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Egg Drop Soup

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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:

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Egg Drop Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 172 reviews
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 6 cups of soup 1x

Description

This classic Egg Drop Soup recipe is quick and easy to make in just 15 minutes and always tastes so cozy and comforting.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.)
  3. 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.
  4. 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.) 
  5. 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.

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599 comments on “Egg Drop Soup”

  1. If you have a super hungry spouse, do you have an entree recipe of your that you recommend to pair with this soup?

  2. Sounds delicious! Can this soup be reheated successfully? Thank you

  3. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.. we enjoyed it very much!






  4. Thank you so much this is perfect and turned out very good!!!






  5. Had to leave a comment – saw this on Pinterest, immediately made it for dinner, took one taste and involuntarily did a little happy dance ??so fast and so delicious!!






  6. Used 4 large eggs for this. Instead of 2 eggs/2 whites. Worked awesome! Used ‘Better Than Bullion’ Chicken Stock Mix. Skipped the corn. YUMMY! Will keep recipe + changes I made. Me and hubby like it a lot!






  7. Sounds so yummy but I have a sesame allergy :( any substitutes?!

  8. Can I make this ahead of time and chill, then reheat later? Can leftovers be frozen?

  9. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Great tasting soup (had forgotten how yummy it was) ??






  10. Love this recipe! Simple but very tasty!






  11. I used tapioca starch. The soup doesn’t separate. This recipe is perfect.






  12. Ali, as always your recipes are delicious!! I used to cook a lot from other blogs (recipetineats, simplyrecipes, Chrissy tiegen books) but your recipes are BY FAR healthier (no need to drench everything in butter and bacon) , easier and lighter but packed with flavor. I love that. Thanks to your awesome cooking skills, I’ve slowly transitioned to making mostly your recipes. You are wonderful!






  13. Spent way too much time reading silly comments about this recipe- lol- so I felt compelled to weigh in.
    ONE teaspoon of soy sauce or tamari will give it amped up flavor and will not turn it brown.
    I used peas instead of corn- very good also.
    Great recipe! So easy perfect for when you have a cold, too.






  14. The recipe says 3 eggs but the instructions mention eggs and egg whites. Video seems to show 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites. Can you update the recipe so we know how many eggs vs. egg whites? (Unless I am missing it!)

    I love this soup, btw! Made it for a friend who was sick and he loved it. Made it for myself just now for the same reason. It’s so easy, cheap, and fast but also really good! Thanks so much!

  15. The recipe calls for 3 eggs but in the video it looked like you used 2 eggs and 2 extra egg whites, which is correct? TYIA

    • Ah, good question. Either will work! I used to make the recipe with the mixture of eggs + whites. Then later simplified it to just use 3 eggs. But either option will work! :)

  16. Add just a bit of soy sauce and it’s perfect.






  17. Delicious! My only complaint is the recipe says to add the egg when the broth is at a simmer, I didn’t get the egg ribbons because of this. I think if it was actually boiling then it would have turned out perfectly. No biggie, I’ll boil it next time!






    • I thought I did something wrong also when I didnt get the egg ribbons! Thank you for your comment and suggestion! I will try to do it with the broth boiling next time. ?

  18. Thank you for your recipe! It’s quick and easy. An awesome soup for an upset stomach.






  19. this was amazing! my appetite sucks, and finding food my mom genuinely likes is even harder. made it basically according to recipe, with a tiny bit more garlic and ginger and included the corn. she said she thinks it’s her favorite dish I’ve made — and SO easy! thank you!






  20. This may be the best egg drop soup I have ever had. I forgot the sesame oil and thought wow this is good, and then remembered the sesame oil and added. OH my goodness. It went from good to AMAZING! I have been looking for a good recipe for long time. This is my new go to recipe AND it fits in well with the Ketogenic meal plan. #BONUS






  21. Great base recipe. Added a teaspoon of Turmeric; 1/4 teaspoon white pepper; parsley; 1/2 teaspoon of soy. Wonderful!






  22. Followers the recipe with a couple of changes. I grow my own corn and freeze it. So I added the frozen corn after whisking in the corn starch and spices but before the egg so that the corn would thaw and heat through. I also added some shiitake mushrooms at the end. Love it! And was simple. Might try fresh ginger next time.






  23. I didn’t have ginger, so I looked up substitutes and nutmeg was an option that I had in the pantry. I just had oral surgery and was craving egg drop soup, googled egg drop soup and it brought me to gimmesomeoven.com.
    My photo doesn’t look as yellow as the authors, not sure what I did differently? I don’t care for the nutmeg flavor so I wouldn’t use it again. Four stars are based on my flavors.
    Very quick and easy to make! Will keep!






  24. Excellent taste, but wasn’t thick like in a restaurant. You wouldn’t happen to have any ideas as to what the problem may be?
    I used 2.5 tbsp cornstarch…
    But, still very good!






    • I would also like to know the trick to making it thicker without adding too much corn starch and ruining the flavor!






  25. Made this for dinner tonight and found it pretty much tasteless. Went back over recipe a couple times thinking I missed something. But no.

    • Hmmm, maybe it needed to be seasoned with more salt and pepper? I’ve made this recipe countless times, and it’s usually full of flavor.

