Food

My dad's classic Greek soup is perfect for a sick day and way better than chicken noodle. Here's how to make it.

Anneta's Dad's Avgolemono Soup
My dad's avgolemono soup is perfect for a cold — or a cold night. Here's how to make it. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
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I grew up with avgolemono soup, a classic Greek dish that traditionally combines chicken and rice with the special avgolemono sauce.

My dad — who also makes a delicious Greek pasta and a baklava you'll never forget — always whips it up for dinner when someone in our family isn't feeling well.

There are many variations of the recipe, but my dad keeps it classic, just like his parents did, and adds only chicken and rice to the dish.

"You don't want to make it very heavy," he told me. "Because if someone's sick, you need something light."

Chicken noodle may be many Americans' favorite soup for a sick day, but my dad thinks avgolemono soup is far superior — and I agree.

While it'll never be as easy as opening a can of Campbell's, my dad's recipe is still super simple. Here's how to make it.

My dad's avgolemono soup needs only a few ingredients, and you probably already have most of them in your kitchen.

Packaged raw chicken, a tub of chicken bouillon cubes, a pot of rice, two eggs, a lemon, and an onion on a table.
Avgolemono soup traditionally features chicken, rice, lemon, and eggs. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

To make my dad's classic avgolemono soup for four, you'll need:

  • 2 chicken half-breasts (with bones)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups chicken broth (or 2 chicken bouillon cubes)
  • 1 lemon
  • ⅔ cup medium-grain white rice
  • ½ onion

Feel free to mix things up with the chicken. You could throw in chicken legs if you prefer, or even the whole bird! And if you'd rather go meat-free, this soup is still plenty comforting when it's vegetarian-friendly.

My dad's family recipe always kept things simple, but he says the soup also works with some carrots and celery added in as well. The star of the show, though, is always the avgolemono.

Our first step is some very minimal prep, which is just chopping up the onion …

Chopped white onion.
First, chop your onion. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Just roughly chop half an onion — you still want chunky pieces.

… and seasoning the chicken.

Seasoned chicken in a clear oven dish.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

My dad recommends sprinkling salt and pepper on both sides of your chicken pieces.

Then, add a tablespoon of olive oil to your pressure cooker or pot and let it warm up.

A person's hand adding olive oil to a pressure cooker.
Add some olive oil to your pot. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

My dad now makes avgolemono soup in his pressure cooker, which allows him to finish the dish in about 20 minutes.

But if you don't have one at home, you can always use this recipe with a regular pot over the stove (which should take about 30 to 35 minutes instead).

Once the olive oil is hot, add the onions and then the chicken.

Onions browning in a pressure cooker.
Let the onions brown a little, then add the chicken. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Cook the onions over medium heat. (If you're using a pressure cooker, turn it to the browning setting.)

Before the onions have fully browned, toss in the chicken pieces and let them brown for about one to two minutes on each side.

Then, add water and either the chicken broth or chicken bouillon cubes.

Chicken broth being added to a pressure cooker.
My dad has used both chicken broth and chicken bouillon cubes for his avgolemono soup. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

If you're using chicken bouillon cubes, my dad recommends adding 5 cups of water and two cubes to your pressure cooker or pot. If you're opting for chicken broth, add 3 cups of water and 2 cups of chicken broth.

Then, add salt to taste, but remember that some bouillon cubes and chicken broth can already be quite salty.

Now, throw in your rice.

Chicken and rice in broth in a pressure cooker.
Your broth will be ready in about 11 minutes if you're using a pressure cooker. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Cover the pot and let your chicken and rice cook.

If you're using a pressure cooker, this should take about 11 minutes on the high-pressure setting, but the time will vary depending on your model.

While your soup is cooking, it's time to prepare the avgolemono.

Hands separating an egg that has been cracked in half.
To make the avgolemono sauce, first separate your eggs. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

First, break your eggs gently, separating the whites from the yolks over a small saucepan.

Carefully set your yolks aside.

