The temperatures dropped at Casa Adora a couple of days ago. Not dramatically — they'll be back above 35°C next week — but enough. This morning was a little chilly. In August. In Andalucía.

Something in the back of my mind said: now is the time to cook a gut-healthy soup. There was a free-range corn-fed chicken carcass in the fridge, left from the day before. Issy had already expressed an opinion about it. I made a stock, picked the bones clean, and we both got a share of what came off them.

What came next was this avgolemono recipe.

Avgolemono (αυγολέμονο) is Greece's answer to chicken soup. The name translates simply as egg-lemon, which is exactly what defines it — a broth finished at the last moment with whisked egg and lemon juice, tempered carefully so it silks into the soup rather than scrambling. The result is pale, glossy, and sharp in the best possible way.

The classic version uses rice or orzo. This one uses pearl barley, which gives it more body, more fibre, and a slightly nutty depth that I think suits it well. It is this small change that takes a good Greek lemon chicken soup and makes it something worth coming back to.

An Avgolemono Recipe Worth the Carcass

This is not a quick weeknight soup — or rather, it is, if you already have the stock and the cooked chicken. It rewards the cook who roasts a bird, makes the stock the next day, and treats the carcass as the beginning of something rather than the end.

This avgolemono recipe is built for the cook who treats a roast chicken as a two-day project.

Pearl barley takes around 25–30 minutes to become tender, which gives the broth time to deepen. The vegetables — onion, carrot, garlic, tomato — soften into the background. The spinach adds colour and a little iron. The chicken goes in last, just to warm through.

And then the egg.

Whisk one free-range egg with the lemon juice. Temper it with a ladle of hot soup — two ladles, whisking as you go — before returning it to the pan over a low heat. It thickens the broth into something silky and just slightly opaque. This is what separates avgolemono from every other Greek lemon chicken soup you've had.

Avgolemono with Pearl Barley — The Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 80g cooked chicken, shredded from the carcass
• 50g pearl barley
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
• A handful of frozen spinach
• 500ml homemade chicken stock
• 30ml fresh lemon juice
• 1 free-range egg
• 1 tbsp ghee
• Good pinch of fine sea salt
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Method

Soffritto: Melt the ghee in a deep saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook gently for five minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Barley: Add the pearl barley and stir to coat in the ghee, then pour in the stock. Bring to a gentle simmer, add the tomato and a good pinch of salt, and cook for 25–30 minutes until the barley is tender but still has a little bite.

Chicken and spinach: Add the shredded chicken and frozen spinach. Stir through and let everything come back up to temperature, then reduce the heat to its lowest setting. The soup must not be boiling when the egg goes in.

The avgolemono: Whisk the egg and lemon juice together in a small bowl until well combined. Ladle a spoonful of hot soup into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Add a second ladle the same way. Pour the tempered mixture back into the pan, stirring gently.

Finish: Keep the heat low and stir for a minute or two. The soup will thicken slightly and turn pale and silky. Do not let it boil. Serve immediately, scattered with flat-leaf parsley.

Notes

Pearl barley absorbs liquid as it sits — if reheating, loosen with a splash of stock. The egg emulsion does not reheat well; if making ahead, complete everything up to the avgolemono step and finish it fresh when serving.

Ghee gives a rich, nutty base. Olive oil works if you prefer to keep it strictly Greek.

The lemon is restrained here at 30ml — push it further to taste if you want more brightness.

This avgolemono recipe is best made fresh — the egg emulsion is the heart of it, and it doesn't survive reheating intact.

This avgolemono recipe is part of my Soup Recipes hub — a collection of soups, broths, and chilled bowls from Casa Adora and the road.

You'll also find it in my Chicken Recipes collection and my Gut Health Recipes collection — real food from a rural Andalucían kitchen, built around fermented foods, high-fibre pulses, wholegrains and prebiotic-rich ingredients.

Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef