If you've ever struggled with watery, flavorless fish soup, this Greek fish soup recipe with potatoes is about to change everything. Psarosoupa isn’t just another fish soup—it’s comfort in a bowl. With white fish, silky avgolemono (Greek lemon-egg sauce), and the perfect balance of Mediterranean flavors, this might just be the best fish soup recipe in the world.

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What makes this fish soup recipe special?
Psarosoupa (Ψαρόσουπα), pronounced as"psah-roh-soo-pah" is a rich and nourishing Greek fish soup recipe full of fresh ingredients. Imagine a texture like a chowder but without the cream—thickened naturally with fish stock, pureed vegetables and avgolemono.
It’s the kind of traditional Greek lemon fish soup that fishermen have been making for centuries, using whatever fresh fish they caught that day, but with a twist for an extra creamy result.
Everyone who has tasted my mom's fish soup says it’s the best fish soup in the world, and I definitely agree. That’s why I’ve kept the recipe exactly as she taught me. I learned from her to serve the creamy soup in large bowls, with the fish and potatoes on a separate plate next to it, drizzled with a lemon and olive oil dressing (ladolemono). But if you prefer, you can mix chunks of fish into the soup.
For more recipes with fish don't miss this oven baked swordfish recipe with a simple lemon vinaigrette, this easy salmon recipe with air fryer and oven instructions, and this easy Greek sea bream recipe (tsipoura).
📋 Greek Fish Soup Ingredients
For this Greek psarosoupa recipe you'll need the following ingredients:

- White fish with the skin and bones. For the best tasting fish stock you need the skin and the bones, so please don't use fish fillets. My favorite fish is cod and red snapper.
- Water
- Vegetables (potatoes, carrot, tomato and red onion)
- Cloves
- Parsley
- Bay leaves
- Salt and pepper
- Rice (optional)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Egg
🐟 Best Fish for Soup
The secret to an incredible white fish soup is choosing the best fish. You want mild, firm fish that won’t fall apart while cooking. Fish soup with cod is an excellent choice, but sea bass, grouper, or snapper work beautifully, too. If you can find Mediterranean fish like red mullet or bream, even better!
Here are some of the best fish for soup:
- Cod – Mild, firm, and holds together well in broth.
- Sea Bass – Delicate yet sturdy, perfect for Mediterranean flavors.
- Grouper – Rich, slightly sweet, and doesn't fall apart easily.
- Snapper – Mild and slightly sweet, great for soups.
- Halibut – Firm and flaky with a clean taste.
- Monkfish – Meaty texture, almost like lobster.
- Red Mullet – A traditional Mediterranean choice with a rich flavor.
- Atlantic Redfish – Firm with slightly sweet taste.
- Bream – Mild and sweet, often used in Greek soups.
- Scorpionfish – Rich, slightly sweet flavor. It has a firm, meaty texture highly prized in Mediterranean cuisine for fish soups and stews, like bouillabaisse or kakavia.
✏️ For this recipe you can use fresh or frozen fish (thaw the frozen fish overnight in the refrigerator). I suggest asking your fish monger to clean and scale the fish since it can get messy. See how to scale a fish from takemefishing.org (external link) if you don't know how to do it.
🔪 Psarosoupa Instructions
Follow this easy step-by-step guide for how to make the best fish soup (psarosoupa) every time! For the detailed steps with photos, please see the recipe card ⬇️ at the end of this post.
Step 1: Boil the vegetables in a large pot.
Step 2: Add the fish to the pot and gently simmer over medium heat until tender and flaky.
✏️ Use whole fish (or fish fillets with skin and bones) to create a rich, flavorful broth. After cleaning the fish, rub it with lemon juice, then rinse with water and drain.
Step 3: Transfer all the fish and the vegetables from the pot to a serving plate.
Step 4: Pass the fish stock through a strainer to catch any bones or other residue.
Step 5: Add the onion, the tomato (without the skin) some of the carrots and about one cup of the potatoes to the strained fish stock and puree using an immersion blender.
👉 You can also puree the soup in a regular blender in batches. Be careful though because it will be hot.
Step 6: Add the rice to the pot and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is done and turn off the heat.
Step 7: Whisk eggs and lemon juice together, then slowly add warm broth to temper it. Stir it back into the soup for that signature creamy texture.
