So traditionally, lemon chicken soup is a Greek soup made with a lemony dill broth that is thickened with egg yolks… and chunks of chicken and Arborio rice throughout. Mine is pretty close to traditional with a few twists and tweaks. I think it’s so simply delicious so why mess with something that’s already perfect?
I’ve decided this is my new soup for when I’m feeling under the weather. The tart lemon and salty broth is the perfect thing for a sore throat. It’s also a light no guilt soup that you could enjoy any time of the week.
Tips for making this recipe easier for you!
Tip #1: This is a very large recipe of soup. You can freeze it for 3 months or store in the fridge for up to a week. Be aware that this soup will separate once stored. If you do freeze it, you can thaw it out by adding it to a pot over low heat for 15-20 minutes. If you do not want the soup to separate, store without adding the eggs and rice. De-thaw when ready to eat and then add in the eggs and rice as stated below.
Tip #2: Yes, you can cut this recipe in half. Instead of using a whole chicken, you can instead use 2 bone in chicken breasts in place of the whole chicken. Follow directions as stated with this exception.
Tip #3: To cut the time down on this recipe, you can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Shred and add in to the broth. This way, you won’t have to wait on your chicken to cook and cool in the broth.
Try some of my other favorite soups:
CREAMY CHICKEN AND POTATO SOUP
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
CREAMY CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP
THAI LEMONGRASS COCONUT SOUP WITH VEGETABLES
LEMON CHICKEN WILD RICE SOUP
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 10-12 servings
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3 – 32 oz boxes regular chicken broth
- 4 lb whole chicken, deconstructed
- Juice of 3 lemons and zest of 2 lemons
- 4 egg yolks
- Kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
- 1.5 cups wild rice, cooked according to package instructions
DIRECTIONS:
- Cook rice according to package instructions and set aside for now.
- Heat a large Dutch oven pot to medium heat, I used my 7.5 qt pot. Don’t use anything smaller than that.
- Add in butter, onion, celery and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes until veggies are slightly tender and browned.
- Add in chicken broth and the deconstructed chicken. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 30 minutes and then turn off heat.
- Remove the lid and allow the mixture to cool. Once cooled, remove the chicken from the pot and shred. Discard the bones and skin.
- Add the chicken back into the broth, along with the cooked rice, dill, 2 tsp kosher salt (more or less to taste), and pepper. Turn heat back on to medium heat and allow it to come to a soft boil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and lemon juice and zest. Once the broth is hot again, ladle a large scoop of broth into the yolks while whisking very fast. This will temper the yolks so they do not seize up and cook. This way, they will become creamy and hot. Ladle 2 more scoops of broth into the yolks while whisking. Now that the yolks have been tempered, slowly add them into the soup while stirring. This is going to slightly thicken the soup and become a bit more creamy.
- Once combined, the soup is ready to serve.