Avgolemono

To prevent the eggs from scrambling in avgolemono, you must temper them by slowly whisking a ladle of hot broth into the beaten eggs and lemon juice. Once the egg mixture is warmed through, you gently whisk it back into the main pot of soup off the direct heat.

Yes, while chicken broth with rice or orzo is the most common variation in Greece, avgolemono is actually a versatile egg-lemon sauce. It can be made with fish or vegetable broth, and the mixture is frequently used to thicken various traditional Greek meat and vegetable stews.

Avgolemono has deep roots in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, likely descending from Sephardic Jewish agristada or older Byzantine dishes. It was historically created as a clever culinary technique to thicken and enrich soups without using dairy or flour.

Short-grain rice, such as Arborio or Carolina gold rice, is the most traditional grain used to bulk up Greek avgolemono soup. If you prefer pasta, small shapes like orzo or pastina work wonderfully and cook quickly directly in the chicken broth.