This easy Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup is made with chicken thighs, veggies, fresh dill, and rice. This recipe is inspired by the classic Greek soup called, Avgolemono, and is a one pot dinner ready in 40 minutes. This soup is as comforting as it gets, ideal for a weeknight or meal prep menu that friends and family will love.
We love a simple soup recipe, and this Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup happens to be one of our favorites. It’s the perfect cold weather recipe that’s easy to throw together—one more recipe to make weeknight dinners manageable.
This lemon chicken soup takes inspiration from the Greek soup recipe for Avgolemono. With a base of chicken stock, vegetables, and rice, it’s a hearty yet light dish. Plus, a good splash of fresh lemon juice and a generous amount of fresh dill really brightens the flavors.
Traditional avogolemono uses eggs in the recipe, we chose to not use them for ease and simplicity. You still get a luscious soup in every bite. Plus, we made sure to keep the ingredient list short and the cook time to just 40 minutes.
If you love a great soup recipe, we’ve got you covered. Be sure to also try our Cream of Corn, Broccoli Feta Soup, and Chicken Pot Pie Soup.
Lauren’s Tip
If you’re looking for a list of easy soup recipes that come together wit minimal ingredients and in less than an hour, check out our Simple Soup Series (aka the SOUP-er Simple Series). Each recipe guarantees dinner success and will be a hit with family and friends.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- 40-Minute Soup Recipe. This Greek lemon chicken and rice soup comes together in just 40 minutes with 5 minutes of prep work. This makes a homemade meal on a busy weeknight totally doable.
- One Pot Dinner. Makes cleanup a breeze so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time getting other things done.
- Easy to Customize. We were inspired to make this recipe based off of a classic avogolemono recipe, but feel free to add your favorite root vegetables and herbs too.
Ingredients
- Olive oil: use a robust-flavored olive oil for the best flavor.
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs: this is one of my favorite tricks for building tons of flavor in little time with just one ingredient. You’ll need about 4 thighs or 1 ½ pounds.
- Long-grain rice: I like jasmine or basmati. Feel free to use brown rice.
- Carrots: a few large carrots should be enough. You’ll need one cup diced.
- Celery: make sure you have enough for 1 cup diced—about 3 to 4 stalks.
- Onion: yellow or white onion will work here.
- Garlic: fresh garlic, always!
- Low-sodium chicken broth: I am never without a jar of Better than Bouillon in my fridge. It’s far more convenient, more flavorful and takes up less storage space than boxes of broth.
- Frozen peas: I love adding frozen peas to soup, especially this bright and lemony greek soup! No need to thaw ahead of time and add them in at the end so they don’t overcook.
- Fresh dill: this really makes the soup—and I like to add a lot. If you aren’t a fan of dill, you can swap in parsley instead.
- Lemon juice or white wine vinegar: either work well here!
How to Make Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are a flavor bomb for homemade soups. Start by browning the thighs in a large pot, skin side down, until the skin has rendered and if deeply golden brown.
Transfer the chicken to a bowl or a plate and set aside while you build the soup in the pot (with those delicious chicken drippings).
Cook the rice in the drippings briefly—this will lightly toast the rice and infuse it with a bit of flavor.
Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the pot with the rice and cook for a few minutes, just until they start to soften.
Add the chicken broth and browned thighs back to the pot. Bring the soup to a simmer and until the chicken is cooked through, this will take about 8 minutes.
Remove the soup from heat, and using tongs, remove the chicken thighs and transfer them to a bowl or plate—set aside until they are cool enough to handle (aka remove the skin and shred the meat).
Add the shredded chicken back to the pot (one final time) along with the peas, fresh dill and lemon juice.
Season to taste with additional salt, pepper and lemon juice (or vinegar) as needed.
Pro Tips
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are essential for this soup. Boneless and skinless won’t work as well, but if you do use them, skip the browning process at the beginning of the recipe and add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil.
