Chicken Noodle Egg Drop Soup
User Reviews
5
Chicken Noodle Egg Drop Soup
Description
This soup starts with a homemade stock made by simmering a whole chicken with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns for several hours. After straining, the stock forms a flavorful base for the soup. The sautéed diced onion, sliced carrot, and celery add sweetness and depth. Shredded chicken breast and wide egg noodles provide substance, making the soup filling. The signature egg drop effect comes from slowly streaming beaten eggs into the simmering broth, forming delicate ribbons.
The soup is finished with lemon juice to brighten flavors and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and chopped fresh herbs for aroma. It can be served as a nourishing starter or light main dish. Adding extra water or stock when reheating helps maintain consistency and refreshes the soup, ensuring it remains enjoyable even after storage.
Reheating suggestions include warming gently on the stove with added liquid to cover the soup, preserving the texture of the noodles and chicken without drying out.
Ingredients
Stock
- 1 whole chicken 3 to 4 pounds
- 4 carrot whole
- 3 celery stalks
- 1 onion cut in half
- 1 garlic top sliced off
- 1 to 2 bay leaf
- herbs including thyme, sage, parsley, fresh, a handful
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns whole
Soup
- 1 to 2 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 onion diced, sweet
- 2/3 cup carrot sliced
- ½ cup celery diced
- 1 ½ cups chicken breast shredded or cubed
- 8 to 12 ounces egg noodles wide
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 to 2 egg per bowl, large
- fresh herbs for garnish, chopped
- sesame oil for drizzling, toasted
Instructions
Stock
- To make the stock, place the whole chicken, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves, herbs, salt and pepper in a large stock pot. Cover the ingredients with water – enough to cover them by an inch or so. I usually use about 4 quarts (a gallon!) of water total and I find that makes for a very flavorful stock!
- Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cover it. I tend to leave the lid very slightly cracked – enough so the stock doesn’t boil over, but not enough that the liquid evaporates. As you’re cooking the stock, you can skin the foam off the top. I let my stock simmer for 2 to 3 hours.
- When it’s finished, I discard the vegetables and herbs. I place the chicken on a large platter to cool and then pull the meat from the chicken.
- I like to double strain the chicken stock. I place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl or measuring cup and strain the stock once. This catches any loose herbs, vegetables or pieces of chicken. I then strain it one more time the same way.
- I like to use the chicken from the whole bird that I use to make the stock. I always see conflicting information about this (some people think it’s flavorless, others think it’s dry, etc), but I think it works great and we love it. If you’d like to discard the entire chicken and meat, you can always use a store bought rotisserie chicken or cook other chicken breasts to get the meat for your soup.
Soup
- To make the soup, heat the same stock pot over medium heat. Add the butter and once it’s melted, add the onions, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables soften, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Stir the chicken into the vegetables. Add the stock back into the pot. I usually add it all back in and this makes a large portion of chicken noodle soup! Depending on how many people you are feeding, you can take the soup and freeze it at this point, before adding the noodles. The noodles will soak up the liquid, so you want to add those in shortly before serving.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer. If you like a noodle heavy soup, you can go with a full 12 ounces. If you want a more brothy soup, start with 8 ounces. Add the noodles and within 15 minutes, the soup should be ready to serve. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Taste the soup and season it additionally with salt and pepper if desired.
- To serve bowls of the egg drop soup, take 1 to 2 eggs (your preference!) and lightly beat them in small bowl of measuring cup. Ladle the hot soup into bowls (this is the key! You want it to be hot!) and immediately drizzle in the beaten egg in a slow stream. Use your spoon to slowly swirl the soup back and forth.
- You can garnish the soup with fresh parsley or cilantro, as well as a drop of toasted sesame oil if you wish!
Notes
- Reheat the soup gently in a saucepan over low heat, adding extra stock or water to keep a proper soup consistency.
- The soup stores well even with noodles included, making it suitable for leftovers.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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