Make the restaurant-style Chinese egg drop soup with the minimum ingredients, within 15 minutes, and without any fuss. {Gluten-Free}
Soup is an important element on a Chinese family’s dinner table. Back in Beijing when I was living with my parents, my mom would serve soup every day along with steamed rice, stir fried seasonal vegetables and a meat dish. Egg drop soup was always her first choice.
Cooking egg drop soup only takes 15 minutes, but you get a hearty soup that tastes way better than the one in Chinese restaurants.
You don’t need to add tons of spices like star anise and cloves because it overpowers the delicate egg flavor. I was astounded to see some egg drop soup recipes call for 6 to 7 spices. It’s unimaginable. We’re cooking a quick side dish here, not Vietnamese pho.
You only need some fresh green onions and ginger. That’s it. They bring out the sweetness of the egg without the taste being overwhelming.
Cooking notes
Fresh aromatics is the key
The key to make the soup more flavorful is to bring the soup to a boil and let it cook with the ginger and green onion for at least 10 minutes to release the flavor. That’s it. You don’t even need to chop the ginger. Just add a whole slice and you can fish it out and discard it before you serve the soup.
Thicken the soup before adding eggs
When you’re ready to add the rest of the ingredients, turn down the heat to let the broth simmer gently. Whisk in cornstarch slurry to lightly thicken the broth. By thickening the broth first, the eggs won’t think to the bottom when you add them, and form better egg ribbons.
How to create the perfect egg ribbons
Slowly add the beaten eggs by using a fork to slow the flow. DO NOT STIR! Let the eggs sits for a few seconds, then use a pair of chopsticks to break them apart to your liking. Stirring the soup too fast will break apart the eggs into tiny pieces and cloud the soup.
Final touch
Drizzle with a few drops of sesame oil. You will get the most comforting soup with a silky texture and delicious eggs bits.
That’s it.
There is no fuss about making a hearty egg drop soup that tastes even better than the one in a Chinese restaurant.
How to alter egg drop soup
There are a few things you can do to make your daily soup taste a bit different.
- Add 1 to 2 chopped tomatoes at the beginning. (One of my mom’s favorites – it makes the soup refreshing and changes the taste.)
- You can add a handful vegetables, such as bok choy, spinach, mushrooms, or cucumber (sounds weird, but it works). But remember that less is more.
- Add corn and peas to make it a corn soup (and you can add ground chicken to make it richer).
- Add a few soaked dried shrimp at the beginning, to infuse more umami flavor to the soup. My mom uses this method with some chicken bouillon when we don’t have chicken stock at home. If you use chicken stock and dried shrimp, the soup will taste even better.
More comforting Chinese soup recipes
- Hot and Sour Soup
- Winter Melon Soup with Meatball
- Wonton Soup
- Chinese Oxtail Soup
- Napa Cabbage Soup with Meatballs
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Chinese Egg Drop Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 green onions , chopped, white and green parts separated
- 1 slice ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (or to taste)
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder , for the yellow color (Optional)
- 4 large eggs , beaten (Footnote 1)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
Instructions
- Combine the chicken broth, the white part of the green onion and ginger in a small pot. Cook over high heat until brought to a boil. Turn to a low heat and let the soup reduce to a simmer.
- Combine cornstarch, white pepper, turmeric, sea salt and 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Whisk until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Swirl into the soup and mix well with a spatula.
- To add eggs, hold a fork (or two chopsticks slightly apart) across the top of a small bowl, drizzle the egg mixture slowly through the gaps into the soup. Let the eggs set for a few seconds, then stir gently to break up the egg to the desired sized pieces.
- Drizzle sesame oil and sprinkle with the green part of the green onion.
- Serve warm.
Notes
- If you want the egg ribbons look even better, try to use 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites. Adding more egg white will make the egg ribbons more consistent. If you have leftover egg whites from baking, now it's a good chance to use them!
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Nutrition
Hi Maggie. Just want to say thanks for the recipe. I was looking for any fast soup recipe and came across your website. As I am writing this comment, I am eating the soup I just made from your recipe. I made a mistake because I didn’t scroll down (was in a hurry) and I actually MISSED the instructions!
So I just improvised “how to do it”. I used two chicken fillet and also put some soy sauce. I missed the white pepper and the sesame oil. Anyway, it turned out really good. It’s not over tasty. I’m cooking this for my husband. And I am not actually a good cook. This is my first soup ever and I love it. A million thanks, Maggie!
Magnificent!!!!!
I just made this soup. It is so delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Simple yet delicious! A big hit with young and old in our household…My kids request this soup often! No changes here, the recipe as written is wonderful. Thank you!
Have you ever had a version where instead of the egg strands, you actually poach eggs in the broth and putone in each bowl and spoon the soup over it. When you cutinto the egg it releases the yolk into the broth and it’s truly yummy. I had this at a Chinese restaurant a long time ago and continue to make it.
