Chicken Avgolemono Soup

The last half of January has been filled with some downright bone chilling days. Even though the sun was shining for some of them, it just hasn’t been enough to warm me up. We’ve been working on butchering whole chickens in class the past couple of weeks and were told asked to make some chicken soup. So the timing was just right for this hearty chicken avgolemono.

This is the chicken soup I grew up with. No noodles, just chicken and rice in a silky smooth and creamy lemon flavored broth. The magic of this chicken avgolemono (egg-lemon) soup is that it comes together pretty easily and packs enough bright lemon zing to warm you up from the inside out on the coldest and bleakest of winter days.

Avgolemono is a simple yet versatile sauce used as a base to deliver a bright pop of lemon flavor to a variety of Greek dishes. In a few variations, it is used to enhance fish and chicken dishes. In soups, it is used for flavor and texture as it thickens the soup to a silky, creamy consistency that is never heavy, just light, zingy and totally satisfying.

It may seem cliché to see lemons featured so predominantly in Greek cookbooks, or with recipes on the internet. The truth is that the refreshing citrus flavor plays an important role in Greek cooking and lemons show up in a lot of Greek dishes. This soup doesn’t so much hint of a lemon background, lemon is a featured player. You can definitely modify the amount of lemon if you prefer a more subtle citrus flavor. In my opinion, the more lemon the better, but I’ve also been known to eat lemon wedges and slices whole, rind and all.

The soup can be modified in a few other ways as well. You can make it a heartier stew-like version for the most bone chilling of days by adding more shredded chicken, or using less broth. Or lighter by omitting the chicken altogether. You can substitute orzo for the rice.

While chicken avgolemono is arguably the most well-known version of this soup (at least in the US), avgolemono soup is also made with meatballs (youvarlakia) or fish (psarosoupa). My mom and Theia Despina made the youvarlakia version pretty frequently. My Uncle Nick made a version without lemon for my cousin Maria’s restaurant that I often stalked, because it was the only acceptable substitute chicken soup for me. It was without doubt one of the first questions I asked whenever I was there, “what’s the soup today?”

Chicken avgolemono soup can be made easily with a rotisserie chicken and store-bought broth to quicken the preparation, but…

If you have time to make homemade broth, it is definitely worth the extra effort to do so. You will be rewarded greatly in flavor. It takes just a few simple ingredients for a flavorful homemade broth and there are a few ways to quicken the prep for this broth instead of relying on store bought.

The broth for avgolemono is usually made with a whole chicken, which takes about 45-60 minutes to cook. This yields a flavorful broth and enough chicken for a hearty soup. 

To expedite the process a bit the broth can be made using a pre-cut eight-piece chicken.

If you can break down a whole chicken yourself (or find a butcher who will do it for you), even better because you’ll have the chicken back to extract even more flavor for your broth. The breast, thigh and legs will cook in about 10-15 minutes this way. The chicken can be removed from the broth sooner to cool, and the broth can be further reduced while prepping the chicken for the final steps.

An amazingly delicious aroma will infiltrate your kitchen as you simmer the chicken and then reduce the broth.

Once the chicken is cooked, the broth can be strained and used to prepare the soup. But I prefer to reduce the broth with the bones a bit longer for more flavor, like a stock. I keep the chicken back and wings in the pot and set the rest of the chicken aside to cool. After picking the meat off the thighs and legs, I add those bones back to the pot while the broth is reducing. I usually let the broth reduce for about an hour to an hour and a half (from the time the chicken was removed), then strain it. From here, it’s just a few steps to the final soup.

White or brown rice can be used depending on your preference. Either way, long grain rice is best. About ten minutes before the rice is done, juice the two lemons, grab two eggs from the refrigerator and get ready to make the avgolemono.

Adding the avgolemono to the soup is the trickiest part of the recipe, but totally manageable. A few quick set-up steps are key to making a silky smooth soup. No scrambled egg soup here. Set a damp dishtowel next to the simmering rice to use to keep the bowl in place when tempering the egg lemon mixture. Crack two eggs into a large bowl.

Whisk the eggs briskly for about a minute, warming yourself up for the critical step. Add in the lemon juice and whisk until combined. Place the bowl on the damp dish towel for traction.

At this point the egg and lemon mixture will need to be tempered before adding it to the stockpot. Whisk the lemon and egg mixture quickly while slowly adding in a ladle of the hot broth. Repeat with one or two more ladles of broth, mixing well during each addition. The tempered mixture can now be added to the pot while stirring quickly over low heat. DO NOT allow the soup to boil from this point forward.

All that is left to do is add the shredded chicken back to the pot for a few quick stirs to heat it through. Serve and enjoy, preferably with a crusty slice of bread.    

Chicken Avgolemono Soup
Servings: 5-6 (about 2 quarts)

Chicken Broth

• One 3 – 3 ½ lb chicken, whole or pre-cut 8 piece chicken (optional include chicken back)
• 2 ½ quarts (10 cups) water
• 1 large yellow onion, quartered
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 medium carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• Equipment: Strainer and cheesecloth

Avgolemono Soup

• 1 ½ quart (6 cups) chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 cup long grain rice (brown or white), rinsed
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
• Salt to taste, about 1 – 1 ½ teaspoon (reduce or omit if using store bought stock)
• Equipment: whisk, ladle, damp dishtowel

*If using rotisserie chicken and store-bought broth, shred chicken into bite sized pieces and skip to step 6.

Homemade broth can be made 1-2 days in advance and held in the refrigerator after it is strained (step 6) and cooled.

1. In a large pot, add chicken, celery, carrots, onion, peppercorns and bay leaf. Cover completely with water.
2. Bring to a slow boil then reduce to a low simmer until chicken is cooked, about 45-60 minutes for a whole chicken, or 10-15 minutes for pre-cut chicken. Remove any foam that rises to surface.
3. Remove whole chicken, or breasts, thighs and legs if using pre-cut chicken (keep back and wings in pot) and set aside to cool. (If you don’t want to reduce broth further skip to Step 5)
4. Simmer broth on low heat for about 1-1 ½ hours, until broth reduces about one third (to about 6 cups).
5. While broth is reducing and once chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove meat from bones and shred into bite sized pieces and set aside (bones can be returned to pot while reducing).
6. Once broth is reduced, strain it into a clean pot and return to a slow boil over medium heat.
7. Add rice and salt, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes for white rice, or 40 minutes for brown rice. About halfway through cooking, taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
8. A few minutes before the rice is cooked, juice the lemons and crack eggs into a large bowl.
9. Whisk the eggs for about 1 minute, add lemon juice and whisk together. Place the bowl on a damp dishtowel set near the pot for traction.
10. Temper egg and lemon mixture with the broth and rice: slowly add one ladle of broth to the egg and lemon mixture while whisking briskly to keep eggs from curdling. Repeat with 1-2 more ladles of broth.
11. Add tempered mixture back to pot with remaining broth and rice, stir quickly over low heat for a few minutes, until soup thickens. DO NOT allow soup to boil.
12. Add shredded chicken, stir to heat through and serve immediately.

Soup can be refrigerated for 2-3 days and reheated gently. Do not allow soup to boil when reheating.