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This is another classic Greek dish which has been handed down from generation to generation. It is made with fresh and healthy ingredients, and it is the perfect meal to serve on a cold winter’s night. There are different variations of Avgolemono soup, but in this video Irene shows us how to prepare it with rice and chicken.
To prepare the base:
4 quarter chicken legs
2 medium potatoes cut into quarter pieces
1 cup chopped carrots
2 medium onions
2-4 stalks of celery
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of vegetable seasoning (Irene uses Vegeta)
1 cup of rice
To prepare the Avgolemono
2 eggs, separated
The juice of 2 lemons
Boil the chicken in a large pot filled with water. After about 10 minutes of boiling the chicken, remove any film that develops at the water surface. Add the coarsely chopped vegetables, olive oil, salt, and seasoning to the soup. Allow to boil for another 20 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside. Add 1 cup of rice to the soup (be sure to wash the rice thoroughly before you add it). Add 1 cup of warm water and allow the rice to cook for 20 minutes.
Tear the chicken into small pieces and remove the bones. Add the meat to the soup and stir well. After about 2 minutes turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs whites until fluffy. Add the yolks and continue to whisk the eggs. Add the juice of 2 lemons and mix well. To add the avgolemono to the soup, first add a small portion of the soup into the egg mixture and then slowly add the entire mixture to the soup.
Garnish with fresh pepper and lemon.
Enjoy!
A beautiful recipe for a cold December evening!
My family loves homemade soup as do I. This one is perfect. It looks so delicious.
There is a fab place here in LA that makes this very dish. We’ve wondered how to whip it up. Now we can wonder no more!
THANK YOU soo much for this recipe! Wow, I love this soup so much and now I’ll get to try it at home — no more ordering from the Greek diners :).
Do you ever substitute orzo for the rice?
I’m so glad everyone likes the video!
I prefer to make this soup with rice but you can certainly subsitute orzo for the rice.
What did you do with the carrot and celery and onion? It looks like you removed them with the chicken. Is this what I should do. Thank you. ctjones@eee.org
Hi Carolyn,
Leave the vegetables in the soup while you cook the rice. Just remove the chicken. Let me know if you have any other questions.
A beautiful recipe for a cold December evening!
I’m so worried about the direction our children are heading in nowadays. Watching Jamie Olivers food revolution tv show scared the thingies out of me. I suggest we all start cooking some healthy recipe like these at home if we’re going to fix this horrible situation. The ones on that site seem pretty easy, I tried last night and it’s the first time my family has eaten well in ages, I just feel great.