Avgolemono (Greek Chicken Soup with Lemon + Rice)

If you love a good chicken and rice meal, it’ll be hard to resist avgolemono, a Greek lemon, chicken, and rice soup.

Now, while there are many variations on the classic avgolemono, I’m gonna show you a quick and easy version today that leverages a little bit of meal prep to get this fast, nourishing, and hearty soup on the table.

But one thing that’s unmistakable about this recipe, no matter which variation you choose, is the silky tangy broth that combines lemon and eggs.

This recipe is bright, comforting, and perfect for the cooler fall and winter months, so let me show you how to make it.

HOW TO MAKE AVGOLEMONO SOUP (THE EASY WAY)

Using meal-prepped rice and chicken to get this easy weeknight meal on your table in less than 30 minutes.

Meal prep some chicken and rice to make this recipe fast and easy:

For the rice, you’ll need 1 1/2 cups of cooked and cooled short-grain rice.

And for the chicken, you’ve got lots of options. You can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken to make things super easy.

Or you can oven roast a whole chicken, and side note, I need to add that recipe soon. But no matter which method of chicken you prefer, you’ll need about two cups of shredded chicken.

And if I have a whole rotisserie chicken, I just wait for it to cool a bit, then peel large chunks of meat with my hands and shred it into more bite-sized pieces before adding it to a storage container.

You’ll get more than two cups of shredded chicken from one bird, so the leftover chicken is always great to top on salads or other quick assembly meals throughout the week.

Dice the celery and onion:

To prep the veggies for the soup, you’ll need two ribs of celery and you can slice those lengthwise one to two times, depending on how big you like your pieces.

And then slice across for the perfect small dice. Celery isn’t always traditional in avgolemono, but I like to add it for both a flavor and nutrient boost.

You could also dice up a carrot if you’d like and add that as well.

And when you’re done, just add the diced celery to a bowl to take over to the stove here in a second. Next up is one small onion.

It’s actually rare for me to find an onion this small. You guys see my onions on a regular basis and they’re always gigantic. So, if you can only find a gigantic onions, just use half of one.

And once that’s diced up, add it to the bowl with the celery.

Juice fresh lemons:

You’ll need 1/4 cup of lemon juice, so depending on how big and juicy your lemons are, that’s usually one to two lemons.

And then just set that juice aside.

Saute the veggies in a pot on the stove, then add the chicken broth:

All right, see how easy that prep work was? That’s the beauty of having already meal prepped the rice and chicken.

To make this soup, add one tablespoon of olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat and then add the onion and celery and saute it for three to four minutes or until it’s slightly softened.

Add four cups of chicken broth.

I always choose low-sodium because I like to add my own salt. And then season the broth with salt and pepper.

Bring that to a simmer and while it’s coming to a simmer, you can make the creamy lemon egg puree, which thickens the soup and gives it that full-bodied texture.

Make the avgolemono lemon and egg mixture in a blender:

So, to a blender add two large eggs, your freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of your cooked rice.

A short grain rice, like Arborio, which is what I’m using, is quite starchy and blending up a small portion of it is a great gluten-free and dairy-free way to thicken the broth.

So, blend this up for about 30 seconds or until the rice has been fully blended, then take two ladles full of simmering hot broth.

And I like to place it in a measuring cup, as it’s just easier to pour.

And then slowly stream this into the blender while it’s blending on medium speed to temper the eggs.

And once it’s all mixed together, it should be a light yellow color and a bit frothy.

Pour the lemon and egg mixture back into the soup, and add the chicken and rice:

Pour the lemony egg mixture back into the simmering broth, stirring while you do so.

And the beauty of adding a little bit of rice to the blended mixture is that it helps to stabilize the eggs so that you don’t end up with egg drop soup when you pour it back into the pot. It’ll just stay silky smooth and it’s pretty foolproof.

At this point, you can add the shredded chicken to the pot, along with the remaining 1 1/4 cups of cooked rice.

Give that a stir, bring it back to a simmer for about five to 10 minutes to warm up the chicken and rice, and then remove it from the heat.

This is a creamy, thick, and nourishing soup, and I find that it hits the spot for a full meal without weighing you down.

The lemony flavor really does keep it light and bright.

Plus, it’s a great alternative to a chicken noodle soup if you wanna switch things up.

Serve up the avgolemono soup and garnish with fresh dill:

You’re more than welcome to add another cup or two of chicken broth if you prefer a thinner, more brothy soup or if you just want to squeeze another serving out of the recipe.

Adding more chicken broth is a cheap and easy way to do that.

Scoop the avgolemono soup into individual bowls and before serving, I like to garnish with a little bit of fresh dill, though you could also use freshly chopped parsley.

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