Greek lemon chicken soup

You are going to fall in love with this authentic Greek lemon chicken soup! This is a soft, richly flavored traditional chicken soup which comes together in just about 30 minutes!

Greek lemon chicken soup

Chicken soup is very comforting, especially when feeling sick! All cultures cook some form of chicken soup and every household has their own way of personalizing it. Today I am going to show you how to make a delicious Greek lemon chicken soup the easy way, to get that amazing Greek flavor.

This Greek lemon soup is a great comfort food for a cold day, but also a delicious cold dish for summer, so there is no reason not to try this delicious and super-easy soup recipe in any season!

This Greek chicken soup can also be used as a sauce for stuffed grape leaves with meat and rice, another traditional Balkan and Turkish dish.

Other soups you will love:

• Chicken noodle soup
• Easy hamburger soup
• Chicken enchilada soup
• Chicken taco soup
• Cheddar beer soup
• Tortellini soup with ground beef
• Semolina dumplings soup

What does Avgolemono mean?

Avgolemono, as this is what Greeks call it, is the most representative Greek chicken soup. All Greek restaurants serve it and you can find it at most Greek holiday celebrations as a first dish. It can also be used as a dressing for various dishes, like roast chicken, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) or vegetables.

How do you pronounce Avgolemono?

Avgolemono, pronounced “ahv-goh-lem-uh-noh”, refers to the lemon-egg sauce added to the soup to give it its delicious taste.

Avgolemono needs plenty of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, to get the most genuine lemon flavor. Carbs are another important ingredient, and the carb source depends on the final texture you want:

• Orzo: The quickest and easiest addition, especially for pasta lovers. It cooks right into the soup, so you won’t need a separate pot;
• Rice: This is the most traditional carb ingredient and will make the thickest, creamiest kind of soup. This is because the high starch content will soak up the excess liquid;
• Pearl couscous: As well as orzo, couscous cooks very quickly, directly into the soup. Of all, this one is the most eye-popping thickening ingredient.

To save time when making your avgolemono soup recipe, bring home ready-made rotisserie chicken, but you can also roast your own if you want to adjust the flavor. Store-bought chicken broth is another great shortcut to get this Greek lemon chicken soup ready in half an hour. If you prefer starting from scratch to cook your own chicken or broth, that’s perfectly fine. Just allow yourself about two hours in this case.

How do you add flavor to Greek lemon chicken soup?

Herbs will add extra-color, flavor and a fresh touch to this simple soup recipe. Dill is a great choice, but it’s not a must if you don’t like it. Other popular traditional choices are fresh parsley or basil, that add a Mediterranean touch to the Greek lemon chicken soup. Garlic lovers can also add a little finely chopped garlic as a garnish.

Tips and tricks for the best avgolemono soup:

• For an extra-thick soup, or to turn it into a sauce, add two tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in a little warm water before adding the lemon-egg mixture;
• Always temper the sauce: while whisking, gently pour in one-two ladles of the hot soup. Keep mixing and adding soup until the mixture heats up and is close to the soup’s temperature. This will avoid the egg yolks to scramble in direct contact with the hot soup in the pot;
• Only add the sauce after the soup is ready and turn the heat off, to prevent the eggs from cooking and separating.

How long can you keep avgolemono soup?

The soup will keep in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days maximum, in the coolest shelf of your fridge. I don’t recommend keeping it longer, to avoid spoiling. You can also freeze leftover avgolemono if you like, just remember to leave a little extra space in the container for it to expand.

As a garnish, serve with a simple Greek salad and a lemon slice. These garlic bread chips or this no yeast herbs and cheese bread are a nice addition to this dish.

If you make this amazing Greek lemon chicken soup, please let me know in the comments how much you enjoyed it!

Lemon chicken soup

If you’re making this recipe from scratch you’ll need chicken thighs or chicken wings (I used wings), vegetables (carrots, celery root, red bell peppers and zucchini or Magda summer squash) diced or chopped, salt, pepper, bay leaves, garlic, rice, lemon juice, eggs, sour cream and flour.

1. Start by boiling the chicken in water, for about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile sauté vegetables (carrots, celery root, pepper and squash only), add garlic then transfer to the pot, together with chopped onion and continue boiling. Season with salt, pepper and bay leaves.
3. Boil for extra 10 minutes then remove chicken. When cool enough to touch, remove the meat from the bones as you will add the meat to the pot later (optional).
4. Meanwhile, beat the eggs then add lemon juice, sour cream and flour.
5. Wash the rice a few times until the water is clear then add to the pot together with the chicken meat. Add 2-3 cups of water to the pot and boil everything for about 15 more minutes.
6. Temper the egg sauce: with a ladle, slowly pour some of the hot soup into the egg mixture, mixing vigorously with a whisk or fork. You should get a creamy sauce, the eggs should not scramble if you pour the soup slow and mix well while pouring.
7. Slowly pour the tempered sauce into the soup pot, mixing vigorously with a whisk.
8. Chop fresh dill and parsley and add some to the soup, keeping the rest for when serving the soup in bowls.

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Greek lemon chicken soup

You are going to fall in love with this authentic Greek lemon chicken soup! This is a soft, richly flavored traditional chicken soup which comes together in just about 30 minutes!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: avgolemono soup recipe, greek chicken soup, greek lemon chicken soup, greek lemon soup, lemon chicken soup

Servings: 8 people

Author: Petro Neagu

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Ingredients

• 6 chicken wings with skin
• 1 large carrot diced
• 1 large summer squash diced
• 1 large red bell pepper diced
• 1/2 cup celery root diced
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1/2 cup rice uncooked
• 3 eggs large
• juice from 1-2 lemons depends on how sour you like the soup
• 2/3 cup sour cream high fat
• 2 tbsp flour all purpose
• bunch of fresh dill chopped
• bunch or fresh parsley chopped

Equipment

• kitchen knife
• bamboo cutting board
• soup pot
• skimmer
• ladle

Instructions

• Start by boiling the chicken in water, for about 20 minutes. Skim the soup as many times as necessary.
  
• Meanwhile sauté vegetables (carrots, celery root, pepper and squash only), add garlic and continue to saute until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
  
• Then transfer to the pot, together with chopped onion. Season with salt, pepper and bay leaves.
  
• Boil for extra 10 minutes then remove chicken. When cool enough to touch, remove the meat from the bones as you will add the meat to the pot (optional).
  
• Meanwhile, beat the eggs then add lemon juice, sour cream and flour.
  
• Wash the rice a few times until the water is clear then add to the pot together with the chicken meat. Add 2-3 cups of water to the pot and continue boiling the soup for 15 more minutes.
  
• Meanwhile temper the egg sauce: with a ladle, slowly pour some of the hot soup into the egg mixture, mixing vigorously with a whisk or fork. You should get a creamy sauce, the eggs should not scramble if you pour the soup slow and mix well while pouring.
  
• Slowly pour the tempered sauce into the soup pot, mixing vigorously with a whisk.
  
• Chop fresh dill and parsley and add some to the soup, keeping the rest for when serving the soup in bowls.
  

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