When cooking Udon noodles I use the cooking liquid to make soups in this case I added dried ground vegetable bouillon before cooking the noodles! I’m a garlic lover that’s why also adding three sliced cloves, together with 1 slice of ginger, thinly sliced shiitake and chestnut mushrooms and the white parts of three scallions, simmered it for a few minutes then added the starch mixture and shortly afterwards the eggs! Cooked it for about half a minute before drizzling in the roasted sesame oil! Filled myself a huge bowl then I sprinkled really finely chopped scallions(green part) over the steaming hot broth! Tasted it and because I’m using low salt bouillon and didn’t added any salt I poured in a little mild Shoyu(low salt soy sauce) and the taste experience was extraordinary, really delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
The refried rice was a total success. My husband hates rice but he loves this rice!
Very easy and excellent…my son who doesn’t like it at a restaurant said he Really Liked it…I look forward to making again. Thank You
The bowl of egg drop soup is pure cozy perfection. Thank you.
I halved the recipe for two servings and subbed vegetarian chicken broth for regular chicken broth.
Maggie! I loved this (so did my family). I have been reading through all of your recipes and cannot wait to try them all out. We are an Asian food loving family (like driving an hour to get to Chinatown haha). I am really looking forward to cooking some good Asian food at home instead of going out. Thank you so much for your delicious recipes!!!
This is wonderful soup! I make it every day for breakfast as part of a digestive healing program recommended by my accupuncturist. It is a valued part of my improving well being. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I made this soup last night and it was so easy to make and delicious! Didn’t change a thing except adding vermicelli noodles to the soup at the end.
It’s one of those dishes that are delicate and simply delicious. Fast and easy to make and great for my cold. My brother loved it. Definitively, a go-to staple side dish when making Chinese food. I’ve seen other websites with more reviews, but this is my favorite version. I think I added some garlic without realizing, though, I guess it didn’t hurt. I don’t use ginger very often, so I used ginger powder. Any recommended amount?
Hi Isabel, I’m glad to hear you liked the recipe! I think garlic definitely works in this soup. If you want to substitute ginger with ginger powder, I will start with 1/4 teaspoon. If you really like the gingery taste, I would go up to 1/2 teaspoon. Hope that helps! 🙂
Simple, easy to follow recipe. I added the shrimp and used half the sesame (mine is on the strong side). Definitely pleased everyone! Thanks for the great recipe!
Which brand sesam oil did you use? And which oil:regular or the roasted? Thanks
I like Kodoya sesame oil because it’s usually fresh and the package comes small, so you can finish a bottle before it goes bad. I use the roasted one always.
Despite my absolute love of food I have to admit, had never tried egg drop soup but your picture was so beautiful I just had to try this. So delicious! I had some shrimp in my freezer that I wanted to use up so great opportunity. The only thing I did different was boiled the shrimp shells in the chicken broth which added the most amazing flavour. Strained them out prior to adding the actual shrimp and egg. It was amazing! I can hardly wait to impress my friends with this when we can all get back together. Thanks for this winning recipe.
I have never left a review on all the websites I visit. I have been trying to cook Chinese food for years since college. I truly believe it is the one food we truly can’t make as well at home. I tried many recipes and some times it turns out. This is the best Chinese food website I have ever seen. Good job.
If you just want the review on Egg Drop Soup it was so easy and turned out great. The only thing I changed was adding wontons I made to the soup. I used to get Egg Drop soup with won tons in NY.
I am going to try everything. Next is Sweet and Sour pork. Thank you!
Just made this tonight for dinner along with your eggplant with garlic sauce. SO good!! Excellent step by step directions and your footnotes were very helpful too. Shared the link to this site with my extended family who all wanted the recipe!! Thank you so much! I’ll def be back to see what other recipes I can make again!! The only change I made to your recipe was to swap chives for the scallions which I didn’t have on hand. Will absolutely make this again!
Absolutely mouthwatering and perfect !
Such an easy recipe to follow and so beautiful to look at that one is truly in a hurry to have it !
Your recipe is well organised and completely hits the spot with cooks that don’t want to labour kver the stove !
Thank you
I’m so excited, I just signed up for your email cooking class. I have a very well stocked Chinese pantry (live near an H-Mart) because I just love Chinese food! I actually stumbled across your site looking for black sesame ice cream. I’m obsessed with anything black sesame flavored. I’m going to try your black sesame soup later this week. I also ordered a Moon cake mould. Looking forward to making those with my kids. I’ve made mochi several times with my kids and am looking forward to making black sesame mochi ice cream! Love your site already. Soup was delicious! Thank you for doing these classes! Staying home and staying safe, your blog helps break up the monotony!
I also like chopped water chestnuts.
Have just eaten a bowl of egg drop soup using your recipe and it was delicious …I have actually tried several of your recipes and thoroughly enjoyed every one , so much so I have just ordered on of your books ….regards Jon-ed