You need this recipe for vegan Greek lemon soup with orzo in your life! This recipe uses no eggs but is as creamy and delicious as the original.
I am half Greek (actually 50% exactly according to my 23 and Me results). A traditional dish I grew up watching my grandma make was Greek lemon soup or avgolemono. Especially on Easter, this soup was always part of the Easter dinner spread.
When I went vegan almost three years ago, I pushed myself to reimagine classic meals I had always made, but with a vegan twist. I never wanted to feel that by going vegan that I had to “give up” things. What I’ve learned from these past three years is that there is always a way to satisfy the same craving for meals I loved before going vegan. Chicken wings? Meet cauliflower wings. Mac-n-cheese? Have you tasted the deliciousness that is Daiya Mac-n-cheese?
And now it was time to reinvent my grandma’s Greek lemon soup to be vegan!
What is Avgolemono?
Avgolemono (pronounced ahv-goh-lem–uh-noh) is a sauce made with eggs, lemon, and chicken broth. This sauce is a staple in Greek cooking and used on top of vegetables, rice, meats or to make lemon soup as we will today!
Traditionally, the sauce is made by beating eggs with lemon juice until frothy and tempering the eggs by slowly adding the hot broth to the eggs. This avoids ending up with scrambled eggs. Once the eggs are tempered, you add them back into the soup for a thick and creamy result!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Vegan Greek Lemon Soup
I am going completely authentic with this vegan Greek lemon soup recipe. We are sticking with the basics here – broth, lemon, “eggs,” carrots, celery, and herbs.
Here are all the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Olive oil
- Green onions (both the white and green parts)
- Carrots
- Celery
- Vegetable Better Than Bouillon
- Lemons
- Thyme
- Dill
- Fresh Parsley
- Tahini
- White Pepper
- Salt
- Water
This recipe doesn’t require a ton of ingredients to make, which is always a plus! Ready to start cooking?
Let me know if you try this recipe, and please leave a comment and rating below if you do. This recipe would be a perfect addition to your Easter dinner or on a cold winter day. Make sure you are also following along on Instagram and Pinterest for more food inspiration!
More of my Favorite Vegan Entree Recipes:
Vegan Greek Lemon Soup (Avgolemono)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 Bowls of Soup 1x
Description
You need this healthy recipe for vegan Greek lemon soup with orzo in your life! This recipe uses no eggs but is as creamy and delicious as the original.
Ingredients
For Soup Base:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup white part of green onions, diced
- 1/3 cup carrots, diced
- 1/3 cup celery, diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 11 cups water
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable Better Than Bouillon
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 cup green part of green onions, diced
- Peel from 1 lemon
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1 sprig of dill
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup orzo
For Lemon “Egg” Mixture:
- The equivalent of 2 eggs using egg replacer (I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer)
- 3/4 cups of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat a large-bottomed pot with olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the white part of the green onions, carrots, celery, and salt to the pot. Let them sweat for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, add water, Better Than Bouillon, white pepper, and green part of green onions to the pot. Bring to a boil.
- Once the broth boils, reduce the heat to medium and add the lemon peel, thyme, dill, and bay leaf. You will remove the herbs and lemon peel before adding the orzo, so if you have a loose leaf tea bag or cheesecloth to make a makeshift bag (see notes), it will be much easier to remove them later. Place the lid half on half off to allow some steam to escape. Allow the flavors to cook together for 8 minutes for a tasty broth base.
- After 8 minutes, remove the herbs and lemon peel and add the orzo (see notes). Cover the pot and let the orzo cook through (about 10 minutes).
- While the orzo cooks, make the lemon “egg” mixture by whisking together the egg replacer, lemon juice, tahini, and salt (see notes). Whisk for about 30 seconds until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- One by one, add a couple of ladles full of the hot soup broth to the lemon “egg” mixture. Whisk the “egg” mixture as you add the broth to temper the “eggs.”
- Once the orzo has cooked through, add the lemon “egg” mixture to the pot. Bring the soup back to a boil, stirring consistently.
- Once the soup boils, turn off the heat. Let the soup thicken a bit more for 10 minutes before serving!
Notes
If you don’t have a loose-leaf tea bag to put the lemon peel and herbs in, we made one using cheesecloth! You can also totally fish these out at the end as well, but this makes everything easier to find.
You can use rice or noodles instead of orzo if you prefer. You might have to cook the soup slightly shorter or longer, depending on the grain’s cook time.
When making the lemon and “egg” mixture, whisk in one direction to maintain ultimate fluffiness.
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 45 Minutes
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Greek
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bowl of Soup
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 4.3g
- Sodium: 1535mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3g
- Carbohydrates: 11.7g
- Fiber: 4.7g
- Protein: 12.2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: soup, lemon, orzo, greek, dill
Thank you for sharing this! Love finding new vegan recipes. Love this site!!
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Thank you so much, enjoy!
Wow I haven’t heard of this before but I’m definitely going to give it a shot because lemon is bae 💗
Yes let me know how it goes!
Love how you veganized this soup and kept its authentic simplicity. Looks amazing !!
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Thank you Angie! It makes me feel like I’m cooking with grandma as a kid again.
I’m excited to see this recipe made vegan, a must try for sure!
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Yes definitely bring back good memeories!
My gosh, this sounds so delicious and light and nourishing!
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So interesting, I’ve never heard of this before! Thanks for the recipe!
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If you love lemon, then you need this soup 😀
This looks delish. Looking forward to trying your soups. These ideas sound great for vegan babies. Suggest that you tag your vegan recipes under Kosher as well.
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Great idea – thank you!