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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Add remaining ingredients. Stir in the sesame oil and green onions until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
  5. 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:

More Favorite Soup Recipes:

If you love egg drop soup, feel free to check out these other faves:

Egg Drop Soup

4.68 from 187 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 6 cups of soup
This classic Egg Drop Soup recipe is quick and easy to make in just 15 minutes and always tastes so cozy and comforting.

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

Recipe edit: This recipe was edited in 2022 to include slightly increased amounts of ground ginger, garlic powder and white pepper. I also used to include 1/2 cup of whole kernel corn in the recipe, which is now noted as an optional addition.

Additional Info

Course: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!

About Ali

Hi, I'm Ali Martin! I created this site in 2009 to celebrate good food and gathering around the table. I live in Kansas City with my husband and two young boys and love creating simple, reliable, delicious recipes that anyone can make!

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4.68 from 187 votes

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Recipe Rating




625 Comments

  1. Angelina says:

    What’s your favorite stock to make this with? I feel like the stick makes all the difference!

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Hi Angelina! We like Trader Joe’s Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth and Better than Bouillon. We hope this helps!

  2. Lisa R says:

    5 stars
    This was so,yummy. I didn’t have ground ginger so I added garlic sriracha herb which gave it a nice kick. I also didn’t add any sesame oil and it was still good!

    Definitely making this again!

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thank you for sharing, Lisa, we’re so happy you enjoyed it! :)

  3. Sarah says:

    Thank you! My boyfriend and I are currently doing the Whole30 diet, and we are really struggling to find quick and easy recipes that aren’t grilled meat and veggies… And I was struggling to find a way to get him to eat eggs! So I made this (with no corn starch) with 6 whole eggs, to up the protein and volume! He loves it and refuses to believe he’s eating three eggs. haha :)

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      You’re very welcome, Sarah, we’re happy you both enjoyed it!

  4. Mike says:

    4 stars
    Made today very good loved the corm also added boc choy

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      We’re glad you enjoyed it, Mike, and we bet it was yummy with the bok choy!

  5. Andrea says:

    Would be nice to print your recipe and try it, the video blocks information.

  6. Mallory says:

    5 stars
    This soup was the BEST! I have a cold and was craving a healing soup that would also be easy to make with minimal ingredients. This was just what I needed! I’ve never made homemade egg drop soup before but this is one i’ll be making time and time again from now on. Thanks so much for the fantastic recipe!

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thanks for sharing, Mallory — we’re so glad you loved it!

  7. Marion says:

    5 stars
    This is awesome thank you for sharing! I have been looking for this recipie ???

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thanks, Marion — we hope you enjoy!

  8. Brittany says:

    Is there nutritional info for this? :)

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Hi Brittany! We’re sorry but we are unsure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!

  9. Meghan Berndsen says:

    5 stars
    I don’t usually comment on recipes that I try. But this was amazing! Turned out perfect and was very easy. I added some sriracha for spice. This was delicious! Thank you!! ?

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thank you for sharing, Meghan, we’re so happy you loved it! :D

  10. Barbara says:

    5 stars
    Great soup! I have tried making different recipes and was not quite as happy with the results until I tried this one. I am not sure why others had difficulty. It might have been combining in the cornstarch? I think everyone should give it another try and go for less ginger. The sesame oil was the trick I believe, delicious! I only made half of the recipe and it was perfect for my craving. Thank you for sharing!!

    1. Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven says:

      Thank you, Barbara, we’re so happy you enjoyed this recipe! :)