Greek lemon and rice soup

  

This soup is tangy and velvety smooth with white rice for texture. The flavor combination is groan-worthy and it is filling without being too heavy.

Also known as Avgolemono, this recipe consists of only five essential ingredients. You can keep it simple or dress it up a little with fresh or dried herbs.

Rating: 3/4 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

8 cups chicken or veggie broth

3/4 cup white or orzo rice (not Minute Rice)

3 eggs

1 lemon

Salt

Pepper (optional)

Fresh parsley (optional) (nice addition)

Thyme (optional)

In a large saucepan or stock pot, bring broth to a boil. Add rice and cook covered for 20 minutes over low heat.

In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Add yolks and lemon juice, beating well. Spoon a small amount of the warm broth (1 cupish) into the egg mixture, continue to beat while adding the broth to prevent eggs from solidifying. Then add the entire egg mixture into the rice and broth in the saucepan. Heat through and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often. Add salt, pepper and thyme to taste. Garnish with fresh parsley.

If you want to make this a serious entrée: Add bits of cooked, shredded chicken breast or smoked salmon.

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Comments

[kcinnova]

I first fell in love with Avgolemono Soup at Kosta's restaurant on The Ave in the U-district.
I haven't made this in YEARS. Now I might make it for dinner tonight, with the chicken.

My recipe uses only egg yolks, which means I have to make coconut meringue cookies for my husband. I don't think he'd complain.

[Kathy in Florida]

Great recipe and I used to love this stuff. I can no longer eat anything with lemon in it (friggin' heartburn) but I'm going to try making it without the lemon, but with the parsley, thyme and chicken and hope it has enough flavor. I would think it would taste like regular chicken soup with a change in texture from the eggs in it. Thanks for the idea.

[Kristy]

So you just use the juice of the lemon? No zest or anything?

[All Adither]

Kristy--No zest. The lemon flavor is pretty strong as it is, especially if you use a large lemon.

[Tabatha]

Yum!! I haven't had this since they closed down the Greek restaurant we loved. I may have to make this tonight. ps- there's just something about food in mugs that's so cozy.

[killjoie]

Delicious! I whipped my eggs a bit too much this time around, but it turned out tasty anyway. I added some oregano and garlic to my wimpy broth, and added the zest too.

It came together in the perfect amount of time to make a batch of homemade pudding to celebrate the last day of winter break. Thanks for the great recipes! (And after the Dutch Baby I made for breakfast Saturday, my house is turning very Half-Assed!)

[Bethany]

I've got a horrible cold kicking me around the block and this was a great "I'm sick!" soup - simple enough I didn't feel the need to make my husband do it, and very soothing for all of the aches from my neck up.

[Mary]

This is going on my menu for next week!! It looks great.

[Michele]

Lemons are ripe this week in Phoenix. Any recipe with lemon it is very useful. Thanks for posting it.

[kcinnova]

Made it last night with the chicken. 5 out of 6 thumbs up! Around here, that is a good recipe (I've got picky kids).

[Serena]

looks good! What do you mean by cups of stock though? I only know stock as knorr cubes- how many cups would one cube equal? Is there an entry where you talk about stock? Can't wait to try this recipe!

[All Adither]

I buy stock in shelf-stable boxes, usually in the food aisle of your grocery store. This is probably the most expensive way to go. I believe that one Knorr cube equals one cup of broth. (Broth = stock). You can also make your own stock and refrigerate or freeze it. This is the most economical and best-tasting way to go. But also the most labor-intensive.

I haven't done a post on stock. But here's a good one: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000264how_to_make_chicken_stock.php

[Becky Bagdanoff]

Just got done eating this...it was perfect! Even my highly particular husband heartily enjoyed it. It's even better than the version served at our old fave Greek place.

Put cubed chicken thighs in the broth at the very beginning, they were perfectly cooked by the end and made it a complete meal.

Thanks for posting! Recently stumbled on your blog and am looking forward to trying more recipes.

[Nan]

can you freeze this?

[Half Assed Kitchen]

Nan, Yes, it should freeze just fine.

[Paige]

Made this tonight and it was great! I love avgolemono but always thought it was too hard to make. Nope! I cooked a couple of chicken breasts in the broth for about 25 minutes, then removed and shredded them. I added them back in with the lemon/egg mixture and served the soup with some crumbled feta. Delicious!