This Lemon Rice and Chicken Soup also known as Avgolemono is a classic Greek soup thickened with eggs, loaded with rice, chicken and flavored with lots of lemon.
I don’t know if it’s still soup season or not, but who cares really. I love eating soup year round. This right here, my friends, is one of my favorite soups ever because of all the lemon flavor. It reminds me of my Romanian soups in which we always add lemon juice or vinegar.
LEMON RICE AND CHICKEN SOUP KNOWN AS AVGOLEMONO
This lemon rice and chicken soup is known as Avgolemono. Avgolemono is a traditional Greek soup that I’m sure most of you have had if you’ve ever been to a Greek restaurant. I’m not claiming my recipe here is a classic traditional Greek soup but this is simply my version of the popular soup.
HOW TO MAKE AVGOLEMONO SOUP
This soup could not get any easier, especially since I’m using already cooked chicken breast. I usually buy a whole roast chicken and use the chicken breast for this soup. However, sometimes if I don’t have a roast chicken and don’t feel like going grocery shopping, I’ll just boil a couple chicken breasts and use that broth actually to make the soup.
This soup is actually thickened with eggs, again this is a method I use in my Romanian soups as well. You basically beat the eggs with the lemon juice, then add a ladle of the hot broth to the eggs and stir, then slowly pour it in the soup.
There are probably many versions to this soup like adding more veggies. I basically just added an onion and a carrot, but you could add some celery as well as well as some garlic. But one thing I strongly recommend to add is the dill. In my opinion, it totally makes this soup.
LOOKING FOR MORE SOUP RECIPES? TRY THESE:
- Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Red Lentil and Chicken Soup
- Chicken and Dumplings
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Lemon Rice and Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 medium carrot chopped
- 1/2 cup Arborio rice *
- 4 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 3 eggs
- 2 chicken breast cooked and shredded with 2 forks, skinless and boneless
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1/4 cup dill chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat then add the chopped onion and carrot and cook for about 5 minutes or just until the carrot is tender and the onion is translucent.
- Add the rice and chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked through.
- Meanwhile in a small bowl beat the egg together with lemon juice.
- Add the shredded chicken to the pot, then add about a ladle of the soup broth to the egg mixture and stir. Pour the egg mixture into the soup. You will notice the soup thickening up. Season with salt and pepper as needed and if you feel the soup needs more lemon, add more lemon juice as desired.
- Stir in the dill and cook for a couple more minutes before serving.
- To serve you could top this soup with some feta cheese, fresh dill and lemon slices.
Video
Notes
- * Arborio rice is an Italian short-grain rice.
- I used 2 small cooked chicken breasts which I shredded with 2 forks, should be about 2 cups of shredded chicken.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition
I’ve made this twice in a week. It is absolutely delicious! Easy and scrumptious. I am watching my blood sugar so I substituted basmati rice for the aborio as it has a lower glycemic index. Sooooooo good! 5 out of five stars for sure!
So happy you like it! 🙂
Would it be possible to adjust this recipe when using an instant pot? How would you do it?
Love this recipe. Great tip on proper technique for adding the egg.
Yum! This is delicious! Added a stalk of celery with the carrots and onions, and threw in some chopped garlic after sauteing those. Used rotisserie chicken. Added some frozen kale, a little feta, some fresh ground pepper, and some dried dill (that’s all I had). Needed a little more broth to thin it. Topped it with a shake of Frank’s hot sauce. It came together very quickly, and was very satisfying. The eggs make it nice and creamy, with no flour and no
dairy! Will make it again very soon. Thank you!
Delicious and easy to make! I added garlic and celery salt.
This is our favorite chicken soup recipe! Always so good! And I like that it is dairy free.
What is the serving size?
The nutritional information assumes 6 servings for the entire recipe, so probably 2 cups per serving.
Bravo!!! Awesome Awesome
I will be serving this at our Parish Council meeting next week…Thank you so much
I also use orzo instead of rice. Does not seem to continue to soften like the rice does if you have leftovers. (:
How long does this keep in the fridge? And does it freeze well?
I would keep this 2-3 days, the rice continues to absorb liquid in the fridge which makes the consistency thicken quite a bit. If you freeze it, I would add a bit more broth to the pot when you’re re-heating the soup to thin it out a bit!
Your recipes are the best of the best. Not a single recipe of yours has not been the best of its category. ❤️
Thank you!😊
I often eat soup whenever I get a fever because my mother used to cook soup whenever a member in my family get sick and it obviously becomes my habit.
This chicken soup looks really healthy and tasty as I often make with beef or pork but never tried with chicken 😅 Hope to have chance to try this soonnn!
Soooo tasty!! I added juice of an extra half lemon and also ~6 cloves of garlic because I love garlic. Dill, garlic, and lemon are my favorites! Plus the eggs add a delicious hollandaise – like flavor and loads of creaminess with no dairy! YAY!
Fantastic taste and very easy! Be sure to temper the eggs?
This recipe turned out great! HUGE hit with family and friends. Easy and delicious! One of my new go-to for sure!
Isn’t is amazing? We’re so glad you loved it!
We really enjoyed this soup – thanks for the recipe! I’ll definitely double it next time so we have more leftover!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
I have made this soup a dozen times since the New Year, my FAVE!
This was delicious! It is my new favourite chicken soup recipe. The dill makes it so fresh and delicious! I will definitely make it again! Also it looks pretty.
So happy you liked it!
Dear Jo, i have loved fixing several of your dishes since I discovered you on Pinterest. Now I get daily communication which helps me everyday getting good food to the table for kids and grand Babies!, thanks my dear! I am following you!