Avgolemono Soup (Greek Chicken & Lemon Soup)

Growing up in Queens, NY meant one thing: FOOD. Food from evvvvvverywhere.

And let me tell you, one dish that I’ve always turned to whenever I was feeling under the weather was Avgolemono — a Greek chicken, rice and lemony soup that somehow always healed me from the inside out. Seriously, it’s that good.

Do I have to use rice?

You don’t have to. In fact, some people swear by using orzo in place of rice! For me, the one with the rice is just what I grew up getting from the local Greek spots when I was sick, so that’s the one I know and love the most.

How much lemon juice do I really need?

So I’ve made it a few ways and with different degrees of lemon juice. One had a ton of lemon (¾ of a cup), and it was just too much for my taste. What I ended up preferring was to use a smaller amount that still gave that lemon flavor, but with the idea that someone could squeeze more lemon into their individual bowl if they wanted more without making the entire batch too lemon-y for someone else who isn’t as much of a lemon fan. I ended up settling on two big lemons juiced, which was just under ¼ cup.

Why do I have to temper the avgolemono sauce?

So the reason for this is to take when you dump the egg and lemon mixture into the soup, the egg doesn’t immediately curdle and form a Greek egg drop soup (although…YUM!).

Tempering in this instance is simply the act of adding simmering broth a little at a time to your egg mixture in order to bring it to temperature and prevent it from curdling.

Other Soups for Soup Season

In a soup mood? Try my other recipes:

Beef & Gnocchi Soup

Creamy Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

Pasta e Fagioli

Pastina

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Avgolemono (Greek Chicken & Lemon Soup)

A beautiful medley of creamy lemon broth (without dairy!) and shredded chicken, Avgolemono is perfect for chilly nights — or days where you aren't feeling your best. Known as Greek Penicillin, a bowl of Avgolemono will heal you right up.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: avgolemono, creamy chicken and gnocchi soup, easy recipes, greek lemon soup

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 10 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 3 carrots chopped
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 5-7 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 bay leaves*
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns*
• 1 sprig fresh thyme

For the Avgolemono Sauce

• 3 eggs
• 2 lemons juiced (or more if you want it to me more lemony)
• 2 laddles simmering stock

Instructions

• Add extra virgin olive oil to the bottom of a dutch oven. Add celery, onion and carrots and a pinch of salt and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about one minute).
• Add the two chicken breasts and then top with the stock and the aromatics (peppercorn, bay leaves, thyme). Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover and cook for about 50 minutes.
• Remove chicken to a plate, shred and set aside.
• Bring the stock back up to a boil. Once boiling, add the rice, lower flame a bit and cook about 20-25 minutes or until rice is done.
• Add the shredded chicken back to the pot and keep flame low.
• Take two laddles of the simmering chicken stock and add to a bowl (you'll use this for the avgolemono sauce).
• Make the avgolemono sauce by whisking together the lemon juice and eggs. Once combined, slowly temper the mixture by whisking in the simmering broth a bit at a time until it all comes together.
• Add the avgolemono sauce to the soup and immediately remove from heat.

Notes

*If you have some cheesecloth available, add the bay leaves and peppercorns into a small square and tie it up with some kitchen twine. This way you can simply remove the little package when ready to eat rather than having floating peppercorns throughout the soup!