Avgolemono soup (αυγολέμονο με κοτόπουλο), one of the absolute favorites! I remember it like it was yesterday, the gentle bubbling of the chicken filling the house with a nice aroma. Then watching as the yellow egg and lemon mixture was poured in. The house instantly smelling of delectable lemons.
The mix of chicken, rice, egg and lemon seems to work so pleasantly, you’ll quickly ask yourself why you’ve never made this before.
I personally make this soup at least 7-8 times a year. I love this stuff. It’s kind of like the Greek’s version of chicken noodle (sans noodles) mixed with lemon and eggs.
Avgolemono sauce (Ahv-go-lemen-o) is a very popular sauce that the Greeks use on many dishes. It’s very versatile and can be made for soups or coating for dolmathes, or thickened and graciously placed over the top of a nice cooked chicken breast or baked fish.
It has a bit of a learning curve. Just remember to add hot water to the egg/lemon mixture before adding it back in to the pot. You need to heat up the eggs so they don’t curdle!
The soup (or sauce in general) should look like this picture. Nice and creamy and deliciously smooth.
Traditionally, when I was younger, I only had it with rice. It wasn’t until later in life that I added chicken. Now, I don’t cook it without the protein. I think it adds a nice flavor and balances well with the avgolemono sauce.
This “Egg Lemon Soup Recipe,” is best served with some nice baked bread (think french baguette). Dip it into the soup as you eat for a nice treat. The lemon broth really complements the flakiness of fresh baked bread.
As a side note, I’ve found that if you’re unable to add real lemons and have lemon juice on hand, it’s seems to do the trick.
Serve this as an appetizer or as a main course. It’s up to you!
- 1 to 2lbs chicken
- 6 cups (1 quart can + two smaller cans) chicken broth (or about 3 large bullion cubes)
- ¾ cup Greek orzo (or white rice)
- *Sauce*
- 3 eggs
- 2 lemons, juiced*
- Sea salt to taste
- Place skinless boneless chicken breasts in large pot and fill with broth (go about 1inch above chicken),
- Bring to a boil.
- Cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 30-45 min (or until chicken is cooked).
- Once chicken in cooked, remove from water and set aside.
- Bring broth back to boil and add orzo and cook until pasta is tender (about 10min).
- Once chicken is cool enough, shred by hand.
- Add chicken back into pot and reduce heat to low
- **Avgolemono Sauce**
- Crack eggs into a bowl and beat until frothy (a few minutes).
- One frothy, stop and add in lemon juice.
- Take 1½ cups of hot broth and slowly pour into lemon-egg mixture, continually stirring.**
- Pour mixture back into soup, mixing well.
- Bring back to simmer and then remove from heat.
- Season with Sea salt. Serve!
** This is important. Don’t forget this step or the eggs will curdle when you add to soup.
Beef says
10 September 2013 at 7:26 pmMaking this tomorrow. Can’t wait to consume it. It was THE recipe on this site that attracted me immediately. Greek food rules.
Kenton Kotsiris says
10 September 2013 at 9:05 pmThat’s fantastic! Let us know how it goes 🙂 Also, we actually had this dish tonight for dinner.
Beef says
11 September 2013 at 3:30 pmJust ate the soup, along with my own, homemade Pita bread and your tzatziki recipe. Satisfying and phenomenal.
Kenton Kotsiris says
12 September 2013 at 10:18 amThat’s so good to hear! Thanks for the kind words. We are very glad you enjoyed it. I bet that homemade Pita sealed the deal with the tzatziki 🙂