avgolemono: greek lemon chicken soup
You’re either a composed cook, or a component cook. I like the alchemy of composed cooking, where everything added together transforms into something entirely unlike any ingredient. Avgolemono starts off feeling like hardcore component cooking: you poach the chicken separately from the rest of the soup, mix the thickening agent—eggs (the avgo) and lemon (the lemono)—off the heat, then temper the mix with a small amount of hot broth so it doesn’t become an egg drop situation, with eggy threads instead of the rich creamy yellow broth you see here. It’s this final step that makes it the ultimate composed dish, something alchemical and far greater than the sum of its parts, with just a few simple things prepped well and then made completely unrecognizable through technique alone. It’s VERY Greek. And very, very good.
A couple of notes: while most recipes call for truly starting with components, like pre-cooked chicken, this one can be made start to finish in one pot. If you’d rather use rotisserie chicken, go for it. Opinions are split on whether rice or orzo (the rice of pasta) belong here, but I remember it with orzo, so that’s what I’ve used here. If you’d prefer rice, cook it separately and add along with the shredded chicken.
If you are also someone who makes chicken soup for utility, this is a worthy addition to the soup rotation. But if you are someone who makes Greek food in part to turn on a Rebetiko playlist and feel a glimmer of hope that one day you WILL be taverna-hopping through Psiri and drinking ouzo with mezze on the street, you may find this chicken soup to be the kind of chicken soup you need to soothe that specific slice of your soul.
Recipe
The Greeks’ answer to chicken noodle is avgolemono: orzo, spinach, and tender shredded chicken in a rich broth fortified with tempered eggs, showered in fresh dill, and brightened up with lots of lemon.
Effortful time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
You need
2 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
2 quarts of quality chicken broth, homemade if you have it, but I didn’t and used 1 tbsp of chicken Better than Bouillon in water
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup uncooked orzo
4 large eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice, I needed 1.5 lemons worth
A few handfuls of fresh baby spinach
8 sprigs of fresh dill, chopped
Lemon slices, if you want a fancy garnish
make it
Poach the chicken. In a 4 quart or larger pot or Dutch oven, nestle the chicken along with salt and pepper. Cover with the broth. Poach this by bringing it to a boil, then dropping it to a simmer. Simmer until JUST cooked to 165° on an instant read thermometer, about 15-20 minutes.
Prep your other ingredients. While the chicken is poaching, juice and slice your lemons, and chop your dill.
Skim your broth. Use a slotted spoon to strain any weird stuff out of your broth. Bring back to a boil.
Shred the chicken. When the chicken is ready, remove it to a board and let cool slightly before shredding. You want bite sized pieces. Be super careful of bones, as breasts have them in strange places. Discard the bones and skin and leave the shredded chicken to the side for now.
Start the final soup. When broth is boiling, add the orzo. Drop to a simmer. The soup should not boil again at any point, so keep the temperature in check.
Create your egg mixture. Meanwhile, crack eggs into a cup or bowl (I used my silicone measuring cups, which makes the transfer into the soup really easy). Whisk until pale and foamy, 2 minutes. Slowly add the lemon juice and keep whisking so it doesn’t curdle.
Temper the eggs. Spoon about 2 cups of hot broth into another container. Very slowly add this, bit by bit, to the egg mixture, whisking the entire time you do. This raises the temperature of the eggs so they don’t freak out and scramble. It’s called tempering. It’s fun! Not hard, and definitely not as hard as it sounds.
Finish the soup. Slowly add the avgolemono base to the simmering soup. Stir it well. Toss in the spinach. Simmer for 5 more minutes, but don’t let it boil! At the very end, when the soup is thickened and creamy, stir in your shredded chicken just until heated through.
Serve it up. Spoon into bowls, top with lemon slices, and shower with fresh dill. Add more cracked black pepper for good measure. Turn on a Markos Vamvakaris greatest hits playlist and escape for a little while.