Avgolemono - Greek Chicken, Rice and Egg Soup! (2024)

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Avgolemono– Greek Chicken, Rice and Egg Soup! A delicious blend of chicken, rice, a few veggies and egg…hey wait, what? Egg? Yup, egg! It’s what makes this soup silky creamy..without cream. Sounds like Greek to me!

We first had this at a restaurant in Palm Springs…ya real Greek right? :). But it was so delicious creamy and smooth we had to try it at home.

Our recipe development usually starts by scouring the internet and many cookbooks trying to come up with a perfect combination of the best recipes out there. It has to be easy to prepare, with simple obtainable ingredients and of course delicious! In this case we didn’t have to go far, this recipe is everywhere! Where have I been? How did I get there? Was there soup when I got there? Where has this soup been all my life?

Starting with the basics. What is Avgolemono?

Avgolemono, pronounced ah-vo-le-mo-no. The ‘g’ is silent, atleast to my untrained ear. Avgo is Egg in Greek and obviously lemono is lemon. Egg Lemon Soup – ta da!

It starts the way most great soups do, veggies, protein and a starch. In this case, chicken and rice. A perfect combo on it’s ownbut this easy soup transforms into a silky delicious bowl of soup after eggs are whisked into the broth.

Sauceyour veggies, add broth and rice and let it cook until rice is tender.

Once your broth and rice are done it’s time to make the lemon sauce:

How to make Avgolemono sauce –

This isn’t complicated at all. It’s simply lemon juice and egg, tempered by adding a little of the hot broth so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs in your soup! Tempering the eggs bring them slowly to temperature without cooking them.

I like to use a large 4 cup measuring bowl for this but any medium size bowl will do.

1.) Squeeze your lemon juice into the bowl.

A few tips to make this Avgolemono Greek Chicken and Rice Soup:

Chicken – I simply roasted two chicken breasts and shredded them. A store bought rotisserie chicken would do the job wonderfully as well.
Rinse your rice! This is important to remove a bit of the starch and keep the rice from sticking together. Nobody likes rice clumps in their soup…
Temper your sauce with the broth as shown in above step by step instructions. This is what makes this soup so special!
We serve this soup with bread. That is it. A simple baguette and this is one delicious and healthy meal!
Can I substitute Orzo for the rice? – Yes you sure can! Use one cup of orzo and reduce the cook time of the broth to about 8 minutes. I have similar Lemon Orzo Soup recipe without the tempered egg you might like: Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup.

Hoping you give this Avgolemono Greek Chicken Rice and Egg Soup a try!

Still craving delicious 30 minute soups? Check out our most popular soup recipes below!

Gnocchi Sausage Spinach Soup

Chorizo and White Bean Soup

Italian Sausage and Mushroom Soup

To soup and all the pleasure it brings!

Clink!

Easy Avgolemono Greek Chicken and Rice Soup

This 30 minutes soup will become a regular on your stove top! Made with chicken, lemon, rice that turns into a silky delicous soup by whisking in eggs.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 About a 2 cup servings

Author: Kathi & Rachel

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large carrots chopped`
3 large celery stalks chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1 cup green onions sliced
8 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup uncooked white rice rinsed until water runs clear
2 cups cooked chicken shredded or chopped (about 2 medium chicken breasts or store bought rotisserie chicken is a great option).
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice about 3 large lemons
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat large soup pot or dutch oven to medium high. Add olive oil. Toss in carrots and celery. Saute until crisp tender. About 5 minutes.
Add garlic and green onion. Saute another 2-3 minutes.
Add chicken broth and bring to a low boil.
Rinse your rice until the water runs clear. Add rinsed rice to hot broth and stir. Reduce heat to medium heat. Put lid onto pot and continue to simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender. TASTE FOR SALT AND PEPPER. If using low sodium broth amounts will vary.
Add lemon juice to large measuring cup or bowl. Add eggs and whisk. Continue to whisk while adding several ladles (about 1 1/2 cups) of hot broth.
Add hot egg and broth mixture into your large soup pot. Continue to whisk until silky smooth!
Garnish with fresh lemon slices and additional sliced green onion if desired.

Nutrition