Instant Pot Lemon Egg Chicken Soup. Creamy, delicious lemon egg soup filled with chicken and Israeli couscous. Filling, full of flavor, and healthy!
Dear Friends
I met my dear friend Jenelle when we were in optometry school. We were in the same class, but didn’t have much overlap with each other until our second year of school. I was doing research in a lab, and when I was recruiting subjects for my study, Jenelle signed up to participate. The day she was supposed to participate, instead of actually doing the study, we ended up chatting for about two hours. I remember getting a little behind for a of couple days, but it was totally worth it. I knew I had made a lifelong friend. Jenelle is just a kind, genuine, amazing person.
Throughout the rest of school we spent a ton of time together. Jenelle is Greek and grew up in Chicago. I’m southern, and grew up in the south. So, we got to teach each other lots of new things. Mostly about food.
Legit Greek Soup
A few years ago Jenelle met a pretty cool guy (she ended up marrying him). Shortly after she met him, she told me that she had been sick, and he made her Avgolemono. At the time I didn’t know what that was, so I had to google it. In case you don’t know, it’s a Greek lemon egg chicken soup. I found some recipes and thought it sounded pretty tasty, so I tried to make it a few times. My versions were not so close to the real thing … I left out the egg and added a bunch of veggies.
Instant Pot Lemon Egg Chicken Soup
A couple of weeks ago I was craving the soup and decided to make my prior version, but add in some eggs. It was such a success. This was one of the best soups I have ever eaten. I was so freaking proud of myself. I told Jenelle what I had made and she said, “sounds great, but you can’t really call it Greek.” So, I present to you “Instant Pot Lemon Egg Chicken Soup”, or my southern version of Avgolemono.
This soup is creamy, full of flavor, easily made in an Instant Pot, and all around delicious. It has just a tiny bit of a kick to it, and is my new favorite soup! I highly encourage you to add this to your winter soup rotation ASAP.
Instant Pot Lemon Egg Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken breast
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 small onions diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 1 tbsp fresh garlic
- 8 cups chicken broth
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 cup Israeli pearl couscous, dry
- 3 large eggs
- crumbled feta cheese for serving
- chopped green onion for serving
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute mode and heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add carrot, onions, and celery. Saute until softened, about 6-7 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Add chicken, chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Let natural release for at least 15 minutes. When time to release, use a long cooking spoon to open valve in case any soup spits out through valve.
- Remove chicken breasts from soup and shred with two spoons. Set aside.
- Use an immersion blender to blend soup in pot until desired mostly smooth, but some small chunks remain. Remove 1 cup of soup and set aside.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute mode and bring soup to a simmer. Add dry pearl couscous and simmer for 8 minutes. Turn off Instant Pot and remove inner pot. Set aside to cool for 2-3 minutes before next step.
- In a small bowl, whisk the 3 eggs. While constantly whisking, very slowly pour in the cup of soup that you had set aside. Then, while constantly whisking soup in inner pot, pour egg/soup mixture in.
- Stir in chicken. Serve with feta and green onions.
- Note: This soup is very hearty. If you prefer more broth, I recommend adding up to one cup of additional broth at the end.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed this Instant Pot Lemon Egg Chicken Soup, you’ll probably enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Thai Curry Soup with Turkey Meatballs
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Lemongrass Chicken Stuffed Peppers (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)
Lemon Chicken and Asparagus Risotto (Instant Pot or Stove Top)