👉 Avgolemono
In this fish soup, except from pureeing some of the vegetables, another thickening technique is the use of avgolemono. An egg is beaten with freshly squeezed lemon juice and then it is gradually added into the soup. This mixture is called “avgolemono” from the words avgo (egg) and lemoni (lemon).
✏️ The hot soup cooks the egg so it is not raw any more. However, if you're concerned about consuming raw eggs, you can use pasteurized eggs.
👨🍳 Expert Tips
✅ For the best flavor, before adding the fish to the pot, rub it with lemon juice, then rinse with water and drain.
✅ Don't skip the cloves! They provide warmth and complement the aroma of the fish. My mom also says they cuts down on any excess fishiness that can be unpleasant to some people.
✅ For exta lemon flavor add half a teaspoon of lemon zest to the soup.
✅ Strain the fish stock to remove gunk and fishbones.
✅ Don't heat the soup after adding the avgolemono because it can curdle.
🍳 More Fish Recipes
If you tried this Greek Fish Soup Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
🎥Psarosoupa Video
❗Quick note: Cutting the vegetables over the pot is the "Greek" way of preparing many dishes. Please use a cutting board for safety reasons 🙂
📖 Recipe

Greek Fish Soup Recipe (Psarosoupa) 🐟
Ingredients
For the Fish Soup
- 2 pounds (900 g) white fish (cut in 1.5-inch slices, with skin and bones, see note#1)
- 7 cups (1,700 g) water
- 1 ½ pounds (700 g) potatoes (peeled and cut into 4 see note#2)
- 1 (200 g) carrot (large, sliced)
- 1 (200 g) tomato (quartered)
- 1 (200 g) red onion (quartered)
- ½ cup fresh parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cloves
- 3 teaspoons fine salt
- Black pepper to taste
- ½ cup (100 g) rice (optional, see note#3)
For the avgolemono
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (plus more to taste)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the ladolemono dressing:
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Transfer the carrot, the potatoes, the tomato, the parsley, the onion, the bay leaves, the cloves and the salt to a large pot. Pour over the water, cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Once the water starts to boil cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the fish to the vegetables and gently simmer over medium heat until tender and flaky, about 15-17 minutes.✏️ Use whole fish (or fish fillets with skin and bones) to create a rich, flavorful broth. After cleaning the fish, rub it with lemon juice, then rinse with water and drain.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the fish and the vegetables and transfer them to a serving plate. Cover the serving plate with foil and keep it warm inside a warm oven.
- Pass the fish stock through a strainer to catch any bones or other gunk. Discard the bay leaves, the cloves and the skin from the tomato.
- Add the onion, the tomato (without the skin) some of the carrots and about one cup of the potatoes to the strained fish stock and puree using an immersion blender. If you want it thicker, add a few more potato pieces and blend some more.👉 You can also puree in a regular blender in batches.
- Add the rice to the pot, bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is done and turn off the heat.👉 Stir frequently, otherwise the rice may stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Whisk the egg, the lemon juice and the olive oil together in a bowl, then slowly add warm soup (half a cup at a time) to temper it. After you've added about 3 cups of soup, stir it back into the pot for that signature creamy texture. The residual heat of the fish soup will completely cook the egg.👉 Taste and adjust the salt, the pepper and the lemon juice to your liking.
- Transfer the ingredients for the ladolemono dressing to a shaker or jar and shake well to combine. Drizzle the lemon dressing over the plate with the fish and the potatoes and serve them next to the soup.
Notes
Reheating:
If you have any leftovers, store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat the soup very gently over low heat and don't let it come to a boil because the egg may curdle.More fish & seafood recipes:
- Fish Molly/Kerala style fish stew from Pepper Delight (external link). An easy, fragrant and exotic recipe straight from Kerala!
- Mediterranean style salmon salad
- Easy Mediterranean baked octopus recipe (in foil)
Nutrition
💭 FAQs
Reheating a soup with avgolemono (egg-lemon mixture) requires extra care to prevent the egg-lemon mixture from curdling. Here’s how to do it properly:
Stovetop Method:
Pour the soup into a pot.
Reheat it gently over low to medium heat.
Stir the soup constantly to help maintain its smooth texture.
If the soup has thickened too much during storage, add a little warm water to adjust the consistency.
Do not bring it to a boil—heating it too quickly or at too high of a temperature can cause the egg mixture to curdle.
Microwave Method:
Place the soup in a microwave-safe container.
