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Chicken, tender rice, savory vegetables, and a lemon-egg base combine in this simple and comforting Greek lemon chicken soup. A filling and delicious high protein lunch or dinner – about 30g of protein per bowl, with easy adjustments to macros to meet your needs.
When I first tried Greek lemon chicken soup at a local restaurant, I fell in love and immediately. Had to create my own take on it.
Recipe Notes
For the base, it’s worthwhile to puree together some of the chicken stock, garlic, and green onion (white part) first. Make sure this part of the liquid goes into your pot first. Cooking for 2 minutes with the veggies before will take the sharpness out of the garlic and onion flavors. These flavors will infuse into the chicken before the rest of the stock is added.
For tender chunks of chicken, it’s important not to let the chicken cook all the way through at first. It will continue slowly cooking in the covered bowl, and completely cook once added back to the pot.
The macros are very easy to adjust depending on your needs. Use more or less rice to adjust the carbs. Or, swap for a bag of steamed riced cauliflower right at the end. Use more or less chicken to change the protein content.
The level of lemon flavor is a personal preference. This recipe adds 1/2 cup of lemon juice, which provides a moderate level of lemon flavor.
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono)
Ingredients
- – 1 lb. chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
- – 2 tsp. olive oil
- – 1 cup cooked white or brown rice
- – 1 cup carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- – 1 cup celery, finely chopped
- – 3 garlic cloves
- – 3 stalks green onion (white part separated from green part)
- – 2 tsp. black pepper
- – ½ cup lemon juice (or more if you want it stronger lemon flavor)
- – 2 eggs
- – 8 + 1 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Instructions
- Heat a large pot on medium heat. Once the pot is warm, spray bottom with ~ 1 tsp olive oil add in chicken, cook for 5-7 minutes, until approximately 90% cooked. Place chicken on a plate and cover with foil, set aside.Keeping the pot on medium heat, spray with another ~1 tsp. olive oil and add celery, carrots, and black pepper. Heat until vegetables are fragrant and slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
- In a blender, combine 1 cup of chicken broth, garlic cloves, 1 tsp olive oil, and white part of green onion. Puree until it is a uniform liquid and then add to the pot. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add remaining 8 cups of chicken stock to the pot. Shred chicken breast into small pieces and add to the pot, including juices from the plate.
- Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to low heat/simmer.
- Add cooked rice to the pot.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together lemon juice and eggs. While whisking, add a few tablespoons of the hot liquid from the pot to the bowl.
- Transfer the lemon-egg mixture to the pot and stir. Remove the pot from heat immediately after.
- Chop the remaining green part of the onion to garnish your bowl.
Notes
- I’ve integrated this recipe as a food in MyFitnessPal. Search “Modus Energy Greek Lemon Chicken Soup”. Nutrition is for the entire recipe, selection a fraction for your serving.
- As a time saver, you could skip cooking the chicken and add use pre-cooked chicken breast meat, for example rotisserie breast meat sold in the Costco deli case. Another time saver to avoid cooking a pot of rice is to use a pack of microwave rice. This basmati rice tastes delicious in this soup.
- To increase protein in the recipe, add more chicken. To adjust carbs, use more rice or for even lower carbs add cauliflower rice instead.
Please let me know if you enjoyed this recipe! If you’re interested in exploring your nutrition to meet your performance and physique goals, reach out anytime.
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