Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono)
Even though this soup is usually served at Christmas dinner in Greek households, the lemon flavor makes it great year-round. You can easily substitute cooked rice for the raw and shorten simmering time to get this going quickly. Get the recipe for Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono) ». Maxime Iattoni
The key to this easy avgolemono recipe (Greek lemon chicken soup) is to use a blender for the egg-lemon sauce.
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 (3 1/2 to 4 lb.) chicken
- 1 medium onion, chopped (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 medium carrot, chopped (approximately 1/2 cup)
- 3 ribs celery, chopped (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
- 8 cups water
- 2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 2 tbsp. cold water
- 1⁄4 cup lemon juice, plus more to taste (approximately 2 lemons)
Instructions
- Place chicken, chopped vegetables and water in a large 6-8 qt. pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1⁄2 hours, skimming broth frequently and turning chicken at midway point. Remove chicken from pot and reserve for another use. Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, discarding vegetables. You should have about 6 cups of cooking liquid – slightly more is fine, but if you have less, add enough water to bring the amount to 6 cups. Return liquid to pot, add salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, add rice and cook until tender, approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat.
- Place eggs and cornstarch in blender container. Whip on high speed 2-3 minutes until very frothy. Add cold water and lemon juice and whip 20-30 more seconds. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and slowly whisk in 3-4 cups of hot soup. Add tempered egg mixture to remaining soup, stirring constantly so that mixture will not break. Soup should be creamy with a light skim of foam on top. Season to taste with more salt and lemon juice as needed and serve immediately.
