Avgolemono Chicken Soup With Gnocchi
Published April 25, 2025
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2quarts chicken stock (preferably homemade)
- 3cups torn rotisserie chicken (or other cooked chicken)
- 3medium lemons
- Salt and black pepper
- 1pound shelf-stable or refrigerated gnocchi
- 5egg yolks (see Tip to save the egg whites)
- 4garlic cloves, grated
- Fresh dill (optional), for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
435 calories; 18 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 27 grams protein; 1227 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
To a large pot over high, add the chicken stock, torn chicken and 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (from about 1 lemon). Add a hefty pinch of salt (remember, you are seasoning a lot of liquid!) and a few cracks of black pepper and bring to a boil over high. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Step 2
Add the gnocchi to the soup and continue simmering for 3 minutes.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, squeeze enough lemon juice into a heatproof liquid measuring cup to get ½ cup juice. Add the yolks and the garlic to the juice and whisk to combine.
- Step 4
While constantly whisking, slowly stream 2 cups of the simmering chicken stock into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs. Add the tempered yolk mixture to the pot all at once and stir to combine. Turn the heat off right after incorporating the eggs. Taste and season with more salt as needed.
- Step 5
Serve with additional lemon zest on top, freshly cracked black pepper and dill, if using.
- Don’t discard those leftover egg whites! They will keep, refrigerated, for up to 4 days — and are perfect for an egg white frittata with leeks or pavlova (or another use).
Private Notes
Comments
I halved the recipe making for just myself. Wanted more stew than soup, so cut stock from 4 cups (1/2 recipe) to 2.5, simmering as specified. Worked fine. Sacrificed 2 XL eggs for the yolks, freezing the whites in a recycled condiment jar, labelled. Between those and the lemon juice, zest, came out looking like pix, but thicker. Between the starch from the gnocchi and the yolks, plus less broth than specified, it thickened nicely. I liked it. A lot. No dill but subbing fresh basil and rosemary worked out well. That and the add'l lemon peel (used a zester vs grater - easier and prettier too!) it was visually appealing and really delicious. Fast! and a good use for gnocchi in a quickly made one-dish meal. Definitely accompany with crusty French/sourdough bread. Will repeat!
You can use the egg whites in avgolemono (more protein!). Just beat whole eggs thoroughly & temper as directed, but extra slowly. A blender works really well here - that’s how my Greek mama taught me. The downside will be more curdled bits of egg white if you reheat the soup, but there were never leftovers in my family!
Very easy and delicious. If you don’t have homemade stock find the very best you can - stock not broth (unless bone broth) for sure. Don’t skip the dill.
I will preface this comment by saying that amongst my family and friends, I am the queen of soup. I make a pot of soup every week all year long. My husband will forgo eating out for soup for dinner. I followed this soup exactly as the recipe stated, and I find it almost inedible because of the overwhelming tartness of the lemon. I’m going to try to salvage it by adding fresh spinach, thyme and a little celery seed. Sadly disappointed.
Not bad for a weeknight soup. 1/2c lemon juice is a lot (took my 6 lemons), and I found the lemon flavor just sat on top and didn't meld well. This is also an argument for homemade stock, as the base flavor with store-bought stock was pretty thin. If I had to do it again I'd do it from scratch on the weekend. My gold standard avgolemono is the one from Greek Deli in DC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCfmkO1rjJk).
Cooked a half version. Added garlic to simmer to reduce raw garlic issue others have mentioned, which worked, but still lots of garlic flavor (not entirely bad, but I would cut it in half). Added a touch of cream to try to balance it more. Didn't reheat well with the gnocchi. It was fine, but not life changing. Maybe make if it's cold and you're sick for a nice twist on chicken noodle.
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