This classic Egg Drop Soup recipe is quick and easy to make in just 15 minutes and always tastes so cozy and comforting.
Growing up, my family had a tradition of eating lunch at our local little Chinese restaurant every single Saturday. And every single Saturday — like, we’re talking nearly two decades of Saturdays here — I would order “the usual.”
Egg drop soup. ♡
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I absolutely adore a good bowl of egg drop soup. It was my favorite food in the whole entire world as a kid. And today, it’s still one of the most comforting, nostalgic, delicious soups I know.
It’s also one of the easiest soups I know. All you need to make this egg drop soup recipe is about 15 minutes (tops) in the kitchen, a handful of easy ingredients, and a quick tip for how to drizzle those beautiful egg ribbons. Then a delicious batch of egg drop soup can simmering on the stove and ready to be served in no time.
Let’s make some soup!
Egg Drop Soup Recipe | 1-Minute Video
So What Is Egg Drop Soup?
In case this recipe is new to you, egg drop soup is a staple at Chinese restaurants across the United States. It’s typically made with lightly-seasoned chicken or veggie broth, and filled with delicious egg “ribbons”, which are created by whisking raw eggs into the simmering broth.
Egg Drop Soup Ingredients:
To make this homemade egg drop soup recipe, you will need:
- Good-quality chicken or vegetable stock: Either will do.
- Cornstarch: To thicken the broth a bit.
- Seasonings: Just a pinch of ground ginger, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.
- Eggs: Which we will whisk and then drizzle into the soup.
- Sesame oil: Absolutely essential in this recipe, and also one of my favorite ingredients!
- Green onions: Thinly sliced, to mix into the soup and also use as a garnish.
How To Make Egg Drop Soup:
To make egg drop soup, simply:
- Prepare your stock: Whisk the stock, cornstarch, ginger and garlic powder together until combined before turning on the heat. It’s essential that the broth is room temperature or cooler, otherwise the cornstarch will clump up and not dissolve.
- Bring the stock to a simmer: Stirring occasionally. While this is heating, go ahead and whisk together your eggs in a separate measuring cup or bowl.
- Slowly stir in the eggs: Once your stock has come to a simmer, use a whisk or a fork to begin stirring the stock round and round to create a slow “whirlpool”. Then gradually drizzle in the eggs as you continue to stir the stock, and they will turn into those magical little ribbons. Remove pan from heat.
- Add remaining ingredients. Stir in the sesame oil and green onions until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve warm. Garnished with extra green onions, if you’d like.
What To Serve With Egg Drop Soup:
This soup would be delicious when served with:
- My favorite Fried Rice (or Quinoa Fried Rice)
- 12-Minute Chicken & Broccoli
- 20-Minute Moo Shu Pork (or Chicken)
- Beef & Broccoli
- Thai Basil Chicken
- Sesame Noodles with Broccoli and Almonds
- Black Pepper Chicken
More Favorite Soup Recipes:
If you love egg drop soup, feel free to check out these other faves:
- Cabbage Egg Drop Soup (my other favorite version of this soup!)
- Hot and Sour Soup
- Miso Soup
- Tom Kha Gai
- Egg Roll Soup
- Everyday Green Curry
- Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup
Egg Drop Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
- thinly-sliced green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the broth. Whisk together stock (chilled or room-temperature), cornstarch, ginger, garlic powder and white pepper in a medium sauce pan until smooth. Heat over high heat until the stock comes to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Whisk the eggs. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs and egg whites in a small measuring cup or bowl. (I find the measuring cup easier for pouring.)
- Stir in the egg ribbons. Once the broth reaches a simmer, use a whisk or two chopsticks to stir the broth in a circular motion, creating a whirlpool. Then slowly pour the whisked eggs in a very thin stream into the soup as you continue stirring, in order to create egg ribbons.
- Season. Remove pan from heat. Stir in the sesame oil until combined. Season with salt and additional white pepper to taste, also adding a dash or two of extra sesame oil if needed. (Saltiness will depend on your brand of chicken stock, but I generally find this soup needs an extra ½ to 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt.)
- Serve. Serve immediately, garnished with lots of green onions and a twist of black pepper.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
OMG!!!! Cant wait to try this!!!super excited how this will turn out!
Looks soooooo good im literally drooling now…lol?
I find it so hard to stick with a recipe ….m new into cooking but i have found success with my inventions….but definitely gonna do this!
Thanks, Farsana — we hope you love it!
I love eggdrop soup but at age 55 never made it, didn’t even know what went into it! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe on Facebook. What does the Sesame oil do? I’ve never used it.
You’re welcome, Joy — we hope you enjoy this! The sesame oil is just for flavor (it’s delicious)! :)
This really sounds delicious and I’m a fan of egg drop soup as well, I’m just curious as to why the corn?
It’s just a personal preference, but totally feel free to leave it out if you prefer! :)
your recipe for egg drop soup
I can’t use cornstarch, so I’ll use almond flour for thickener agent
I can’t have corn so I’ll just pass on that.
I can’t have salt, may use blk pepper…
I love to read your blog because I was born in Kansas City, MO, many decades ago but haven’t lived there since I was eight years old. I love how you include things about about your city. This egg drop soup is the best recipe I have ever used. Thanks for posting it. I also like your post about how to shop at Aldi’s because one just opened near me in FL and I didn’t know what to shop for.
We’re so happy you enjoyed the soup and the Aldi post, Karen! :)
Hi Gimme Some Oven,
Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes.
I have tried many of them and love them all!
I just have a question: my soups are usually quite salty and I am wondering if I may not be adding to many stock cubes to make the broth.
How many cubes would you recommend using per cup of water? I usually use 1 cube per cup but after the meal I am usually thirsty for hours.
Thank you so much for your help.
Hi Emilie – thanks for trying out the recipes! And as for saltiness, if you’re using bouillon cubes, those are usually considerably saltier than the boxed stocks/broths. If you can, I’d recommend going with those instead of the cubes. Otherwise, everything is probably going to be considerably saltier. Hope that helps! :)
How do you, if at all, reheat?
I recommend eating this soup right away. But you are welcome to reheat it on the stove or in the microwave within 1 day. Enjoy!
We polished off the whole pot. That’s how good this was ?
How would the taste be if you used fresh grated ginger? Would you increase the amount used? I love the fresh taste of ginger!
Sure, you’re welcome to use some fresh ginger! I would definitely increase the amount used quite a bit. (I recommend grating it or finely mincing it!) :)
What brand of chicken stock do you use/recommend? Sorry if you have previously answered this question, I looked through some comments but not all of them and didn’t see the question.Thanks!
Hi Stephany! No worries! We tend to like Pacific since it’s organic and also comes in a low-sodium option (though most other brands do now as well). Sometimes we’ll just get whatever’s on sale, and for soups especially, there’s nothing like homemade chicken stock! :)