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!
Thumbs up! My picky son loves it! Gonna add shredded chicken next time!
Thanks for sharing!
We’re happy to hear that, Eileen!
I had to use an additional two table spoons of corn starch cause it was to watery. I also got the low sodium chicken broth which left it bland. But I have to watch my sodium.
We’re sorry you had to use more cornstarch to get this thicker — we’re not sure why, but we hope it worked out for you and that you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight and my husband and I loved it! I didn’t have chicken stock, but used broth and it still turned out great. I added mushrooms with the corn, which was a nice touch. Will be making again!
Thanks for sharing, Cassie — we’re so glad you both enjoyed it!
Can you make the egg drop soup ahead and freeze for later?
Hi Ashley! This soup isn’t really ideal for freezing. You can freeze the soup but you’d need to do it without the eggs (the eggs will not hold up well in the freezer). We hope this helps!
This soup was so delicious!! ☺❤
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, we’re so glad you enjoyed it!
This looks divine! One of my favorites, too, and I also have found restaurant egg drop lacking lately! My favorite one was at a restaurant where I grew up in Ohio, and I have yet to find a place that makes it that good! (I’ve since moved away these past 30 years!!) This recipe looks a LOT like my original beloved Egg Drop! This is the first recipe I’ve seen using corn!! Yay! I’m going to try!
Thank you!
Thank you, Deanna, we hope you can give this a try and that it’s similar to the version you loved at that restaurant! :)
Great recipe easy to make way full flavor !
In my world of normal ;) and as a suggestion I like to add clam meat &/or NZ Green lip mussel meat to add bulk n flavor, note I prefer only the male mussel, orange meat….as it is firmer not mushy like the gray/white female mussel meat !
Thanks for a great recipe and hope my additions are enjoyed by other adventurous conisours~LeRoy !
Thanks for sharing with us, LeRoy — we’re happy you enjoyed it!
I made receipe and I found it very tasty. I have never tried anything like it before. I was hesistant about the sesame oil but I found it very yummy. My only struggle is that my soup didn’t thicken up like I thought it would. Otherwise, it was easy and yummy!
We’re happy to hear you enjoyed it, Lisa! It’s not supposed to be a very thick soup, but you could try cooking it longer next time.
We celebrated Chinese New Year tonight at a dinner party. I brought this for the appetizer. It was very easy to make but definitely didn’t turn out like the pictures. The flavor was good. If I have a future need for egg drop soup, I’ll use this recipe, but I won’t make it again otherwise.
Hi Jodi! We appreciate you giving the recipe a try and for sharing your experience with us. We’re glad you enjoyed the taste of it. We’re not sure what you mean about how it didn’t look like the pictures (did you have trouble incorporating the egg)?
I made this for hubby last night and he said it pretty good. It was a little watery (my fault I used arrowroot instead of corn starch). I added sliced mushrooms that I saluted in sesame oil. Next time I will use corn starch and see if that thickens better.