Greek Lemon Soup: A Slurpable Vegetarian Take on Avgolemono

Cozy up with this Nourishing Greek Lemon Soup, a vegetarian twist on the classic Greek soup, Avgolemono. It’s a light and creamy lemon broth loaded with fennel, potato, and lentils and then finished off with a few handfuls of spinach for a wholesome, satisfying meal. On the table in 30 minutes, it’s perfect for chilly days when you need good food fast.

Upon receiving Hetty Lui McKinnon’s ‘Tenderheart’ last fall, I poured through it cover to cover. One part love letter to vegetables, one part ode to her late father and nod to a childhood filled with the flavors of her heritage and vegetables – lots of vegetables – if you’re feeling uninspired by the ones in your crisper, I highly recommend this book. 

This recipe comes from the book’s section on fennel, although I make this so regularly that if I don’t think to buy a bulb in advance, I’ve swapped the star ingredient of the author’s take on this classic for a couple extra stalks of celery and an extra potato or two. This particular recipe also has a special secret ingredient that gives this a little extra umami: white miso paste.

Avgolemono means egg and lemon in Greek and is technically both a sauce and a soup, most commonly used to thicken said soup, which is made of chicken broth, shredded chicken, rice, carrots, and then blended together with the sauce. The result is a thick and creamy soup that contains no cream! It turns out the secret is in the sauce. 

Why You’ll Love This Nourishing Greek Lemon Soup With Lentils

• A great weeknight meal or laid back weekend dish, perfect for eaters of all types since this recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. 
• Bonus points? This is a one-pot meal. 
• Awesome for meal prepping. Soup might be one of the few leftovers you can get excited about since it usually tastes even better on Day 2.
• Easy to make. Like chop a few veggies, throw it in a pot, and eat 20 minutes later easy.
• Bold and bright flavors that taste great any time of year. 

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Yellow onion
• Celery
• Fennel bulb
• Potatoes – The yellow variety is my favorite for this soup because they hold up better than Russets in soups and stews.
• Garlic
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Miso paste: savory umami flavor
• Stock: Vegetable stock if you want a vegetarian recipe; chicken if 
• Black lentils: Or French puy lentils. You want a legume that will hold its shape after cooking and standard, run of the mill green lentils won’t do that for you here.
• Salt and black pepper
• Eggs: large, whole eggs at room temperature is preferable. Eggs act as natural thickening agents while also providing a little extra protein in the recipe!
• Fresh lemons: Fresh lemon juice is key for this recipe to get a nice bold lemon flavor; And besides, it’s a great way to add a little extra vitamin C to your day.
• Baby spinach
• Optional garnishes: Freshly crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese, fresh dill or other fresh herbs, fennel fronds

Variations & Substitutions

Swap veggie broth for chicken broth if you aren’t vegetarian.

Swap fennel for celery and potatoes. Whether you dislike the taste, can’t justify spending $5 a bulb, or simply need a recipe now, you can use a couple extra stalks of celery and a couple of extra potatoes to replace the fennel. 

Spinach is optional. The original recipe didn’t have spinach, but it seems like an easy way to get more vegetables into my diet, so I always do.

How to Make Vegetarian Greek Soup

1. Heat a large dutch oven or large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil, along with the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until softened. Then, reduce the heat to medium and stir in 2 ½ tablespoons white miso before adding 2 stalks celery, 1 bulb fennel, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, and 1 teaspoon oregano. Continue to saute for 2 more minutes. Add the 2 cubed potatoes, 6 ½ cups stock, ⅓ cup lentils, 1 teaspoon sea salt, and season with black pepper. 
2. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Then, check to see if the lentils are done cooking. If not, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes more until the lentils are tender and cooked through. 
3. Taste everything and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.

Make the Avgolemono Sauce (Egg-lemon mixture)

4. Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk until frothy and slightly lighter in color. Then add the lemon juice and whisk to combine well. To temper the eggs, slowly add three tablespoons of hot broth into the lemony egg mixture, whisking constantly. 

Assemble the Soup

5. Very carefully, add the egg mixture to the soup, whisking constantly until combined. Reduce the heat to low and cook, continuing to stir constantly, until the soup is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. This should take approximately 5 minutes. Do not let the soup reach a simmer.
6. Add the spinach leaves right before serving so that they wilt into the soup.
7. Let the soup cool slightly and then ladle into bowl and top with reserved fennel fronds.

