This delicious Whole30-friendly simple egg drop soup can be made in about 5 minutes from start to finish! It’s perfect for any meal of the day!
Anyone out there tired of the deluge of pumpkin-spice-flavored EVERYTHING when the leaves start changing color? Me, too. Instead, when sweater weather starts, I gravitate towards steaming bowls of soup rather than sickly-sweet pumpkin-y stuff. I know—I’m in the minority, but hear me out: I’m going to share a super easy egg drop soup recipe that you can make in a flash. Well, provided that you have some bone broth and eggs. No bone broth? Make a fast batch in your pressure cooker or dump some bones in your slow cooker and freeze the broth into icy pucks so you always have some on hand.
My version of this classic soup is packed with eggy goodness. Traditional egg drop soup usually features a larger proportion of broth to egg, but not mine: I stir in one egg for each single serving. Feel free to increase the amount of broth if you prefer it less egg-y. And if you’re cooking for more than one, just multiply the ingredient amounts by the number of desired servings, and use a bigger pot. Whatever floats your boat is good with me. I’m easy like that.
So grab your broth and eggs, and find out how to get a hearty bowl of soup in your belly in about 5 minutes (or however long it takes for your broth to boil).
Time to make Simple Egg Drop Soup!
Makes 1 serving
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups bone broth or stock
- 1 large egg
- Red Boat fish sauce (optional, but I always use it to boost umami)
- salt
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)
- cilantro leaves (optional)
- hot chili peppers, thinly sliced (optional)
Method:
In a small saucepan, bring your bone broth to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Flavor it with fish sauce and/or salt to taste. Remember: it’s only as savory as you make it.
Crack the egg in a small bowl and season with a few additional drops of fish sauce and a pinch of salt.
Whisk well with a fork.
Remove the bone broth from the heat and stir the soup with a heat-proof spatula as you slowly pour in the whisked egg.
The egg should cook on contact with the hot liquid even though you’ve removed the saucepan from the heat. The eggs should be soft and wispy rather than overcooked and chunky (ick!).
Transfer the soup to a bowl. (I won’t tell anyone if you use the same bowl that you whisked your egg in.)
The soup tastes delicious as-is, but you can fancy it up with your favorite add-ins. My favorite garnishes include sliced spicy peppers (like red jalapeños!), minced scallions, and cilantro leaves.
Here’s to a delicious and flu-free autumn! (Or at least a manageable sniffle season.)
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
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Simple Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients
- 1½ cups bone broth
- 1 large egg
- Red Boat fish sauce optional, but I always use it to boost umami
- salt
- 1 scallion thinly sliced (optional)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves optional
- hot chili peppers thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring your bone broth to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Flavor it with fish sauce and/or salt to taste. Remember: it’s only as savory as you make it.
- Crack the egg in a small bowl and season with a few additional drops of fish sauce and a pinch of salt. Whisk well with a fork.
- Remove the bone broth from the heat and stir the soup with a heat-proof spatula as you slowly pour in the whisked egg. The egg should cook on contact with the hot liquid even though you’ve removed the saucepan from the heat. The eggs should be soft and wispy rather than overcooked and chunky (ick!).
- Transfer the soup to a bowl. (I won’t tell anyone if you use the same bowl that you whisked your egg in.) The soup tastes delicious as-is, but you can fancy it up with your favorite add-ins. My favorite garnishes include sliced spicy peppers (like red jalapeños!), minced scallions, and cilantro leaves.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is so easy, and it’s delicious. I made it on a rainy day and it hit the spot. Because I also love congee but didn’t want to wait for it, I “congee-fied” the soup by putting 1/2 cup of cooked rice in my bowl first, then poured my soup over it. MMMmmmm comfort in a bowl. Thanks, Michelle!
Wowwwee. So easy and delicious. Thank you!
This is a quick, simple & tasty dish. My only change, because I prefer it thick & chunky, is to stir in a slurry of arrowroot powder and water prior to stirring the egg in.