Avgolemono Soup (Greek chicken soup with lemon and egg)

4.79 from 41 votes

Avgolemono Soup (Greek chicken soup with lemon and egg)

Avgolemono soup is Greek chicken and rice soup with lemon and egg. Making avgolemono sauce super smooth and creamy is easy with these tips! This is a hearty, cozy soup that's great for a cold day or for when you're feeling under the weather. It's packed with protein and vitamin C

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Greek

Servings: servings

Calories: 257kcal

Author: Elizabeth Lindemann

Equipment

Dutch Oven or other large pot with lid
Glass measuring cup or something with a pour spout for heating the chicken broth
Blender or electric hand mixer / bowl

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil, optional, see notes
2 ribs celery finely diced, optional
1 onion finely diced, optional
8 cups chicken stock/broth low sodium preferred
1 cup long grain white rice or another kind (see notes)
2 cups cooked chicken such as rotisserie
5 eggs
3/4 cup lemon juice from about 4-5 lemons (more or less if you like - see notes)
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
extra butter or olive oil optional

Instructions

Optional: If using the celery and onion - melt 2 of the 2 tablespoons butter in a large heavy pot with a lid (such as a Dutch oven). Add the diced 2 ribs celery and 1 onion. Sauté over medium-high heat until softened (about 3 minutes).
Pour in the 8 cups chicken stock/broth. Bring to a boil. Add the 1 cup long grain white rice. Stir, cover, and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, or until rice is fully cooked.
Make the Avgolemono sauce. Add the 5 eggs and 3/4 cup lemon juice to your blender. Turn the blender on to thoroughly mix the eggs and lemon juice. While the blender is running, very gradually pour some of the hot chicken broth from the pot. It's OK if some of the rice or veggies gets in there - this will only help to thicken the sauce. Continue blending until about 2 cups of broth is added. You will end up with a foamy, cream-colored sauce.
Add the 2 cups cooked chicken to the pot. Stir, cover, and continue simmering on low for 3-5 minutes, until chicken is heated.
Turn off the heat on the soup. Slowly and gradually add the Avgolemono sauce into the soup from the blender, stirring it in as you add it. It will look quite foamy still. This is what is supposed to happen!
If you like, you can stir in extra butter or olive oil to the pot for a richer taste. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Serve with more freshly cracked black pepper on top.

Notes

Very often, you see Avogolemono with no added veggies. Just the chicken, rice, broth, and lemon egg sauce. I sometimes like to make it plain like this, but celery and onions are a nice addition if you want some veggies in there. It's much easier to make this soup without bothering about dicing and sautéing, so you can use your judgement here on what you want to do!
Reheating instructions: When reheating, be sure not to boil. Heat gently, to avoid the eggs curdling. I usually microwave in a bowl for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for 1 more minute.
Freezing the soup: This soup can be frozen for up to 6 months in an airtight container, BUT the texture will separate a bit and the eggs will curdle. It's still delicious, and better than tossing any leftovers you don't get to in time!
Vegetarian version: Cook the rice and vegetables in vegetable stock, and omit chicken meat. Add other vegetables to make it more hearty, such as mushrooms and spinach, and/or white beans or chickpeas instead of the chicken.
Dairy free version: use olive oil or ghee instead of butter.
Any rice can be used. I like using Basmati or another long grain white rice because it only takes 15 minutes to cook. The more traditional choice is converted/parboiled rice. Use any kind you like! I think it would be really good with wild rice for a nutty, interesting flavor.
I like a lot of lemon juice. I find most avgolemono recipes require only 1 lemon and a couple eggs and that just isn't enough. Sometimes I'll use a whole cup of lemon juice for this! The added butter cuts the acidity a lot. If you are sensitive to lemony flavor, feel free to take it down to 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup of juice.

Nutrition