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Lebeniye Soup Recipe


Lebeniye Soup Recipe

Lebeniye soup is one of the first things that comes to mind when talking about Gaziantep cuisine. Gaziantep is a city take part in the south east part of Turkey. It is one of the gastronomic capitals of Turkey. It’s the home town of Turkish baklava for example. Actually it’s alone richer than most of the countries in the world by means of food. If you are dreaming of a gastronomic journey to Turkey one of the spots you should visit is gaziantep. But keep in mind that you should stop eating 1 week before you travel to Gaziantep. Don’t worry you can cover it in just one day.

If we turn back to lebeniye… It is a both filling and nutritious and very tasty soup. Because it takes some time to prepare the meatballs, it takes longer to prepare it than many soups. But if you prepare it as a main course rather than soup, it will take less time than many main courses.

One of the main ingredients of the recipe after meatballs is boiled chickpeas. Chickpea is a widely used ingredient in Turkish cuisine. But you know, it takes a long time to cook it. Therefore, to avoid wasting time, you can boil the chickpeas beforehand and store them in the freezer. You can also use canned chickpeas, but they are generally overcooked and when added to watery food like soups and cooked a little bit more, they are broken. So if you spend time in the kitchen and cook frequently, instead of using canned chşckpeas you can just boil and freeze them yourself.

You can also prepare the meatballs in advance and freeze them for lebeniye soup.

Enjoy the recipe…

Lebeniye Soup Recipe


  • 1/4 cup of rice,
  • 2 cups of boiled chickpeas,
  • 200 g ground beef,
  • 1 onion,
  • 4 heaping tablespoons of yogurt,
  • Juice of 1 lemon,
  • 2 tablespoons of flour,
  • 6-8 tablespoons olive oil,
  • 1 teaspoon dried mint,
  • Water,
  • Salt,
  • Pepper.


  1. Take 1.5 liters of water and rice in a saucepan and simmer until the rice is tender,
  2. Meanwhile, combine ground meat, grated onion, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl, knead and make tiny balls in the size of chickpeas,
  3. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and stir fry the meatballs,
  4. Beat yogurt, flour and lemon juice in a separate bowl,
  5. Take a scoop of the cooked rice and slowly add to the yogurt mixture and beat it quickly,
  6. Slowly add the mixture back to the pan and whisk quickly,
  7. Add the chickpeas and meatballs and cook continuously stirring until set,
  8. Remove from heat, add salt and stir,
  9. Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan,
  10. Add the mint, mix and remove from the heat,
  11. Add the mint oil to the soup and mix.

Bon Appetit…


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