Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (grain free)
This paleo Greek lemon chicken soup is comforting, fresh, and nourishing! It’s low carb, whole30 compliant, and is easily modified to be keto and AIP.
What is Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (or Avgolemono)?
Avgolemono is a Greek Chicken Soup that’s traditionally made with rice (or some use orzo), chicken, vegetables, eggs, and lots of lemon and fresh herbs! Not only is this soup crazy flavorful, but it is nutrient-dense and healthy! Tons of veggies, herbs, good quality fats, and nourishing chicken broth. All of these ingredients make it super filling as well.
This soup is also a great transitional recipe between summer and fall, as well as winter and spring. Because it’s a soup, it’s warm and nourishing by nature, but the lemon and veggies also make for an incredibly light and refreshing meal.
This is my take on the classic! It’s not traditional, but this particular recipe is paleo, gluten-free, and grain-free, and can be modified to be keto and AIP-friendly.
The Ingredients You’ll Need for the Paleo Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
- Chicken and chicken broth. You can make your own broth from a whole chicken and save the shredded chicken for the soup (which is my preferred method) or you can make them separately.
- Onion and carrot. If you’re very low carb or keto, you can leave out the carrots.
- Cauliflower rice. Traditionally this soup is made with rice, so this is the rice substitute. Of course, you can add rice if you want, but you would also need to add more broth as the rice absorbs a lot of broth.
- Egg yolks (omit for AIP). Egg yolks give the soup a big healthy fat boost, tons of added flavor, and some added yellow coloring. This really thickens the soup and makes it what it is!
How to Make Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
- Prep the soup base. Saute the onions. Add the carrots and cauliflower rice and saute for an additional 5 minutes or until slightly softened. Pour in the broth, lemon juice, and herbs and stir well to combine. Simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the cooked chicken and kale and stir to wilt the kale.
- Temper the eggs. In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks until fully scrambled. Scoop out about a cup of hot broth from the soup. Slowly and carefully pour the cup of hot broth into the egg mixture while continuing to whisk. This will gently cook the egg yolks and make a thick sauce. Pour the yolk mixture into the rest of the soup and stir well to combine. Remove from the heat.
- Serve!
Tips & Tricks for Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
- Use fresh lemon. It makes a big difference in the flavor!
- Save time with pre-cooked chicken. Using something like a good quality rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken is a big time saver.
Is Greek Lemon Chicken Soup Healthy?
Healthy is always a subjective concept, but this soup is super wholesome! It’s packed with veggies, healthy protein, and herbs.
Can you freeze Greek Lemon Chicken Soup?
I think this soup is best fresh, but you can also freeze it if needed.
If you like this recipe, check these out…
- Greek chicken meal prep
- Gluten-Free Turkey Feta Meatballs
- Anti-inflammatory turmeric chicken soup
- Greek Chicken Burgers
Paleo Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Low Carb, Keto, Whole30, AIP)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 2 cups cauliflower, riced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 lb shredded chicken, precooked
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, reserve some for topping
- 1 tsp salt, salt further to taste
- ½ tsp black pepper, omit for AIP
- 1 cup kale, chopped
- 3 egg yolks, omit for AIP
- Lemon wedges and lemon zest to serve
Instructions
- Using a large stockpot, heat the oil on medium-low heat.
- Saute the onions on low heat for 3-4 minutes or until lightly translucent. Add the carrots and cauliflower rice and saute for an additional 5 minutes or until slightly softened.
- Pour in the broth, lemon juice, and herbs and stir well to combine. Simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the cooked chicken and kale and stir to wilt the kale for about 4-5 minutes.
- (Skip this step for AIP) In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks until fully scrambled. Scoop out about a cup of hot broth from the soup. Slowly and carefully pour the cup of hot broth into the egg mixture while continuing to whisk. This will gently cook the egg yolks and make a thick sauce. Pour the yolk mixture into the rest of the soup and stir well to combine. Remove from the heat.
- Allow the soup to cool and season further to taste. Serve with lemon wedges and fresh parsley.
Notes
this recipe was published is 2018 and updated in 2023.
Made this tonight exactly as written (no omissions) and it was excellent. I have never made this type of soup so it was great to try something new! Very lemony! I’ll definitely make it again.
So happy you liked it!! Thank you so much, Lindsay!
This soup is so easy to make and is flavorful and yummy!!! I’ll definitely be making this again!!
Thank you, Jenny! So glad you liked it!!
This was fabulous! Made minor changes. Used 2 tsp fresh dill. Added 1/2 cup diced celery. Cut broth back to 4 cups. Strained the broth, heated it to a simmer and used immersion blender to temper egg yolks with 1/2 cup hot broth. Blended rest of broth and egg yolk until frothy, then added to vegetables and chicken and simmered for 5 more minutes. (Fed 2 hangry adults plus a little left over formthe dog)
Yay! So glad you liked it!!
Would be helpful to those who have to track their Macros, if this awesome recipe (I made it and loved it)had this info.
I’ve been working on adding macros to my recipes, but it’s been taking some time. Hope to have more added soon!
This turned out so delicious, I made my first chicken stock with it as well and already shared your recipe with family. Love it!
YAY! So happy you liked it, Chrissy!! 🙂 Thank you!!
This was excellent! I also added feta to top it (kick up the fat a bit for keto) and added a bit of lemon pepper. Served with cuke slices and tzatziki. Great meal… thanks for the recipe!
We’ve honestly been having this soup on repeat every week for the past two months. It’s one of my favorite soups yet (AIP version). Thank you!
Have you tried freezing this meal? Does it do with the eggs?
Made this tonight using lots of spinach since we don’t like kale. So refreshing and delicious!
Yum! Thank you so much, Pat!
Love this! I’m AIP so omitted the eggs but added a can of artichoke hearts – drained, rinsed and chopped (discard the tough outer leaves and tops) an a lot of fresh basil. Delicious!! Thank you Michelle. Your recipes rock!!
YUM! Thank you so, so much Rikki!!!
How is this soup when made aip? Does it mostly taste like chicken soup with lemon? Not that that’s a bad thing, but wondering how different it is as eggs seem to be the key ingredient (sadly, no eggs for me ????)
It’s very strong on the lemon either way, so it still tastes good without egg!
This was so good! I cut down the liquid to 4 cups (1 cup homemade stock + 3 cups water) so the lemon flavor was really concentrated! I also added celery and frozen peas. We have 2 boys with appetites of grown men so I put a ton of chicken in it and yes it filled them up! Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you so much Laura!! That sounds so good!!
Can you taste the egg in the soup? I’m nervous about adding the egg yolk! I’ve never liked soups like egg drop soup.
Personally, I don’t think you can… there are a lot of flavors in there and I mostly get lemon from this soup.
Excellent! I loved lemon rice soup in the past. I’ve been AIP for the last 6 months and recently reintroduced eggs. This recipe was so flavorful and really hit the spot! I was worried about the dill but it was a great compliment to the soup. I will definitely be making this again! Thanks for your amazing recipes!!!
How do you recommend making broth from whole chicken & shredded meat?
You can use a chicken carcass to make broth 🙂
This was awesome! I had this soup often growing up, but have never been able to successfully make it myself. This recipe was amazing – thank you!