Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
This Greek Lemon Chicken Soup is comforting, fresh, and nourishing! It’s made with fresh lemon, egg yolks, vegetables, and chicken.
“This was so good, I love the lemon flavor and all the veggies. Pretty quick to throw together as well!” – Lindsay
What is Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (or Avgolemono)?
Avgolemono is a Greek Chicken Soup that’s traditionally made with rice (or 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 with the option to make it with gluten-free orzo, or grain-free with cauliflower rice.
Why you’ll love this Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
- It’s quick to make! This isn’t the kind of soup that takes hours on the stove or in the crockpot. It’s quick and simple to throw together.
- It’s rich and nourishing. Packed with veggies, chicken, and lemon, it’s just the most nourishing and flavorful soup.
- Customizable! You can easily make this recipe with orzo or with cauliflower rice.
Recipe Ingredients
- 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.
- Egg yolks. 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!
- Kale. Kale adds a pop of color and nutrients.
Recipe Modifications
- Spinach. You can easily swap spinach in for kale.
- Cauliflower rice or orzo. You can make this recipe with gluten-free orzo, or with cauliflower rice to make it grain-free. Both modifications are in the recipe card below.
How to Make Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
Here are the simple steps, with photos, to make this recipe. Find full instructions in the recipe card.
Step one. Prep the soup base with the veggies and add the broth, lemon juice, and herbs. Simmer and add the chicken and kale.
Step two. Add the egg yolks to a bowl.
Step three. Slowly and carefully pour the cup of hot broth into the egg mixture while continuing to whisk. Your the yolk mixture into the rest of the soup and stir well to combine. Remove from the heat.
Step four. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- 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.
- To make the soup with orzo.
- To make the soup egg-free. Omit the egg yolks and skip the egg tempering step.
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?
You can easily freeze this soup it if needed! I recommend freezing for up to 3 months, defrosting in the fridge and reheating it on the stove.
More Greek Recipes to Try…
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
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Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 2 cups califlower rice, see notes to use gluten free orzo
- 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
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup kale, chopped
- 3 egg yolks, see notes
- 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, celery, caulifllower rice and garlic 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 well to allow the kale to wilt.
- 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
I made this for my family last night and everyone loved it! I was anticipating a large amount of leftovers, as there are only 3 people in my family, but we ate all of it. I can’t wait to make this again. It is definitely a new family favorite. Thank you!
Amazing!!
I made this soup today and it’s so good! I usually like chicken soup anyway, but the lemon and dill just elevates the flavor so much! I can’t have eggs so I tried it with the vegan JUST eggs—it probably didn’t thicken how it was supposed to, but the broth tasted amazing nevertheless. Also didn’t have enough cauliflower rice so I put in about a cup of hearts of palm noodles and their tangy flavor married perfectly. I’m looking forward to having this for my lunches all week.
Could I just include the whole egg?
Sure!
This soup is literally so good. I was craving a lemony soup and was pleased that unboundwellness had one! I used risotto rice because that’s what I had and did not have any kale on hand so I used extra carrots. I made the broth in the instant pot real quick by picking a rotisserie chicken and using the carcass with some veggies in water. Then used that pulled chicken for the soup. Thank you and YUM!
I’ve made this multiple times and it’s so easy and SO GOOD! I just made it again tonight and noticed for the first time it doesn’t say when to add the garlic (unless I’m just overlooking it). I’ve always just put it in at the end of sautéing my onions before the carrots and cauliflower rice goes in – hope this is correct!
so glad you are enjoying it!!
This soup is delicious – thank you so much for developing the recipe! I noticed garlic in the ingredient list but not mentioned in the steps… I made an assumption and added it in with the carrots and cauliflower rice 😉
As my 4 year old said, “This is delicious!” I was out of dill and fresh parsley, but it was still really flavorful. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for another yummy, easy, healthy recipe.
Love this soup! I made it in the instant pot because I wanted to cook my chicken breasts. Followed directions up to the point of adding eggs and Instead added raw diced chicken breast. Put in instant pot for 8 minutes, vented the instant pot and tempered the egg yolks and stirred in egg yolks, lemon, and kale. Let the kale wilt and it was ready. Delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it!!
This soup is so delicious! I used frozen riced cauliflower and spinach.
YUM, sounds great!
This is a great, simple Paleo Recipe for Greek Lemon Chicken Soup. I used spinach instead of Kale, but otherwise followed instructions, but did it in my Instant Pot on Saute function. I will make it again, it was a hit.
Sounds like great adaptations!!
Ok I make 1 soup per week in my house. This was so hearty, warming and delicious!! This is on my list of make again for sure! My kids loved it too (and they are kind of picky). “yummy” they said. yay!!
Love this recipe! Delicious and healthy too!
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!