A Deliciously Tasty Greek Lemon Chicken Soup Recipe
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup is a popular recipe that gives your home a touch of classic Greek-style cooking. What makes this soup so unique? It has a delicious taste and is surprisingly healthy when appropriately prepared. Even better, it can serve many people and stays suitable for a long time, ensuring that it lasts several days.
And if you’ve already tried Greek Lemon Chicken Soup at your favorite restaurant and wished you could have it at home, you’re in luck! Our delicious recipe mimics some of the most popular restaurant options and provides a delightful and healthy meal. But don’t just read the recipe card and skip the rest! We have some valuable tips to enhance its flavor and healthiness.
Gathering Your Ingredients for Greek Lemon Chicken Soup: Does It Require Much?
When planning a new meal, it’s essential to look in your pantry first to see if you already have the necessary ingredients. Doing so can reduce your expenses when you hit the grocery store. Thankfully, many of the items needed for this recipe are things you’ll probably already have in your home or that you can find cheaply at supermarkets or food stores:
- Eight cups of chicken broth
- One-half cup of lemon juice
- One-half cup of shredded carrots
- One-half cup of finely chopped onions
- One-half cup of finely chopped celery
- Six tablespoons of chicken soup base
- One-quarter teaspoon of ground white pepper
- One-quarter cup of margarine
- One-quarter cup of flour
- Eight egg yolks
- One cup of cooked white rice
- One cup of diced, cooked chicken meat
- 16 slices of lemon
Note that you can adjust this recipe to make more or less Greek Lemon Chicken Soup. For example, if you want to make half, simply cut every ingredient in half and cook the recipe as you would normally. This step is an excellent option if you live alone, have a smaller family, or don’t typically eat your leftovers.
Preparing Your Greek Lemon Chicken Soup: Will It Take Long?
Do you need any special skills to handle this recipe? Not at all! If you’ve made soup before, you should understand how to prepare this delicious and underrated recipe. That said, it’s not something you should just wing: instead, you need to make sure that you fully understand all the steps involved to ensure that you get the high-quality results that you deserve:
- Mix your chicken broth, lemon juice, onions, celery, soup base, white pepper, and carrots
- Place on the stove and boil over high heat: simmer for 15-20 minutes on low heat
- Check the vegetables to make sure they’re tender before proceeding
- Blend your flour and margarine in a small bowl and gradually pour into the soup mix
- Simmer on the stove, stirring regularly, for 8-10 minutes
- While simmering, beat egg yolks in a bowl until light
- Whisk in the hot soup using a spoon to pour a thin stream
- Continue whisking the eggs as you pour in the soup to keep them thick
- Pour the rest of the egg mixture into the pot using this technique
- Heat the pot until its nearly boiling but don’t let it boil
- Add the rice and chicken and warm on medium heat until its almost steaming
- Carefully ladle or pour hot soup into appropriately sized bowls
- Place lemon slices along the side of each bowl: at least 2-3 per bowl
- Squeeze lemon juice into the bowl if you want, or let it flow from the sides
All told, this process should take less than an hour or between 30-45 minutes, depending on how long you prepare your ingredients and how warm you want your soup at the end. It’s easy enough for most people to handle on their own without help: however, you could get a second person to chop and clean ingredients with you if you want.
Why You Should Make Greek Lemon Chicken Soup: Is It Healthy?
This recipe should be reasonably healthy, though it suffers from the common problem of all soups: high sodium (1,237 mg or 54%). It also has pretty high cholesterol (37% or 110 mg per bowl) but only has 8% of your fat (7 grams) and just 124 calories per bowl.
Even better: it has minimal sugar (2 grams), some fiber (1 gram or 4%), a solid mix of protein (8 grams), and a lot of vitamin C (15 mg or 73%). You’ll also get trace amounts of calcium, iron, and potassium: and every little bit helps give you a healthier and better diet.
Health-Focused Preparation Tips: Could It Be Healthier?
Do you love the taste of this recipe but want one that’s a little healthier for you? It’s easy to tweak it up so that you can cut out things like fat, cholesterol, and even sodium! Note: it might lose some flavor but should still taste pretty good, especially if you use delicious lemons to give it more flavor. Follow whichever of these tips interests you:
- Replace the Eggs: If you’re not a fan of eggs or want your soup to be even healthier, you can try adding apple sauce or bananas instead. This will significantly change the recipe, so be careful.
- Use Low-Sodium Broth: Are you tired of soup that’s always excessively salty? Use a low-sodium broth alternative: you can typically find them in most soup aisles.
- Make Broth at Home: Don’t buy broth from the store! Instead, you can make it at home and cut down on the sodium. It might not have the sharp taste you expect, but it’ll be better for you.
- Add Tofu Instead of Chicken: Tofu is a lot like chicken because it absorbs flavor and lacks its own unique taste. That said, tofu is healthier because it lacks fat.
Other Preparation Tips: Can You Make It Even Better?
Are you trying to add a little flavor to your Greek Lemon Chicken Soup? There are several steps that you can consider that will give it a little more flavor and make it even more enjoyable. Note: they may affect the healthiness, so choose wisely:
- Add Some Hot Peppers: Peppers can make anything better! They’re particularly great for soups because they season so well. Add them when you’re cooking the veggies.
- Use Some Seasoning: Try options like oregano or other seasoning options that you enjoy, cooking them directly on the meat to give it even more flavor.
- Integrate Limes: Slice up some limes and use them along with the lemons or instead of the lemons to give your soup even more flavor.
- Try Out Some Beef: Cook beef and use it instead of chicken: though it may have more fat, it adds a slightly different taste you may enjoy.