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This hearty Greek soup couples tender beef meatballs and a creamy, flavorful broth. The meatballs and the broth are usually seasoned with various fresh herbs, and the whole dish is finished with the addition of avgolemono—the creamy egg and lemon sauce—which thickens the broth and adds the characteristical zesty flavor.
Traditionally associated with wintertime, youvarlakia is usually accompanied by bread and enjoyed as a nutritious main course.
Ciorba Radauteana is a traditional soup. It's made with a combination of chicken, onions, sweet red pepper, celery, carrots, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and sour cream. The ingredients are simmered over medium heat until the meat and the vegetables become tender.
The soup is quite sour due to the addition of lemon juice. In Romania, ciorba Radauteana is especially prized for being a hangover cure and having healing properties - it's often used as a remedy for common cold symptoms.
MOST ICONIC Ciorba Radauteana
Bela čorba is a traditional soup that's popular in Serbia. It's made with a combination of chicken breast meat (locally called belo meso), eggs, potatoes, onions, flour, carrots, parsley, and seasonings. Some versions also include a scoop of sour cream that's added to the plate when the dish is served.
This soup is traditionally eaten as a first course, but during the summer it can also be served as the main course for lunch. If it's prepared as the main course, the dish will contain more potatoes and it will usually be served with a fresh cabbage salad on the side.
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Ciorbă de perişoare is a traditional sour soup with meatballs consisting of pork and rice. The perişoare are boiled alongside onions, carrots, red peppers, and celery root. They are seasoned with parsley, lovage, salt, borş, and sour cream. Ciorbă de perişoare should be served hot, accompanied by hot peppers or scallions and bread.
MOST ICONIC Ciorbă de Perişoare
Supă de pui cu tăieței is a Romanian variation of the chicken soup with the addition of homemade noodles. A classic winter dish, this clear soup is usually made with chicken stock, noodles, and vegetables (typically carrots). The chicken meat used for making the stock can be reserved for other dishes or shredded and added to the soup for a more filling meal.
In many Romanian households, this soup is traditionally eaten on Sundays, for lunch or dinner. Considered a comfort food, the soup is usually eaten hot, garnished with chopped parsley and ground black pepper.
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Kurban chorba is a traditional soup consisting of various cuts of meat (typically mutton), water, tomato juice, parsley, and vegetables such as onions, carrots, and celery. This nourishing soup is usually prepared for important occasions in the family or religious feasts.
The word kurban means sacrifice, so kurban chorba is prepared as a sacrifice for something that one wishes for - most often for a sick friend or a family member to become healthy again.
Tangy and comforting, this beef soup, or ciorbă de văcuţă in Romanian, is a representative dish of traditional Romanian cuisine. Apart from beef, the soup usually contains a variety of vegetables such as celery stalks, onions, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, cauliflower, or zucchinis, as well as seasonings, tomato paste, lemon juice, and (optionally) beaten eggs.
The beef is typically boiled until almost tender and then cooked with sautéed vegetables. Like most Romanian soups and stews, it is traditionally laced with chopped lovage and parsley, or fresh dill. The soup is usually enjoyed hot, garnished with sour cream.
MOST ICONIC Ciorbă de văcuţă
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Greek chicken soup is a comforting dish that is made with a flavorful chicken broth, tender chicken cuts, various root vegetables, and a choice of pasta or rice. Even though it can be prepared with a clear broth, Greeks prefer to thicken the soup with avgolemono—a creamy egg and lemon sauce.
Hearty and nutritious, chicken soup is a restaurant staple as well as a classic home-cooked dish.
Borș de miel is a traditional sour lamb soup. It consists of lamb meat or offal cooked with rice and chopped vegetables, usually carrots, onions, celery roots, parsnips, celeriac, and spring garlic. A typical spring dish, the soup is also enriched with a mixture of eggs and sour cream.
It is usually seasoned with borș, but lemon juice or vinegar can be used as replacements. Traditionally prepared for Easter, the soup is usually topped with a handful of freshly chopped lovage and parsley, or tarragon in some regions. It is served hot with sour cream and hot peppers on the side.
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Zeama is a traditional soup that is also known as the ultimate hangover cure. It typically consists of homemade chicken broth that’s prepared with a smaller whole chicken, water, thin homemade egg noodles (tăiței de casă), and a variety of finely chopped vegetables and herbs.
The soup usually contains carrots, onions, sweet peppers, leeks, tomatoes, and potatoes, and it is typically flavored with pepper, salt, and a handful of aromatic herbs such as parsley, dill, thyme, lovage, or celery leaves. Traditionally, the broth is made sour with the addition of borș acru (fermented wheat bran juice), lemon juice, or zeamă de varză acră (sauerkraut juice).
MOST ICONIC Zeama
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 17 Southeastern European Meat Soups” list until April 15, 2025, 1,425 ratings were recorded, of which 613 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.