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.
This is delightfully yummy. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
thank you!!
Thx 4 this delicious recipe. I have been looking for this soup for long time. Will make again for sure
Thank you so much, Wanda!
Love this recipe so much!! Have made it a few times now and the whole family loves it. Toddler-approved too 🙂
So delicious! We will definitely make again. A hit with the whole family! Thank you!
I’m making this soup again. We loved it so much. Thanks!
Yay! Thank you so much, Lorrie! So glad it was a hit 🙂
OMG. I made this and ate the entire pot in 2 days. I can tolerate GF grains so I used rice (just cooked in my instant pot and added at the end). Turned out perfect!!
Thank you so much, Heidi!! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
I’m making this tonight! I see minced garlic in the ingredients but no where in the directions. Please advise? Thank you!
It goes in with the onion 🙂
This is so good! I didn’t think I was a soup person, until now.
I’ve made this twice and can see this will be something I make regularly.
I add extra chicken, carrots and kale to fill it out a little more, and I also add extra lemon juice and a little zest.
Amazing!
Already shared this recipe with family and friends.
Thank you so much, Renai!! So glad you liked it!!
This soup was fantastic! I added frozen artichoke hearts.
Yum! Thank you so much, Kelli!!
This is my all-time favorite recipe. And I’m happy to report it freezes and thaws well.
I am also AIP, so instead of the egg, I took about 1/3 cup of the broth out and mixed it with a little arrowroot (instead of cornstarch) to make a slurry and then added it back to the soup to thicken it a bit and give it the velvety texture that the egg adds. Thumbs up from the family! Served with a greek salad (subbed Violife’s feta for the real feta on mine) and it was a pretty filling meal. Yum all round!!!
Yay! So glad you liked it, Pauline! Thanks for sharing your swaps!! 🙂
This soup is excellent. I can’t have eggs, so skipped that step and still is delicious.
Can this be made in abig batch and frozen?
I haven’t tried it, but I assume it would work fine!!
This soup is amazing!!!! It is my go-to soup in place of a traditional chicken noodle. I was suspicious of the dill, but it works really well with the lemon. You won’t regret making the soup!!! Delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!!!
This was soo delicious! I guess I missed some of the steps in it because I just added the eggs and the lemon to my regular chicken soup but YUM! I will try adding some of the extra herbs next time. That will probably make it even more delicious!
So glad you liked it Nadia! Thanks for trying it!