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This Avgolemono Soup with Gremolata is a Greek classic. Basically a Greek orzo lemon soup, it gets an amazing creaminess from the eggs added at the end. I compare this to the Italian Stracciatella soup or the Chinese egg drop soup. All use a delicious chicken broth to start and both whip in some eggs. Obviously, everyone is in on this secret and now you are too.

A couple of notes about the soup. This is a light broth type soup that has a very distinct lemon flavor. I didn’t add any chicken to this soup but you can definitely add up to two cups of shredded rotisserie chicken. That addition would give you a Greek lemon chicken orzo soup that I would consider a meal. You could also make a vegan avgolemono by using vegetable stock or broth instead of the chicken stock, and of course, omitting the chicken. So, you have a few options with this recipe.

I used a specialty gremolata infused olive oil which just adds to the flavor of the soup. If you don’t have it, feel free to use regular olive oil and the soup will come out just fine.

If you are using store-bought chicken stock or broth, buy the low-sodium variety and then season to taste. I find the regular brands to be too salty.

I used whole wheat orzo, but regular orzo will work just fine. You could even substitute rice but orzo is more authentic to Greek cooking.

This is a very fast and easy soup to make if you already have your homemade chicken stock done (or if you are using store-bought stock).

To get started, simply add the olive oil to a large soup pot or dutch oven. Add the chopped onion, carrots and celery and stir. Let cook a couple of minutes until the veggies are translucent. Add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute.

Add in the bay leaves and then the lemon juice and stock. Bring everything to a gently simmer.

Remove a cup of the broth and put to the side to cool.

Add the orzo and let the mixture gently simmer for about 1o minutes until the orzo is cooked.

While the orzo is cooking, chop your parsley and celery leaves and add them to a bowl with the lemon zest and finely minced garlic clove. Stir to mix. This is your gremolata topping for the soup.

Right before serving, add the eggs to that cooled broth and beat with a fork. Add to the soup and stir into the mix. Immediately remove from the heat.