One of the best-known Greek soups is Avgolemono, a classic Greek soup with chicken broth, egg yolks, and lemon juice. The Greeks often serve the broth with orzo pasta and shredded chicken. It has a tangy and creamy flavour that makes it a popular comfort food in Greece and around the world. The dish is similar to the Polish soup rosol. Here is our easy avgolemono recipe for you to try.
Avgolemono Recipe: An Easy Recipe for Greek Chicken Soup
Course: Soup RecipesCuisine: GreekDifficulty: Medium6
servings15
minutes1
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minutesAn easy recipe for a Greek chicken and lemon soup called Avgolemono.
Ingredients for Avgolemono
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 litres of chicken stock
1 white onion, finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
3 sticks of celery, finely sliced
250g long grain rice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Juice of two lemons
2 large eggs
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Avgolemono
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F.
- Put the two chicken breasts on a baking tray and season with salt and pepper, then cover with tin foil.
- Cook the chicken breasts in the oven for 20 minutes, then check to make sure they are cooked all the way through. Set aside to cool a little, then shred the chicken into pieces.
- You can begin making the other components of the soup while the chicken is cooking.
- Add the olive oil to a large pot and put it over medium-high heat on the hob.
- Next, add the carrots, onions, and celery to the pan and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic to the other ingredients and stir it in before cooking for another few minutes.
- Cover the ingredients with the chicken stock and add the bay leaves before increasing the heat to bring the liquid to a boil.
- Add the rice, then season the soup with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Once the rice is tender, add the cooked chicken to the pan and stir.
- Add the eggs and lemon juice to a large bowl and whisk together.
- Then, add two ladles of the cooking broth to the egg and lemon mixture while continuing to whisk together to temper the eggs.
- Remove the soup pan from the heat, then pour the egg and lemon mixture into the soup while stirring continuously.
Additional Tips for Making Greek Chicken and Lemon Soup
- Garnish the popular Greek soup with parsley before serving, and serve with your favourite bread.
- You can save time by using precooked chicken pieces or shredding meat from a rotisserie chicken.
- For a fresher, more citrusy flavour, try adding the juice of an additional lemon.
- An alternative to rice in this recipe is to use noodles. It will make the soup similar to the popular American chicken-and-noodle soup.
- Adding a touch of your favourite spice will make the soup similar to chicken mulligatawny.
- Make the soup heartier by adding more meat or rice to the recipe.
- You might also like to try some other Greek soups, such as Greek lentil soup or Greek white bean soup.
Have you tried our avgolemono recipe? Let us know your thoughts below and add any tips you think will be helpful to our readers.