My family prefers the variant without the rice, so I usually cook the variant without rice. I would suggest you try both variants and pick the one that your family will prefer more.

When I hear the word “soup”, I always feel the warmth of the home. A comfy dinner with all the family members around the table.

This soup contains so many colors that it looks like an artist worked on it day and night. The best part? It can be cooked literally in under one hour. From start to finish. And you will use only one pot for that.

This lovely soup contains a lot of vegetables. Because of that, it is very healthy and it is full of vitamins.

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This recipe is very versatile, so you can use this recipe just as a starting point and modify/replace the ingredients with those that you have already in your fridge.

It is also very rich in flavor without being too heavy for your stomach.

In This Post: show
1 What Ingredients you will need for the Meatballs?
2 What Ingredients you will need for the Soup?
3 How to make this Delicious Soup?
4 How to make the Best Meatball Soup?
5 Quick Tip:
6 Quick Tip:
7 Answering Your Questions:
8 Recipe Card:
9 Romanian Meatball Soup / Ciorba de Perisoare

Love Soups? Take also a look at those:

  • Cauliflower Leek Potato Soup
  • Creamy Soup of Leek and Celery Roots
  • Vegetarian Ukrainian Borscht Soup (Beet Soup)
  • Homemade Creamy Tomato Soup
Soup with meatballs and vegetables in a white plate on a wooden cutting board.

Sure, this soup is oriented more for the cold days, to warm you up, but I’m pretty sure that after you will try this recipe once, you will not have the patience to eat it only in the cold period of the year.

Ready? Let’s get started!

What Ingredients you will need for the Meatballs?

  • 14oz of Raw Meat
  • 1 Raw Egg
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

What Ingredients you will need for the Soup?

  • ½ cup of Chopped Onions
  • 1 cup of chopped root celery
  • 1 cup of chopped carrots
  • ¼ cup of parsley root
  • 1 cup of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 ½ cups of Diced Potatoes
  • ⅓ cup of Bell pepper
  • 10 cups of water
  • Optionally for serving at the end: Raw chili pepper, sour cream, and chopped parsley.

How to make this Delicious Soup?

Take the minced meat, a raw egg, salt, pepper to taste, and put them into a bowl.

Raw meat with salt, pepper and raw egg.

Mix all the ingredients well, and leave the meat to marinate for a while. In the meantime, you can chop the vegetables.

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mixed meat for meatballs in a white plate.

Form the meatballs and place them on a plate.

Quick Note: Keep in mind that when the meatballs will boil, they will reduce their size a little.

Raw meatballs on a white plate.

How to make the Best Meatball Soup?

Cut the carrots, celery, onion, tomatoes, and garlic into cubes. In addition to these vegetables, you can also use parsnips, parsley root, and celery stalks.

Next, pour oil into the pan, warm it a little, and put over all the vegetables.

Chopped vegetables in a dark gray pan.

Cook the vegetables for about 5-7 minutes. These should become softer. Due to this stage, the vegetables will get a more rich flavourful taste. As a result, the final soup will be tastier.

Frying vegetables for meatball soup in a dark pan.

Now, add 8-10 cups of water.

Quick Tip:

Throughout the cooking of the soup, the water must boil gently, to get a clear soup. Otherwise, it will be cloudy and it will not look so good.

Large pan with delicious vegetable broth.

Salt to your taste and wait until the soup starts to boil, turn the heat down slowly, and let it boil for about 5 minutes.

Teaspoon of salt over a gray pan with vegetable soup.

During this period, the acidity of the tomatoes will be neutralized, and we will be able to add the potatoes. If you add the potatoes while the tomatoes are still sour, the potatoes will not soften.

After that, add the potatoes and bell peppers.

White plate with chopped potatoes and bell pepper

Let the soup simmer until it starts to boil again.

Vegetable soup in a one-pan.

After the soup has boiled, start adding the meatballs one by one. If you add them before the soup starts to boil, you risk getting some decomposed meatballs.

Quick Tip:

Put the meatballs in the soup from as a short distance as possible to avoid hot splashes.

Woman hand adding a meatball into a soup.

Boil the soup until the potatoes and meatballs are ready. This usually takes about another 20 minutes.

Traditionally, the soup is served with sour cream, chili pepper, and finely chopped greens such as parsley, but you can use a mix of dill, parsley, and green onions.

If you are not a fan of sour cream in soups, you can replace it with yogurt, or exclude it altogether.

Our delicious Romanian Soup with Meatball is ready to be served.

Soup with meatballs and vegetables in a white plate on a wooden cutting board.

