Avgolemono Soup
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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. This soup is a hearty delicious soup requiring minimal effort and ready in only 30 minutes!
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.
This chicken and rice soup has been on my blog for a few years now and continues to be one of my most popular recipes. There’s a good reason for that. It really is that great, it really only takes 30 minutes and it really is that delicious!
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.
Avgolemono is an egg-lemon sauce and avgolemono is basically a soup made with egg yolk and lemon juice mixed with broth. As it cooks it will thicken nicely.
Ingredients In Avgolemono Soup
- Olive oil – a good extra virgin olive oil is great.
- Vegetables – I used onions and carrots, you can also use a bit of celery if you want.
- Arborio Rice – this is an Italian short-grain rice.
- Chicken Broth – buy a good low sodium or no sodium added chicken broth, or make your own.
- Lemon Juice – you’ll need about 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, which you should get from 1 large lemon or a couple regular lemons. It all depends on how juicy they are.
- Eggs – the egg part of the soup, which is used to thicken the soup.
- Chicken breasts – you’ll need cooked chicken breast. I usually buy a rotisserie chicken and use the breast from that. However, you can use uncooked chicken and just cook it along with the soup, then at the end take it out, shred it and add it back.
- Salt & pepper – add as much or as little as you want to flavor your soup.
- Dill – lots of fresh dill. I absolutely love fresh dill and always use lots of it. I really recommend you use it.
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.
Here’s how you make it:
Saute veggies: Heat the oil in a soup pot or large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the onion and carrot. Cook for about 5 minutes until the carrot and onion are tender.
Add rice and broth: Add the rice and chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked through.
Prepare eggs with lemon juice: In a small bowl beat the eggs together with the lemon juice.
Finish the soup: 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.
Garnish and serve: Garnish with lots of dill, with some feta cheese and lemon slices if you prefer, then serve.
What Is The Best Rice Used For This Soup
I like to use Arborio rice because it thickens the soup nicely as the rice cooks. However, pretty much most types of rice can be use such as brown rice, long grain rice such as Basmati or Jasmine.
If you use a brown rice or wild rice, it will take a lot longer to cook and you will also need to add more broth.
How Do You Store Leftover Avgolemono Soup
As the soup cools the rice will thicken even more and absorb most of the liquid. If you don’t eat all the soup in one sitting, just keep that in mind. You have a couple options. You can either add more broth to avoid having the soup turning into a big blob, or you can use a slotted spoon to separate the rice from the soup and store them separately.
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never done that. I’m ok with the soup being thicker and as you heat it up it will thin out a bit. Anyway you can store it in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3 days.
Can You Freeze This Soup
You can freeze it meal sized in a large airtight container or individual portions. You can also use freezer bags.
Keep in mind that this soup will separate when reheated, even if it isn’t frozen, so make sure you stir it well before serving. Thaw it in the fridge overnight or cook from frozen in the microwave or on the stovetop.
This soup is fabulous!!! And SO easy and quick to make! Try it!
LOOKING FOR MORE SOUP RECIPES? TRY THESE:
- Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Red Lentil and Chicken Soup
- Chicken and Dumplings
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
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Avgolemono Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- 1 medium carrot (chopped)
- ½ cup Arborio rice (*)
- 4 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 3 eggs
- 2 chicken breast (cooked and shredded with 2 forks, skinless and boneless)
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- ¼ cup dill (chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Saute veggies: 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 rice and broth: 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.
- Prepare eggs with lemon juice: Meanwhile in a small bowl beat the egg together with lemon juice.
- Finish the soup: 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.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish with lots of dill, with some feta cheese and lemon slices if you prefer, then serve.
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.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Yasso!
Easy and delicious! Used shallots instead of onion. Shredded the carrot. Added 4 Tbs lemon juice. Used chopped flat leaf parsley instead of dill.
Served with mini Spanakopia and Tiropetes triangles we purchased at a Greek fest last summer.
This soup is super yummy!! Has anyone tried making a double batch and freezing some? Wondering how the rice would hold up once thawed . . .
Glad you enjoyed it! Doubling the batch and freezing should work fine, but the rice might soften a bit upon thawing. I recommend adding fresh lemon juice and additional seasoning after reheating to freshen it up.
I made it exactly how it was stated and added a few more lemon drops in it. I love it!!! Tastes almost the same as my local Greek restaurant
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice and creamy, I would personally go with a chicken thigh next time for more flavor and more juicy chicken. My 11 month old really liked it and so now is a must go to recipe.
What an amazing recipe to mix up today on a cold, blustery winter day! It made us feel cozy & full without feeling stuffed (if that makes sense). Always a repeat in this house 🙂
This is the second time in a week that I have made this soup. Love it! I triple the lemon juice and add just a teensy more broth. I brown the salt and peppered chicken breasts (in avocado oil) until golden then turn them over and put a lid on along with 1/3 c water to poach. I use that water and drippings to add to my organic Bonafide brand chicken broth. I use all organic ingredients.
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
We love this meal! When I first made it, although delicious, it came out more as a one pot meal. The second time I made it, I doubled the chicken broth and lemon juice. Exactly as I had hoped – a wonderfully lemony chicken soup. Thank you for this recipe!
That’s wonderful to hear! Doubling the broth and lemon juice sounds like a brilliant tweak for a soupier, zestier experience. It’s all about adjusting to your taste.
Hello, I’ve got all the ingredients (leftover chicken breasts, fresh made stock, and a big bunch of dill)! Do you rinse the starch off the rice before adding?
Yes, it’s best to rinse it before using.
Wonderful! My soup thickened too much. What size eggs should I use? I used 3 large eggs. Should I add more broth to make the consistency more like soup, or cut back on an egg?
If your avgolemono soup thickened too much with 3 large eggs, you might try using just 2 large eggs next time, or indeed add more broth to thin it to your desired consistency. Adjusting the egg amount or broth can help achieve the perfect texture.
This is a family favorite!
I’m not sure what I did wrong with the egg. I stirred in a ladle of the broth,then added everything to the soup. As I mixed it, the egg cooked up in tiny bits. Look kinda like egg drop soup. Should I have not mixed it?
Ah, the ol’ scrambled egg situation, huh? Don’t worry, it happens! The key is to temper the egg with the hot broth really slowly, whisking constantly. Then, when adding it back to the soup, keep that whisk going and make sure the heat isn’t too high. You want to avoid stirring too vigorously, which could break up the egg into tiny bits.
I’ve made chicken lemon rice soup before but never like this with the tempered eggs. It does give it a whole different flavor. It tastes like what you got from a Greek restaurant. I wanted to make an extra healthy soup so I cooked a whole chicken and used some of the broth and some of the chicken to make this. It tastes really good!
That’s fantastic to hear! Using a whole chicken definitely adds depth to the broth, and tempering the eggs brings that classic, creamy texture to the avgolemono soup.
Best Lemon Rice soup recipe and I tried many. Easy to make with an excellent outcome
Best Lemon Rice soup recipe and I tried many. Easy to make with an excellent outcome
really good recipe! super lemony; i used jasmine rice and a yellow onion, and i added in some garlic with the onion and carrot; next time I’d personally add less onion in, but it was still great!
Glad you enjoyed it with your personal twist! Your adjustments sound delicious, and it’s always great to tweak recipes to your own taste. Thanks for sharing! 🍋
I used regular rice instead of Arborino. I doubled the stock amount and tripled the lemon. Still it was not lemony or brothy enough for my taste but my husband said it was his favorite batch I’ve ever made!