Tomato egg drop soup is a delicious and comforting soup that’s perfect for any day of the week. It’s quick and easy to make, requires just a handful of ingredients, and can be customized with your favorite protein for a filling and satisfying meal. The best part is that it only takes 10 minutes to make.
What is Tomato Egg Drop Soup?
Tomato egg drop soup is a Chinese soup made with tomatoes, eggs, and chicken broth. It’s a popular soup in China and is commonly served as a side dish or appetizer. It’s a slight variation on the classic egg drop soup and includes the same silky egg ribbons cooked in chicken broth. The addition of the tomato provides a little bit of acidity to balance the creaminess of the eggs. Today, tomato egg drop soup is enjoyed all over the world and is a staple in many Chinese restaurants.
Ingredients for Tomato Egg Drop Soup
To make tomato egg drop soup, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Tomatoes: Use fresh, ripe tomatoes for the best flavor.
- Eggs: Use large eggs for this recipe if you can.
- Chicken broth: Homemade or store-bought chicken broth can be used. If using store-bought broth I recommend a low sodium type.
- Green onions: Use both the white and green parts of the green onions.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic cloves for the best flavor.
- Ginger: Use fresh ginger for the best flavor.
- Cornstarch: Used to thicken the soup.
- Water: Used to make the cornstarch slurry and added to eggs to help them fluff up.
- Salt: To taste. The amount of salt added to the soup will vary depending on the saltiness of your broth.
- White ground pepper: It’s less pungent than black pepper and doesn’t leave the black specks, making the broth look cleaner. If you can’t find white group pepper you can use black pepper.
- Sugar: To balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Better than Bouillon roasted chicken base: This provides a boost of chicken flavor to the broth. It’s available at Costco, but you can substitute with chicken bouillon powder or a chicken bouillon cube as well.
- Toasted sesame oil: Adds a delicious nutty flavor to the soup.
How to Make Tomato Egg Drop Soup
Making tomato egg drop soup is quick and easy, and can be done in just 10 minutes. Here’s how to make it step-by-step:
Step 1: Prep Your Aromatics
Thinly slice the green onions, but separate the white and green parts as they will be added at different stages of the cooking process. Peel the ginger and garlic and chop the tomatoes.
Step 2: Saute the Aromatics
Heat some oil in a small pot and saute the white parts of the green onion. Grate in one garlic clove and fresh ginger and saute for just a minute until everything becomes fragrant.
Step 3: Add the Tomatoes
Add in your chopped tomatoes and allow to cook for about 3 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened and some of the tomato juice has released into the bottom of the pot.
Step 4: Add the Chicken Broth
Pour in your chicken broth. I like to use homemade chicken bone broth, which I always keep stocked in my freezer. You can find my recipe for homemade chicken bone broth here. Store-bought chicken broth works just fine for this recipe. I recommend using low-sodium chicken stock if you can so you can season to taste accordingly.
Step 5: Simmer
Let your broth come to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer with lid covered for 5 minutes. This will allow the aromatics to infuse the broth with flavor, resulting in a more full-bodied broth.
Step 6: Prepare your slurry and eggs
While your broth is simmering, prepare your cornstarch slurry in a small bowl by adding a 1:3 ratio of cornstarch to water. Set that aside and prepare your egg mixture in a separate bowl by adding eggs and a splash of water. The water will help the eggs fluff up to perfection so you get those beautiful egg ribbons in your soup.
Step 7: Season your broth
Season your broth by adding some salt, white ground pepper, sugar, and a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon roasted chicken base. The chicken base will provide a boost of chicken flavor to the broth. You can substitute with chicken bouillon powder or a chicken bouillon cube as well.
Step 8: Let your broth thicken
Pour the cornstarch slurry into your broth and whisk to ensure there are no lumps of cornstarch in the soup. Bring the broth back to a simmer for about 2 minutes and you’ll see that the cornstarch has thickened the broth.
If you prefer an even thicker broth, go ahead and mix an additional half tablespoon of cornstarch with 1.5 tbsp of water and add to your soup. Allow to simmer again for 2 minutes or until the broth has thickened.
Step 9: Make the egg ribbons
Slowly pour in your eggs in a circular pattern and use a wooden spoon to gently mix until the egg ribbons appear. Cook for 30 seconds then turn off the heat and take the pot off the stove so the eggs do not overcook.
Step 10: Garnish with sesame oil and green onion
Drizzle toasted sesame oil over the soup and add in the green parts of the green onion. Be sure to use toasted sesame oil instead of regular sesame oil.
How to serve tomato egg drop soup
Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. You can serve this soup as an appetizer or side dish. If you’d like to enjoy this as the main course, simply add your protein of choice. Some options include shredded chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or tofu.
Tomato Egg Drop Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 stalk green onions, white and green sections thinly sliced separately Use 2 if your stalks are small
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp grated garlic
- 1 large tomato, chopped into 1 inch pieces Use 2 if your tomatoes are small
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Better than Bouillon roasted chicken base or 1 tsp bouillon powder
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Cornstarch slurry
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 3 tbsp water
Egg mixture
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Heat a small pot on medium heat and add oil. Add the white part of the sliced green onion, garlic, and ginger. Saute for just a minute until the garlic and ginger become fragrant and the garlic just starts to turn slightly golden (about 1 minute).
- Add chopped tomato and saute for another minute.
- Add chicken broth, salt, sugar, white pepper, and Better than Bouillon chicken base or bouillon powder.
- Bring to low boil then reduce the heat and allow everything to simmer together with lid closed for about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare your cornstarch slurry in a separate bowl and set aside. Prepare your egg mixture as well in another separate bowl and set that aside as well.
- Open the lid and slowly pour in the cornstarch slurry using a whisk if you have. Continue to simmer for another 2 minutes or until the broth starts to thicken, then slowly drizzle in the egg mixture. Gently mix with a wooden spoon until the egg ribbons form then take the pot off the heat so the eggs do not overcook.
- Add the sliced green part of green onion and sesame oil. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle the soup into individual bowls and serve immediately.
