Greek Chicken Soup (KOTOSOUPA AVGOLEMONO)

Kastra Recipes Staff

Traditional greek chicken soup with Avgolemono sauce

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

assembling the soup 30

Total Time 1 45

Course Soup

Cuisine Greek

Servings 5 people

Calories 100 kcal

To prepare this traditional Greek lemon chicken soup, place your chicken in a deep pot. Push the chicken with your hands down to the bottom of the pot, add the whole onion, the carrot, celery, peppercorns and pour in the water. The water should be enough to cover the chicken. Place on high heat, put the lid on and bring to a boil.
When the chicken starts to boil, turn the heat down and boil the chicken for about 1 hour. The chicken is ready when the meat can be removed easily from the bones. While the chicken boils, some white foam will probably surface on the water. Remove the foam with a slotted spoon.

Remove the chicken from the broth, place on a platter or bowl. Strain the broth through a sieve into another pot. You should have about 2 liters of broth left. If it has reduced a lot, add some water. Add to the pot the orzo, onion, carrot, celery and season with salt and pepper. Place on heat and bring to a boil until cooked.
While the soup is being cooked, prepare your chicken. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and discard the skin. Shred the meat into bite sized chunks.

You’ll need about 4 - 5 cups of the chicken broth, depending on how thick or runny you like your avgolemono.
Start off by separating the egg whites from the egg yolks. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and gradually add the lemon juice while whisking until combined. In another bowl add the egg whites and whisk using a hand mixer until the egg whites are foamy and thick. While whisking slowly add the yolk mixture in the egg whites. Continue whisking for 1-2 minutes and gradually add some of the warm broth, a litte bit at a time. Make sure you add the warm broth slowly or the egg whites will curdle! When done, pour the mixture back into the pot, stir well and leave for 5-10 minutes.

To assemble and serve your chicken soup, ladle the soup into your bowls, top with the diced chicken and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

Don't add the hot soup to the eggs too quickly or they may curdle. Start with small drops and then continue threadlike.
Use an instant-read thermometer to ensure the creamiest avgolemono possible, and wait until the soup reaches 80°C/175°F before adding it to the eggs. The tempered eggs retain their ability to thicken and cream without becoming less creamy at this temperature. After combining the soup with the egg and lemon, put the pot back on the burner and cover it for a few minutes to warm it through. You'll get the creamiest soup ever this way.

Keyword greek chicken soup