chicken and rice soup with lemon
I love soup season! Lentil soup, creamy soup, clear soup, I love all of it. On particularly chilly nights my kids and I crave Vietnamese noodle soup (pho) and will place an order for pick up. That’s one soup that I have tried to recreate at home but have failed miserably! I would love a lesson if anyone has any good tips and tricks.
One soup that is a household staple of Greek homes is avgolemono soup (which literally means egg and lemon soup). My grandmother made the creamiest, most flavorful avgolemono soup and I have no idea how she did it. A few years ago, when I subscribed to Martha Stewart’s “Everyday Food” magazine, I came across a Chicken and Rice Soup with Lemon recipe. It’s easy, doesn’t have many ingredients and is just a ‘feel good’ kind of recipe. And, somehow it tastes very similar to Yiayia’s avgolemono!
Ingredients:
7 cups low sodium chicken stock (I really love the organic Kirkland’s brand from Costco)
3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast (or tenderloins)
1 cup long grain white rice
3 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
salt and pepper
fresh or dried dill, for serving
In a medium saucepan or dutch oven combine stock and chicken. Bring stock to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat so the liquid is moving but not simmering. Cook about 15 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through). Transfer chicken to a plate and let rest until cool enough to shred.
Bring stock to a rapid simmer; add rice and cook just until tender (16-18 minutes). Return the chicken to the pot. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Whisk in lemon juice. Whisking constantly, slowly pour one cup of hot stock into the egg mixture. Immediately whisk the eggs into the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately garnished with pepper and dill.
