Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower Rice
Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup is traditionally made with rice, but it was equally delicious with cauliflower rice for a low-carb version! Of course you can use rice if you prefer!
PIN Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup to try it later!
This Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower Rice is a fun twist on Greek Avgolemono Soup, which is one of those dishes I’ve been passionately in love with ever since the first time I tried it! And I think I first had Egg Lemon Chicken Soup in college, so that’s a long time I’ve been loving this chicken and rice soup that’s thickened with eggs and lemon. I’m guessing I first tasted the soup at The Other Place, a Greek-American restaurant in Salt Lake City, and I still like their version of this classic Greek dish.
I first made this soup for the blog more than ten years ago (!) and that version was adapted from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines (affiliate link), a very old cookbook with lots of good ideas. I make the soup with leftover rotisserie chicken and chicken stock from the freezer, and I had those things on hand when the idea struck me to try making a low-carb version of this favorite soup by replacing the rice with cauliflower rice!
I have to be honest and say that if I was seriously in need of comfort food, I’d probably make this soup less often and use the low-glycemic Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice (affiliate link) that so many Greek cooks use in the U.S. But for a delicious low-carb soup, the Egg-Lemon Greek Chicken Soup with Cauliflower Rice was really good. And personally I think this is a pretty healthy soup no matter whether you use rice or cauliflower rice, and I’m featuring it for this week’s Friday Favorites post to see if I can entice you to make it; enjoy! (You can check out Low-Carb and Keto Soups with Cauliflower Rice to find more tasty soup recipes like this one.)
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
- chicken stock (or broth)
- onion
- olive oil
- Dried Parsley (affiliate link)
- Dried Thyme (affiliate link)
- frozen cauliflower rice
- diced leftover chicken
- eggs
- fresh lemon juice
- lemon zest (grated lemon rind)
What is Avgolemono Sauce?
What makes this soup special is the Avgolemono Sauce that you mix into the soup to thicken it, a mixture of beaten eggs, and fresh lemon juice and zest that’s mixed with some of the hot soup and then gently stirred back into the rest of the soup. The egg-lemon sauce that thickens the soup is one of the classic sauces in Greek cuisine! Avgolemono Sauce isn’t really that difficult to make, but you must be careful not to let the soup boil after it’s been added or it will curdle the soup.
How to Make Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower Rice (or Rice):
(Scroll down for complete recipe including nutritional information.)
- If you don’t have leftover cooked chicken you’ll need to cook 3-4 chicken thighs or 2 chicken breasts in some chicken stock, but I had rotisserie chicken that I just cut up to make 2 cups diced chicken. Use a bit more chicken if you prefer a thicker soup.
- Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and saute the onion the onion until it’s barely starting to brown.
- Then add Dried Parsley (affiliate link), and Dried Thyme (affiliate link) and cook a few minutes more.
- Add homemade chicken stock (or canned chicken brother) and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- If you’re going to use cauliflower rice, buzz chopped cauliflower in the food processor until you have about 1 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower, or use frozen cauliflower rice if you want to make it easy.
- For rice, measure 1/2 cup rice, preferably Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice (affiliate link).
- Add the raw cauliflower (or rice) to the stock mixture and simmer until until it’s done, about 20-25 minutes for rice or fresh cauliflower rice, and slightly less for frozen cauliflower rice.
- Add the diced chicken to the soup and simmer over very low heat for 5 minutes.
- Zest a lemon and measure out 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Then squeeze that lemon and enough more to get 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice. (You can also use fresh-frozen lemon juice.)
- Beat eggs until they look frothy, then whisk in the lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Remove one cup hot broth from the soup and whisk into the egg mixture a little at a time. Then stir the egg-lemon mixture back into the soup and cook over the lowest possible heat until it thickens, but do not boil.
- Some Greeks make this soup with just chicken stock, rice, and the Avgolemono sauce, but I always like the pieces of chicken in the soup.
