Tomato Egg Drop Soup

This quick and easy savoury Tomato Egg Drop Soup is prepared from start to finish in about 20 minutes! Better than the soup they serve at your favourite Chinese restaurant, and with an optional splash of hot sauce, the cozy and warm soup is hearty and healthy too!

Tomato Egg Drop Soup just might be one of the best soups I’ve ever tasted! Not only is it filled with tomatoes and eggs, but the broth is loaded with flavour! The soy sauce provides saltiness and umami while the hot sauce provides warmth and heat. The sesame oil adds nuttiness and the green onions adds freshness and colour. I love the slight spiciness of this soup. It’s just the right balance that places this soup in my top 5 soup recipes of all time!

Years ago, I used to have takeout every Tuesday night for dinner. Tuesday used to be my late day at work, so I would arrive home after seven. Who wants to cook at that time? I would always pick up dinner from a Toronto-based Chinese restaurant called Tender Trap. This soup reminds me of the soup I’d get from that restaurant.

Unlike their soup, which had shredded chicken in it, I’m keeping my version vegetarian. It’s just a matter of leaving the chicken out of the recipe and using vegetable stock rather than chicken or beef stock. If you want, you can add cooked, shredded chicken to your soup. Just add it in when you add the tofu so that it’s properly heated through. The chicken must be previously cooked!

My favourite part of this soup is that savoury tomato flavour. The combination of the vegetable stock, soy sauce, and hot sauce blends to create this deep, rich flavour. It always surprises me that the flavour of something so simple can be so complex and created in twenty minutes. You have to try this recipe!

ADDING CHICKEN

As mentioned above, you can add chicken to this soup if you prefer to not have a vegetarian soup. To do so, you can add pre-cooked, shredded chicken to the soup after the eggs have set. This will ensure that the previously cooked chicken is heated through before serving. But, if you don’t have any pre-cooked chicken, but still want to add some in, you can poach chicken.

To poach chicken, add one or two skinless, boneless chicken breasts to a pot. Cover with water so that the water is at least one inch above the chicken. Add salt according to your tastes. Use a little more salt than you think you will need because you don’t want the chicken to be bland. Add a clove of crushed garlic and a slice or two of fresh ginger. Lastly, add a stalk of green onion that you have cut into one-inch lengths.

Over medium heat, allow the liquid to come to a low simmer. Do not be tempted to increase the heat to make the poaching process faster. You will just end up with tough chicken. Once the liquid is simmering, lower the temperature to medium-low and simmer for fifteen more minutes. Remove from pot and allow to cool before shredding.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Canned Diced Tomatoes – Use the juice from the can too!
• Vegetable Stock – If you are using store-bought, use low sodium. Some of them can be overly salty!
• Water
• Soy Sauce – There’s a lot of soy sauce in this recipe. Depending on the brand, soy sauce can be really salty. Try to use low-sodium soy sauce to avoid preparing a dish that might be too salty to eat!
• Hot Sauce – Use your favourite hot sauce here. I personally feel that sambal works extremely well in this soup.
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• Eggs – The eggs are beaten and slowly poured into the soup to create little egg ribbons.
• Cornstarch – Used to thicken the savoury broth.
• Green Onions – Tomato Egg Drop Soup cannot be without lots of freshly chopped green onions. They add flavour, texture and a fresh scent.
• Sesame Oil – For flavour.
• Sesame Seeds – For flavour and garnish.
• Parsley – For garnish; optional.

HOW TO MAKE TOMATO EGG DROP SOUP

Measure the canned diced tomatoes (with the juice), vegetable stock, water, soy sauce, hot sauce, salt, and ground black pepper into a soup pot. Over medium heat, bring the tomato and broth mixture to a low boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and slowly add the cornstarch and water mixture while continuously stirring.

Next, stir the soup so that it continues to swirl gently around the pot. While the soup circulates, slowly pour the whisked eggs into the middle of the swirling soup. Allow the soup to simmer for 3 minutes. DO NOT STIR AFTER THE EGG HAS BEEN ADDED! While the eggs cook in the undisturbed soup, sprinkle the chopped parsley into the pot.

Next, ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a little sesame oil, a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds, sliced green onions, and freshly chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

FREEZING AND RE-HEATING

When freezing Tomato Egg Drop Soup, I like to make sure it’s completely cooled. The best way to do this is to just turn off the heat, remove the lid, and let the pot of soup sit at room temperature for at least ninety minutes. Then, stir well to ensure none of the ingredients have settled at the bottom.

Portion as you wish. I like to portion two cups per person. Use a freezer-friendly container with a very tight-fitting lid. Also, be sure to label the soup so you know what it is!

To reheat, allow the frozen soup to sit at room temperature for at least two hours. Then, slowly simmer in a covered saucepan. In some cases, when thawing soup that has been thickened with cornstarch, the soup will not be as thick as it was when it was first made. You can bring the soup to a boil and add a little bit more of the cornstarch slurry to thicken it up again.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Personally, I would serve this soup as a main and leave it at that! Depending on how many people you are serving though, you might want to make the soup stretch a little further. If I were serving this soup as an appetizer, which is how you will often find this type of soup in a restaurant, you need more sides and a main. Stick with Asian-style dishes to keep with the theme.

My Sesame Bean Sprouts Salad would be a great side dish! If you are serving this soup as a side or an appetizer, I would consider General Tso’s Chicken as a main. It’s bold and flavourful and easily served with plain steamed white rice. It’s a delicious recipe and everyone loves it! One of my personal favourites are these Fried Chili Soy Chicken Thighs. Easy, quick, and delicious!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!