Tips For Making Creamy Avgolemono-Style Soup Every Time

If you’re intimidated by adding the egg-lemon sauce to the broth or are concerned that it won’t turn out no worries. Over the years, I’ve learned a few things that can help you nail this comforting soup every time:

• Chop your veggies and ingredients into bite-sized pieces for greater ease when eating.
• Always sauté your veggies. In this recipe, that includes garlic, onions, celery, and fennel.
• Make your own stock if you can. 
• Let it simmer. While you might be tempted to cook your soup on high for a faster cook time, it’s definitely best to let everything simmer and allow the flavors to “fuse” together slowly.
• To avoid curdling the egg mixture, mix your eggs and your lemon in a bowl, and then slowly whisk in small spoonfuls of hot soup.

How To Thicken Your Broth

While you may be familiar with using heavy cream or roux for creaminess, avgolemono uses egg and lemon to thicken the soup into a broth that is both bright and creamy. Some recipes call for beating egg whites into peaks and then folding in the yolks and lemon, while others separate egg yolks from egg whites. Yet others, as in this recipe, call for tempering your eggs and lemon juice with a bit of the broth before stirring it back into the soup, which raises the temperature of the sauce so it’s less likely to curdle when you add it all back to the pot. It’s the easiest of them all, and that’s why I love it for this quick version.

Topping Ideas for Avgolemono Greek Lemon Soup

While I love this Nourishing Greek Lemon Soup for dinner as is, straight from the pot, you can dress it up with toppings if you like. 

• Crispy bacon bits (if you eat meat)
• Chopped nuts: toasted almonds or walnuts
• Homemade croutons
• Feta or parmesan cheese
• Crispy, pan-fried fennel fronds and garlic
• Toasted panko bread crumbs

Other cozy dinner recipes:

• French Onion Chicken Breasts
• Phyllo Dough Chicken Pot Pie
• Cheesy Baked Pork Chops
• Cheesy Beef Taco Pasta

📖 Recipe

Greek Lemon Soup

Cozy up to this Nourishing Greek Lemon Soup, a vegetarian twist on the classic Greek soup, Avgolemono. It’s a light and creamy lemon broth loaded with fennel, potato, and lentils and then finished off with a few handfuls of spinach for a wholesome, satisfying 30-minute meal.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course dinner, lunch

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Soup

• 1 yellow onion diced
• 2 celery stalks sliced
• 1 fennel bulb sliced and diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 ½ tablespoons white miso
• 2 potatoes peeled and cubed (a yellow variety like Yukon gold)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 6 ½ cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
• ⅓ cup black lentils or French Puy Lentils
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Egg Mixture

• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice approximately 2 lemons

For Assembly

• 4 oz fresh baby spinach leaves

Optional Garnishes

• Fresh fennel fronds
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Crumbled goat cheese

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Instructions

 

Make the Soup

• Heat a large dutch oven or large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil, along with the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until softened. Then, reduce the heat to medium and stir in 2 ½ tablespoons white miso before adding 2 stalks celery, 1 bulb fennel, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, and 1 teaspoon oregano. Continue to saute for 2 more minutes. Add the 2 cubed potatoes, 6 ½ cups stock, ⅓ cup lentils, 1 teaspoon sea salt, and season with black pepper.
• Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Then, check to see if the lentils are done cooking. If not, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes more until the lentils are tender and cooked through.
• Taste everything and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.

Make the Avgolemono Sauce (Egg-lemon mixture)

• Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk until frothy and slightly lighter in color. Then add the lemon juice and whisk to combine well. To temper the eggs, slowly add three tablespoons of hot broth into the lemony egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Assemble the Soup

• Very carefully, add the egg mixture to the soup, whisking constantly until combined. Reduce the heat to low and cook, continuing to stir constantly, until the soup is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. This should take approximately 5 minutes. Do not let the soup reach a simmer.
• Add the spinach leaves right before serving so that they wilt into the soup.
• Let the soup cool slightly and then ladle into bowl and top with reserved fennel fronds and/or crumbled cheese.

Notes

Adapted from “Tenderheart,” by Hetty Lui McKinnon

Keyword 30 minute dinners, 30 minutes, gluten free, kid friendly, soup, vegetarian

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