Avgolemono Soup–a creamy dreamy chicken, rice and lemon soup made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Avgolemono Soup
This soup is SO good! I wasn’t expecting it to be so amazing with just the few ingredients went into it and no dairy but it was fantastic. The word “avgolemono” comes from Greek, where “avgo” means “egg” and “lemono” means “lemon.” Together, it translates to “egg-lemon,” reflecting the soup’s key ingredients: eggs and lemon juice, which give it its signature creamy texture and tangy flavor. The addition of arborio rice (risotto rice) brought the soup to a new level!
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Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Olive oil–or vegetable, canola
- Onion
- Carrot
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- Arborio rice*–I bought mine in the bulk section at Winco.
- Lemon juice–about one lemon
- Eggs
- Black pepper
- Dried dill
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and carrots and saute for 4 minutes.
Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
Add in the chicken and rice.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes on LOW pressure. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
In a small bowl whisk together the eggs and lemon juice. Add a ladle of the soup into the egg mixture and stir. Pour the egg mixture into the soup. You will notice the soup starts to thicken immediately.
Stir in the pepper and dill.
Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with a greek salad and pita bread or crusty bread.
- Arborio rice* is a short-grain, high-starch rice known for its creamy texture, commonly used in risotto and other dishes requiring a rich consistency. I found it in the bulk section at Winco. I don’t recommend using another type of rice in this soup. It makes the consistency so creamy and delicious.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with lemon juice are Chicken Tortellini Soup and Lemon Herbed Chicken.
- This recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free.
- How to get tender chicken? Make sure to cut the chicken across the grain so that the chicken can be as tender as possible. Slice across the grain. Then cut each of those wider strips crosswise into bite size cubes. All muscle has a grain to it. The placement of your knife to this grain will determine the length of the muscle fibers in an individual slice of meat, which in turn will have a profound effect on how tender or tough that meat is.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Avgolemono Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A creamy dreamy chicken, rice and lemon soup made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and large diced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup arborio rice
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 eggs
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 tsp dried dill
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and carrots and saute for 4 minutes.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add in the chicken and rice.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes on LOW pressure. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- In a small bowl whisk together the eggs and lemon juice. Add a ladle of the soup into the egg mixture and stir. Pour the egg mixture into the soup. You will notice the soup starts to thicken immediately.
- Stir in the pepper and dill.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and carrots and saute for 4 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add in the broth, chicken and rice.
- Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours, or until rice is tender.
- In a small bowl whisk together the eggs and lemon juice. Add a ladle of the soup into the egg mixture and stir. Pour the egg mixture into the soup. You will notice the soup starts to thicken immediately.
- Stir in the pepper and dill.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
More soups with chicken and rice…
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
A broth based soup with chicken, celery, carrots and brown rice. This soup reminds me of chicken noodle soup except it has rice instead of noodles.
Instant Pot Panera Bread Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Creamy chicken and rice soup that tastes better than Panera Bread! Make this soup in your Instant Pot at home for a fraction of what you’d spend at a restaurant! Plus you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make!
Instant Pot Cock-A-Leekie Soup
A fast and easy version of the Scottish chicken, leek and rice soup. You can make this in your electric pressure cooker or your slow cooker.
Shrek Soup
Green chile, rice and chicken soup. It’s a swamp colored soup that actually tastes awesome! Make it in the Instant Pot or Crockpot.
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
My husband and I enjoyed this tasty soup! I made it as directed and think next time, I will add more lemon. Maybe even another egg. Altogether, this is a wonderful and quick meal. I served bread rolls with the soup to soak up all the yummy stock@
Thanks Dianne!
Meant to rate 5 stars in the review below. Here you go!
thanks so much!
This was so, so good and honestly just like from the Greek restaurant (or better). I added just a little extra lemon to suit our tastes as lemon lovers. Thank you for this recipe. All yums in the tums!!
This was delicious & easy! I made two simple changes: I browned the chicken in the instant pot with the veg & some Tzatziki herbs to pump up the flavor a little & I wilted some super greens in the cooked soup to boost the vegetable content. I know that’s not traditional in Avgolemono. Each bowl was garnished with fresh dill. It was a hit & will be added to the rotation.
Thanks!
yummmm your version sounds amazing!
I made this exactly according to the recipe. Maybe it’s our family, but we found it too mild. It had excellent texture and was easy to make. But we had to add some salt (there’s none in the recipe) since we use low-sodium broth. We also ended up adding extra lemon juice and dill. We even added fresh cilantro. But for us, it still needs something to wake it up, I just wish I knew what it was!
maybe lemon zest?
Thanks so much for your great, prompt reply. I appreciate it immensely!! Helen
I am Greek and really miss this soup. Using my instant pot, can I make this WITHOUT chicken or meat? If so, do I need to change anything in your cooking instructions? Thank you for your time!
you can just leave out the chicken and use the same cooking time…should be great.
I’ve not tried the crockpot version, but very excited to! My mother-in-law made it at least once a month, served it with mashed potatoes. She called it Greek Chicken Lemon Soup. Thank you for this recipe!
You’re so welcome! I hope you like it!
I have always used this recipe wiwthout the veggies and chicken as a sauce for my grape leaves. Delicious! Will try this soupl Looks so good!
yum!!