Avgolemono Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• ½ cup white rice (100g)
• 4 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth (960ml)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (60ml)
• 4 cups shredded chicken (about 1 rotisserie chicken)
• Chopped fresh dill

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender and the edges are starting to brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and rice and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
2. Pour in the chicken broth, and add the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Whisk together the eggs and lemon juice in a medium heat-safe bowl. Slowly whisk in about 1 cup of the hot broth mixture.
5. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the pot while stirring. Stir in the shredded chicken. Increase the heat to medium and remove from heat when soup just starts to bubble, about 5 minutes. Serve hot and topped with dill.

NOTES

• Temper the eggs so they don’t scramble. To temper the eggs in this avgolemono recipe, whisk together room temperature eggs, lemon juice, and hot broth straight out of the cooking pot. Add the broth in slowly and be sure to whisk the entire time to prevent the eggs from cooking. The egg and broth mixture should be approximately the same temperature of the soup in the Dutch oven. You can be certain that the temperatures somewhat match by using a thermometer. Tempering the eggs ensures they won’t scramble when you pour them into the soup pot.
• When in doubt, use a hand mixer. If you are worried about the eggs curdling while you whisk in the broth, grab a trusty handheld mixer. This will make it easier to keep a consistent mixing speed while you also focus on controlling how fast you pour the broth into the bowl.
• If you’re not a big lemon fan, hold the lemon juice until later. People enjoy different levels of tang, so if you think the soup will be too lemony, you could leave out the lemon juice when you’re tempering the eggs. Then add lemon juice to taste after you add the tempered eggs to the large pot. This is a deviation from a traditional avgolemono recipe, but it works, especially if everyone in your household enjoys varying degrees of “lemony-ness”.
• Add more vegetables. If you’re trying to up your veggie intake, this creamy soup is a great way to do so! You can add chopped carrots, celery, and sliced mushrooms (cook these along with the onions), or stir in some baby spinach at the very end.
• Use more fresh herbs. Instead of only using fresh dill, you can also use fresh Italian parsley for a peppery bite.