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
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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 know the recipe yields 6 servings– how many ounces or cups per serving?
A serving is about a cup.
Delicious! Thank you! Question: my soup came out a little too thick, any suggestions? Your photo looks more brothy, which is how I’ve had this soup out over the years.
You could always add a bit more broth, it could be the rice you used, plus as it cools down the rice will absorb more broth.
Could you use egg beaters instead of eggs?
Yes!
This was a very hearty soup with tons of flavor. I did have to add extra broth because the rice absorbed so much. This was very easy to make andd was a big hit wirh the family.
Never tasted anything like it. Very tasty.
This soup is simmering as I write this. Followed recipe exactly. Smells delicious and a “ oks priviledge taste” suggests it will not disappoint. Warm crusty bread is in the oven.
I made this for the first time today. I couldn’t help it, already had a bowl. I love it and it was so easy to make. I used chicken tenders. They were really easy and quick to cook and then I shredded them and put them in the soup.
Simple and delicious. I used 6 cups of water and 3/4 cup of arborio rice. Didn’t have any dill, so opted for Greek oregano. Used bone-in chicken breasts, and used water for the stock, adding some Better than Bullion.
Delicious. But I added too much rice (1 cup) . I t tastes like a lemon chicken risotto. How can I thin it out?
Right now, you could probably add some chicken broth to it to thin it out, and reheat it.
I was very careful about adding broth to the egg mixture and then slowly adding everything back to the soup slowly with a good stir. The egg micture still curdled. What am I doing wrong?
You are going to have pieces of egg in the broth when you use this method, it won’t be completely smooth. Don’t worry, it’s not curdled!
Of course I added more lemon and chicken just because my hubby is a meat man… Made my own stock and it is easy and fabulous!!!!!!
Do you have the lid on or off while cooking the rice? I’m assuming on…? Thanks! I love all of your recipes I have made!!!
We left the lid off for the whole process!
This soup is fabulous!!! And SO easy and quick to make! Try it!