eggs and lemon and some other stuff
One of my favorite cooking pastimes is to take a classic recipe and shake things up a bit. And that’s exactly what I did with this not-so-traditional Greek avgolemono soup. All the bones are there–egg, lemon, rice, dill–but some of the key players have been reimagined. For example, this soup has always been pretty well-known for having a hearty amount of shredded chicken. I decided to nix that and try crispy bacon instead. It’s not better or worse than the original, it’s just…different. And instead of the classic white rice, I used brown rice instead as well as a couple cups of spinach to add some extra greenery. I won’t hate you for going with the more traditional recipe for avgolemono, but if you wanna try something new, just keep reading, and…bring home some bacon.
⟶ the recipe
avgolemono soup with crispy bacon
ingredients
4 slices of thick-cut bacon
½ yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup brown rice
2 large eggs
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups baby spinach
Salt and pepper
Handful of freshly chopped dill
Prep time
15 minutes
Cook time
30 minutes
Total time
45 minutes
4 servings
instructions
In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, and dab off the excess grease.
Heat some olive oil in a large pot, and over medium heat, sautée the onions until golden, for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and rice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook, until rice has softened. Add some additional water if liquid has reduced too much.
In a small bowl, whisk eggs with half of the lemon juice, until fluffy. Using a ladle, spoon some of the broth into the egg bowl, and whisk. Repeat this a few more times, until the egg mixture is warm and tempered.
Add egg mixture to the pot, and cook over low heat for about 5 more minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice and spinach, and season with salt and pepper. Allow the spinach to wilt before removing from heat. Crumble the bacon over the soup, and mix in.
Serve with a handful of fresh dill and crusty bread.
⟶ recipe notes
- One of the most important steps in this recipe is tempering the eggs. You definitely don’t want to just toss the egg mixture into the soup, as they’ll cook too quickly and become scrambled! Be patient with the tempering, and make sure to add just a little hot liquid at a time, while whisking constantly
⟶ modifications
- This dish is typically made with chicken instead of bacon. You can definitely do that – I’d recommend getting a rotisserie chicken, and shredding it before adding to the soup
- You can also make this vegetarian! Ditch the bacon, and swap the chicken broth for vegetable
- I’ve also made this dish with orzo instead of rice. You can definitely do that, however, orzo soaks up more of the water, and it starts to feel a bit too much like a pasta to me
⟶ make it ahead
- If you want to save some time, I would recommend cooking the bacon ahead of time. It’s okay if it’s fully cooled before adding it to the soup. Just crumble it up and store in a tupperware until ready to add to the soup
- Store soup in a jar or tightly sealed container for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stove over low heat
