Egg Drop Soup

Adult version with onions 

As a child, egg drop soup was one of my absolute favorite things when my family would eat at Chinese restaurants.

As adults, we’ve kind of given up eating at Chinese restaurants because we got spoiled by a really good, authentic Chinese restaurant that is no longer open. Ever since then, we just can’t find Chinese food as good as that place had. Like many things, it just doesn’t seem the same as it was when we were kids. The last time we tried, we both felt TERRIBLE after eating the Chinese food! The best solution to problems like that is to learn how to do things yourself.

Kid version with no onions

My husband was just out of the country on a missions trip, and so I invited our neighbor and her daughter over for dinner. In previous conversations she’d told me that they both loved egg drop soup and made it at home, so I thought, what a perfect opportunity to try this out, and do what I love to do, which is feed friends.

My neighbor’s daughter loved it, and seeing as she’s kind of a critic of good egg drop soup, I felt like this was a big win. Double that with the fact that both of my children loved it (they’d never HAD egg drop soup before!), I felt pretty good about my success!

I made this soup another night when my husband had a meeting, and my daughter asked for thirds and my son asked for seconds, so this soup was just as big of a hit the second time I made it! Between the three of us, there was none left!

This soup is a chicken broth based Chinese soup often thickened with cornstarch (see Keto alternative below) and seasoned with soy sauce, ginger, and green onions. It is really easy to make, it takes less time than even chicken noodle soup, with pretty basic ingredients. In the times that we’re living in, we need soups like this! And, it’s very low calorie and packed with protein. One bowl of soup (about 1 cup) is only 71 calories.

I got this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything’s blog.

Is This Keto-Friendly?

Yes. There are only 5 grams of carbs in each serving of this soup making it keto-friendly. You can also add more sesame oil for more fat which is good on the keto diet. See all of the nutritional information for egg drop soup below the recipe. Also to make it more Keto-friendly you could use bone broth.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, (I like better than Bouillon chicken base)
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch, For Keto use 1/2 teaspoon Xanthum gum
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, (more to taste)
• optional 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil, (see note)
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions

Directions:

• In a pot, bring the chicken broth, soy sauce, and ground ginger to a boil.
• In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and cold water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the boiling broth until thickened.
• Reduce heat to a simmer. Slowly drizzle the whisked eggs into the soup while gently stirring in a circle motion in the same direction.
• Remove from heat and add the salt, sesame oil (if using), and green onions. Add more salt to taste and serve.

Notes:

Sesame oil is not absolutely necessary but a little sesame oil gives the soup a really nice flavor. it is a rare ingredient that most people don’t have on hand but tastes great if you have it.