This recipe features tender spiced meatballs simmered in a silky, minty yogurt broth, then finished with pasta noodles for heartiness. Garnished with golden pine nuts for that signature middle eastern touch. It’s everything you crave in a classic shish barak – creamy, cozy, tangy and incredibly addictive, but made so much easier. Ready in 30 minutes!

Beige speckled bowl with a creamy off white liquid, small brown meatballs covered in the off white liquid, spiral shaped white pasta and golden toasted pine nuts on top with a metal spoon in the bowl on a blue background with a blue tea towel in the corner and a small blue bowl with toasted pine nuts.

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Yogurt Soup but with a Twist

Cooking yogurt in savoury applications is a norm in middle eastern cuisine. Case in point: classic shish barak, Syrian shakriyeh, and Turkish style yogurt soup (yayla corbasi). Aside from the Turkish soup, they’re usually dishes that are quite involved.

This recipe was inspired by my love of shish barak – but I simply cannot make the dough from scratch and shape the dumplings for hours. But this soup? This soup hits that spot.

From start to finish, it takes about 30 minutes. The meatballs are my “easy” version to stick to the spirit of the dish, without any chopping required. But you can also use my kofta meatballs (which have chopped onions/parsley). No need to sear them – they poach right in the yogurt sauce.

Add pasta (any short shape works) and the pine nuts are not optional for me. I love that final sprinkle of dried mint and Aleppo pepper, but if you don’t like mint, you can replace it with fried garlic or fresh chopped cilantro or parsley.

How to Make this Easy Recipe

Ingredient shot with a container with a red lid of yogurt, a brown egg, a yellow and blue container of cornstarch, a glass bowl with ground beef, a clear plastic package with spiral pasta, a measuring spoon with bread crumbs and a bowl with spices on a blue background.

Gather your ingredients. For the beef, I recommend lean or medium; using extra lean may lead to less tender meatballs. And the flavour is best with whole milk yogurt.

Round brown uncooked meatballs piled into a glass bowl on a marble surface.
Mix the meatballs with the breadcrumbs and spices and shape.
Steel pot with a white creamy liquid with a metal whisk inside on a marble surface.
Whisk the yogurt, cornstarch and egg together off the heat until combined.
Steel pot with a creamy off white liquid and small brown meatballs in a spoon being held by a hand on a marble background.
Place the yogurt on medium heat and warm it, then slowly add the broth. Add the meatballs and allow them to poach for 6 to 7 minutes in the sauce.
Steel pot with a creamy off white liquid, pasta spirals and small brown meatballs in a spoon being held by a hand on a marble background.
Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine. Top with the dried mint and Aleppo pepper.

TIP: The yogurt sauce should be very creamy before you add the meatballs in. If it starts to split as it warms up, use an immersion blender to blitz it back to a creamy consistency. If it splits after adding the meatballs in, you can still use an immersion blender but take care not to crush the meatballs (remove them to the side or place the blender on the bottom of the pot).

Beige speckled bowl with a creamy off white liquid, small brown meatballs covered in the off white liquid, spiral shaped white pasta and golden toasted pine nuts on top with a metal spoon in the bowl on a blue background with a blue tea towel in the corner and a small blue bowl with toasted pine nuts.

This is a complete meal for me – I don’t really serve it with anything. But if you want to make into a larger meal, I’d serve a salad to start and then follow it by the soup.

More Soup Recipes You Will Love

yayla corbasi which is yogurt soup is served in a blue bowl. The soup is garnished with dried mint, aleppo pepper and olive oil, with a soup spoon inside the bowl

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Cream bowl with handles filled with a red broth, noodles, beans and a drizzle of yogurt and dried mint with a bowl of yogurt with dried mint and a spoon, a small plate with chilli flakes on a brown marble background.

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Beige speckled bowl with a creamy off white liquid, small brown meatballs covered in the off white liquid, spiral shaped white pasta and golden toasted pine nuts on top with a metal spoon in the bowl on a blue background with a blue tea towel in the corner and a small blue bowl with toasted pine nuts.
4.75 from 4 ratings

Meatball Soup with Yogurt & Pasta (Life Changing)

Yield: 4 servings
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Author: Amina Al-Saigh
This incredibly easy and creamy Yogurt Soup with Pasta and Meatballs is going to become a weeknight staple. Tender meatballs sit inside of a slightly tangy soup with hearty pasta and garnished with crunchy pine nuts. Perfect any night of the week and has that addictive, umami factor that keeps you wanting more.
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Ingredients
 

For the Meatballs and Pasta

  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, dry Italian or panko
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon seven spice
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 200 g pasta, short pasta shape

For the Yogurt Sauce

  • 1 L full-fat plain yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 egg, any size
  • 3 cups chicken broth, or vegetable broth
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried mint, plus more for garnish
  • 1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, plus more for garnish, substitute for chilli flakes
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts , toasted, or slivered almonds

Instructions
 

  • Start by boiling water for the pasta in a large pot. Salt the water until it tastes salty. Cook the 200 g pasta according to box directions, until al dente. Drain and set aside.
  • In a medium sized bowl, mix the 1 lb lean ground beef with the 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon seven spice, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Shape into small, less than 1 inch sized meatballs. Set aside on a plate or tray.
  • In a medium sized pot, add the 1 L full-fat plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and the 1 egg and whisk to combine until smooth, off the heat. Place on medium heat and slowly add the 3 cups chicken broth, whisking as you go. Allow a few minutes for the yogurt to warm up. If it starts to separate, you can blitz it with an immersion blender. The texture should be very creamy.
  • Taste the yogurt and add the 3/4 teaspoon salt (but you may need less if your broth is salty, so add it slowly).
  • Carefully add the meatballs to the pot and allow them to poach in the sauce for 6-7 minutes. Add the pasta in the last 2 minutes. Stir together, then add the 1 teaspoon dried mint and the 1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with more dried mint, Aleppo pepper or chili flakes, and the 1/4 cup pine nuts .

Notes

  • It is important to start the sauce off the heat so that the whole mixture can be heated up slowly at the same time to prevent any separation from occurring.
  • The sauce will separate if it is at a drastically different temperature than the broth as you mix the two together. If that does happen, use an immersion blender to blitz it back into a creamy consistency. 
  • For leftovers, you may need to add some water to thin it out before reheating as some of the liquid will be absorbed by the pasta.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 582kcal, Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein: 43g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 145mg, Sodium: 1338mg, Potassium: 975mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 14g, Vitamin A: 478IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 372mg, Iron: 5mg
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