I can’t believe how good this soup is, and how ridiculously easy it is to make. If you love to have this soup when you go to your favorite Greek restaurant (or even if you have never tried it), you really must try to make it at home. It is so comforting and soothing; the perfect soup to have on a cold, rainy day, or when you are not feeling well, or just any time at all! It is your basic chicken soup with rice, but with lemon too! So so good. Even my kids like it.

If you have an immersion blender (hand blender), this soup is even easier to make. If you don’t have an immersion blender, shut off your computer now and go get one.

You can make your own chicken stock, or you can use chicken stock that is already prepared. Or you can do a combination, which is what I do.

There are very few ingredients in this soup… chicken stock, chicken, rice, fresh lemon juice, and two egg yolks.

Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice

(Adapted from Grace Parisi’s recipe)

• 4 cups chicken stock plus one cup water
• a few cut up celery stalks (optional)
• a few cut up carrots (optional)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (uncooked)

1. In a large pot, add chicken thighs to the chicken stock and water, along with the celery and carrots, if you are using them. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
2. Let stock and chicken simmer uncovered for about an hour. Then remove the chicken from the stock and allow to cool. Remove the celery and carrots and save them for another use. Let the stock continue to simmer.
3. In a large measuring cup (tall is preferable, 2 cup capacity), use your hand blender to blend together two egg yolks, lemon juice (start out by using less than 1/4 cup if you are worried the soup will be too lemony, but we love it that way), and 1/2 cup of the rice. You can also do this in a blender. While the blender is still going, slowly drizzle in about 1/2 cup of the hot broth and blend well. Stir this mixture into the simmering stock, along with the remaining rice, and let simmer for a few minutes more.
4. While soup is simmering, cut or shred the chicken thighs into bite size pieces and add to the hot soup just before serving. Add salt if desired, and serve with freshly cracked pepper.