Description
Avgolemono Soup; the brighter, silky Greek cousin to chicken noodle soup. Made of creamy eggs, zesty lemon, shredded chicken, orzo, fresh dill & pepper.
Ingredients
Units
SOUP
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 8 cups cold water
- 1 large onion (-unpeeled & quartered)
- 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 3/4 cup dry orzo
- 4 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
SERVING
- 1 whole lemon (-thinly sliced)
- fresh ground black pepper (-to taste)
- freshly chopped dill (-to taste)
Instructions
- Place the chicken, water, quartered onion, peppercorns, and salt in a 5-quart or larger Dutch oven. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If any white foam forms, use a slotted spoon to skim off and discard.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large heatproof bowl and discard the solids. Skim off fat rendered from the chicken thighs with a spoon . Reserve 2 cups of the stock in a measuring cup. Return the remaining stock to the Dutch oven and place over low heat to keep warm.
- When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bone and shred into bite-sized pieces with your hands; set aside. Discard the skin and bones.
- Bring the stock to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the orzo and cook until al dente, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in the reserved shredded chicken. Reduce the heat to low.
- Place the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk until lightened in color and frothy, about 2 minutes. Continue to whisk while gradually adding the lemon juice. While constantly whisking, temper in the eggs by slowly drizzling the reserved 2 cups of warm stock into the egg-lemon mixture. This warms the eggs just enough so that they do not curdle when added to the hot soup.
- Add the avgolemono mix back into the pot with the chicken and orzo and stir to combine. Cook until the soup thickens slightly, 3 to 5 minutes, but do not let it come to a boil.
- Pour the soup into serving bowls and serve with lemon slices, fresh chopped dill, and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
This recipe has been slightly adapted from the brilliant The Kitchn's recipe for How To Make Greek Egg and Lemon Soup (Avgolemono).