Two egg yolks in half-shells.
Don't throw away the yolks! Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

You'll need those in just a second.

With a whisk or fork, beat the egg whites in the saucepan until they're fluffy.

Egg whites being beaten in a saucepan.
You can use a whisk or fork to beat your egg whites. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

You're already almost done with your sauce!

Then, add the egg yolks to the mixture and whisk everything together.

Making the Avgolemono for Anneta's Dad's Avgolemono Soup
Then, throw in your yolks and mix everything together. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

"You can mix the egg whites and yolk together, but mixing the whites first makes the avgolemono fluffier," my dad told me.

Juice one lemon and add it to your beaten eggs.

Lemon juice in a juicer and a saucepan of whisked eggs.
Add the juice of one lemon to your sauce. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Whisk everything together, and voila! You've just made your very own avgolemono sauce.

Once your chicken and rice have cooked, remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside.

A yellow soup in a pressure cooker.
Remove the chicken from your broth before adding the avgolemono sauce. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Let your soup cool for a few minutes, which will help when mixing the avgolemono into the broth.

Scoop some of the hot broth with a ladle and slowly pour it into the avgolemono, continuously mixing them with a whisk or fork.

Soup being ladled into a saucepan of sauce.
Tempering the avgolemono sauce with the broth keeps the eggs from curdling. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Because the avgolemono is cold and the soup is hot, you can't just dump the whole sauce into the broth. The eggs in the avgolemono would cook with the heat and curdle, ruining the soup.

This tempering technique helps combine everything, creating a silky and creamy soup.

Repeat the tempering step three to four times.

A hand whisking a creamy soup.
Your avgolemono sauce should be hot enough after using the tempering technique a few times. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

By this point, the avgolemono sauce should be hot enough.

Then, take your avgolemono-broth mixture and pour it back into the big pot.

A creamy soup mixture being poured into a pressure cooker, which has a rice and broth mixture in it.
Then, pour the sauce into the pot of broth. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

You're almost ready to serve!

Add your chicken meat to serving bowls along with the broth, season with some pepper, and enjoy!

A creamy soup with chicken and rice in a bowl.
Avgolemono soup is comforting but still light. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

What I love about avgolemono soup is that it's both rich and light. The broth has the comforting thickness of, say, a chicken tortilla soup, but the lemon gives it that lightness you'd find in a classic bowl of chicken noodle soup.

It's such a simple recipe, but still so satisfying. I think the best word to describe the taste would be gentle — perfect for an upset stomach, a sore throat, or just a soul that needs to be soothed.

My dad's avgolemono soup has gotten me through many colds and many cold nights. I hope his recipe can soothe you, too.

A man wearing an apron and holding a bowl of his avgolemono soup.
My dad's avgolemono soup is perfect for a sick day. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Whenever I was sick as a kid, avgolemono soup ended up on the dinner table. I actually had a sore throat when my dad taught me how to make this recipe over the holidays, and smelling that lemony broth again immediately made me feel better. This recipe isn't just a reminder of home; it's medicine.

So, as we get through the January blues and chilly temperatures, I hope my dad's easy avgolemono soup will help you feel a little better.

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Anneta Konstantinides
Anneta Konstantinides is a lifestyle correspondent at Business Insider, with a focus on food and travel. She loves taking readers inside Michelin-starred kitchens and exploring the world of fine-dining, and she's always trying to find the best Ina Garten and Gordon Ramsay recipes. Her second home is LAX, where she's often catching a flight and reviewing airlines.Anneta has also been reporting on the pageant industry for the last six years and has interviewed every Miss USA and Miss Universe winner since 2019. She was a finalist at the LA Press Club Awards for her investigation into the  2022 Miss USA scandal and was featured in The New York Times Presents episode "How to Fix a Pageant" on Hulu in September 2023. After graduating from UCLA with a B.A in English Literature and a minor in film & television, Anneta worked as a journalist in London, Sydney, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. You can reach Anneta at akonstantinides@bjinnox.com.