Heat in 30-second intervals, stirring in between to ensure even heating.
If the soup is too thick, add a small amount of warm water to thin it out as needed.
Avoid overheating the soup, as this can cause the eggs to separate or curdle.
For both methods, reheating the soup slowly and gently is key to keeping the texture smooth and the flavors intact.
Kakavia is another traditional Greek fish soup made by fishermen with whatever fish they had available. It’s less refined than psarosoupa but equally delicious!
This kakavia article in Greek from gastronomos.com (external link) mentions that Kakavia is the Greek fisherman's soup, traditionally prepared right on the beach or in a sheltered bay where fishermen would stop—either to rest or take cover from sudden weather changes. The name comes from "kakavi," the bronze cooking pot they used.
This soup is made using the fish that fishermen can’t sell (whatever they have left), with one-third of the water being seawater. It typically contains a large number of fish but yields only a small amount of intensely flavored liquid (fish stock).
Greek fisherman's kakavia shares similarities with the French bouillabaisse, as both soups are simmered for a long time to achieve a thick, rich consistency.
Michele @ Bacon Fatte says
Beautiful recipe! Pinned (twice) and looking forward to making it very soon... Thank you for sharing!
Makos says
Thank you very much Michele!!!
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
i'm used to adding egg to soup (like egg drop soup) for more protein, but never to thicken it! that sounds cool. and it's so interesting to see that you take all the fish and veggies out of the soup for serving; normally i only do that if i'm sharing cooking water between a few things and am too lazy to get out another pot (;
Makos says
Haha!
It's like making 2 different dishes in one try! 😉
Joyce says
Oh my gosh Makos! This looks freaaaaaaaaaaaaaakin' awesome! The only other fish soup I ever had was made by my mom also and I kinda missed it. I never really attempted to make it because I'm always afraid I'd end up making fish mush instead haha! But now I definitely must try this, especially since it's your mom's recipe! I love learning about the egg and lemon thickening method, the soup looks so fantastically creamy! Whee! Can you tell I'm excited?
Makos says
Thank you Joyce! Yes, moms make the best soups, right?
If it wasn't for that 14th "a" in freaaakin' I would never have guessed you're excited! Haha!
Akhila@Pepper Delight says
This sounds interesting! Although I hail from a coastal region with a lot of seafood in my daily diet, I never have tried a fish soup. Another new dish for me to try, Thank You for the recipe.
Makos says
You're so lucky Akhila, coming from a coastal region! I'll be expecting some Kerala seafood recipes!!! 🙂
Maria says
This has become one of my favorite dishes, thank you for the recipe
Makos says
Thank you Maria, I'm very happy to hear that 🙂
Katherine V Maniatis says
I hate fish and love this soup! Thank you for putting healthy fish back in my diet!
Makos says
Hi Katherine, I'm so glad you like this soup! It's one of my favorite 🙂
Toni Zanakis says
Reminds me of when I was little and my aunt made this. We usually make it with chicken.
I was always looking for a recipe to make it with fish. I can’t wait to make this. Thank you for posting!
Georgie says
Came back from a holiday in Crete craving more of this dish. Delighted to find such a well explained recipe, and the results were every bit as delicious as I ate in Greece. Now if only I could have the sea and sunshine to go with it too!
Makos says
Hi Georgie, that's great!
This soup is my mom's specialty, so I 'm very happy you liked it! Hope you have the chance to visit Greece soon again!
Michael Pandelakis says
Mako,
I have zero experience cooking but I have plenty of experience spearfishing. I figured I’d try my hand at making a psarosoupa with a mixed bag of fresh catch. Your recipe is so easy to make, and the results were off-the-charts amazing. I ate 3 bowls at one sitting.
You may have ignited a new passion for cooking. I’m looking for my next recipe on The Hungry Bites right now.
Χίλια ευχαριστώ φίλε.
Makos says
Hi Michael,
Χαίρομαι πάρα πολύ!
Thank you for kind words and wish you many great catches in the future!
Daryl says
Makos, you crazy bastard! These recipes are to die for! Damn this was good! Thank you! I'm delirious!
Makos says
Hey Daryl! This is my mom’s recipe and EVERYONE loves it 😊
Thanks for the feedback!
Sandra says
The soup was delicious 😋!! Everyone including my grandchildren liked it!!I will definitely make this again!!
Makos says
I’m so happy to hear that Sandra! Thanks for the feedback 😊