5-Ingredient Soup Recipe: Turkey Avgolemono Soup

Do you have leftover turkey stock in the freezer? Maybe from Thanksgiving? This version of the classic Greek avgolemono soup made with turkey is the ultimate comfort food — creamy, full of tender rice and shredded turkey, and with the perfect lemony bite. And it only takes five ingredients. I imagine you have most of them in your fridge or pantry right now.

As the first snow hit Manhattan this week, I'm craving my favorite comfort food from home — avgolemono, also known as Greek chicken lemon rice soup. Growing up outside of Detroit, this soup was (and still is!) served in all of the Coney Island diners in the area. It was my standard order. When I moved to New York, I never expected how much I'd miss picking up a quart of the soup to go for chilly evenings.

This version has fewer eggs than some of the recipes out there, which keeps it from feeling too rich. I used whole eggs here for simplicity, but this soup is a great use for leftover egg yolks. Now that I know how simple avgolemono is to make, I can't believe I haven't been making it for years.

Turkey Avgolemono Soup
serves 8

2 quarts turkey stock (or low-sodium chicken stock)
3/4 cup long grain white rice
2 cups roasted turkey, shredded
4 eggs
2 lemons, juiced

Heat stock in a large, heavy bottomed pot until boiling. Add rice, reduce heat to a simmer, cover. Cook 8-10 minutes, until rice is almost fully cooked but still al dente. Remove soup from heat and add shredded turkey.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs and then whisk in lemon juice. One ladle at a time, whisk hot soup slowly into egg mixture. This will temper the eggs and allow them to heat without curdling. Once you have added 3 or 4 ladles, pour warm egg mixture into soup pot. Return to low heat and cook, while stirring, until soup has thickened slightly but has not come to a boil.

Serve immediately with a salad and crusty bread.

(Images: Stephanie Barlow)

Comments (11)

This would be super easy to halve, too. We're a two person household. We can only eat so much. I bet I could even use leftover rice from Chinese take out.

Could probably do this with a rotisserie chicken from Costco/supermarket. Quick easy dinner.

Mmmm, this reminds me of a Filipino rice and chicken stew called arroz caldo--the clincher is some patis (fish sauce) and a few big hunks of ginger. Totally comfort food, especially in cooler weather!

Also, I've made it with both brown rice and barley, and each variation was also pretty tasty!

Yikes - only one lemon in the fridge. Can I sub in a lime?

There is a Turkish version with yoghurt instead of lemon. Also very tasty!

@devinekitchen - Give it a shot and let me know how it turns out! Might want to try adding just the one lemon first and add the lime only if you want more citrus flavor.

@ericb - Absolutely! I love subbing in rotisserie chicken to recipes when I can.

Awesome recipe. I used a rotissrie chicken and some Sweet Sticky rice and it was incredibly delicious.

My friends Geek mother used to make this for us when we were teenagers. So good. She used fresh chicken stock and would serve it with lots of ground, black pepper and cinnamon on top!

This looks a bit like Congee, another comfort food. With Congee, the rice completely breaks down giving it a creamy texture without the egg. Yum! I love reading about the different cultural variations and would love to see a recipe for the Turkish one with yogurt!