Dice the raw chicken thighs, add them to the soup and simmer for about 5 minutes until cooked through. - Better than Bouillon is a much cheaper and far more convenient option to boxed or canned broth. We use the roasted chicken flavor, but in a pinch the vegetable or beef will also work.
- It’s inevitable that the rice will continue to absorb broth over time (especially if you have leftovers). I always add an extra splash of water or broth when reheating (or right before serving if it needs it). If you do not want the rice to over-swell and absorb more broth, you can cook it separately and add it to each individual serving bowl.
- Cook the rice directly in the soup. This makes cooking the soup simple and easy. It also releases starch into the broth, giving it a luscious, silky smooth texture.
- Swap for rotisserie chicken in a pinch. If you need another time-saving shortcut, you can use rotisserie chicken. Just shred or dice the chicken and stir in the last 10 minutes of cooking (with the peas and dill) to warm through. We use this hack to make our Healthy Chicken Soup recipe.
Storage and Freezing
Store chicken and rice soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat the soup over low heat just until heated through.
For longer storage, use the freezer. Transfer the soup to zipper-lock freezer bags, layer on a baking sheet and place in the freezer. Once frozen solid, remove the baking sheet and stack the soup bags on top of one another. Thaw the soup overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and serving.
FAQs
Absolutely—an even faster dinner! Skip the browning of the chicken and increase the olive oil to 3 tablespoons. You can also use leftover roasted turkey or roasted turkey breast.
Yes, this is a great way to use leftover rice. You can add it one of two ways. First, you can add it with the peas right at the end. Or, you can gently reheat it in the microwave and spoon it into individual bowls of soup as desired.
Once the chicken thighs are cooked through, remove them (using tongs) to a bowl or plate. Immediately remove the soup from heat—it will stay warm enough while the chicken cools enough to be handled and shredded.
Removing the soup from heat will slightly slow the absorption of the broth. However, it’s important to note that the rice will inherently get mushy in this kind of soup unless cooked separately.
Long grain rice is what you need to use here. Jasmine is our rice of choice but basmati will also work as weill brown jasmine rice.
Chicken rice soup freezes beautifully! Transfer the soup to zipper-lock freezer bags, layer on a baking sheet and transfer to the freezer. Once solid, remove the baking sheet and stack, layer or “file” the soup bags in the freezer. Thaw the soup overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and serving.
According to the USDA cooked rice and chicken should both be used within 4 days of cooking. So chicken rice soup lasts 4 days in the refrigerator.
Adding mushrooms would be delicious in this chicken rice soup! Add diced cremini, white button or shiitake mushrooms to the veggies and rice. If you love a mushroom soup, then you’ve gotta try this Hungarian Mushroom Soup!
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Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
Description
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 cup long-grain rice, such as jasmine, rinsed
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3 large cloves garlic, chopped
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups frozen peas
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh dill
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season 1 ½ pounds chicken thighs with kosher salt.
- Once oil is shimmering, add thighs, skin side down in pot, and cook, without moving, until skin is deeply golden brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Flip and cook 2 more minutes; transfer thicken to a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium and stir in 1 cup rinsed rice, cook 2 minutes. Add 1 cup carrots, 1 cup celery, 1 cup onion and 3 chopped cloves garlic; season with 1 teaspoon salt and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, remove and discard chicken skin.
- Add 8 cups broth and browned chicken (and any accumulated juices) to pot, bring to a simmer and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a bowl and remove pot from heat.
- Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones and shred meat into small pieces using two forks; discard bones.
- Add shredded chicken, 2 cups peas, ⅓ cup dill and 2 tablespoons lemon juice to pot; season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Notes
Dice the raw chicken thighs, add them to the soup and simmer for about 5 minutes until cooked through. Better than Bouillon is one of the most effective and convenient ingredients you can keep on hand for quick soups. We like the Roasted Chicken Base and the Roasted Beef Base.
I low effort this recipe with skinless boneless chicken thighs and it is still fantastic. My favorite and easiest soup to make!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Eva!