Avgolemono Greek Lemon Chicken Soup - Easy Budget Dinner

This is the soup that is going to COMPLETELY surprise you. Avgolemono (av-go-LEH-mo-no) is a traditional Greek lemon and egg chicken soup and it is one of the most clever, beautiful things you can do with a handful of simple ingredients. There is no cream in here. No butter. No thickener. Just eggs and lemon whisked together and slowly tempered into a hot chicken broth to create something silky, rich, and deeply comforting. It tastes like summer sunshine in a winter bowl. This recipe is part of my Savvy Suppers series, where I head to the supermarket, spend under $50 NZD, and make three dinners for two to three people with leftovers for lunch. This is Monday night dinner, and it is the kind of meal that makes you feel like you are being looked after. 

Watch me make this on YouTube!

Recipe Details

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 to 40 minutes
• Total Time: 45 to 50 minutes
• Serves: 2 to 3 people, with leftovers for lunch
• Difficulty: Easy
• Special Equipment: None

The magic of avgolemono is the tempering technique. You whisk eggs and lemon juice together, then slowly drizzle hot stock into the mixture to gently warm the eggs before adding them back to the soup. This stops the eggs from scrambling and creates that gorgeous, creamy, velvety texture without a drop of cream. The key is patience and a low heat at the end. Once you understand this technique you will use it again and again.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• No cream needed: The eggs and lemon do all the work. The result is silky and rich without being heavy, which makes it perfect for winter without weighing you down.
• Budget-friendly and filling: Three chicken drumsticks and a bag of orzo stretch a very long way here. This is a proper meal that costs very little.
• Uses up what you have: Sad celery, a spare onion, a couple of carrots. This soup welcomes whatever needs using up. The waste-not angle is built in.
• Genuinely impressive: Most people have never heard of avgolemono. You will make this for someone and they will ask you for the recipe immediately.

Ingredients

• 1.5 onions, diced
• 3 to 4 carrots, diced
• 2 sticks of celery, diced (optional, not on the shopping list but great if you have some lurking in the fridge)
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced (optional but lovely if you have them)
• 3 chicken drumsticks
• 1.2 litres of chicken stock (made from stock powder or a cube is absolutely fine)
• 2 pieces of lemon peel
• 175 to 200g orzo pasta
• 3 eggs
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• Dried or fresh dill, to finish (optional but highly recommended)

Instructions

1. Sweat the vegetables: Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pot over a low to medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery if using, and garlic if using. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything is soft and sweet. Do not rush this step. Soft vegetables make a sweeter, more flavourful base.
2. Add the chicken and stock: Add the chicken drumsticks and the lemon peel to the pot. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through.
3. Shred the chicken: Remove the drumsticks from the pot and set aside to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, pull the meat off the bones and shred it into pieces. Discard the bones and the lemon peel.
4. Cook the orzo: Add the orzo to the pot and cook according to the packet instructions, usually around 8 to 10 minutes. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer.
5. Make the egg and lemon mixture: While the orzo cooks, crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk well. Add the juice of both lemons and whisk again until combined.
6. Temper the eggs: Ladle out 150 to 200ml of hot stock from the pot into a jug. Very slowly drizzle this hot stock into the egg and lemon mixture, whisking constantly as you pour. You are gently warming the eggs so they do not scramble when they go into the soup. Take your time with this step.
7. Finish the soup: Once the orzo is cooked, turn the heat right down to low or off completely. Slowly pour the tempered egg and lemon mixture into the pot, stirring gently as you go. The soup will thicken and turn beautifully creamy and golden.
8. Add the chicken and season: Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup. Season generously with salt and black pepper. Top with dried or fresh dill if you have it.
9. Serve: Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. This soup is at its absolute best straight from the pot.

Chef's Tips

Take your time tempering the eggs: This is the most important step in the whole recipe. If you pour the egg mixture into very hot soup without tempering first, you will end up with scrambled egg floating in your broth. Drizzle the hot stock into the eggs slowly and whisk as you go, then add the mixture back to the soup with the heat off or very low.

Say it with me, av-go-LEH-mo-no: The name sounds intimidating but the dish itself is incredibly simple. Once you make it once you will wonder how you ever lived without it.

