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!
This had good flavor, not what I remember from being a kid, but enjoy as an adult. My kids also enjoyed it, but I don’t know that I’ll make it again. My egg ribbon game was not that strong and needs some help, but I don’t know that this alone would fix the unappetizing look of this recipe.
Thank you love it!
My husband and I really enjoyed this soup. It was very flavorful and quick!
Absolutely delicious!! I had to strengthen the chicken broth with some bullion, but flavor and egg texture and color are all fantastic!!
Very good – I added an extra egg
I just made this and followed the directions 100%. I cook daily and often make my own recipes and usually don’t measure things, lol. However, my egg drop soup came out cloudy. It doesn’t have that clear yellow broth. Could it be the cornstarch? I did use better than bouillon.
Yellow compared to what? Restaurants or home recipes? Because I can guarantee that they literally add yellow food coloring in most restaurants. YYuck!! Cloudy could also be the special technique of slowly stirring in the beaten eggs. First couple times the gas didn’t make any “sttings” just pretty much mixed in. I also use chicken bone broth which is very opaque and also “cloudy” compared to regular chicken broth.
If it was overly cloudy then it sounds like you mixed your egg into the broth. I don’t know why she says to simmer. I have to boil first then reduce to simmer before creating my whirlpool
when I added the eggs, it all came together, and I was instantly brought back to previous years eating this delicious soup at our favorite Chinese restaurant. The texture is awesome! I used better than bouillon chicken stock base and it came out great.
I am a huge fan of this recipe. I don’t like when other people change the recipe….but…..being a huge fan of fresh ground turmeric, I added some and it gives it color and a kick !
Oh my God Ali this drop egg soup is epic!!!! I’ve tried two of your soup recipe and they’re both sooo delicious! I’ll make sure to print all all your recipe! thankyou for sharing these recipe. – judy
This recipe came out just ok, and there are quite a few things that I’d change. To begin with, you need a significant amount more of seasoning, especially with the garlic. The soup was still watery with the recommended amount of corn starch, and I nearly had to double the amount to create the desired silky texture. Also, I would add the green onions into the broth at the beginning so that they can cook and disperse their flavor into the soup (crunch onions were not too appealing with the first go around on this). When heating the soup up, bring it to a rolling boil (not a simmer) and then stir in the eggs. The eggs fell apart completely and did not form any type of ‘ribbon’ as it was not hot enough when I had it at a simmer.