Avgolemono Soup – Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Kotosoupa)

Avgolemono soup in a yellow bowl, topped with a lemon slice, fresh thyme and chili flakes, on a wooden table.

Avgolemono Soup – Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Kotosoupa)

The traditional Greek lemon chicken soup: a whole chicken simmered in its own broth, rice, and a silky egg-lemon sauce stirred in off the heat. Creamy with no cream at all.

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Greek

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 30

Servings

Calories 528kcal

Author by Jenny Skrapaliori Graves

Ingredients

For the broth

4 lbs whole chicken or bone-in thighs and/or drumsticks
2 carrots peeled and cut ⅓-inch slices
2 stalks celery cut into large pieces
1 red onion halved
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh sage
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon sea salt
10 peppercorns

For the soup

2 carrots diced
1 stalk celery diced
1 red onion diced
1 cup medium-grain rice glutinous/sushi, arborio, or Greek Karolina
1 teaspoon dried oregano
sea salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

For the egg and lemon sauce

3 egg yolks at room temperature
2 lemons juiced and zested (about ½ cup juice)

For serving

fresh thyme leaves optional
chili flakes optional
freshly ground pepper optional

Instructions

Place the chicken in a large pot and add cold water to cover, about 10 cups. Bring to a boil and skim the foam from the surface until it stops forming.
Reduce the heat to low. Add the halved onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves, thyme, sage and rosemary sprigs, sea salt and peppercorns. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour.
Transfer the chicken to a platter and let it cool enough to handle. Discard the skin and bones and cut or shred the meat into bite-sized pieces. Cover and set aside.
Strain the broth through a sieve into a bowl, discarding the vegetables and herbs. Wash the pot and return the strained broth to it.
Add the diced onion, carrots and celery, the rice and the oregano. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until the rice is tender.
Add the shredded chicken, stir, and turn the heat off completely. While the rice cooks, zest and juice the lemons.

Prepare the egg-lemon sauce.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks until pale and very well combined.
Gradually add the lemon zest and juice while whisking continuously, until the mixture thickens slightly and turns creamy.
With the pot off the heat, slowly add ½ cup of the hot broth to the bowl while whisking vigorously. Add another ½ cup the same way.
Pour the egg-lemon mixture into the pot, whisking as you go, and stir thoroughly. Season with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and extra lemon juice to taste. Do not let the soup boil again.
Serve in bowls with a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves and chili flakes.

Notes

The trickiest part is the tempering. Take the pot off the heat before you start, add the broth to the eggs in two slow stages while whisking hard, and never let the soup boil afterward. If it splits, it still tastes exactly the same.

Rice, orzo or pastina. Medium-grain rice, 15 minutes. Orzo, 1 cup, about 9 minutes. Pastina or ditalini, ¾ cup, about 7 minutes. Or 2 diced potatoes, 15 minutes. Or leave the starch out for a clear soup.

Store-bought broth works. Use a good low-sodium one so you control the seasoning, and shred in rotisserie chicken. This turns the recipe into a 30-minute soup.

Homemade broth keeps 3–4 days in the fridge and 2–3 months in the freezer.

For a pink soup, stir 1 cup of grated ripe tomato into the broth when you add the rice.

For a lighter, foamier avgolemono, separate 3 whole eggs, whisk the whites to soft peaks, whisk in the yolks, then proceed as written.

Nutrition