Easy Hot and Sour Soup
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So much tastier (and FASTER) than delivery! 30 min start to finish. Made with homemade wonton strips. SO SO GOOD.
Featured Comment
I made it. I LOVED it! After making it, my daughter dragged me down to a favorite restaurant. Just to see, I decided to order Hot & Sour Soup there. Your recipe was better!! (That’s accounting for modifying the recipe for low-sodium) …and once you’ve made it, it gets easier every time … it’s totally become my “go to”.
Thank you!
reasons to make hot and sour soup
- Cozy, comforting and quick to make in 30 min or less
- Takeout favorite, tasting even better at home
- Best for cold-fighting, helping to clear congestion
what is hot and sour soup?
Hot and sour soup is a classic Chinese soup typically made with mushrooms, sesame oil, egg, cornstarch, and of course vinegar for its enhanced sourness.
tips and tricks for the wonton strips
- Homemade wonton strips goes a long way. Store-bought will save some time in the kitchen but the homemade version below requires only 2 ingredients and tastes so much more fresh, crisp and light-textured.
- Use a heavy pot. A heavy bottom pot, such as a Dutch oven, is ideal here for even heat distribution for the hot oil.
- Cook in batches. If too many wonton strips are added at once, the oil temperature will drop and the wontons will absorb too much oil, resulting in soggy wonton strips.
- Make ahead. The crispy wonton strips can be made 1-2 days in advance, stored in an airtight container at room temperature once cooled completely.
tips and tricks for the soup
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Add more vinegar. If you like your soup particularly sour, add additional vinegar, to taste.
- Make it vegetarian. Use vegetable stock for the chicken stock, skipping the fish sauce as well.
- Mix it up. Swap out the tofu for cooked beef, chicken or pork.
what to serve with hot and sour soup
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Easy Hot and Sour Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Wonton wrappers are available at most grocery stores as well as Asian specialty markets by the refrigerated aisle, typically next to the tofu.
We recommend using a neutral oil with a high smoke point such as vegetable oil, canola oil or peanut oil.
Yes! The wonton strips can be made 1-2 days in advance.
White, cremini and wood ear mushrooms can be used as well.
For a more thicker consistency, add additional cornstarch (about 1-2 teaspoons) to the cornstarch-water mixture.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Easy Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 3 (3.5-ounce) packages fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
- 7 cups chicken stock
- 1 (8-ounce) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained and cut into slivers
- ½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ⅓ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili garlic sauce
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (8-ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
For the crispy wonton strips
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (12-ounce) package wonton wrappers, cut into strips
Equipment
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; set aside.
- Heat canola oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in mushrooms until wilted, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock, bamboo shoots, soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce and pepper.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Stir in tofu.
- Stir in cornstarch mixture, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Gradually add egg in a slow steady stream, stirring with a fork. Cook until the eggs are set, stirring frequently to create ribbons, about 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat; stir in green onion and sesame oil.
- Serve immediately with crispy wonton strips.
For the crispy wonton strips
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Working in batches, add won ton strips to the Dutch oven and fry until evenly golden brown and crispy, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Video
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So good!!! Is there a recipe available for the homemade wonton strips?
This is a killer recipe! I’ve made this at least a dozen times now. I do add some thin strips of pork too, and sometimes I will add some dried fungus from the Asian market if I have it on hand. My family absolutely loves this. It can be a great side for a Asian feast, or sometimes I make it as a main dish and maybe make a side of potstickers. I’ve passed this recipe to every person I’ve ever made it for too, as they think it is fabulous too!
Ahhmazing. Simple recipe, and incredibly tasty. I love all things spicy so I increased the ginger and Sriracha just a bit. I also am not a fan of cornstarch so I reduced to just a scant tablespoon. Thank you!!
This soup is amazing! Just curious though, you say 6 servings. How large is a serving? I would like to avoid manually measuring the finished product if you have the information already. If not, I guess I will have to.
Chungah this soup is Damn Delicious ! It is absolutely the best Hot & Sour Soup I’ve ever had . Outstanding recipe, easy to follow and absolutely amazing. I’ve made it twice & heaven knows I’ll make it many more times . Can’t wait to cook some of your other recipes .
GREAT
I love this soup and have made it twicc. I forage my own oyster mushrooms and wood ears for this recipe. i always increase the onions, garlic, and vinegar, plus throw some red chili flakes in for extra hot. Thanks for posting, it is damn delicious!!
My soup was amazing!!! I will make it again!
Thanks for the recipe!
Absolutely the best recipe for Hot & Sour soup!!! I was so impressed- it was easy to make and totally delicious. I didn’t have to try to find obscure ingredients like dried lotus roots or wood ear mushrooms. I absolutely loved this and so did my family. I didn’t have Sriracha, so I used chinese chili oil instead and it was great. I’m so happy because there are no good places for this soup near me, and now I can make it easily and more healthy at home. Thanks!
Very nice soup any day of the week!
I just used more sriracha – like it spicer!
This was amazing. I love this soup and always order it when we order Chinese take out. I had no idea how easy it was. I followed the recipe to a T and it came out fabulous! Thank you!
Good presentation of the recipe. I eat a lot of this soup, but I always bought it. I am gathering the components and I will make it myself. With your help, I will be just fine 🙂
Quick question. though – I would like to know the recipe for the typical dry noodles that are coming with the soup, when bought….
Thank you
Hi Daniela! Typically there are no noodles included in a traditional hot and sour soup.
I added my small pieces of freshly made garlic chicken in the soup instead of tofu. My soup did not thicken a lot but it had excellent flavor and I enjoyed it a lot. This was quick and easy.
Thanks, Sue!
So…my husband is sick with a cold and I needed a quick hot’n’sour soup for him. I made this in a double batch the first time, gone in a day. Made another single batch today and added a few things (1) grated carrot (2) fresh/rice noodles (3) diced up fresh spinach & (4) McCormick Siracha Seasoning. Oh dear God….
He finished off 3 bowls of it and is not sleeping like a baby. I shared it on facebook and now friends are making it, since it is cold and flu season after all.
Seriously going to be a staple in our home even when we are all healthy lol~
this recipe is REALLY like a restaurant. I added some more mushrooms, red cabbage, and used a little more garlic and vinegar. but I will make this recipe again and again!
No more need for takeout! This recipe is great! I’m planning to add more broth, mushrooms, green onions and sub the sriracha with chili paste/oil to tweak it to our tastes but seriously, this was fantastic as is.
Fabulous! I addded shrimp and cabbage!
OMG! Just made this for 1st time and I literally PIGGED….what else you got up your sleeves? And no, my husband’s not getting any mine mine mine
You are right. Better than take out! Made it in 20 minutes and it was a wow! Hope the leftovers taste as good. Thank you so much.
I made this today. It is very good. The one thing I will change next time is cutting WAY back on the ginger. It overpowered the taste of the soup. If you are a ginger lover, this won’t bother you….if not, like me I will cut the ginger in half or eliminate it altogether. This is a fast and easy recipe. I added a few shrimp in the pot too!!!