Eggs poached in leftover soup give you soft eggs and a warm bowl from food you already have prepared. Bring the soup to a boil, slip in the eggs, then cover and turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. The whites turn opaque around the yolks as the eggs cook in the soup.
This batch uses six eggs and three cups of homemade soup, serving four. A smooth soup is easier to work with, though a chunky soup can work too. Keep a little room between the eggs so you can see the whites setting and lift them out without pulling neighboring eggs along.
We start a pot of meat stock first thing in the morning. What goes into it changes with the budget, time, and what is available, but having stock or soup ready throughout the day is the routine that made GAPS doable for our family. That is the part of this recipe that fits our kitchen: the base is ready before the eggs go in.
Allow five to eight minutes of covered poaching once the soup is hot, with extra time to bring cold leftovers up to the boil. Serve the eggs while they are warm, and keep some of the soup alongside them in a bowl or mug.
Where This Fits On GAPS
For Full GAPS, use a homemade soup made from ingredients you have introduced. Pumpkin ginger soup with chicken meat stock is one smooth Full GAPS option. Reheat a portion of the finished soup before adding the eggs.
On Intro, use this after the Stage 2 whole-egg introduction is tolerated. GAPS starts with raw yolks, then introduces whole eggs with cooked whites and runny yolks after the yolks are well tolerated. Choose a soup made only from foods already introduced at your stage, and cook the whites through while leaving the yolks soft.
The soup matters as much as the eggs for stage placement. The linked pumpkin soup is a Full GAPS example. For an Intro base, use a simple, well-cooked meat-stock soup suitable for your stage. The Intro soup directions with homemade chicken meat stock explain that separate preparation.
A vegetable soup can fit More-Plant GAPS after its ingredients are introduced. The same poaching method can also use salted homemade chicken meat stock. For No-Plant GAPS, use that plant-free base only after eggs have been introduced in your own No-Plant sequence. A vegetable soup belongs to a different version.
Ingredients
- 3 cups prepared homemade soup
- 6 fresh eggs
Soup: Use a soup that is already seasoned and ready to eat. Three cups is the amount used in this batch, within the two-to-three-cup range for this method. Choose a lidded pan that will be roughly one-third full before the eggs go in, with room for the eggs across its surface.
A smooth soup lets you see and move the eggs more easily. If using a chunky soup, distribute its cooked pieces before adding the eggs so they do not form a heap in the middle. The vegetables and meat should already be cooked.
Eggs: GAPS recommends fresh, free-range organic eggs from a source you trust. Use six for this batch. Crack them individually into a small cup or bowl before slipping them into the soup if that makes it easier to keep each yolk intact.
You do not need to add frying fat or a separate vinegar bath. The eggs cook directly in the soup. If you choose the chicken-stock option, use the same three cups, already salted to taste.
How To Poach Eggs In Leftover Soup
- Put three cups of prepared soup in a wide pan with a lid. Choose a pan that is roughly one-third full at this point and leaves space for six eggs. Bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Crack the eggs individually and gently slip them into the soup, leaving a little space between them. Keep each egg close to the soup’s surface as you add it.
- Cover the pan and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Cook for about five to eight minutes, until the whites are cooked through and the yolks are as soft or firm as you prefer. For the Intro version, keep the yolks runny with the whites set.
- Lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon and serve promptly. Spoon or pour some of the hot soup into bowls or mugs to have alongside the eggs.
Bring the base up to the boil before adding the eggs, then use the covered, gentler heat for poaching. You want the eggs to stay together while their whites set. There is no swirling or vortex step in this method.
A gentle simmer looks different from the initial boil. You should see small bubbles and movement in the liquid, without the eggs being knocked around the pan. In a thick purée, check carefully when lifting the lid, since the surface can bubble unevenly around the eggs.
Look at the white around each yolk. It should be opaque and cooked through, including the thicker white close to the yolk. A soft yolk can still give when you move the egg; clear, jelly-like white needs more cooking.
Lift an egg from underneath with the slotted spoon so you support the white and yolk together. Let excess soup drain back into the pan. If an egg is a little irregular around the edges, you can still serve it with the soup.
