Greek Food Soups

Avgolemono: Greek Lemon Chicken Soup Recipe

Name: Avgolemono Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 1 kg bone-in chicken thighs or legs; 2 l water; 1 onion (halved); 1 carrot (halved); 1 celery stick; 1 bay leaf; 6 black peppercorns; 1 1/2 tsp salt; 150 g medium-grain rice (or orzo); 3 eggs (at room temperature); 90 ml fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons); black pepper (to taste); 2 tbsp fresh dill (chopped, to serve)

Chicken and rice soup turned silky with an egg and lemon sauce. Comforting, bright and ready in under an hour.

Serves

Calories

320 kcal

Cuisine

Greek

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Bowl of Greek avgolemono, creamy lemon chicken soup with rice, topped with fresh dill

On this page: What is it · History · What you need · Step by step · Serving & storage · Recipe card

Avgolemono is Greece’s answer to chicken soup: tender chicken and rice in a golden broth, thickened at the end with eggs and lemon juice until it turns silky and bright. It is comforting and fresh at the same time.

The egg and lemon step looks tricky but is easy once you know the rule: warm the eggs slowly with hot broth before they go into the pot, and never let the soup boil afterwards.

This version makes its own broth from bone-in chicken, so you get a full-flavoured soup with very little effort.

What Is It?

Avgolemono (αυγολέμονο) means ‘egg-lemon’. It is both a sauce and the name of the soup made with it. Eggs are whisked with lemon juice and tempered with hot broth, then stirred into the soup to thicken it without cream or flour.

The soup version is usually made with chicken and rice or orzo. The same sauce is also used to finish other Greek dishes, such as stuffed vine leaves, meatball soup (giouvarlakia) and lamb with greens.

It is a classic Greek comfort food, eaten in winter, for anyone feeling under the weather, and after the midnight service at Greek Easter in the form of magiritsa.

A Little History

Ladling avgolemono lemon chicken soup into bowls at a Greek family kitchen table

Egg and lemon sauces have a long history around the Mediterranean. A similar sauce called agristada, thickened with egg and lemon or sour grape juice, was used by Sephardic Jewish communities, many of whom settled in Thessaloniki and other Greek cities after 1492.

In Greece, avgolemono became one of the defining flavours of home cooking, and chicken avgolemono soup a standard family dish.

Lemons grow all over Greece, and their juice, combined with eggs and broth, turned a simple chicken soup into something distinctly Greek.

At a glance

Serves

Calories

320 kcal

Protein

27 g

Course

Soup, Main

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Why it works

01 Silky texture without cream or flour

02 Tempering method that never scrambles

03 Homemade broth with minimal effort

Two bowls of Greek avgolemono lemon chicken soup with rice and dill, seen from above

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What You Need

Exact amounts are in the recipe card

For the Broth

bone-in chicken thighs or legs
water
onion, halved
carrot, halved
celery stick
bay leaf
black peppercorns
salt

For the Soup

medium-grain rice, or orzo
eggs, at room temperature
fresh lemon juice, about 2 lemons
black pepper, to taste
fresh dill, chopped, to serve

Ingredients for avgolemono: bone-in chicken thighs, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, rice, eggs, lemons and dill

Step-by-Step Instructions

Make the broth, cook the rice, then finish with the egg and lemon. The last step takes only a few minutes, so have everything ready before you start it.

Simmering chicken thighs with onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf for avgolemono broth

1. Make the broth

Put the chicken, water, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt into a large pot. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then simmer gently for 40 minutes until the chicken is very tender.

Shredding poached chicken with two forks next to strained broth for avgolemono

2. Strain and shred

Lift out the chicken and strain the broth into a clean pot (you should have about 1.6 litres). When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and discard the skin and bones.

Rice simmering in clear chicken broth for avgolemono soup

3. Cook the rice

Bring the broth back to a simmer, add the rice and cook for 15 to 18 minutes until tender. Turn the heat to its lowest setting.

Whisking eggs and lemon juice while slowly adding hot broth to make the avgolemono egg-lemon sauce

4. Make the egg-lemon

Whisk the eggs in a bowl until frothy, about 1 minute, then whisk in the lemon juice. While whisking constantly, slowly add 3 to 4 ladles of hot broth, one at a time.

Tip: Adding the hot broth slowly warms the eggs gently so they thicken the soup instead of scrambling.

5. Thicken and serve

Pour the egg mixture back into the pot, stirring constantly over very low heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the soup turns silky and slightly thick. Do not let it boil. Stir in the chicken, season with pepper and more lemon if you like, and serve with dill.

Serving & Storage

Serving

Serve avgolemono hot, with crusty bread and extra lemon wedges on the side. A grind of black pepper and some fresh dill on top is all it needs.

It is filling enough as a main, or serve smaller bowls as a starter before roast chicken or lamb.

Storing Leftovers

Avgolemono keeps for a few days but needs gentle reheating, because boiling will split the eggs.

Soup	up to 3 days
Broth (before egg-lemon)	up to 4 days
Freezer	broth only, up to 3 months

Reheat slowly over low heat, stirring, without letting it boil. The rice keeps absorbing liquid, so add a splash of water or stock if it gets too thick.

Avgolemono Soup

Chicken and rice soup turned silky with an egg and lemon sauce. Comforting, bright and ready in under an hour.

Course Soup

Cuisine Greek

Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 320

Equipment

Ingredients

Broth

1 kg bone-in chicken thighs or legs
2 l water
1 onion halved
1 carrot halved
1 celery stick
1 bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp salt

Soup

150 g medium-grain rice or orzo
3 eggs at room temperature
90 ml fresh lemon juice about 2 lemons
black pepper to taste
2 tbsp fresh dill chopped, to serve

Use orzo instead of rice for a slightly different, equally traditional version.

Short on time? Use 1.6 litres of good chicken stock and 400 g cooked shredded chicken.

Instructions

Put the chicken, water, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt into a large pot. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then simmer gently for 40 minutes until the chicken is very tender.
Lift out the chicken and strain the broth into a clean pot (you should have about 1.6 litres). When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and discard the skin and bones.
Bring the broth back to a simmer, add the rice and cook for 15 to 18 minutes until tender. Turn the heat to its lowest setting.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl until frothy, about 1 minute, then whisk in the lemon juice. While whisking constantly, slowly add 3 to 4 ladles of hot broth, one at a time.
Pour the egg mixture back into the pot, stirring constantly over very low heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the soup turns silky and slightly thick. Do not let it boil. Stir in the chicken, season with pepper and more lemon if you like, and serve with dill.