Gida Vrasti / Γίδα Βραστή (Greek Stewed Goat Soup)

This hearty Greek goat soup (or is it a stew?) is definitely a dish that can get you through the cold winter days! It’s full of flavor, slightly fatty and jam-packed with slowly stewed, soft goat meat, potatoes, and vegetables. To be fair, this soup is lovely on any other day of the year and with an extra drizzle of freshly squeezed lemon juice it can make me very happy on a mild summer’s day as well.

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While goat meat is quite common here in Greece and plenty of other countries, I believe goat meat is not a very common, or popular protein all over the world. Some people find the flavor too strong, others find the smell too pungent, and some are simply not used to the idea of eating goat. Honestly, while I do realize goat meat has a very particular flavor and can be slightly tough when prepared badly, it’s just so good in this slowly stewed soup that I definitely prefer it over beef, or chicken for this type of dish. Yes, after boiling the meat for 3 hours your house does start to smell a bit like goat, which is really the only downside I can think off, but I actually do kind of enjoy the strong, slightly funky smell that comes off the meat. Really can’t find any real goat meat where you are from (life can be so cruel sometimes), or really can’t stomach it? This dish can be made with mutton as a replacement.

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If you’ve never tried goat, you are missing a real treat! And this soup is a great way to get all the best out of this protein. While the majority of goat meat is pretty lean and does benefit from a long, slow cooking time, the slightly fatty bits that are marbled through certain parts of it make the meat incredibly tender and give the soup an amazing depth of flavor. That’s not all! Want to know what really is the best part in my opinion? Sucking the bone marrow out of the bones that are cooked together with the meat… Gross? No! The buttery soft, deeply flavoured, fatty morsels are a real treasure and I really don’t mind looking less ‘proper’ at the dinner table whilst gnawing on a bone to get to them. 

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Having said that, of course you can always remove the bones from the soup before serving if you are slightly classier than I am (suggestion to do so and when to do so is in the recipe below). However, even if you don’t enjoy sucking the bone marrow out of the bones and fatty bits of meat make you gag, for this soup you really do need some goat meat that’s marbled with some fat and some large (pieces of) bones as they’re indispensable elements in giving this soup it’s amazing flavor and heartiness.

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The final reason I really like this dish has got nothing to do with the goat meat in particular: while the soup does take about 3 hours to cook, it can easily be made a day (or two) ahead of time and as is the case with many soups and stews, it’s even better the next day! The soup’s longevity is kind of the reason why the recipe below is for a large pot full of soup and meat (and some veg). Technically, it will serve about 6 people as a main, or large lunch, but even if you don’t have that many people to feed you will definitely want some extra soup for the next day.

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Tip #1: This is a heavy, fatty soup and that’s exactly what I like about it. However, if you’d like to ‘freshen’ up the flavor a little and add something to cut through the fattiness besides the fresh lemon juice, add a small handful of chopped up fresh mint leaves to the pot whilst adding the other aromatics and vegetables. Lamb and mint are best buds after all! Classic combination.

Tip #2: Want an even more filling soup that’s more like a thick stew? Add a handful of rice, or trahanas to the soup when adding the potatoes and vegetables.

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Gida Vrasti / Γίδα Βραστή (Greek Stewed Goat Soup)

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  • DF
Traditional Greek stewed goat soup with potatoes and vegetables
  • Difficulty:Easy
  • Prep Time:5 mins
  • Cook Time:230 mins
  • Serves:6
  • Freezable:No

Nutrition per portion

Ingredients
  • 1.5kg goat meat with bones, cut into large pieces (see photo)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 500g potato
  • 250g carrot
  • Small bunch (30g) celery leaves (can substitute with 3 celery sticks)
  • Salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Lemon wedges, to serve
Method
  1. To clean the meat, quickly rinse the goat meat under cold running water. Place the meat with the bones in a large pot and fill with cold water until most of the meat is submerged. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Continue boiling for 5 minutes, then drain all of the water with the foam and dirt (usually there will be a lot).
  2. To cook the meat and create the broth, refill the pot with fresh cold water until the meat is mostly submerged again. Add ½ tablespoon of salt, the 2 bay leaves, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Place the pot back onto the heat and bring back to a boil. When the soup reaches boiling point, turn the heat to low and softly simmer covered with a lid on low heat for 2.5 - 3 hours until the meat is very soft. Add some extra water to the pot if necessary: most of the meat should be submerged in the soup at all times. Skim off the foam and dirt from time to time.
  3. When the meat has turned soft and is almost done cooking, start preparing the vegetables and aromatics: peel and chop the potatoes into chunks of about 4cm. Peel the carrots and cut into slices of about 1cm thick. Roughly chop the celery leaves and mince the onion and the garlic cloves.
  4. Transfer the meat from the pot onto a plate to make space for the vegetables. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the pot with the broth, cover with a lid and boil for another 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the potatoes are cooked.
  5. [optional step] Some people prefer to remove the bones from the meat and to cut the meat into smaller chunks before adding it back to the pan. Personally, I like to keep the pieces of meat relatively large with the bones still inside (bone marrow is tasty) so I usually keep the meat as it is. If you don’t care for the bones and prefer smaller chunks of meat, remove the bones and cut up the meat while the vegetables are cooking.
  6. Finally, when the vegetables are soft and the potatoes are ready, remove the bay leaves and return the goat meat back to the pot to heat back up a little. Taste the broth and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
  7. Serve the soup with some lemon wedges on the side to squeeze over the soup.
This soup keeps for 3 – 4 days stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

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