Greek Pork and Celery Stew with Avgolemono Sauce – Xoirino me Selino
Once the weather turns cold, I find myself reaching for tried and true comfort foods. There’s nothing like a delicious, hot stew or a one-pot casserole dish to warm you up on a cold winter’s day. Greek Pork and Celery Stew with Avgolemono Sauce is a great meal to make when you need to satisfy your comfort food craving.
As a child, I would watch my mother make this pork stew often, as it was one of my father’s favorite dishes. It grew to become one of mine, too!Made with tender pork and simmered with onion and dill flavors in a delicious egg and lemon sauce, pork stew is a classic dish that even your kids will love. It’s also delicious warmed up and served for lunch the next day!
Greek Pork and Celery Strew with Avgolemono Sauce is easily prepared with ingredients usually on hand in the pantry. It may seem like you are using a lot of celery for this dish, but trust me, it works! The celery becomes soft and tender in the simmering process, and the textures and flavors pair up very well together.
My recipe for Greek Pork and Celery Stew with Avgolemono Sauce calls for using bone-in pork chops, but you can always substitute pork shoulder or pork tenderloin if you prefer. The long simmering time of this dish is very forgiving to tougher cuts of pork so any cut will do. Also, please use fresh dill rather than dried. The dill really gives this dish its flavor and dried dill just doesn’t have enough oomph to do the job.
How to Make Pork and Celery Stew with Avgolemono Sauce:
- Heat a dutch oven on medium high heat. Drizzle with olive oil and saute garlic and onion until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Remove onion from pan. Add pork chops, season lightly with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides. You may need to cook pork in two batches.
3. Once you have all of your pork browned, add the onion/garlic mixture back to pan, and arrange pork in an even layer.
4. Layer celery and dill on top of pork, and cover with chicken broth. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
5. Add a small plate on top of the ingredients to help them stay submerged in the broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 50-60 minutes or until celery is fork tender.
6. In a small bowl, whisk two lemons and two eggs until frothy. While whisking, add in ladles full of broth to egg/lemon mixture to temper the eggs, creating the avgolemeno sauce. Add the mixture to the pot and stir gently to incorporate all of the sauce with the broth.
7. Taste it! Does it need more salt and pepper? Add a bit of salt and taste again, adjusting to your preference. The broth should be tart!
Serve with fresh, crusty bread and fresh tossed salad and some of your favorite cheese.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you like avgolemono sauce, try my Greek Meatball Avgolemono Soup recipe!
One of my favorite Greek classics, Pork and Celery Stew with Avgolemono Sauce is a delicious way to satisfy your comfort food craving.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lbs bone-in pork chops
- 1 vidalia onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 lemons
- 2 eggs
- 1 bunch fresh dill
- salt and pepper
- 32 oz reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 head celery, washed and trimmed, cut into 4 inch pieces
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Heat a dutch oven on medium high heat. Drizzle with olive oil and saute garlic and onion until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
-
Remove onion from pan. Add pork chops, season lightly with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides. You may need to cook pork in two batches.
-
Once you have all of your pork browned, add the onion/garlic mixture back to pan, and arrange pork in an even layer.
-
Layer celery and dill on top of pork, and cover with chicken broth. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
-
Add a small plate on top of the ingredients to help them stay submerged in the broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 50-60 minutes or until celery is fork tender.
-
In a small bowl, whisk two lemons and two eggs until frothy. While whisking, add in ladles full of broth to egg/lemon mixture to temper the eggs, creating the avgolemeno sauce. Add the mixture to the pot and stir gently to incorporate all of the sauce with the broth.
-
Taste it! Does it need more salt and pepper? Add a bit of salt and taste again, adjusting to your preference. The broth should be tart!
-
Serve with fresh, crusty bread and fresh tossed salad and some of your favorite cheese.
Excellent recipe! I family loved it!
Wonderful! I’m so glad. 🙂
Delicious!! The instructions were easy to follow and perfect!