Greek lemon chicken soup, called avgolemono, is the soup I reach for when comfort is the goal and dinner still needs to count. Chicken breast simmers in broth with rice, carrots, and celery, then eggs whisked with lemon juice get stirred in at the end. The eggs thicken the broth into something silky and rich with no cream anywhere in the pot.
Each bowl gives you 51 grams of protein and about 419 calories per serving, calculated from the actual ingredients. That’s a real dinner, not a starter, and it comes from one pot in about 35 minutes.
Soup is where a lot of people lose track of their numbers, because a bowl feels light even when it isn’t, or feels filling when there’s barely any protein in it. If you want to see how this one fits your day, run it through my macro calculator and compare the protein to what you usually get at dinner.
- 51 g protein per bowl from 6 oz of chicken breast plus the eggs, for about 419 calories.
- One pot, 35 minutes, and the chicken poaches right in the broth so it stays tender.
- Temper the eggs. Whisk hot broth into the egg and lemon mixture a ladle at a time before it goes back in the pot, and never let the soup boil afterward.
- Keeps 4 days in the fridge. Reheat low and slow. Do not freeze; the egg base breaks when it thaws.
- Honest caveat: the rice keeps soaking up broth overnight, so leftovers turn thick. Thin them with a splash of broth or water when you reheat.
Why This Recipe Works
Most chicken soup is a protein disappointment. A typical bowl has a few shreds of chicken floating in a lot of broth and noodles, and it lands somewhere around 10 to 15 grams.
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That’s not enough to do much for your muscle after 35, when your body needs a bigger dose per meal than it did at 25. This recipe uses a full 1.5 lb of chicken breast across four bowls, plus three eggs, so you’re comfortably past 30 grams.
Avgolemono is also a good example of what the Mediterranean pattern actually looks like day to day. It isn’t a rule book. It’s lemon, olive oil, herbs, eggs, and simple protein, made into something people have eaten for generations in a part of the world with some of the best heart health records we have. The pattern is about the whole way of eating, not any one ingredient.
And a warm, brothy meal fills you up on fewer calories than almost anything else. Volume matters. A big bowl of this soup takes 15 minutes to eat, which gives your body time to register that you’re full, and that’s worth more than any trick I could give you.
A Few Notes on the Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breast. Poaching whole breasts in the simmering broth keeps them moist, then you shred them with two forks. Don’t boil hard. A gentle simmer gets them to 165°F in 15 to 18 minutes without turning them stringy. Chicken thighs work too and are more forgiving if you tend to overcook.
Long grain white rice. Traditional avgolemono uses white rice or orzo, and white rice cooks in the time the chicken poaches, which is why I use it here. Brown rice takes 40 minutes and throws off the timing. If you want the extra fiber, cook brown rice separately and add it at the end.
Large eggs and lemon juice. This is the whole point of the soup. Three eggs whisked with a third cup of fresh lemon juice thicken 8 cups of broth into something that looks like it has cream in it. Bottled lemon juice tastes flat here, so squeeze fresh. You’ll need about 2 large lemons.
Low sodium chicken broth. Eight cups of regular broth would push the sodium way up, so buy low sodium and season at the end. Fresh dill finishes it. If you like this lemon and dill flavor, my Greek Turkey Meatballs with Lemon Yogurt Sauce hit the same notes in a completely different meal.
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono)
Ingredients
Method
- Dice the onion, carrots, and celery small, and mince the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the broth and bring it to a boil. Add the whole chicken breasts and the rice, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, until the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest part and the rice is tender.
- Move the chicken to a cutting board. Shred it with two forks and set it aside. Turn the heat under the pot off.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the lemon juice and lemon zest until frothy, about 1 minute.
- Temper the eggs: ladle about 2 cups of the hot broth into the egg mixture, one ladle at a time, whisking constantly the whole time. This warms the eggs slowly so they do not scramble.
- Slowly pour the warmed egg mixture back into the pot while stirring. The soup will turn pale yellow and silky. Stir in the shredded chicken, salt, and pepper.
- Set the pot over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to warm everything through, stirring, and do not let it boil. Chop the dill, stir most of it in, and ladle into 4 bowls. Top with the remaining dill and extra pepper.
Nutrition
Notes
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- Lower carb: Use 0.5 cup rice instead of 0.75 and add 2 cups of riced cauliflower in the last 5 minutes of simmering.
- More protein: Go to 2 lb of chicken or add a fourth egg to the lemon mixture. Both blend right in without changing the method.
- Orzo instead of rice: Swap in 0.75 cup orzo and cut the simmer time to 9 minutes. This is how many Greek families make it.
- Add greens: Stir in 3 cups of baby spinach or chopped kale with the shredded chicken before the eggs go in.
- Use a rotisserie chicken: Skip the poaching, simmer the vegetables and rice for 15 minutes, then stir in 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken to warm through.
Storage, Leftovers, and Serving
Leftovers keep 4 days in the fridge. The rice will keep drinking broth, so the soup gets thick and almost stew-like by day two. That’s normal. Add 0.25 to 0.5 cup of broth or water per bowl when you reheat it.
Reheat gently on the stove over medium-low heat or in the microwave at 50 percent power, stirring every minute. If you boil it, the egg base can separate and turn grainy. I don’t recommend freezing avgolemono for the same reason. If you want a freezer batch, freeze the soup before adding the egg and lemon, then finish that step when you reheat.
Serve with cracked black pepper, extra dill, and a piece of crusty bread or a simple cucumber and olive salad. You’ll find the rest of my one-pot Mediterranean meals in the Mediterranean diet recipes collection.
Meal Prep Tools I Use
Good containers and a couple of sheet pans make it easy to cook once and eat well all week. A food scale keeps portions honest, and an air fryer reheats leftovers without drying them out. Here is what I recommend. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Want the full list? See all 11 in my Healthy Meal Prep Kitchen collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Did My Avgolemono Soup Curdle?
The eggs hit the hot broth too fast or the soup boiled after they went in. Whisk the eggs and lemon juice until frothy, then add hot broth one ladle at a time while whisking constantly, until you have added about 2 cups. Only then stir the warmed mixture back into the pot with the heat turned off.
Can I Make Greek Lemon Chicken Soup With Orzo Instead of Rice?
Yes, and it is very traditional. Use 0.75 cup of orzo in place of the rice and simmer for about 9 minutes instead of 15, since orzo cooks faster. Keep the chicken in for the full poaching time either way. Orzo absorbs even more broth overnight than rice does, so plan on thinning the leftovers.
Is Avgolemono Soup Healthy and High in Protein?
This version is. Each bowl has 51 grams of protein from the chicken and eggs, about 419 calories, and 14 grams of fat with no cream or butter. The lemon and dill supply the flavor instead of extra salt, and using low sodium broth keeps sodium near 701 mg per serving. It is a filling dinner on its own, not a starter.
Your This-Week Plan
Here’s the experiment for this week. Make a pot of this on Sunday and eat it for two dinners or lunches during the week, and on those days, skip the afternoon snack you usually reach for and see whether you even miss it.
A high-protein soup with real volume tends to carry people further than they expect. If that holds true for you, you’ve found a weekly anchor meal, and anchor meals are how busy people stay consistent.
This article is for general education and isn’t medical or nutrition advice. Nutrition values are calculated from the listed ingredients and will vary with brands and substitutions. If you have a health condition, food allergy, or take medication, please check with your doctor or a registered dietitian before changing how you eat.
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