Avgolemono
In its own language: αυγολέμονο
Greek soup or sauce thickened with egg and lemon
Avgolemono is a Greek soup or sauce made by blending eggs and lemon juice into broth, often with rice or pasta. It is served both as a comforting soup and as a sauce for meats or vegetables, and appears in Greek, Sephardic Jewish, and Balkan cooking.
- Made by blending eggs and lemon juice into hot broth
- Used as both a soup and a sauce in Greek cuisine
- A traditional dish for breaking fasts in Greek and Sephardic Jewish customs
- Can be made with chicken, lamb, fish, or vegetable broth
- Starch from rice or pasta helps stabilize the soup
What is Avgolemono?
Avgolemono is a soup or sauce where eggs and lemon juice are whisked into hot broth, creating a creamy, tangy mixture. It often includes rice, orzo (a small pasta), or pastina, which help to thicken the soup. The result can range from a light broth to a stew-like consistency. As a sauce, avgolemono is poured over meats, vegetables, or stuffed vine leaves. The taste is bright and lemony, with a gentle richness from the eggs.
Where does Avgolemono come from?
Though widely seen as Greek, avgolemono has roots in Sephardic Jewish cooking, where it is called agristada. Jewish communities in Iberia prepared similar sauces before the expulsion from Spain, using sour fruit juices. Over time, lemon became the main acidic ingredient. The technique spread through the eastern Mediterranean, becoming a staple in Greek, Turkish, and Balkan kitchens. In Greece, it is especially known as a soup and as a sauce for various dishes.
How is Avgolemono made?
To make avgolemono, eggs (sometimes just yolks) are beaten with lemon juice. Hot broth, often chicken but sometimes lamb, fish, or vegetable, is gradually added to the egg-lemon mixture to temper it and prevent curdling. Rice, orzo, or other small pasta is usually cooked in the broth first. The tempered mixture is then stirred back into the pot, thickening the soup or sauce. The starch from the rice or pasta helps stabilize the emulsion.
How and when is Avgolemono eaten?
Avgolemono soup is commonly served as a main dish for lunch or dinner, often with pieces of meat and vegetables from the broth. It is also used as a sauce for dishes like dolma (stuffed vine leaves), artichokes, or roast meats. In Greek tradition, magiritsa, a lamb offal avgolemono soup, is eaten to break the fast of Great Lent. Among Sephardic Jews, similar soups are served to end the Yom Kippur fast.
Kinds of Avgolemono
Regional and cultural versions of avgolemono use different broths, such as fish or vegetable, and may include rice, orzo, or tapioca. In Sephardic Jewish cooking, agristada was once made with verjuice or pomegranate juice instead of lemon. In Turkey, a similar sauce called terbiye is used for meatballs. Jewish-Italian and Middle Eastern cuisines have their own versions, sometimes served with pasta or as a sauce for chicken or fish.
What Avgolemono means
Avgolemono holds a special place in both Greek and Sephardic Jewish traditions. It is tied to religious observances: magiritsa is eaten after Lent in Greece, and sopa de huevo y limón is a traditional dish for breaking the Yom Kippur fast among Sephardic Jews. Its spread across the Mediterranean reflects centuries of cultural exchange and adaptation.
When Avgolemono is on the table
Questions people ask about Avgolemono
What is avgolemono made of?
Avgolemono is made by mixing eggs and lemon juice into hot broth, often with rice, orzo, or pastina. The broth can be chicken, lamb, fish, or vegetable.
Where does avgolemono come from?
Avgolemono is most closely associated with Greek cuisine, but it has roots in Sephardic Jewish cooking and is found across the eastern Mediterranean.
Is avgolemono a soup or a sauce?
It is both: avgolemono can be served as a creamy soup or used as a sauce for meats, vegetables, or stuffed vine leaves.
When is avgolemono traditionally eaten?
In Greece, it is eaten as an everyday soup and to break the fast after Great Lent. Among Sephardic Jews, similar soups are served to end the Yom Kippur fast.
What does avgolemono taste like?
It has a bright, tangy flavor from the lemon, with a rich, creamy texture from the eggs.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Avgolemono", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Thali rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes, and it is not dietary or allergy advice: recipes differ from cook to cook. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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