Avgolemono Soup with Orzo Recipe (Greek Lemon Soup)
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Jump to Recipe Watch VideoThis Avgolemono Soup with Orzo recipe is a delicious traditional Greek lemon chicken soup made with orzo pasta instead of rice. It’s creamy, lemony, and makes a fantastic lunch or dinner.
This soup comes together in about 20 minutes, and it so simple to make with rotisserie chicken. This is a fantastic soup to make for guests, or meal prep for a week of easy lunches.
Want more tasty soup ideas? Try our Greek meatball soup, potato soup with coconut milk, and fasolatha Greek white bean soup.
The only thing better than coming up with new recipes, is when friends & family share their classic recipes with us! This avgolemono soup with orzo is compliments of our family friend George who’s recipe has been passed down in his family. And with good reason, this soup tastes as amazing as it looks.
This classic Greek lemon chicken soup is made with a whole rotisserie chicken, freshly squeezed lemon, orzo pasta, and a delicious creamy egg broth. This soup will be in our permanent rotation from now on, and got absolutely rave reviews from the hubby.
Why This Recipe Works
- It’s bright, fresh, and herby!
- The lemon gives the soup a citrusy and flavorful broth!
- This soup is quick, and takes less than 30 minutes to make.
- It’s an authentic Greek family recipe.
- Great to meal prep to make ahead.
A Fantastic One Pot Creamy Chicken Soup
One of the greatest things about this creamy avgolemono soup recipe is that it’s made entirely in one pot. I love a good one-pot recipe, which are easy to make and even easier to clean.
One pot meals are awesome for breakfast, lunch, or dinner – check all our one-pot recipes to browse simple meals that are ready in no time!
Some of our favorite one pot soups are our red lentil coconut milk soup, lentil barley soup, and our slow cooker potato leek soup!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Whole roasted rotisserie chicken, meat shredded from bone
- Chicken stock – I used a homemade no-salt-added stock
- Chicken bone broth
- Orzo Pasta – Orzo is one of my favorite pasta shapes! It’s a small rice-like pasta, which is fantastic in soups and pasta salads. Orzo comes from Italy originally, but is popular in many Greek recipes. I used an organic orzo pasta, however you can use a whole wheat variety, or even a gluten free orzo.
- Lemons – I’d recommend fresh squeezed lemon juice for this recipe, instead of a bottled lemon juice.
- Eggs – The eggs give this dish a creamy, velvety broth. The trick is to whisk the hot broth into the eggs first, getting them up to soup-temperature before adding to the pot. If you add cold eggs to the hot soup, you’ll end up with egg drop soup (also delicious, but not what we’re going for here!).
- Dill – dried dill adds an herby pop of flavor to the soup at the end.
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Be sure to visit the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions!
Additions and Variations
- You can add other fresh herbs to this dish like fresh chopped parsley, thyme, or basil!
- Instead of orzo pasta, you can add any small shaped pasta you prefer: small shells, macaroni, ditalini, or stars. Rice is traditional, so you can also add in cooked rice too.
- Add other vegetables in step 2 with the broth: chopped carrots, celery, or garlic would be great additions. Or finish off the dish with fresh spinach.
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Prep the Chicken: Remove the meat from the rotisserie chicken, and shred with a fork or knife. Add the shredded chicken to a large soup pot.
Step 2: Add the onion, chicken stock and the bone broth to the pot, and bring to a boil.
Step 3: Once the stock is boiling, add the orzo pasta. Cook for about 8 minutes or until the orzo is tender.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk well with a hand mixer or with a fork until frothy. Add the juice of two lemons to the egg mixture and continue to mix for another minute.
Step 5: Slowly whisk a ladle of the hot soup stock into the egg mixture. Add a second and third ladle of stock until the egg mixture until well combined.
Step 6: Slowly pour the egg mixture into the soup pot, and stir until the broth is creamy.
Step 7: Add fresh cracked black pepper and dill. Taste, and add additional salt or pepper as needed.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! If you have leftover soup, you can freeze it in an airtight container. When you re-heat the soup the egg broth may seperate slightly, so make sure to stir well before enjoying.
By slowly whisking the hot broth into the lemon/egg mixture, just a little at a time, you can make a creamy broth without curdling the eggs. Make sure you slowly add in the hot soup one ladel at a time, until the egg mixture becomes hot.
Absolutely, this soup is great to batch cook or meal prep a few days in advance. Make sure to refrigerate in an airtight container, and enjoy within 4 days of making.
Expert Tips
- When chopping the chicken, make sure the pieces are roughly the same size. You want the bites of chicken to be consistent throughout the soup.
- For a spicier soup, you can add in some red chili flakes, jalapeno, or cayenne pepper.
- If making this ahead of time, you can cook the pasta separately and add it in right before serving. This can help avoid the pasta from overcooking and becomming mushy.
More Easy Hearty Soup Recipes You’ll Love!
- Vegetarian French Onion Soup Recipe
- Black Bean Soup with Avocado
- Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup Recipe
- Vegetable Soup with Noodles Recipe
- Red Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk
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If you made this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
Avgolemono Soup with Orzo
Equipment
- Soup Pot
Ingredients
- 1 whole roasted rotisserie chicken meat shredded from bone
- 1 sweet onion chopped
- 32 ounces chicken stock I used low sodium
- 32 ounces chicken bone broth
- 1 cup orzo
- 2 lemons
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Prep the Chicken: Remove the meat from the rotisserie chicken, and shred with a fork or knife. Add the shredded chicken to a large soup pot.
- Add the onion, and chicken stock and the bone broth to the pot, and bring to a boil.
- Once the stock is boiling, add the orzo pasta.
- When the orzo is almost finished cooking (about 8 minutes after adding to the pot), start the egg and lemon mixture.
- In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk well with a hand mixer or with a fork until frothy. Add the juice of two lemons to the egg mixture and continue to mix for another minute.
- Slowly whisk a ladle of the hot soup stock into the egg mixture. Add a second and third ladle of stock until the egg mixture until well combined.
- Slowly pour the egg mixture into the soup pot, and stir until the broth is creamy.
- Add fresh cracked black pepper and dill. Taste, and add additional salt or pepper as needed.
Video
Notes
-
- You can add other fresh herbs to this dish like fresh chopped parsley, thyme, or basil!
-
- Instead of orzo pasta, you can add any small shaped pasta you prefer: small shells, macaroni, ditalini, or stars. Rice is traditional, so you can also add in cooked rice too.
-
- Add other vegetables in step 2 with the broth: chopped carrots, celery, or garlic would be great additions. Or finish off the dish with fresh spinach.
- When chopping the chicken, make sure the pieces are roughly the same size. You want the bites of chicken to be consistent throughout the soup.
- For a spicier soup, you can add in some red chili flakes, jalapeno, or cayenne pepper.
- If making this ahead of time, you can cook the pasta separately and add it in right before serving. This can help avoid the pasta from overcooking and becomming mushy.
Nutrition
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Good flavor and fun to prepare
Superb soup. Delicious and comforting – this is excellent chicken soup.
Tasty satisfying delicious