Let’s talk about a chicken soup recipe for your body, mind and soul…Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup! It comforts, it satisfies. It has a simple yet absolutely gorgeous flavor, and it makes me want to jump into soup season like WHEEE!
One of my favorite soups to order at Greek/Mediterranean restaurants is the Greek Lemon Chicken soup, or also called the Avgolemono soup.
Since discovering it, when I am not ordering Avgolemono soup from restaurants, I make my own version of Lemon Chicken and Rice at home.
This recipe is definitely inspired by Avgolemono soup. While I cannot promise authenticity, I promise deliciousness!
It is the perfected-over-the-years, tweaked-to-my-liking Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup that I come to know, love, and I’ve decided now the world (aka you 🙂 ) needs a piece of this gem.
Why it’s so delicious!
The heart of a good soup is a good broth. I like to use chicken bone broth because it gives a deep, hearty chicken flavor to the soup, but feel free to use regular chicken broth as that will work as well.
For this Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup recipe, chicken bone broth is infused and cooked with garlic, bay leaves and dill, and combined with tender shredded chicken breast, celery, carrots and onions.
And of course, lemon juice. Freshly squeezed lemon juice brings this light citrusy flavor that ties everything together.
This recipe serves approximately 4 people as a main course dish, and 6-8 people as a side, and you can use a dutch oven or a pot to make this soup.
The beauty of this soup (one of the many) is being able to conveniently incorporate veggies into it. The veggies give it flavor, texture, and are, of course, good for you.
All the other reasons…
Okay sure it’s delicious, but here are all the other reasons why we are loving this these days!
- Takes 30 minutes to make! A.k.a. perfect for a quick meal
- One pot meal – because who doesn’t love that on a busy day?
- Uses fresh and healthy ingredients
- Perfect as the weather cools down!
How to make Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
Always chop and prep vegetables before you begin cooking. When ready, heat up pot or dutch oven (here is my favorite dutch oven that I use all the time!) with olive oil, then add minced garlic and onions. Sauté till you can smell the garlic and onion, but avoid burning them.
The idea is to infuse the oil with flavors from the garlic and onion, and subsequently the soup.
Next add carrots and celery. Saute for a minute or so, then add chicken bone broth, bay leaves, dill and lemon juice.
Bring to a boil, add chicken breast (cut into two pieces for quicker cooking) and basmati rice.
I like the texture of basmati rice, because I think it goes well with soup, but feel free to use another type of rice.
Bring soup to a boil again, then cook for 10-12 minutes. Once chicken is cooked, bring it out and shred the chicken.
Add shredded chicken back to the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then remove from heat and serve.
Yummy yummy, come to my tummy!
There is something soothing and comforting about chicken soups. When it is cold or rainy outside, I love to curl up on my coach, pull some blankets over me, and eating a warm bowl of soup.
Now that Fall is officially here (yes, finally!), I’m just going gaga over soups and stews.
Serve this with some warm bread. Lunch/light dinner PERFECTION! It makes for fantastic leftovers as well. I usually send my husband packing with this for lunch at work the next day.
Don’t miss this soupy goodness! Grab a spoon and dig in!
Tip and Tricks
- Use good broth! Good soups, especially good clear soups, is made out of good quality broth!
- Do not overcook rice! Remove from heat promptly after cooking is done.
- Use precook chicken to speed up the process! If you are press for time, add rotisserie chicken or pre cooked chicken at the end.
- Add salt at the end to open up the flavors. You will be surprise how much more flavorful it gets with a tiny pinch of salt added! If you want to add even more flavor, add chicken bouillon as desired.
Love this recipe? Comment below and give us a 5-star rating! Also, take a picture of your creation and tag me on Instagram, because I WANNA SEE!!
Other Soup Recipes
- Ravioli Tomato Beef Soup
- Egg Drop Soup
- Hot and Sour Soup
- The Ultimate Beef Stew
- Chicken Taco Soup (by Girl Heart Food!)
Other Rice Recipes
- Steak Fried Rice
- Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
- Hawaiian Chicken with Coconut Rice
- Easy Mixed Vegetable Rice
Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken broth / chicken bone broth
- 1-2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 large onion or 1 small/medium onion
- 1 cup celery sliced
- 1 cup carrots sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp dill
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2/3 cup basmati rice
- 1 large chicken breast cut into two pieces
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- chicken bouillon optional
Instructions
- Prep the ingredients by cutting carrots and celery, mixing garlic, slicing onions, cutting chicken breast into two pieces, and juicing lemon.
- Add olive oil to dutch oven or pot and heat it. Add garlic and onions. Sauté under medium high heat for 1-2 minutes until you can smell the garlic and onions. Avoid burning them.
- Add carrots and celery to pot, saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Add chicken bone broth, bay leaves, dill and lemon juice. Bring to a boil.
- Add chicken breast (cut into two pieces) and rice. Bring to boil, and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
- Remove and shred chicken. Then bring shredded chicken back into the soup.
- Remove bay leaves (if you cannot find it, don't worry about it!). Add salt and pepper to taste. Salt is used here to open up flavors – so if the soup isn't very flavorful at this point, salt will help! Optional: Add chicken bouillon to taste for even more flavor!
- Remove from heat. Serve and enjoy!
I have to try this, it looks amazing! I don’t think I have ever had lemon in my soup, not sure why just never thought to add it. We always have bone broth here. When we have meat with bones, I put them in the freezer until I have enough to make homemade bone broth. It is very healthy for you!
I hope you give it a try! And it will be amazing with homemade bone broth! Good broth makes all the difference! 🙂 Let me know what you think when you try it, Dawn! 🙂
This was super simple and delicious, and a great way to kick off soup season! Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly. I was worried about the broth ratio, but the veggies and meat give it a hearty balance.
That’s wonderful to hear! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Did I miss the rice??
Pre cooked??
lmk
thanks
It’s on there! Step 5 🙂 Add it along with the chicken. And nope – not pre-cooked!
This was delicious! I put all the ingredients into the slow cooker and simmered it for a few hours. Simple!
That’s wonderful – so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the kind review! 🙂
how long did/would you do in slow cooker?
3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low to fully cook the chicken!
thank you! what if chicken only about 4 ounces each? was going to use 4-5 breast!
Same instruction! 🙂
thank you. last question…does this freeze well?
Yep! It should freeze just fine!
We had this tonight for the first time, won’t be the last! Easy to fix, tasty, too even though my broth wasn’t the best quality — definitely upgrading my broth next time, this will be worth 6 stars! The lemon was not obvious and added such a nice extra to the chicken soup.
Thank you so much for giving it a try! 🙂 Yes! Good broth makes such a difference but I am glad it was still enjoyable!
Haven’t tried this yet but how much is a serving cup wise?
Each serving is probably a little less than 2 cups.