Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup)

Avgolemono is the crown jewel of Greek soups — rich chicken broth with tender rice, finished with a silky, tangy egg-lemon sauce. It's what Greek grandmothers make when you're sick, when it's cold outside, or simply when you need comfort.

Traditionally, Greeks boil the soup ingredients, remove them, thicken the broth with rice and egg-lemon, then add the vegetables and meat back when serving. I prefer to keep everything in the soup for a heartier meal.

Making the Broth

1. Place the chicken (whole or pieces) in a large pot or pressure cooker.

2. Add the herbs (sage, thyme, bay leaves, cloves), halved onions, and celery stalks.

3. Cover with water and bring to a boil.

Stovetop: Simmer for about 45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Pressure cooker: Cook for 10 minutes after it starts whistling.

4. Remove the chicken and strain the broth. I use a sieve or colander and pass the onion and celery through to enrich the broth, but you can discard or save for another use.

5. Shred the chicken meat, discarding skin and bones.

Building the Soup

1. Return the strained broth to the pot.

2. Add the carrots and fresh celery.

3. Bring to a boil and cook until vegetables are almost tender.

4. You may need to add water or additional broth if the soup has reduced too much.

5. Add the rice or orzo. Cook until the rice is done, about 15-20 minutes for rice, 10-12 minutes for orzo.

6. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot.

The Egg-Lemon Finish

This is the crucial step that transforms good soup into avgolemono.

1. In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy.

2. Add the lemon juice and beat together.

3. Slowly — spoonful by spoonful — add hot broth from the pot to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking vigorously the entire time. This tempers the eggs.

4. Once the egg mixture is hot (you'll have added about 2 cups of broth), pour it back into the pot.

5. Stir gently. The soup should become creamy and slightly thickened.

Critical: Don't let the soup boil after adding the egg-lemon, or it will curdle.

The Secret to Perfect Avgolemono

Patience. Add that hot broth to the eggs very slowly, whisking constantly. Rush this step and you'll have scrambled eggs floating in your soup.

The egg-lemon sauce should be silky smooth, turning the broth creamy and golden.

Serving

Serve hot with crusty bread for dipping. Season with salt and pepper at the table.

Some people add extra lemon juice to their bowl — the Greeks love their avgolemono quite lemony.

Variations

Meatball soup (Youvalakia): Use the same meat filling from stuffed zucchini, formed into small balls and cooked in the broth instead of chicken.

Fish avgolemono: Use fish stock and poached fish instead of chicken.

Vegetarian: Use vegetable broth and skip the meat entirely. The egg-lemon sauce is still delicious.

The Avgolemono Technique

Once you master this egg-lemon technique, you can use it to:

• Finish stuffed vegetables
• Make creamy sauces for meat
• Enrich any broth-based soup

It's one of the foundational techniques of Greek cooking.

Make-Ahead

This soup refrigerates and even freezes beautifully — egg-lemon and all. Just reheat gently (you can bring it to a boil) and it will be thick and delicious. I've made hundreds of batches this way and never had a complaint about the eggs separating once they're fully incorporated into the soup.