This chickpea soup is a vegetarian twist to the traditional Greek and Cypriot soup. Avgolemono translated from Greek means egg and lemon. The traditional version is made with chicken and rice with a creamy broth made with egg and lemon. In this vegetarian version, there are chickpeas, carrots and celery with lemon, lime and egg broth pureed to a creamy consistency. It’s velvety smooth and absolutely delicious. I have also reserved some chickpeas and vegetables for some texture but not necessary. I have added a fresh herb of chives to boost the flavour. Feel free to substitute fresh dill or parsley as they are just as delicious. This soup comes together in no time and a great weeknight nourishing soup.

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5 from 1 vote

Chickpea Avgolemono Soup

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Cypriot, Greek

Yield: 4 to 6 people

Materials

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil + extra for garnish
• 1 large carrot skin on, scrubbed and cut in 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 large celery stalk cut in 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup of celery leaves roughly chopped
• 6 cup water
• 2 vegetable boullion cubes
• 2 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
• 2 large eggs at room temperature and beaten in a large bowl
• zest and juice of 1 lemon and lime about 1/3 cup
• salt to taste
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives + more for garnish

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add the carrots, celery and leaves. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until slightly soft.
• Add in water and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil and stir until bouillon cubes have dissolved.
• Add chickpeas and continue cooking for an additional 4-5 minutes. Remove 1/2 cup of the chickpea and vegetables without any broth and set aside. Turn off heat.
• You will now need to temper the eggs. To achieve this, add in the lemon/lime zest, juice and slowly pour a few ladles of hot broth into the eggs, while whisking constantly, which brings the eggs up to temperature without them cooking.
• Slowly stir in the tempered egg mixture into the soup. Do not worry if there is some egg curls as they will be blended.
• Add in chives and using an immersion blender or place in a food processor or blender, blend soup until creamy.
• Turn heat back on to medium. Pour reserved chickpeas and vegetables back into the soup and cook until soup reaches a simmer.
• Turn off heat and test salt flavour. Serve in soup bowls with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh ground pepper and a garnish of chives.