Greek Avgolemono (Egg-Lemon) Soup with Optional Chicken

A wonderfully warming and healthy soup. Great to eat on a cool evening.

5 from 1 vote

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Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3-5 medium carrots peeled and diced
2-3 ribs celery cleaned and diced
1/2 medium onion finely diced
1 cup rice rinsed and drained (whatever type you have/like, but I like using a medium to short grain so it makes the soup real thick), or orzo
16 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth if going vegetarian, homemade or boxed, room temperature if you had made fresh and put it in the frig
4 cups of chopped chicken white and/or dark meat (optional)
2 cans cannelloni beans optional, if making this vegetarian
2 eggs
2-3 lemons juiced (at least 1/4th cup) and zested (zest is optional)*
2 cloves garlic smashed (optional)*
3 sprigs of thyme optional*
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat oil in large pot and throw in diced carrots, celery and onion.
Add a little salt to sweat the veggies and a little bit of pepper, to taste.
After a few minutes, add in the rice and stir with the vegetables and let cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Let it cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the rice is done and the veggies are tender to your taste.
In the meantime, whisk your eggs until frothy then slowly add in the lemon juice as you continue to whisk.
Remove about 2 cups of the hot broth from the soup and add in the chicken or beans (if using) and stir. Turn off heat and set pot aside.
Slowly drizzle reserved broth into your egg-lemon mixture as you whisk. You are tempering the eggs, so don’t pour all the hot liquid at once or it will scramble them. Take about 2 minutes to add in the two comes as you whisk.
Slowly pour in your egg-lemon-broth mixture into your pot, as you stir. Once it is fully incorporated, put the pot back onto the heat, on low to medium, and bring to a simmer as you stir. The top may look frothy but as it cooks the froth will dissipate.
Once it comes back to a simmer (about 5-7 minutes on low-medium) turn it off and let it sit for about 10 minutes then enjoy!
You can top it with some crackers or make homemade crusty bread to dip into the juices.

Notes

*I used the zest, thyme and garlic in making my own broth, if you don’t make your own you can throw those into boxed broth and heat for 10-15 minutes to extract the flavors into the broth, then strain before using it in the soup. If you have lemongrass, you can also throw a couple 4 inch pieces into the broth for extra flavor.