Cabbage Egg Drop Soup

This Cabbage Egg Drop Soup recipe is super-easy to make in just 20 minutes, and full of the best healthy ingredients and comforting flavors that I couldn’t love more.

Cabbage Egg Drop Soup

Growing up, our family’s favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant went back and forth between serving two different kinds of egg drop soup on their menu — a classic egg drop soup and their signature cabbage egg drop soup.  You never quite knew which version was going to appear in your bowl each time you ordered egg drop soup.

But cabbage soup day was my absolute fave. ♡♡♡

I know, the ingredient combination sounds a bit odd.  And various friends of ours who came along for our Saturday Chinese lunch dates over the years definitely eyed their side soup bowls with a touch of suspicion when they arrived full of cabbage.  But I’m telling you, every single person we introduced to this cabbage egg drop soup over the years ended up absolutely loving it.  So much so that our little neighborhood joint became famous around the city just for this soup.  It was legendary!

Unfortunately, this beloved family-owned restaurant was forced to close its doors over a decade ago, after a big bad chain buffet opened up as competition across the street.  (Still sad about it over a decade later — it was such a loss for my hometown.)  So ever since, I have been working to try and figure out how to recreate that famous cabbage egg drop soup here at home.  And while no version in my mind will ever be quite the same as the original, I’ve finally landed on a recipe that I believe captures the magic of this cozy, comforting cabbage soup of my childhood.

So here it is — my favorite cabbage egg drop soup!  It’s made with an entire head of good-for-you Napa cabbage, which cooks down until it’s super-soft and tender and blends in perfectly with all of those beautiful egg ribbons.  Its cozy broth is lightly seasoned with garlic, ginger and a long drizzle of toasted sesame oil.  It’s easy to make on the stovetop in just 20 minutes, and is naturally gluten-free and vegetarian.  It works great served as a side dish with fried rice or your favorite stir-fries, or you can do what I do and just enjoy a huge bowl as a healthy main course.  And best of all, it is just so, so, so good.

Quite simply, this soup is one of those nostalgic recipes that makes me really happy.  So here’s to hoping you love it too!

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