Leftover veggies and chicken in your fridge? Try Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup for a healthy and satisfying dinner. When combined with a piece of bread and some fresh fruit, you’ve got an easy meal!
This recipe is a version of avgolemono, which in Greek means a soup or sauce made with chicken stock, egg yolks, and lemon juice. There are many different versions of this recipe online, but this soup must start with the three main ingredients, and rice and chunks of chicken are usually added.
The recipe I used made sixteen servings, so I cut it down to four servings for the empty nest using the built-in calculator on the allrecipes web site. Then I doubled the amount of veggies called for in the original recipe amount. By blending the vegetables and stock into a thick base before adding the meat and rice, you get a hearty soup chock full of veggies without sacrificing the original flavor concept of the soup.
The soup smelled divine while simmering away and I could barely wait for Music Man to get home so that I could serve it. We ate the soup so quickly, I forgot to add the lemon garnish in the photo, but that’s the sign of a great recipe — you can’t wait for the garnish!
Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Number of servings: 4
Per Serving 286 calories
Fat 11 g
Carbs 29 g
Protein 19 g
By adding lots of veggies to a traditional Greek lemon chicken soup recipe, the result is a satisfying thick soup with full servings of vegetables.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons juice of fresh lemon
- 4 slices lemon
- 4 whole carrots
- 1 onion
- 4 ribs celery
- 1 heaping tablespoon chicken soup base
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken meat
- 2 egg yolks
Instructions
- Clean the vegetables and cut off tops of carrots. Pull off celery strings if they bother you as they may not chop up well. Cut veggies into pieces.
- Soften a whole lemon by rolling it on the counter; cut in half and express juice. Strain to catch seeds; a whole lemon will make about two tablespoons of juice. Save the lemon for garnish.
- Chop the vegetables by hand or in the food processor.
- In a large pot, combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, carrots, onions, celery, soup base, and white pepper. Bring to a boil on high and then simmer for about 20 minutes until veggies are tender.
- Cut the chicken breast into cubes; sauté the chicken until cooked through. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, cook the rice according to package directions. Set aside.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the vegetable and broth soup mixture so that the vegetables are chopped into small pieces.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop. Blend the butter and the flour together. Gradually add the mixture to the soup. Simmer for 10 minutes more, stirring frequently.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until light in color. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return the egg mixture to the soup pot; add the rice and chicken and heat through.
- Ladle hot soup into bowls and garnish with lemon slices.
Notes
I’m linked up today with the fabulous bloggers at Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm. Be sure to stop by and say, “Hello!”
Got my bags, got my reservations,
Spent each dime I could afford.
Like a child in wild anticipation,
I long to hear that, “All aboard!”
Music and lyrics by Bud Green, Les Brown and Ben Homer (1944)
This looks delicious! I’ve never used egg yolks in soup, but I see how it could add color and protein. Your soup is just what we need during these cold days!!! 🙂
Blessings,
Kim
Thanks for visiting, Kim. I have only one more serving left in the freezer — Music Man and I may end up fighting over it!
Grinding up those veggies is a great way to sneak them in for people who turn their nose up at them! My husband LOVES vegetables…would eat ONLY vegetables if I’d let him! I, on the other hand, like balanced meals like this one that offer several food groups all in one. Glad you guys enjoyed it!!!
Alycia, I just cleaned my upstairs fridge and “found” some good stuff, including a lot of frozen veggies. Do you use frozen or raw veggies when cooking for Ramon? I hardly ever use them and now somehow the freezer has many bags of small amounts. I need to come up with something wonderful!