Avgolemono Soupa Easy
(Greek Egg/Lemon Chicken Soup)

This is a streamlined version of the classic soup. ItÂs quick and easy to make yet quite delicious!

Soup Preparation:
Canned chicken broth (enough to make approximately 8 cups or 64 ounces)
½ onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, peeled and chopped finely
1 celery stalk, chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon allspice
½ - 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken meat (optional)
½ - 1 cup white long grain rice
1 tablespoon cornstarch or quick mixing flour (like Wondra)
¼ cup water

In large stockpot, bring chicken broth, vegetables, and seasonings to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. If using, add chicken meat after 10 minutes and continue cooking for about 10-15 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf. Remove chicken meat, if using, and cut into bite size cubes.

Add rice to stock and simmer covered until tender (about 20 minutes). Add the chicken meat, if using, to the stock. Mix cornstarch/flour with water and add to hot soup. Simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Remove pot from heat. Prepare Avgolemono Sauce* and add to soup gradually.

*Avgolemono Sauce
1-2 cups hot soup broth
2 eggs
Juice from 2 lemons
1 tablespoon cornstarch or quick mixing flour (like Wondra)

Mix the cornstarch/flour with the lemon juice and blend well. Beat the eggs well in a bowl. Add the flour and lemon mixture to the eggs and beat well. Slowly add the broth to the egg mixture, little by little (ladle by ladle), while continuing to beat. Pour and mix the Avgolemono Sauce gently into the hot soup and stir well. Serve immediately.

Note: To make this even easier and faster, omit the vegetables and chicken!

Avgolemono Soupa  Traditional
(Greek Egg/Lemon Chicken Soup)

This is probably the most famous of the Greek soups. Heartwarming, flavorful, chock full of tender rice, and with a distinct lemon tang. It can serve as the beginning of a special dinner or as a wonderful meal all by itself.

Soup Preparation:
1 whole chicken (3-4 pounds)
8 cups water
1 onion, cut into large chunks
2 carrots, peeled and whole
2 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
1 tablespoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon allspice
½ -1 cup white long grain rice

Clean and wash chicken and place in large stockpot (do not use liver). Add water, onion, carrots, celery, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, skimming off foam that rises to top. Lower heat, cover, and simmer gently over a low heat for 1-1½ hours or until chicken is completely tender. Remove cooked chicken from stock. Remove vegetables from stock. Strain stock and return to stockpot. Add rice to stock and simmer covered until tender (about 20 minutes).

Skin and bone cooked chicken meat and cut into bit size pieces (If desired, reserve chicken breast meat for another use). Add the chicken meat to the stock. Adjust seasonings. Remove pot from heat. Prepare Avgolemono Sauce* and add to soup gradually.

*Traditional Avgolemono Sauce
1-2 cups hot soup broth
2 eggs
Juice from 2 lemons

Separate the egg yolks from egg whites. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until almost stiff. In smaller bowl, beat egg yolks with lemon juice. Gently combine the egg whites with the lemon/yolk mixture. Slowly add the broth to the egg mixture, little by little (ladle by ladle), while continuing to beat. Pour and mix the Avgolemono Sauce gently into the hot soup and stir well. The soup should be slightly thick and foamy. Serve immediately, before froth subsides.

This is the one I like that's very similar to the one above:
AVGOLEMONO SOUP (serves 6-8)
2 qts strong, strained chicken stock
1/2 cup rice
4 eggs
Juice of 2 lemons

Bring the stock to a boil & add the rice. Cook until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove the stock from the heat. Just before serving, beat the eggs with a rotary beater until light & frothy. Slowly beat in the lemon juice & dilute the mixture with 2 cups of the hot soup, beating constantly until well mixed.
Add the diluted egg/lemon mixture to the rest of the soup, beating constantly. Bring almost to the boiling point but do not boil or soup will curdle. Serve immediately.~~NY Times Cookbook

This is a good one that was in the January Cooking Light. It was really tasty and simple to make.

Quick Avgolemono, Orzo, and Chicken Soup
Total time: 35 minutes.

6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
4 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup shredded carrot
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

Bring broth and dill to a boil in a large saucepan. Add orzo. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until orzo is slightly tender. Remove from heat.
Place eggs and juice in a blender; process until smooth. Remove 1 cup broth from pan with a ladle, making sure to leave out orzo. With blender on, slowly add broth; process until smooth.

Add carrot, salt, pepper, and chicken to pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook 5 minutes or until chicken and orzo are done. Reduce heat to low. Slowly stir in egg mixture; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly (do not boil).

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 228(25% from fat); FAT 6.3g (sat 1.9g,mono 2.2g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 25.3g; CHOLESTEROL 244mg; CALCIUM 68mg; SODIUM 855mg; FIBER 2.9g; IRON 2.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 16.6g

Holly Rudin Braschi
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2006

Linda

thank you for the recipes. I've copied and pasted them. They look great. I had never had it before, I thought it would be like egg drop soup with bits of egg. Hopefully I can get to it next week!

The one I had was a bit like Linda's in that it had pieces of chicken and some chunks of carrot. No orzo, it had rice.
Carol

Carol, I love Avgolemono soup. We had a number of Greek Restaurants in the neighborhood that we lived in in Vancouver and it was on every menu. I don't really follow a recipe. I cook one or two chicken breasts in chicken broth along with a garlic clove. Remove the chicken and set aside. Then I add some rice to the broth and cook until it is tender. Beat up a couple of egg yolks with lemon juice, add a little of the broth to the egg mixture and then stir it back into the pot. Shred a little of the chicken breast to add to the soup and sometimes another squeeze of fresh lemon. Comfort food.

Ann