Make This Traditional Greek Chicken Soup For A Cozy Cold-Weather Meal

Cold weather is soup weather, and there's no better time to discover new favorite recipes. Among the many chicken soup recipes you're sure to love, one cozy classic is a traditional Greek dish that's filled with warmth and great taste. Avgolemono –- meaning egg-lemon -– soup is a broth bearing a silky texture from tempered eggs and tart flavor from lemon juice to complement tender chicken and comforting rice. 

Tasting Table recipe developer Ashley Altan's Greek avgolemono soup recipe starts by preparing a stock using a whole chicken, celery, onion, and carrots, seasoned with salt, fresh thyme, and dried oregano. Soak your rice briefly to remove excess starch and let the stock simmer long enough to cook the chicken through. Once your chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender, carefully shred the meat and set it aside. Strain your broth and reserve one cup to use to temper your eggs, using the remainder to cook your rinsed rice.

Add the tempered egg, broth mixture, and chicken back to your main pot, letting everything simmer until the chicken is warm. Then, it's ready to serve on its own or alongside other traditional Greek dishes. Though time-consuming, this process is worthwhile. You can streamline preparation of your soup with a few tips and ingredient swaps for added convenience. 

There are plenty of different types of soup, each with something that makes them unique. Avgolemono is considered a Greek soup, though its historic origins date back to the 15th century and to a sauce called "agristada" from traditional Sephardic Jewish cooking. Using egg yolks in place of milk to thicken a soup was in adherence with kosher dietary restrictions that forbid mixing milk and meat. During the Spanish Inquisition, when Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain, they brought agristada with them to the Mediterranean, where it eventually turned into the famed avgolemono dish now commonly associated with Greek cuisine.

Today, this chicken soup is a beloved dish, ideal for warming up in cold weather. While our recipe calls for white long-grain rice, orzo also works, as does arborio rice. Instead of cooking a whole chicken, try using chicken thighs instead. For an even quicker option, use a store-bought rotisserie chicken with prepared stock.

Serve it alongside pieces of toasted pita bread or slices of a homemade rustic sourdough to complement the lemon-forward flavor notes. Add a side of hearty Greek stuffed grape leaves, or dolmas, to complete your meal. However you wish to make this dish, it's sure to be a cozy new addition to your seasonal soup lineup and beyond.