There are foods that feel like home the moment you taste them.

For me, chicken soup with avgolémono is one of those dishes. It’s simple, yet it carries with it all the warmth of family, tradition, and care. The broth, golden and fragrant, comes alive with the freshness of lemon—bright, soothing, and deeply comforting.

This is not just any soup.

In Greece, Kotosoupa is more than a recipe—it’s a ritual of love. It’s the kind of meal yiayia would prepare when someone in the house wasn’t feeling well, or when the cold winter winds made their way into our bones. Each spoonful is nourishment for both the body and the soul.

It is the ultimate comfort food. On days when we feel under the weather, this soup works like medicine. The chicken provides strength, the lemon brings freshness, and together they create a dish that feels like a warm embrace. It’s also a favorite winter meal, the kind that fills the house with aromas of care and warmth, reminding us that sometimes the simplest foods are the most healing.

Kotósoupa Avgolémono is more than food—it’s memory, comfort, and tradition served in a bowl. A dish that tells us we are cared for, that we are safe, and that better days are just around the corner.

Crockery & ingredients love using—find them all here: My Mediterranean Greek Pantry

My Greekitchen Essentials

1 chicken (1- 1.2 kg/ 35-40 ounces)

1 onion, peeled

150-200g sort grain rice 

2 large eggs

juice of 1 lemon

salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

Place chicken into pan , cover with water, put the lid on and bring to the boil for about 1 hour and 30 minutes (the chicken is ready, when the meat can be removed easily from the bones).

While the chicken boils, some white foam will probably surface on the water. Remove that foam with a slotted spoon.

Remove the chicken from the broth and strain the broth*. Add the hot broth in a large pot, add the whole onion and rice and season with salt and pepper and boil, until rice is cooked.

*( You should have about 1 litre of stock remaining. If your stock is a bit less than that, add some water to it).

In the meantime, if the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Dice the meat into bites and place the pieces into pot. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove pot grom heat amd let the soup to cool for about 10 minuyes before adding the avgolemono.

In a mixing bowl, crack the eggs and whisk, until foamy; add the lemon juice and whisk again. Add into the bowl a ladle of hot soup and whisk quickly.
Add one more ladle and whisk again, so that the eggs get warm.
Pour the egg mixture back into the pot, whilst constantly stirring, put the lid on and leave for 3-4 minutes.

Serve Kotosoupa while still warm.