This vegan avgolemono is made with a creamy, lemony base, rice, chickpeas and veggies. It's so indulgent, comforting, and easy to make!
Have you ever had avgolemono? I did once, many years ago. It's a super creamy, lemony Greek rice soup. Traditional avgolemono contains chicken, but there are lots of vegetarian versions. Also, surprisingly, this creamy soup is dairy-free. It's not egg-free though. That creamy base is made with tempered eggs.
I decided to see if I could replicate that rich, creaminess in a vegan avgolemono recipe. Well guess what? I found that my favorite dairy substitute, cashew cream, worked just as well as an egg substitute in this particular dish!
This soup is thick, luscious, and comforting. And, frankly, I think it's better than the traditional version. Let's talk about how it's made!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Olive oil. Another high-heat oil could be substituted if needed, such as corn, avocado, or canola oil. Olive oil will give your soup the best flavor though, so I highly recommend using it.
- Carrots.
- Celery.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Vegetable broth. Any vegetable broth will do, but a chicken style broth such as Edward & Son's Not Chick'n or Better Than Bouillon No Chicken base would work particularly well, since traditional avgolemono is made with chicken.
- Rice. The recipe calls for medium grain white rice, but you can really use just about any variety, keeping in mind that brown rice will take longer to cook (and you may need to add liquid to the pot as it reduces over time).
- Chickpeas. We're keeping things simple and using canned chickpeas.
- Raw cashews. We'll be soaking these in water and blending them up to create our creamy soup base. Make sure you're buying raw cashews, and not roasted, which will make your soup taste nutty.
- Lemon juice. Use fresh lemon juice! Lemon is the star flavor of this soup, so don't ruin it by using the bottled stuff.
- Kala namak. Kala namak is a variety of salt that's high in sulfur, so it has an eggy flavor. You can get it in Indian markets and online. This ingredient is totally optional — only use it if you'd like to add eggy flavor to your soup.
- Turmeric. Also optional! Use it if you'd like to give your soup a yellow hue, which would be supplied by the egg yolks in traditional avgolemono.
- Fresh dill. Dried dill won't do the job. Use fresh!
- Salt & pepper.
Tip: Some versions of avgolemono are made with orzo pasta instead of rice. Feel free to give that a try with this recipe. You'll probably need to shave a few minutes off the cook time, as orzo generally cooks a bit faster than rice.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Heat your olive oil in a large pot, then add diced carrots, celery, and onion. Sweat the vegetables for about ten minutes, until they soften. Stir in minced garlic and cook it briefly with the veggies.
Stir in the broth, rice, and chickpeas. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer until the rice is fully cooked. This should take about twenty minutes.
While the soup cooks, place your soaked cashews into a blender with some additional broth.
Blend the cashews and broth until the mixture is smooth and milky.
Once the soup has finished cooking, stir in the cashew mixture. Continue simmering the soup for a minute or two
Take the pot off of heat, then stir in the lemon juice, kala namak and turmeric (if you're using them), and fresh dill. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
Tip: This is a very thick soup! Feel free to add more broth if you'd like to thin it bit.
Your vegan avgolemono is ready to enjoy. Grab a bowl and dig in!
Tip: This soup makes a great accompaniment to some of my other favorite vegan Greek recipes, like vegan moussaka and vegan spanakopita.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan avgolemono will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days, or in the freezer for about three months. The rice will continue to suck up liquid as it sits. Add a bit of broth or water if needed when you reheat it.
More Vegan Soups
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Avgolemono (Creamy Greek Lemon & Rice Soup)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 medium celery stalks, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 7 cups vegetable broth, divided
- 1 cup medium grain white rice (Note 1)
- 1 (15 ounce/425 gram) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 to 8 hours, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- Kala namak, to taste (optional, for eggy flavor - Note 2)
- Pinch turmeric (optional, for yellow color)
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the olive oil and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the carrots, celery, and onion. Sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes, stirring them occasionally, until they begin to soften.
- Stir in the garlic and cook it with the vegetables for about 1 minute, until it becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in 6 cups of the broth, along with the rice and chickpeas. Raise the heat and bring the broth to a boil, then lower the heat and let the soup simmer, uncovered, until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Prepare the cashew cream in the meantime.
- While the soup simmers, prepare the cashew cream by placing the remaining cup of broth into a blender, along with the cashews. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
- When the rice is fully cooked, stir the cashew cream into the soup. Continue simmering the soup for another minute or two, just to heat up the cashew cream that you just added.
- Remove the pot from heat. Stir in the lemon juice, kala namak (if using), turmeric (if using), and dill. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve.
Notes
- You can substitute another variety of rice if preferred, but the simmer time may vary. Brown rice in particular takes much longer to cook. You may also need to add more liquid, as it will reduce more during the long cooking period.
- Kala namak has a very strong flavor, so add it sparingly. Start with about a quarter teaspoon and go from there.
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Hello, Could you tell me what type of blender you are using for the cashews?
Thank you.
I'm using a Vitamix. I forget the exact model, but it's the one that's available at Costco. Works great!
so yummy!