Yes, I Really Love Greek Chicken:
Easy Low-Carb Greek Chicken Bake
Marinate All Day Greek Lemon Chicken
Low-Carb Greek Chicken, Green Beans, and Tomatoes Sheet Pan Meal
Low-Carb Grilled Greek Chicken Packets
Instant Pot Low-Carb Greek Chicken Tacos
Instant Pot Low-Carb Cauliflower Rice Greek Chicken Bowls
Very Greek Grilled Chicken
Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup is traditionally made with low-glycemic Uncle Ben's rice, but it was delicious with cauliflower rice for a low-carb option. You can use fresh cauliflower that's finely chopped in the food processor to make cauliflower rice or frozen cauliflower rice for this recipe, or use Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice (not instant) for the traditional soup if you don't care about carbs. Use a bit more chicken if you prefer a thicker soup. This soup cannot be frozen and must be reheated carefully or the eggs will curdle the broth. It will keep in the fridge for a few days, but it’s best freshly made. Nutritional information is for the soup with cauliflower rice. Recipe adapted from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines (affiliate link). Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 181Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2.7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6.4gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 1001mgCarbohydrates: 7.3gFiber: 1.2gSugar: 3.7gProtein: 17g
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice is the lowest-glycemic type of white rice, and if you use that for this Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup it would be good for phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. Using cauliflower rice would make this a very low-carb soup, suitable for any phase of the original South Beach Diet or any other type of low-carb eating plan.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
I first made this delicious Egg Lemon Chicken Soup for the blog in 2006. Recipe was updated with better instructions March, 2020.
43 Comments on “Greek Egg-Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower Rice”
Could you use frozen cauliflower rice in this recipe? If yes, would you add it frozen? Heat it up halfway/all the way before adding it to the soup? I have a lot of the frozen cauliflower on hand so whenever I can I prefer to use it vs. buying more and making it from scratch.
I haven’t made it with frozen cauliflower rice, but I think it will work. I would probably let the rice thaw on the counter top while you cook the soup to the point of adding the rice. Then add the semi-frozen cauliflower rice and simmer as in the recipe. I’d start to check for doneness of the cauliflower rice after about 15 minutes, although I’m not completely sure how long it will take.
And this is just my best guess about how it would work! I’d love to hear back if you try it!
I thought it was suppose to be made with orzo not rice…
I’ve had this in Greece and in many Greek restaurants and never seen it made with orzo. But i’m guessing it’s one of those classic dishes that has many variations.
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I thought this wonderful soup was made with orzo usually; but rice seems good too; and glad to know that converted rice is low-glycemic–did not know that.
You're the second person who has mentioned orzo, but I've never had it that way. Yes, I was so excited when I discovered that the converting process for rice makes it much lower on the glycemic index! Hope you enjoy the soup.
Kalyn, you are right on time; must have read my mind. I was looking for an Avgolemono Soup recipe. Thanks. I will make cauliflower rice for myself and orzo for my husband (he tolerates starch better than me). Thanks again, I will try this. I made your Chicken Paprikash over the weekend. Very yummy. Thank you for all your work. It is appreciated.
Thanks Mary; so glad you are enjoying the recipes.
I'm definitely going to try this cauliflower rice version!!
p.s. In your instructions before the actual recipe, you say to zest a lemon and measure out 1 tsp of lemon juice instead of 1 tsp of lemon zest!!
Hope you enjoy Clare. Thanks for catching that, will fix it right now!
Debra thanks! So glad you liked it.
Delicious!! Thanks!!
Thanks Amy!
Oh my, this is a one for me. Love it.
I'm sorry that your internet speed is making it frustrating to see the recipe; unfortunately there are over 2,200 recipes on the site so there's no way I have time to add something like that for that many recipes.
For those with a slower connection that wish the recipe came up before the process photos, would it be possible to add an internal link that jumps directly to the recipe without changing the format?
Hi Kalyn – Quick question. Does the cauliflower rice need to be cooked per the recipe before being added to the soup, or do you just add the processed raw cauliflower directly into the soup? Thanks for the clarification. PS. My husband and I have been using your blog as part of our 2014 New Years resolution and it's still going strong into 2015. Thank you!
Hi Pam, glad to hear the recipes are helpful for you. We added the cauliflower raw and just cooked it in the soup until it was tender. I will edit the post to clarify.
Anne hope you enjoy! I love seeing the improvement from the old photos.
Adding to my collection of cauliflower-rice-friendly recipes! Love those flavors. Also ADORE the 9 year old photo. Here's to evolution!
~ Anne