Sunday 13 November 2016

Vegan Avgolemono - Greek Easter lemon soup

Having made this Avgolemono soup a few times, I had hoped to have a definitive photo.  Though the soup continues to charm me, I haven't had the time and energy to take the right photo.  But then again, I find this to be comfort food to be made quickly on a busy day.

Gina of The Full Helping, devised this variation to recreate the soup from the Greek Easters of her childhood.  I've never had the traditional version that relies heavily on eggs.  For me, I just love the creaminess of the tahini, the substance of the vegies and rice, and the fresh flavours of the lemon and dill.

The first time I made the soup, I decided it would be too thin with all the 5 to 6 cups of water.  Instead I added 2 1/2 cups of water.  The helpings were miserly and when left for a while it got far too thick.  Since then I have added more water.  The broth is so delicious even without the vegies and rice.

It is a soup to make when busy, whether it is making a quick dinner after Sylvia's swimming lessons or fitting in lunch between my body balance class and my singing group.  It makes for great leftovers, though it thickens so much that sometimes I have had to add a little water to loosen it up.  Or I have served it, as photographed below, as a stew.

I highly recommend this quick and nourishing soup.

And when I found my notes from the first time I made the soup early last year, I had some quicklinks added so I am including a few random articles from last year and a few more recent ones to nourish (or entertain) your mind as well:


I am sending this soup to Souper Sundays.

More vegan rice soups on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Cheesy cauliflower and rice soup (gf, v)
Fennel, lentil and rice soup (gf, v)
Mexican rice soup (gf, v)
Pea, rice and pesto soup (gf, v)
Pumpkin, corn and wild rice chowder (gf, v)
Tricken rice soup with celeriac (gf, v) 

Vegan Avgolemono (Greek Lemon Rice Soup)
Slightly adapted from The Full Helping via Kahakai Kitchen
Serves 4

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup uncooked brown rice
5 to 6 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp tahini
1 1/2 tbsp miso
1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

Fry onion, carrots, celery and garlic in oil until well cooked.  Add rice and stock.  Simmer 35-40 minutes.  Mix lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tahini, nutritional yeast, miso and salt.  Add to rice mixture.  Remove from heat.  Mix in dill and serve.

NOTES: I have added chickpeas for more protein, used cooked rice because I had it there.  Both work fine.  If soup is left to sit it will thicken as the rice absorbs the broth.  Add a little water when reheating if necessary.

UPDATE April 2019: made this today and soaked rice in boiling water while I cooked vegies.  Used boiling water and stock powder so the soup was brought to the boil quickly and then simmered for 10-15 minutes and I then turned it off and left it a few hours.  When I came home it was cooked and I just had to add the tahini mixture and dill for a quick delicious meal.

On the stereo:
Ultra Lounge: Saxophonia: Various Artists

This post is part of the Vegan Month of Food (Vegan MoFo) in November 2016.  Go to my Vegan MoFo list for more of my 2016 Vegan MoFo posts. 

Week 2's theme is International. 

16 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this, but now I really want to try some!

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  2. Yeah! This soup is great. I've made it with quinoa instead of rice but thank you for reminding me of its awesomeness. :)

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    1. Thanks Janet - am sure it would be delicious with quinoa - gotta try it

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  3. I made a version of this with silken tofu and broad beans a while ago, I think, and I loved it. Your version looks beautiful too! You've just reminded me I need to make another batch soon!

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    1. Thanks Joey - sounds like quite a different soup to this one - so interesting how many ways there are to replace egg!

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  4. Yes, this is one of my favorite vegan versions of this soup. You make me want to make it again. ;-) Thanks for sharing it with Souper Sundays this week.

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    1. Thanks Deb - does that means you have tried other vegan versions? this was my first encounter with any version of this soup!

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  5. I've never tried a soup like this and I love soup. It looks so colourful and healthy.

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    1. Thanks Chelsey - the dill makes it look really pretty!

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  6. I have never heard of this sort of soup either but I like the ingredient mix, especially the use of tahini.

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    1. Thanks Kari - if you like tahini (and I know you do) then this is a soup you should try - and it is pretty easy too

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  7. I tried this years ago and was skeptical as my mum's version is so different! But it was really quite good regardless of my bias! Definitely good soup if you have the sniffles.

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    1. Thanks Faye - it must be harder when you have a family dish to compare it to. And so it is high praise from you that you liked it despite having memories of the original. I cannot imagine wanting to try an egg version so was really happy with the tahini version

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  8. This soup sounds really good. I'm fighting off a stomach bug, so this sounds like exactly what I need right now.

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    1. Thanks Kimmy - I would love to bring you a pot of this soup - hope the stomach is better soon

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