Hot and Sour Soup Recipe (2024)

This Hot and Sour Soup Recipe is deliciously savory and flavorful. Made with chicken, tofu, mushrooms and more, this is the best P.F. Chang’s copycat soup out there.

I’ve been making this Hot and Sour Soup for years and I can never get enough. So full of flavor and I love how easy it is to throw together. If you know me, you know I love soup and think it should be served all year long!

No need to head to your local Chinese restaurant anymore when you want all of your favorite takeout dishes. You can make this popular soup at home and so many more of your favorites.

P.F. Chang’s made this soup quite popular and we loved it so much, I had to make my own. Make a batch of this Hot and Sour Soup and a batch of these P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps and you’ll have the perfect meal!

I’ve been promising this recipe for a long time to some readers asking about it, and finally I am delivering. Trust me, this is one recipe you don’t want to miss if you are a fan.

This makes a hearty side or dinnertime meal, depending on what you are planning. Just plan to make it over and over again because you will want to after the first bite.

Some of our other favorite soup recipes we have on our site include: Beer Cheese Soup, Pasta e fa*gioli and Italian Wedding Soup.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

• Ready in only 35 minutes.
• Super easy to make.
• Easy to double to make more to feed a crowd, or to put some away to freeze.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):

Boneless skinless chicken breast
Water
Low sodium chicken stock
Soy sauce
Dark soy sauce
White vinegar
White pepper
Firm tofu
Bamboo shoots
Baby bella mushroom
Sesame oil
Cornstarch
Eggs
Green onions

HOW TO MAKE THIS HOT AND SOUR SOUP RECIPE, STEP BY STEP:

1. Cut the chicken into 1/8th inch strips, in a large stockpot, boil them in 4 cups of water for 3 minutes until cooked, drain, rinse, and set aside.
2. Rinse the pot out, place it over medium heat and add the chicken stock, reserving ¾ cup. Add the soy sauce, dark soy, white vinegar, white pepper, tofu, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, sesame oil, and the cooked chicken.
3. Stir to combine, bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
4. While you are waiting for the soup to come to a simmer, stir the cornstarch with the reserved ¾ cup of chicken stock in a small bowl until fully combined with no lumps.
5. When the soup comes to a simmer, slowly stream in the cornstarch mixture while stirring the pot. Make sure no cornstarch gets stuck on the bottom of the pot. Continue to cook until the soup has thickened, about 3 minutes.
6. Use a ladle to add the eggs. We are going to stir the soup, then toss some of the beaten egg into the soup with the ladle, then again stir the egg in through the soup. Do this in about 6 batches. This will make the egg ribbon effect. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed, and serve with a garnish of scallions.

DO I HAVE TO USE WHITE PEPPER?

We like to use white pepper with this recipe because it has the right type of flavor for this soup. Black pepper can be substituted, but the overall flavor of this soup will change.

White pepper has a different flavor than black pepper, but it is really what brings this dish together, so I recommend trying it.

CAN I MAKE THIS AHEAD?

Yes! You can make this whole soup ahead and then refrigerate it. When you’re ready for it, let it sit on the counter to start to come to room temperature for about 10-15 minutes, and then reheat it on the stove.

Give it a good stir before enjoying.

HOW CAN I THICKEN MY SOUP?

If for some reason your soup isn’t thick enough, even after adding everything, or you like more of a thick, hearty stew, you can thicken this recipe up by adding a slurry.

To make a slurry combine, 1 Tablespoon of water with 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch and stir into soup while it’s on the stove.

HOW TO STORE:

You can store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 4-5 days.

This Hot and Sour Soup Recipe can be frozen as well. Place in a freezer container where it will keep for up to 3 months.

Thaw your soup by removing it from the freezer and letting it thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stovetop until warmed through.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

• Be sure to use low sodium chicken stock because it’ll be too salty if you use traditional chicken stock.
• You can freeze soup, see my tips above.
• Using white pepper really brings the specific flavor expected with this soup, so do your best to use it.
• If you want a thicker soup, you can thicken it using my suggestion above.
• Feel free to make this soup ahead of time. All you’ll have to do is reheat it.
• Try to use bamboo shoots that are super thinly sliced, into about 1/8″ sticks. Regular shoots can be cut into thin sticks, or you can leave them thicker.
• We like both dark and regular soy sauce, but if you cannot find dark soy sauce, you can use more regular soy sauce in its place. The dark soy sauce has a richer flavor than regular soy and gives the soup its dark color, so that’s why we use it as well.
• Make sure you are using FIRM tofu with this, look at the packaging.

Are you ready to make the perfect Sweet and Sour Soup that tastes and smells just like P.F. Chang’s? Then you need to try this recipe, it is a spot on copycat recipe.

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• Egg Drop Soup
• Dan Dan Noodles
• Honey Walnut Shrimp

If you’ve tried thisHOT AND SOUR SOUP or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!