Avgolemono (Greek lemon chicken soup)
55 min · 38 g protein · 312 cals / serving
Greece's comfort soup: chicken poached in broth with a little orzo, then thickened at the end with eggs whisked into lemon juice, so it turns silky, pale gold and gently tangy without any cream. Lots of tender shredded chicken, a handful of dill, and a squeeze more lemon at the table.
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 3/4 lb chicken breast, whole breasts
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 tsp salt, adjust to your broth
- 1/2 cup pasta, orzo (or 1/2 cup long-grain rice)
- 3 large eggs
- 7 tbsp lemon juice, from about 3 lemons
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Steps
- Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrot and celery with a pinch of salt for 6–8 minutes, until soft but not browned.
- Add the broth, chicken breasts, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer (small bubbles, never a rolling boil), cover partly and poach 15–20 minutes, until the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest part. Lift the chicken out onto a board and shred it with two forks.
- Bring the broth back to a simmer, add the orzo and cook 8–9 minutes, until tender. Fish out the bay leaf, return the shredded chicken and turn the heat to its lowest setting; the soup should stop bubbling.
- Whisk the eggs in a bowl until frothy, then whisk in the lemon juice. Keep whisking while you add a ladle of hot broth in a thin stream, then a second and a third. This warms the eggs slowly so they thicken the soup instead of scrambling.
- Pour the egg mixture into the pot, stirring all the time, and heat gently for 2–3 minutes until the soup thickens slightly and looks silky; do not let it boil. Season with pepper and more salt or lemon to taste, and serve scattered with dill.
Good to know
My soup curdled. What happened?
It got too hot after the eggs went in. Keep it below a simmer once the eggs are added, and reheat leftovers gently on low or in short bursts in the microwave, stirring often.
Rice or orzo?
Both are traditional. Use the same amount of long-grain rice and simmer it 15 minutes; it's about the same score. Either way, keep it to half a cup; the soup is about the broth and the chicken.
Using leftover or rotisserie chicken?
Skip the poaching, simmer the vegetables in the broth for 10 minutes, then add the orzo and 4 cups of shredded cooked chicken meat.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 57
- Protein
- (51%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (25%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (24%)
- 3 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- <1 g
- Sodium
- 306 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1871 kcal goes into the pot and 3561 g of ingredients comes out as about 3300 g of food: 57 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.