Balkan Spinach Yogurt Soup with Rice and Garlic 🌿✨

Description

Balkan Spinach Yogurt Soup is a silky green comfort soup made with tender spinach, rice, garlic, yogurt, lemon, olive oil, parsley, and a warm paprika finish. It is creamy without feeling heavy, bright from the yogurt, soft from the rice, and perfect for spring lunches, light dinners, or any Balkan table that needs something fresh, soothing, and spoonable. ✨

Hook ✨

Tender spinach, creamy yogurt, soft rice, garlic, lemon, and paprika oil make this Balkan soup fresh, silky, and deeply comforting. 🌿

Ingredients

• Soup base 🌿
• 🌿 400 g fresh spinach, washed and chopped (10 cups / 14.1 oz)
• 🍚 90 g short-grain rice, rinsed (½ cup / 3.2 oz)
• 🧅 120 g yellow onion, finely chopped (¾ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🧄 12 g garlic, finely grated (4 cloves / 0.42 oz)
• 🫒 35 ml olive oil or sunflower oil (2 tbsp + 1 tsp / 1.2 fl oz)
• 💧 1.2 l vegetable broth or water, hot (5 cups / 40 fl oz)
• 🧂 8 g fine sea salt (1⅓ tsp / 0.28 oz)
• ⚫ 2 g black pepper (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• Yogurt finish 🥣
• 🥣 300 g thick plain yogurt (1¼ cups / 10.6 oz)
• 🥚 1 egg yolk, optional, 18 g (1 yolk / 0.6 oz)
• 🍋 25 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 0.85 fl oz)
• 🌿 20 g fresh parsley or dill, chopped (½ cup / 0.7 oz)
• Paprika oil 🌶️
• 🫒 25 ml olive oil or sunflower oil (1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 0.85 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 4 g sweet paprika (1½ tsp / 0.14 oz)
• 🌶️ 1 g chili flakes, optional (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• Serving ✨
• 🍋 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 🥖 300 g warm bread, optional (10.6 oz)
• 🌿 5 g extra parsley, for topping (2 tbsp / 0.18 oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Soften the onion 🧅
2. Warm olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 min until soft, glossy, and lightly sweet.
3. 2️⃣ Add garlic and rice 🧄
4. Stir in garlic and rinsed rice. Cook for 1 min, just until fragrant, so the rice picks up the oil and garlic flavor.
5. 3️⃣ Simmer the rice 🍚
6. Pour in the hot broth or water. Add salt and black pepper. Simmer uncovered for 14–16 min, until the rice is tender and the broth looks slightly thicker.
7. 4️⃣ Add the spinach 🌿
8. Add the chopped spinach in handfuls. Cook for 3–4 min until wilted, bright green, and tender. Lower the heat to very gentle.
9. 5️⃣ Temper the yogurt 🥣
10. In a bowl, whisk yogurt, egg yolk if using, and lemon juice. Add 2 ladles of hot soup liquid slowly while whisking, so the yogurt warms without curdling.
11. 6️⃣ Make it creamy ✨
12. Pour the tempered yogurt mixture back into the pot. Stir gently for 2 min over low heat. Do not boil after adding yogurt.
13. 7️⃣ Bloom the paprika oil 🌶️
14. In a small pan, warm olive oil over low heat. Add sweet paprika and chili flakes if using. Stir for 8–10 sec, then remove from heat before the paprika darkens.
15. 8️⃣ Finish and serve 🍲
16. Stir parsley or dill into the soup. Ladle into bowls, drizzle with paprika oil, and serve with lemon wedges and warm bread.

Total Time

⏱ Prep: 15 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 30 min
🛋 Rest: 5 min
⏰ Total: 50 min

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