Short instructions for this soup:
You usually eat a tablespoon of soup and after that a bite of the spicy pepper and some crusty bread. Also, the majority of the Romanians, like to add a few tablespoons of sour cream to their soup at the table. If you’re not a big fan of sour creams in the soups, you can skip that, but if you never tried it before, give it a try.

Save for later:

Soup with meatballs, green peppers, croutons and spoon.

Answering Your Questions:

How to storage the soup for longer?

You can keep the soup in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days, but if you want to keep it for a longer period, I suggest you distribute it in containers on portions and keep it in the freezer. Thus, at any time you want, you can eat a hot soup without losing its delicious taste.

What to serve near this soup?

Traditionally, the soup is served with homemade bread, croutons, or traditional Genovese focaccia, chili peppers, and a few tablespoons of sour cream.

What to use instead of meat?

Instead of meatballs, you could use vegetable dumplings or mushrooms.

Want something to drink near this recipe?

As this is a winter recipe, it is eaten more often to keep you warm in cold winters. That’s why a glass of “Tuica” or “Palinca” is often served next to it. These are a homemade variation of strong drinks like is Vodka.

What meat to use for the meatballs?

For this recipe, I used a mixture of pork and beef. But you can also use chicken, turkey, or rabbit.
If you choose to use lean meat such as chicken breast, turkey, or rabbit, keep in mind that you should add other ingredients that will keep the juices of meatballs such as bread crumbs soaked in milk, semi-prepared rice, onions, or grated zucchini.

Recipe Card:

Soup with meatballs and vegetables in a white plate on a wooden cutting board.

Romanian Meatball Soup / Ciorba de Perisoare


  • Author: Victoria
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 5 servings 1x
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Description

A classic and traditional Romanian soup with meatballs simmered in a flavorful vegetable broth, and some fresh herbs in the end like parsley or dill. It is served with a raw spicy pepper, crusty bread, and a few tablespoons of sour cream over the soup. In Romanian, it’s originally called “Supa cu Perisoare”.


Scale

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Meatballs:

  • 1 ½ cups of Raw Meat
  • 1 Raw Egg
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Soup:

  • ½ cup of Chopped Onions
  • 1 cup of chopped root celery
  • 1 cup of chopped carrots
  • ¼ cup of parsley root.
  • 1 cup of chopped tomatoes.
  • 10oz. of Diced Potatoes
  • ⅓ cup of Bell pepper
  • 10 cups of water.
  • Optionally at the end: Raw chili pepper, sour cream, and chopped parsley.

Instructions

1. Take the minced meat, a raw egg, salt, pepper to taste, put them into a bowl and mix well. Leave the meat to marinate as long as you prepare the vegetables for the soup.

2. Chop the vegetables into small cubes. After you have finished chopping the vegetables, form the meatballs and place them on a plate.
3. Take a big saucepan in which you will make your soup, pour oil into the pan, warm the oil a little bit, and put over all the vegetables. Cook the vegetables for about 5-7 minutes.
4. Now, add 8-10 cups of water, salt to your taste, and wait until the soup starts to boil, turn the heat down slowly, and let it boil for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the potatoes and bell peppers. Let the soup simmer until it starts to boil again.
6. After the soup has boiled, add one-by-one the meatballs
7. Boil the soup until the potatoes and meatballs are ready. This usually takes about another 20 minutes.
8. Our delicious Romanian Soup with Meatball is ready to be served.

Traditionally, the soup is served with sour cream, chili pepper, and finely chopped greens such as parsley, but you can use a mix of dill, parsley, and green onions.

If you are not a fan of sour cream in soups, you can replace it with yogurt, or exclude it altogether.


Notes

1. Keep in mind that when the meatballs will boil, they will reduce their size a little.

2. Throughout the cooking of the soup, the water must boil gently, to get a clear soup. Otherwise, it will be cloudy and it will not look so good.

  • Category: Soups
  • Cuisine: Romanian

Nutrition

  • Calories: 286 Calories
  • Sugar: 2 gr.
  • Sodium: 853 mg.
  • Fat: 17 gr.
  • Saturated Fat: 5 gr.
  • Carbohydrates: 12 gr.
  • Fiber: 1 gr.
  • Protein: 13 gr.
  • Cholesterol: 81 mg.

Keywords: ciorba cu perisoare, soup, meatballs, romanian

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Comments

  1. Pacho

    Jul 14, 21 at 4:23 PM

    Love this Romanian Meatball soup!! I love all kinds of soups, but I have never had this one before! Its perfectttt!

    Reply

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Hey, I'm Victoria, the blogger behind the Go Cook Yummy. I'm running this blog with my husband, Alex, where we share our family recipes that actually work. Read more about us...

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