Orzo or rice: Orzo is not traditional. Rice is the classic choice for avgolemono. But orzo is delicious here and gives a lovely texture. Use whatever you have. If you use rice, add it at the same stage as the orzo and adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Sad celery is welcome here: This soup is a brilliant home for vegetables that are past their best. Floppy celery, soft carrots, a tired onion. It all works and makes the base more complex and flavourful.

Stock from a cube is absolutely fine: Homemade stock is wonderful but a good stock cube or powder does a great job here. The lemon and egg do so much of the flavour work that the stock just needs to be a solid, well-seasoned base.

Substitutions & Variations

• No orzo? Use 150g of long-grain or basmati rice instead. Add it at the same stage and cook until tender before adding the egg and lemon.
• No chicken drumsticks? Chicken thighs on the bone work just as well. You could also use leftover cooked chicken. Shred it and add it at the end, skipping the poaching step and using bought or homemade stock.
• No fresh lemons? Bottled lemon juice works in a pinch, though fresh is much better here. You need the brightness of fresh lemon to make this soup sing.
• Want it dairy free? This recipe is already completely dairy free. No cream, no butter, nothing. The creaminess comes entirely from the eggs.
• Want more lemon? Add the juice of a third lemon if you love a really bright, zingy flavour. Taste and adjust at the end.
• No dill? Leave it out or use fresh parsley instead. The soup is delicious without it.

Storage

Best eaten fresh: Avgolemono is at its absolute best the moment it comes off the heat, when the broth is silky and the orzo is perfectly cooked. Eat it straight away if you can.

Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The orzo will absorb more liquid as it sits so the soup will thicken considerably. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of water or extra stock to loosen it back to the right consistency. Do not boil.

Freezer: Not recommended. The egg and lemon mixture does not freeze well and the texture becomes grainy and separated when defrosted. If you want to freeze a batch, make the soup without the egg and lemon step, freeze it, then add the tempered egg mixture fresh when you reheat it.

Avoid: Do not boil the soup once the egg and lemon mixture has gone in. High heat will cause the eggs to curdle and the silky texture will be lost. Always keep the heat low once the eggs are added.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use rice instead of orzo?
Yes, and actually rice is the more traditional choice for avgolemono. Use about 150g of long-grain or basmati rice and add it at the same stage as the orzo. Adjust the cooking time to suit the rice you are using.

My soup looks grainy or curdled. What went wrong?
This almost always happens because the heat was too high when the egg mixture went in, or the eggs were not properly tempered first. Make sure you drizzle the hot stock into the eggs very slowly before adding the mixture to the soup, and always turn the heat right down or off before it goes in.

Can I double this recipe?
Yes, this scales up very easily. Double all the ingredients and use a larger pot. The technique is exactly the same. Just make sure you temper the eggs properly regardless of the batch size.

What if I do not have a ladle for tempering?
A heatproof jug works perfectly. Scoop the hot stock out of the pot with a cup or mug if that is all you have. The important thing is that you add the hot liquid to the eggs slowly, not the other way around.

Can I make this without the lemon peel?
Yes. The lemon peel adds a gentle background citrus flavour to the broth while the chicken cooks. If you do not have any, just use the lemon juice at the end. The soup will still be delicious.

Can I use chicken breast instead of drumsticks?
You can, but drumsticks give the stock so much more flavour as they cook. If you use breast, the soup will be slightly less rich in flavour. Add a good stock cube to compensate and reduce the cooking time to about 12 to 15 minutes so the breast does not dry out.

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Avgolemono is one of those recipes that sounds complicated and tastes like it took hours, but the whole thing comes together in under an hour with ingredients you most likely already have. The tempering technique is the one thing to learn and once you have done it once it feels completely natural. The lemon brings a brightness that cuts through the richness of the eggs, the orzo makes it filling and satisfying, and the shredded chicken makes it a proper dinner. It is, as I said while filming, like summer sunshine in a winter bowl.

Enjoy!

Del x

Silky, lemony, and deeply comforting. Avgolemono is the Greek chicken soup you never knew you needed but will make on repeat all winter long.