You’ll love this delicious, silky Greek Avgolemono soup filled with chicken, rice and dill with a lemon-egg sauce. Delish!
Avgolemono Chicken and Rice Soup
Avgolemono is a traditional Greek soup made with chicken broth, rice, and eggs. The eggs are beaten and mixed with lemon juice to create a thick, creamy texture. The soup is known for its bright, tangy flavor and comforting warmth. This recipe is made from scratch, with all the coziness of a chicken noodle soup, but the lemon juice adds a pop of sunshine. More comforting chicken soup recipes you should try are Chicken and Cavatelli Soup, Chicken Barley Soup, and Chicken Shiitake and Wild Rice Soup.
What country is avgolemono from?
Avgolemono means “egg-lemon” in Greek, but the soup is also found in “Arab, Sephardic Jewish, Turkish, Balkan and Jewish-Italian cuisine.”
Is avgolemono soup healthy?
This Greek chicken, lemon and rice soup is nutritious and comforting. It’s creamy without the cream, so it’s relatively low in calories, and the protein content is high because of the chicken and eggs.
Avgolemono Soup Ingredients
- Dill: Fresh dill is essential, so don’t substitute it with dried. To prep the dill, pull all the fronds from the stem and reserve a half cup of them for garnish.
- Broth: Use two quarts of low-sodium chicken broth.
- Chicken Thighs: You’ll need 1 ½ pounds of boneless, skinless thighs.
- Rice: I like this soup best with white rice, but brown rice would work too.
- Egg Lemon Mixture: You’ll whisk some hot broth into the eggs to temper before adding them to the pot to keep them from scrambling. Then add fresh-squeezed lemon juice from about two lemons.
- Salt and Pepper for seasoning
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling before serving
How to Make Avgolemono Soup
- Cook the Chicken: Put the dill stems, chicken, rice, and chicken stock or broth in a large pot or dutch oven and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low, stir, and cook covered for about 25 minutes until the chicken is tender.
- Shred the Chicken: Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and stems from the broth. Discard the stems and shred the meat with two forks.
- Make the Egg Sauce: Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the stock to an active simmer. Whisk the eggs until frothy in a medium bowl, and then stir in the lemon juice. While you’re still whisking the eggs, gradually drizzle in about a cup or ladle of the hot broth and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Finish the Soup: Pour the lemon-egg mixture into the pot with the broth and immediately remove it from the heat so that the eggs don’t start to cook. Stir in the shredded chicken, taste, and add more lemon juice as needed. Garnish with dill, pepper, and olive oil.
Variations and Tips:
- You can use chicken breast or turkey breast in place of chicken thighs
- If you wish, you can make this with orzo or small pasta in place of rice. Add it at the end before adding the avgolemono sauce and cook according to package directions. Once cooked, proceed with adding the lemon-egg mixture.
- If you wish, you can add more vegetables such as diced carrots, onions and celery in step 2.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 4 days. You can also freeze this soup up to 3 months in freezer-safe containers.
How to Freeze
Leftovers will last in the fridge for up to four days, or since this simple Greek lemon soup doesn’t have any dairy, it can be frozen. Store the soup in glass containers, leaving a little space at the top, and freeze it for up to three months. To thaw it, place it in the refrigerator the day before and microwave it until warm.
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More Chicken Soup Recipes You’ll Love:
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Chicken Lentil Soup
- Chicken Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup
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Avgolemono Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- ½ ounce container fresh dill
- 2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3/4 cup uncooked white rice
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ground black pepper, to taste
- drizzle extra-virgin olive oil for serving
Instructions
- Pull the dill fronds from the stems; reserve 1/2 cup of the fronds for garnish.
- In a pot, combine the stems, chicken thighs and rice with the chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and stir. Cover and cook the chicken until tender, 25 minutes.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and stems from the broth. Discard the stems and transfer the chicken to a plate then shred with 2 forks.
- Meanwhile, increase the heat to medium-high and bring the stock up to an active simmer.
- In a large heatproof bowl, vigorously whisk the eggs until frothy. Add ¼ cup lemon juice and mix to incorporate.
- While you whisk the eggs, gradually drizzle in 1 ladleful (about 1 cup) of the broth (it’s OK if some grains of rice tag along) and mix until fully combined.
- Pour the lemon-egg mixture into the pot with the broth, immediately remove from the heat, and stir in the shredded chicken. Taste and add more lemon juice to taste.
- Garnish with a generous amount of fresh dill, black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