  26. I used chicken broth because that’s what I had and wanted to try this. Looked cloudy.. I boiled instead of simmered, I’m sure that’s what the issue was. Still tasted good..left out the sesame oil and corn..

  27. So yummy! Perfect for a friend with a cold! Will be my go-to when I’m sick, too! I added a little more salt, ginger and sesame oil (because I used Xanthan gum instead of cornstarch since I’m doing keto and it made it too thick, so I needed a little extra chicken broth). I’m terrible with the eggs, though. I can never get them restaurant style. But it turned out great anyway!






  28. I love this recipe. I like to add white rice to mine, just like I do at the restaurant






  29. I used a chicken soup I had frozen and it was delicious! I didn’t have some of the ingredients but was great anyway!






  30. My son and I both love egg drop soup so I doubled the recipe and I’m SO glad I did! We love it! and now we have leftovers. Thanks for sharing this wonderful and easy recipe!






  31. Loved the recipe! First time I made this, I accidentally bought pure sesame oil instead of roasted and I accidentally put it in before the eggs so it didn’t taste right, but the second time I made it, I left out the sesame oil since I didn’t have it and it was amazing! Once I actually get the right oil I will try it then, but it doesn’t actually taste bad without it! I only give it a four because I haven’t been able to make it to a T yet.






  32. Absolutely delicious! Adding corn is a must in my opinion :) My 19m old daughter loved it too!






  33. Eating this right now! LOVE IT! I doubled it and added a couple more eggs. Also cooked some dumplins and put those in there , THANK YOU !!!






  34. beautiful.






  35. PERFECT. I’m a saltaholic, so I added quite a bit of salt and pepper, but the flavor it amazing. Absolutely perfect.






  36. This was so fantastic! I never knew that sesame oil was the secret ingredient that I was missing! I also added just a touch of hot pepper oil at the end, as well. I used garlic broth, by the way, instead of chicken. I also added fresh ginger in addition to the powdered ginger.






  37. Followed the recipe exactly and it was amazing ? might add more of all of the seasonings next time since I like it a little more spicy but as is this recipe is lovely.






  38. This soup is good! I love the ginger and garlic powder. I did use an additional Tbsp of cornstarch and more ginger and garlic powder. What confused me is that there is no mention of sesame oil in the ingredients but the instructions say to stir it in. How much?? I added about 3 Tbsp for the flavor. I still havent mastered the “ribbons”.






    • Hi Rebecca, Sesame oil varies. Did it taste ok? Some is denatured, while others (usually in small bottles) are dark and strong in taste and aroma. I suggest to start with much less IF you are using the toasted oil which is indeed strong and can ruin a dish. Many times I use a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon in a dish. It should not overpower. ….. Into hot liquids, add cornstarch in a slurry of cold broth or water to avoid lumps. ….. Some people like more or less egg and some like thicker or thinner ribbons. I suggest a fast stir and a thin stream for more delicate ribbons, and slow it down for thicker ones. It is personal preference. I like some of each. ….. The corn is good in it! In the summer I boil cut corn cobs in the broth before making soup. Then add the corn kernels in. It adds so much! I hope that was helpful!






  39. I have tried to make egg drop soup a few different times and this has by far been best! Yummy yummy!






    • Great recipe! I omitted the corn, green onions, garlic powder, and ginger (I didn’t have them on hand and I’m definitely not going to the store right now) and it still tastes awesome. The egg ribbons are difficult, but it can be done. even if you don’t get it exactly right, it still tastes good. I turned my heat down to medium before adding the eggs to avoid the pieces getting too small. I made that mistake on another recipe and it was terrible haha. Definitely will make again!!






  40. I’ve made this several times and it’s a very solid recipe. I like a slower whirlpool to make longer ribbons of eggs. I’ve never used the corn, but this recipe is great as is.






  41. This turned out amazing with very little effort. I used dried chives as I didn’t have green onions on hand, and white pepper instead of black. Definitely adding this to my recipe box for future use!






  42. I find if you don’t stir while the eggs go in, (make sure it isn’t boiling) drizzle beaten eggs in a circle, wait 2 minutes, then gently stir. It makes the eggs soft and not as broken up, giving it a velvety texture.

  43. My mother used to make this for me if I was sick. We were living on base in Germany. I think maybe getting sesame oil might have been difficult so that’s why it was for special times only. My son and I both have the flu, and I thought of this soup tonight. It turned out just like my Danish New Yorker mother used to make. Now, it’s in my menu rotation – no more only getting this delicious soup when you’re sick.

    • Looooove this tip, definitely they way to go if you prefer bigger ribbons rather than really thin ones






  44. Delicious, better than a Chinese restaurant!






  45. Delish and the perfect soup for my sick kiddo. Thank you!






  46. This was so good! I did modify a little bit. I love mushrooms so I did half mushroom stock half chicken stock and added porcini mushrooms. So yummy!

  47. This is delicious. I used soy sauce instead of salt to up the umami flavor, and it totally delivered!!






  48. My husband said… looks like a bowl full of puke… tastes really good. I haven’t mastered the presentation yet as you can tell. I think I just didn’t have the water hot enough for the egg pour. I couldn’t find my sesame oil anywhere. I searched evert cabinet and the fridge. So I used olive oil instead and it was still good. Excited to try it with sesame oil next time.






  49. So good and easy to make! I used flour because I didn’t have any corn starch on hand and it was still good.