Avgolemono - Egg-Lemon sauce

This is a traditional greek sauce, very characteristic of winter recipes. It is usually added in the pot in recipes such as chicken soup but sometimes it is poured over the served food, such as in dolmades.
Basically you whisk the eggs with some salt and lemon juice and then you add some broth from the soup. Easy, isn't it? Then why do the greek cookers bear the same respect to this sauce as to mayonnaise?
Because as everything concerning raw eggs, it needs total devotion to the procedure and the temperature of the ingredients, or else... goodbye avgolemono, hello scrumbled eggs!
Rule of thumb, the raw ingredients must be at room temperature.

You'll need 2 large eggs or 3 small ones, the juice of one big lemon and a pinch of salt.

Now, the procedure.

While your food is near the end of cooking, start preparing the egg-lemon mixture.

Separate the egg whites and put them in a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt and using a whisk, beat them until nice and frothy.

Add one after the other the egg yolks and the lemon juice in a steady stream while continuing to whisk.
You will notice that the mixture thickens and becomes shiny.


Supposing that your food has finished cooking by now, so turn off the heat. Ladle carefully (it's boiling hot) about 1-2 cups of broth into a jug or large measuring cup. Slowly add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture  while continuing to whisk. This will temper the eggs and prevent them from curdling once they are added to the hot pot.
If you are using avgolemono as a condiment, your sauce is ready at this stage. Otherwise, stir the egg-lemon mixture into the pot and heat over very low heat for approximately 5- 10 minutes until heated through. Be careful not to boil it again once the eggs have been added.

Some people who like their soups or sauces quite thick, prefer to add 2 tbs of corn starch into the pot before they add the sauce. But with practice comes perfection, so if you make a good avgolemono then you won't need the corn starch.

Have a nice cooking day!

Recipes with avgolemono:
- Chicken soup
- Lamb with letuce (fricasse)
- Pork stew with leeks and celery
- Yiouvarlakia (Soup with meatballs)
- Dolmades (Stuffed grape leaves with rice or mince)
- Stuffed Courgettes
- Lahanodolmathes (Stuffed cabbage leaves)
- Mayiritsa (Traditional Greek Easter soup)
- Spanakoryzo (Spinach Risotto)