As a very small child, I have distinct memories of visiting a Chinese restaurant with my parents. There are two parts of every meal I recall: starting with a bowl off egg drop soup and the lime sorbet palate cleanser that arrived before the main course. Little did I know that egg drop soup is super easy to make and it’s not hard to make it as delicious as I remember it to be.
Egg drop soup is aptly named: the core of the recipe is dropping eggs into a delicious broth.
Though most recipes include it, you can easily make egg drop soup without cornstarch. This makes it a completely keto-friendly soup recipe, which is handy if you’re counting carbs. For a snack or starter course, this is a fabulous recipe that helps you increase your protein without any extra carbohydrates – and it adds some good sodium to your diet too if you struggle to keep your electrolytes balanced on a keto diet.
If you’re ready to drop into this easy keto-friendly egg drop soup recipe, let’s do it!
Making Keto-Friendly Egg Drop Soup
Image Credit: The Passport Kitchen.
I love this recipe so much that I make it at least once a month – it’s that easy! The most challenging part of the recipe is fine-chopping the garlic… or maybe whisking the eggs long enough to get them fully mixed. But seriously, that’s the most challenging part and the rest is just adding ingredients in the right order and seasoning it to your preferences.
Oh, and one more tip before getting started: taste this soup often. A lot of it is based on your flavor preferences, so you’ll want to taste it each step of the way to get a sense for when it tastes exactly as you prefer.
To begin, grab your soup pot and add the broth and chopped ginger. Put the pot over high heat and bring the broth to a boil. While you might be tempted to skip the ginger, it’s critical for getting the right herbaceous flavor. As the pot comes to a boil, you should start to be able to smell the ginger.
Next, stir in half the green onions and reduce the heat. You want the green onions to break down over the course of the remainder of the process – but not too quickly. Once the pot is simmering, add the garlic powder and sesame oil and stir them in. Leave the pot uncovered and simmering.
What about the cornstarch?! At this point, some recipes add a cornstarch and water slurry to thicken the soup. I make my egg drop soup without cornstarch for two reasons: adding it makes the recipe not keto-friendly (keto-unfriendly?!), and the soup I grew up enjoying was not thickened.
Crack all of the eggs into a bowl or large measuring cup; grab a whisk and stir vigorously until the yolks and whites are fully integrated/combined. This typically takes me 2-3 minutes of stirring.
Bring the heat back up under your pot, and as it comes back to a boil, begin pouring the eggs into the soup very slowly. Aim for the diameter of the egg being poured to be no wider than a fettuccini noodle while pouring. (As you pour, the soup will cool, so you may need to do this in several phases.) Once the eggs are mixed in, use salt and pepper to season the soup to taste.
If you’re not serving your egg drop soup right away, reduce the heat back down to low to keep it warm, and cover. When you serve, use a ladle to serve into bowls and top with the remaining green onions.
Egg Drop Soup Recipe (Without Cornstarch)
Egg Drop Soup without Cornstarch (Keto-Friendly)
Egg drop soup is aptly named: the core of the recipe is dropping eggs into a delicious broth.
Ingredients
- 6 cups Chicken Broth
- 6-8 Eggs (medium or large)
- ⅔ cup Green Onions, chopped and divided
- 1 inch Ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the broth and chopped ginger to a large soup pan and bring to a boil.
- Add half the green onions and reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Stir in the garlic powder and sesame oil.
- While waiting, crack the eggs into a bowl or measuring cup and whisk until completely integrated.
- Once the green onions become aromatic, increase the heat, bring the broth back to a boil, and very slowly pour in the eggs. You may need to pause to keep the soup at a boil during this process.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Top with green onions and serve.
Making Instant Pot Egg Drop Soup
If you prefer to use an Instant Pot for cooking soup, this recipe for egg drop soup without cornstarch works for that, too. Here are the modifications you need:
- Start by pressure cooking the broth and chopped ginger for 2-3 minutes.
- Switch to the Sauté setting on “High” or “More” heat for the rest of the recipe
The reality is that it may take longer to make the soup in your pressure cooker or instant pot than making it on a stovetop (depending on how long your pressure cooker takes to pressurize and de-pressurize). However, it can definitely be done if you want to make egg drop soup in your Instant Pot instead!
Have other questions about this keto-friendly Egg Drop Soup recipe? Let me know in the comments!
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