Egg and Lemon Soup (Avgolemono) with homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the Soup

1. 4
   Bring the stock, carrot and onion to a boil in a pot.

   StovePot
2. 5
   Add the rice. Turn down the heat and simmer 15 minutes, until the rice is tender.

   Stove
3. 6
   Remove the carrot and onion from the pot.
4. 7
   In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs 2 minutes, to a pale foam, and add the lemon juice while whisking.

   BowlWhisk
5. 8
   Pour the hot soup gradually, one ladleful at a time, into the mixture of eggs, whisking constantly.

   Whisk

   💡The hot liquid goes into the eggs slowly while whisking, and only about a third of it in the first batch: that way they warm gradually and don't turn into scrambled eggs.
6. 9
   Pour the egg mixture back into the pot in a thin stream, stirring.

   Stove
7. 10
   Heat over low heat 2 minutes, stirring, until the soup turns pale and thickens slightly. Don't bring to a boil.

   Stove

   💡Once the eggs are in, the soup doesn't boil: boiling sets them into pieces, and instead of a velvety soup you get strands of egg.
8. 11
   Season with salt and black pepper.
9. 12
   Serve immediately, with the dill on top.

   Ladle