Greek Lemon Rice Soup

Published: Jul 16, 2021 · Modified: Oct 1, 2025 by Sarah Baumeister · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Greek Lemon Rice Soup or Kotosoupa Avgolemono is a traditional greek soup with a base of chicken broth and rice, that is made creamy from egg yolks and then brightened with lemon juice and fresh herbs. It is naturally both dairy and gluten-free!

Greek lemon rice soup with lemon and dill garnish.

Greek lemon rice soup is one of my favorite soups of all time. If it is ever on the menu, especially at a diner, you better believe I am ordering it. I like it with an extra side of lemons, because I can never have enough.

Avgolemono on its own is actually an egg lemon sauce! Avgolemono (pronounced Ah-vo-lem-on-o, the "g" is very faint, almost silent), is a silky, light sauce made from eggs, broth, and lemons. It can be served with lots of things, including rotisserie chicken and fish.

In this traditional soup, small pieces of chicken and rice are added, turning it into kotosoupa avgolemono!

Ingredients

Chicken stock: I love a rich stock for this, like my slow cooker bone broth. Any quality chicken stock will work.
Lemon Juice: Fresh squeezed lemon juice from about 2 lemons.
Egg yolks: Some recipes call for a whole egg, whites included. When you add the whites, the soup will be more frothy. This is a preference thing, and some people prefer it, or grew up with it that way. Try it both ways and see what you think!
White rice: I like to use dry rice and allow it to soak up the chicken broth as it cooks. You can use already cooked rice as well, you just will likely need to cut the amount of broth you use.
Chicken: You can use rotisserie chicken or about 1 large chicken breast.
Fresh dill: This is optional, as a garnish, but it tastes delicious.

Instructions for soup

seasonings for greek lemon rice soup in pot.

Step 1. In a 6-qt pot, add olive oil and place over medium heat. Add diced onion and celery and saute until translucent.

ingredients for greek lemonn rice soup in pot with broth.

Step 2. Add chicken stock and bring it up to a simmer.

pot of greek lemon rice soup with chicken added.

Step 3. Once simmering, add dry rice and shredded or diced chicken. Cook for 15 minutes, or until rice is cooked through and soup starts to thicken. Turn off heat.

eggs in mixing bowl with chickenn stock.

Step 4. To a separate bowl, add egg yolks and lemon juice. Whisk to combine.

Greek lemon rice soup ingredients in mixing bowl.

Step 5. Carefully and slowly add hot broth, stirring as you add it.

pot of Greek lemon rice soup with a spoon.

Step 6. Pour this mixture very slowly into the hot soup, stirring as you go.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Tempering the Egg Yolks

This is the one part of the recipe that may seem intimidating, but trust me-- it's not as scary as it sounds! Tempering an egg simply means bringing it up to a temperature more slowly than simply tossing it in the super hot broth. In doing this, you keep the creaminess, and you don't end up with a poached egg!

To temper the egg yolks, add some of the warm broth to the egg/lemon mixture in a separate bowl. After the stock has been added, add this egg mixture back into the full pot of soup.

Be sure that you don't let the soup boil once the tempered eggs have been added, or they will curdle.

How to Thicken Greek Lemon Rice Soup

If you would like a thicker soup, you have a few options.

Allow it to sit for a bit. The rice will soak up more liquid the longer and get thicker in the process.
Use an immersion blender and pulse it a few times to blend some of the rice and thicken the soup.
Add a cornstarch slurry.

More classic soup recipes

If you are a soup lover like me, I have plenty of other cozy soup recipes to share.

Did you enjoy this Greek Lemon Rice Soup Recipe? I would love for you to let me know by leaving a comment and star rating. I can't wait to hear from you!

More cozy soups and stews

Comments