Avgolemono (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup)

Avgolemono, a delicious homemade Greek lemon chicken soup with arborio rice and vegetables is the perfect comfort food. This simple soup is packed with fresh flavors and can be made ahead and frozen for easy meal planning and prep.

What is Avgolemono soup?

Avgolemono soup is a traditional Greek soup made from chicken broth, rice, chicken, and vegetables. A lemon and egg mixture (avgolemono sauce) is added to the soup to thicken and give a nice creamy texture.

Avgolemono itself refers to a variety of sauces and soups made from an egg (sometimes just egg yolks) and lemon mixture.

How do you pronounce Avgolemono? It’s not the easiest name to spell or pronounce, and I’m certainly not a pro on this one but avgolemono pronunciation sounds like ahv-go-lem-in-oh to me. I’d love to hear your version in the comments.

(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)

Avgolemono Ingredients

• Olive Oil – Just a little to sauté the vegetables. Could use any kind of oil or butter if you prefer.
• Onions – Finely chopped white or yellow onions would work fine. Any combination of onions, carrots, and celery works well in the soup.
• Carrots – Peeled and finely chopped. I’m not a big fan of baby carrots but they’d work.
• Celery – Finely chopped.
• Garlic – You can add more or less garlic to your personal taste.
• Chicken Broth – I used regular chicken broth. But you could also use low sodium or could also use chicken stock. Homemade or store bought.
• Oregano – I used dried oregano, but you could also use dried dill and/or parsley. Or garnish the soup at the end with fresh herbs.
• Rice – Arborio rice is generally what is used. Be sure to rinse it really well. You could also use pasta such as orzo or broken up pieces of spaghetti, angel hair, etc. Be sure to adjust the cooking time if you are not using rice.
• Chicken – Precooked chicken (such as boneless skinless chicken breasts or whatever you have) or a rotisserie chicken works just fine.
• Lemon Juice – Fresh is so much better in this soup if you can swing it.
• Egg – One whole large egg. Some people just use the yolk but I used the whole egg.
• Salt & Pepper – Salt and pepper to taste. Chicken broth can be quite salty so give your soup a taste before serving.

How to Make Avgolemono Soup

Step One: Cook the vegetables and garlic until slightly soft.

Step Two: Add the broth and oregano and bring to a boil. Add the rice and cook about 20 minutes. Be sure to adjust the time if using something other than arborio rice.

Step Three: Add chicken.

Step Four: Make the avgolemono sauce by mixing together the egg and lemon juice. Temper the egg by slowly adding some hot soup to the egg and lemon.

Step Five: Add the warm egg and lemon mixture to the soup in the pot. The soup will start to thicken. Remove soup from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

(Full printable recipe card with full details is at bottom of post.)

Serving Suggestions

• Serve with some bread or homemade rolls like these Garlic Cheddar Drop Biscuits or Homemade Dinner Rolls.
• Serve this soup right away or let it cool and freeze in plastic containers or resealable bags.
• This soup sometimes will thicken a lot overnight or after being frozen. It will thin a little after being heated, or add a little more chicken broth if you’d like.
• Garnish the soup with fresh herbs such as oregano, dill, and/or flat leaf parsley if you’d like.
• This chicken soup is also delicious with a Greek salad.

Quick Tips for Best Results

• Be sure to rinse your rice really well before using so it doesn’t suck up all the chicken broth.
• Tempering eggs can be a little tricky if you haven’t done it before. Slowly add some of the hot soup to the egg and lemon juice until it’s warm. If you add the egg and lemon right to the soup, the eggs will curdle and you’ll have scrambled eggs in your soup.
• The soup tends to thicken after it’s been refrigerated or frozen. It will thin a bit when reheated, but you can also add a little more chicken broth (or water) to think if you’d like.

Other Soup Recipes You May Enjoy

• Chicken Alfredo Soup – A rich and creamy soup inspired by Fettuccine Alfredo.
• Slow Cooker French Onion Soup – An easy version of the French Onion classic soup.
• Egg Roll Soup – A low carb soup based on the popular Chinese appetizer.
• Chicken Tortilla Soup – Another family favorite! Serve with all your favorite taco toppings.