This restaurant-style Hot and Sour Soup recipe is the best!! It’s quick and simple to make, easy to adapt to your personal taste preferences, and so delicious.
Can’t stop, won’t stop with the soup recipes this winter. ♡
And today’s recipe is one that I’ve been meaning to share with you on the blog for years, after literally dozens and dozens of you have requested it. (This usually comes up when I’m chatting about my favorite egg drop soup recipe — apparently many of you usually opt for the hot and sour soup at your favorite Chinese restaurants and have wanted to learn how to make it!)
Well, good news, friends! Traditional hot and sour soup is actually incredibly easy to make as well. And the bonus of making it at home is that it’s also incredibly easy to customize to your taste. Like it extra hot? Add in more chili garlic sauce. Like it extra sour? Add in more rice wine vinegar. Like it vegetarian? Make it with tofu. Like the meat version? Just add in some pork.
Trust me, this is one of those restaurant recipes that will taste just as good at home. And on chilly winter weeks like this one that we’re having here in Kansas City, it’s guaranteed to warm you up in the most delicious of ways.
Hot And Sour Soup Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Hot and Sour Soup Ingredients:
To make this hot and sour soup recipe, you will need:
- Broth: Either chicken or veggie stock (or broth) will do.
- Mushrooms: I highly recommend using shiitake mushrooms, but baby bella or even button mushrooms would also do.
- Rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, ground ginger: To flavor the broth.
- Cornstarch: To thicken the broth.
- Eggs: Which we will whisk, and the drizzle into the soup to make those lovely egg ribbons.
- Firm tofu: Which we will cube and add to the soup.
- Green onions: To stir into the soup and also sprinkle on top as a garnish.
- Toasted sesame oil: An essential flavor in the soup, which we will drizzle at the very end.
- Salt and pepper: Hot and sour soup is traditionally made with white pepper, which (heads up) has a different and much stronger flavor than black pepper. I recommend adding in a pinch, and then you can always add in more later. Or if you don’t have white pepper, black pepper will also do.
- Optional: Many restaurant versions of hot and sour soup are also made with bamboo shoots. I’m personally not a fan of them, but you are welcome to add some in if you would like.
How To Make Hot and Sour Soup:
To make this hot and sour soup recipe, simply…
- Make your cornstarch slurry. Whisk together 1/4 cup of the stock and cornstarch until combined. Set aside.
- Bring the soup to a simmer. Add the remaining stock, mushrooms, bamboo shoots (if using), rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and chili garlic sauce to a large stock pot, and cook until the soup reaches a simmer. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and continue cooking for a minute or so, until the soup has thickened.
- Drizzle in those beautiful egg ribbons! While stirring the soup in a circular motion with one hand, use your other hand to slowly drizzle the whisked eggs into the soup.
- Season the soup. Stir in the tofu, half of the green onions, and sesame oil. Then season the soup with salt and black pepper (or white pepper) to taste.
- Serve. Ladle up your servings while the soup is nice and hot, garnished with extra green onions.
What To Serve With Hot & Sour Soup:
Here are a few of my favorite dishes that pair well with hot and sour soup:
- The BEST 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 favorite soup recipes:
Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms (or baby bella mushrooms), thinly-sliced with stems discarded
- 1 (8-ounce) can bamboo shoots, drained (optional)
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar, or more to taste
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 8 ounces firm tofu*, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- Kosher salt and white pepper (or black pepper)
Instructions
- Set aside ¼ cup of the chicken or vegetable broth for later use.
- Add the remaining 7 ¾ cups chicken or vegetable broth, mushrooms, bamboo shoots (if using), rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and chili garlic sauce to a large stock pot, and stir to combine. Heat over medium-high heat until the soup reaches a simmer.
- While the soup is heating, whisk together the ¼ cup of broth (that you had set aside) and cornstarch in a small bowl until completely smooth. Once the soup has reached a simmer, stir in the cornstarch mixture and stir for 1 minute or so until the soup has thickened.
- Continue stirring the soup in a circular motion, then drizzle in the eggs in a thin stream (while still stirring the soup) to create egg ribbons. Stir in the tofu, half of the green onions, and sesame oil. Then season the soup with salt and a pinch* of white pepper (or black pepper) to taste. If you’d like a more “sour” soup, feel free to add in another tablespoon or two of rice wine vinegar as well. Or if you’d like a spicier soup, add in more chili garlic sauce.
- Serve immediately, garnished with the extra green onions.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!This post contains affiliate links.
Best Hot and Sour soup recipe!! My fiancée and I absolutely love it and she’s not a soup person. The only changes I made were adding more fresh shiitake mushrooms and canned shiitake mushrooms (gives the broth a great flavor). Also, I halved the amount of toasted sesame oil. This is very potent stuff and a little goes a long way. I also used 2 tbsp chili sauce, a drizzle of sriracha and for the finishing touch, a habanero sauce drizzle right before serving (Yeah, we like it spicy lol). Have fun with it. It’s delicious!!
Shoot, forgot one more thing. Added 1/2 yellow onion diced up to really enhance the flavor of the broth. Won’t cook it without it now.
It was good except it came a little too thick for my liking. Also make sure to cut the shitake really thin or else they will be really chewy
This recipe is so well balanced I love it!
This is a very good base recipe, as I didn’t know what was actually in Hot &Sour Soup but I love it! I like to sweat when I eat it (haha) so I added extra garlic chili sauce and vinegar at the advice of commenters. It still wasn’t enough for me though. I probably needed up doubling the called for amount of both. I didn’t have any bamboo shoots so I added thinly sliced carrots. I do wish I had bought some bok choy for it. I completely failed at the egg ribbons. I had never done them before and they just kind of blended in to the soup. Some commenters said theirs didn’t get thick – mine didn’t either however most that I’ve had from restaurants were not super thick. I find that the more soy sauce that is used, the thinner it makes the soup. I will definitely make it again though with my modifications.
Soooo Good!
I made this just now and I know it will taste even better when it has a chance to sit.
The sesame seed oil really brings all the taste together.
I added double the chili garlic sauce…. love, love, love!!!
Hi, so excited about this recipe! It looks simple to make and so full of flavor.
However, I could not help but notice you wrote “chicke” instead of “chicken”. Thought you might want to fix it, as typos take away from the neatness of a good thing. :)
What would you add to make it a little more spicy?!
Very good! Very easy, and can be modified to help use up ingredients. I had some leftover smoked pork loin, fresh broccoli and cauliflower from a holiday relish tray. I didn’t have mushrooms, or bamboo shoots, and wife doesn’t like those ingredients anyway. I used 4C chicken and 4C vegetable stock, more green onions, and put it all together in about 15 minutes. It was so good, after a few days of over-eating during Christmas. Warmed our tummies on a cold December night! I will be making this soup again, since it is so quick and tastes like I spent hours on prep and simmer!
Finally a recipe that really works! Thank you so much, I’m really happy about finding this one.
White pepper is the deal! Bamboo shoots are a must for me, I add way more of the chili-garlic-sauce because I like my hot & sour soup really hot :)
I also like to use yuba (tofu skin) in this soup, if you want a vegan option it’s also a great substitute for the egg.
Excellent! I had a excess shredded cabbage and turnip greens, so I threw a handful of these in. I also added extra chili garlic sauce and extra rice vinegar for more of a kick. Having said that, I don’t like to see reviews that reinvent the recipe. This recipe is great as is!