Use the five-to-eight-minute range as your guide after reheating the base. Soup thickness, egg size, pan shape, and the strength of the simmer can affect when the whites finish. Check the eggs before lifting them out.
Serving And Storage
Serve the eggs with some of the soup you used for poaching. A bowl keeps the soup around the egg, while a small mug is useful if you prefer the eggs on a plate and the soup alongside.
For a soft yolk, open it with your spoon at serving. It runs into the soup and changes that spoonful’s texture. The cooked white stays distinct, so you have soft egg and warm liquid together rather than ribbons of whisked egg.
Prepare the soup ahead according to its own recipe, including its cooling, refrigeration, and freezing instructions. Reheat only the amount you plan to use, then poach the eggs at the meal. Keep track of when the base was made; adding eggs does not make it a newly prepared batch of soup.
For this quick preparation, plan to cook and serve the eggs fresh. You can have the soup portion measured and the pan, lid, and serving bowls ready beforehand. That leaves the egg cooking for when you are ready to eat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does The Soup Have To Be Puréed?
No. A smooth soup is easier for positioning and lifting the eggs, but a chunky soup works too. Use already-cooked ingredients, distribute the pieces evenly, and leave space around the eggs.
Can I Use Chicken Meat Stock Instead?
Yes. Use three cups of salted homemade chicken meat stock in place of the soup, with the same six eggs and covered simmering method. Make the stock separately using the linked recipe. Its fat and gelatin stay with the cooking liquid.
Why Did My Yolk Break?
Slip the egg in gently, close to the surface, and use a small cup if it helps you control the movement. Avoid dropping it from a height or knocking it against neighboring eggs. Reduce to the gentle covered simmer after adding the eggs.
Is This The Same As Egg Drop Soup?
No. Here, whole eggs stay separate as they poach. Egg drop soup with chicken meat stock uses whisked eggs to make ribbons. Follow that separate recipe for its quantities and stirring method.
Can I Make It On Stage 2?
Use it after the raw-yolk and whole-egg introductions are tolerated, with a soup base made from ingredients already introduced. The whites need to be cooked and the yolks runny for that Intro preparation. A Full GAPS soup containing later ingredients does not become Stage 2 soup when you add eggs.
What Changes At 2×?
Use six cups of soup and twelve eggs for eight servings. Choose enough pan surface or use two pans so the eggs have space. Keep the soup roughly one-third of the pan before adding eggs, and keep the gentle simmer. Check the whites rather than doubling the cooking time.
Recommended Equipment
Use a wide stainless steel or enameled pan with a lid, plus a measuring cup and slotted spoon. My Le Creuset cookware is Artichaut. Choose the pan by its usable surface and the depth of the measured soup, with room to separate the eggs.
A small glass cup or bowl can help you add each egg gently. Have the serving bowls or mugs ready before the eggs finish so you can move them straight from the pan to the table.
Related Recipes
Pumpkin ginger soup gives you a smooth Full GAPS base. Homemade chicken meat stock is the simpler salted-stock option and the starting point for many GAPS soups.
For a different egg texture, try egg drop soup with chicken meat stock. Whisked eggs make soft ribbons through the stock.
More GAPS Breakfast Ideas
My upcoming Weekly Kitchen Rhythm Planner will be in the WFLI shop. It is for fitting kitchen work around the rest of the week, including which soup or stock to have ready before the next meal.
Eggs Poached In Leftover Soup For GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Put three cups of prepared soup in a wide pan with a lid. Choose a pan that is roughly one-third full at this point and leaves space for six eggs. Bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Crack the eggs individually and gently slip them into the soup, leaving a little space between them. Keep each egg close to the soup’s surface as you add it.
- Cover the pan and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Cook for about five to eight minutes, until the whites are cooked through and the yolks are as soft or firm as you prefer. For the Intro version, keep the yolks runny with the whites set.
- Lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon and serve promptly. Spoon or pour some of the hot soup into bowls or mugs to have alongside the eggs.
Leave a comment