Avgolemono Soup

About This Recipe

A beautifully simple yet luxurious Greek soup made by whisking eggs and lemon juice into a warm chicken broth, creating a naturally creamy, velvety texture without any dairy. Light, bright, and deeply comforting.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1.5 Lchicken stock
• 200 gcooked chicken, shredded
• 100 glong-grain or arborio rice
• 3 pcseggs
• 80 mlfresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1 tspsalt
• 0.5 tspwhite pepper
• 2 tbspfresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook rice in broth

   Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add rice and cook for 18–20 minutes until tender.

2. 2

   Temper eggs

   Whisk eggs and lemon juice together in a bowl until frothy. Slowly ladle about 200 ml of the hot broth into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to temper — this prevents scrambling.

3. 3

   Combine

   Reduce heat to low. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the soup while stirring. Do not let the soup boil after this point or the eggs will curdle.

4. 4

   Add chicken

   Stir in the shredded chicken and heat through gently. Season with salt and white pepper.

5. 5

   Serve

   Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley and a wedge of lemon. Serve with crusty bread.

Variations

• •

  Use orzo (kritharaki) pasta instead of rice.

• •

  Make it vegetarian by using vegetable stock and omitting chicken.

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

• •

  Spicier: add a finely chopped fresh chile or a teaspoon of crushed Aleppo/Urfa pepper to the aromatics for warm, layered heat instead of a single sharp hit.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 2 days. Reheat very gently — do not boil. The texture may change slightly upon reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions