Ginger Egg Drop Soup for Full GAPS

Ginger egg drop soup is a light, savory bowl of chicken meat stock with fresh ginger, soft egg and finely chopped green onions. This Full GAPS version uses two cups of homemade meat stock and two cups of water, with three to five eggs depending on how brothy you want the soup.

The eggs go in a little at a time, with a gentle stir after each addition. Then the pot comes off the heat for a five-minute covered finish. Soy-free coconut aminos supplies the small seasoning measure, and raw cold-pressed sesame oil goes on the ready-to-eat bowls rather than into the simmering pot.

Jump to the Recipe

My meat stock does not look the same every time. It depends on the budget, what is available and how much time I have. Starting a pot in the morning was the routine that made GAPS doable for our family, because we could drink it or have soup throughout the day. A recipe like this uses a measured portion of that finished stock. The stock-making work is already done.

Meat Stock And Water

Measure two cups of completed, strained homemade chicken meat stock and two cups of filtered water. Keep both amounts. This version has a lighter stock base than a pot made entirely with four cups of stock.

The linked chicken stock recipe starts with raw meaty chicken, water and natural salt. It has its own cooking time and tender-meat endpoint. Prepare that first, then measure the finished liquid for this soup. A chilled gel melts as it warms, and the stock’s natural fat can stay with it.

GAPS distinguishes meat stock from long-cooked bare-bone broth and commercial bouillon. Use the raw-meaty preparation here.

Taste the stock before starting. The salt range below allows for unsalted stock, while the linked preparation already contains salt. With a salted batch, reduce the added salt to taste rather than automatically adding the full amount.

Fresh Ginger And GAPS Seasonings

One inch of fresh ginger: Peel it and mince it very finely with a knife. Small pieces spread through the liquid more evenly than a few large chunks. Fresh ginger gives this version its warm, recognizable flavor without a long list of spices.

Half a teaspoon coconut aminos: Use a soy-free coconut-sap-and-salt seasoning, with water if listed, and no added cane sugar, syrup, starch or preservatives. Coconut aminos is a seasoning used in The Heal Your Gut Cookbook. It takes the place of the small soy-sauce measure in this GAPS version. Gluten-free tamari still contains soy and is not the choice in this card.

One-quarter teaspoon raw sesame oil: Choose fresh, organic, cold-pressed oil made from unroasted sesame. This is a finishing oil, not a cooking fat. Dr. Natasha directs that cold-pressed plant oils be used as dressings on ready-served meals rather than heated in cooking.

Raw sesame oil has a gentler sesame flavor than toasted oil. Add the measured amount across the bowls once the soup is off the heat and warm enough to eat. Do not put it into the pot before the boil or covered finish. If saving some soup, leave the oil off those portions until serving after reheating.

Natural salt: The starting range is one and a half to two teaspoons when the stock is unsalted, with adjustment to taste. Reduce that amount for already salted stock. Taste before adding more, because the stock and coconut aminos also contribute seasoning.

One tablespoon green onion greens: Use only the green parts, finely chopped. They go in just before the heat is turned off. The small pieces remain visible among the pale egg and give the soup a fresh onion finish.

Choose Three To Five Eggs

Three eggs make a brothier bowl, with more clear liquid between the egg pieces. Five eggs make it more egg-filled and substantial. Four sits between those choices. Keep the stock and water amounts the same whichever point in that range you use.

Beat the whole eggs with a fork in a small glass bowl or pouring cup. Break up the yolks and long ropes of white until the mixture pours evenly. There is no need to whip in foam.

This is a whole-egg soup. It is different from the vegetable egg white soup, which cooks four cups of vegetables soft before adding four whites. That separate recipe is useful when you have whites left over, and it includes its own Intro Stage 3 notes.

How To Make Ginger Egg Drop Soup

1. Warm The Stock And Water

Put the two cups of meat stock and two cups of water in a medium stainless-steel or enameled cast-iron pot. Bring to a gentle simmer. The liquid should move steadily with small bubbles, rather than splash vigorously against the sides.

2. Add Ginger And Seasoning

Add the finely minced ginger and half a teaspoon coconut aminos. Add salt to taste, reducing the unsalted-stock range if your stock is already seasoned. Stir, then taste a spoonful so you can judge the stock before the eggs go in.

Keep the sesame oil aside. Its place is on the finished bowls. There is no oil-sautéing step in this recipe.

3. Add The Eggs Gradually

Beat your chosen three to five eggs. Pour a little into the simmering liquid, then stir a little. Repeat until all the egg is in. This is a gentle addition-and-stir method, rather than pouring the whole bowl into a still pot.

You will see pale egg pieces forming as the mixture meets the hot stock. Keep the simmer gentle so you can control the additions. The soup stays brothy around the egg instead of turning into a smooth purée.

4. Cover Off The Heat For Five Minutes

Sprinkle in the tablespoon of chopped green onion greens. Turn off the heat, cover the pot with its lid and let it sit for five minutes. Keep that covered finish in the method instead of leaving the pot boiling for another five minutes.

When you lift the lid, the egg should look opaque and soft, without clear uncooked streaks of white. If any uncooked white remains, return the soup briefly to a gentle simmer until it is cooked through. The visual endpoint matters as well as the five-minute rest.

5. Ladle And Finish

Ladle into bowls and let the soup come to a comfortable eating temperature. Divide the one-quarter teaspoon of raw cold-pressed sesame oil across the portions being served. Keep any portions for later without that finishing oil, then add their share only after reheating and taking them off the heat.

The pot makes about two to three main-course servings or four to six smaller side servings. The card starts at two main servings so its scaling control has a clear numeric base; the portion range remains a guide for how you serve the pot.

Full GAPS And Earlier-Stage Options

This ginger-and-sesame version is for Full GAPS once its ingredients are introduced. It keeps soy out, uses the cold-pressed oil only as a ready-meal dressing and leaves the stock preparation to its own recipe.

It is not the first egg introduction on the Intro Diet. In Stage 2, Dr. Natasha begins with raw yolks, followed by soft-boiled eggs with cooked whites once yolks are tolerated. A whole-egg soup with these seasonings is a different preparation. Follow that earlier sequence instead of treating this pot as a first trial of egg whites.

For a simpler finished-stock soup, the small chicken-stock egg drop soup uses three cups of stock and two eggs. For a larger, onion-based pot, the coconut-aminos egg drop soup uses two quarts of stock and eight eggs, with the onion softened first. Each has its own complete card, because their ratios and methods differ.

The ginger, green onion, coconut seasoning and sesame oil make this a plant-containing soup, so it is not No-Plant GAPS. The listed ingredients have no dairy or nuts, but they do contain eggs and sesame. Using five eggs rather than three does not by itself establish a ketogenic meal ratio.

Storage And Advance Preparation

Have the chicken meat stock ready before starting. For planning, allow roughly 20 minutes for the soup: five minutes of preparation, about ten minutes for warming and the egg addition, then the five-minute covered finish. These are kitchen planning estimates; the actual warming time depends on whether your stock starts cold and how your pot heats.

For advance preparation, keep the stock ready and mince the ginger shortly before cooking. The egg finish is best done near serving time. If making the pot for several meals, leave the raw sesame oil off the portions you will store.

Refrigerate leftovers in shallow containers within two hours. Keep them at 40°F or below and use within three to four days, retaining an earlier date if the stock was already refrigerated. Reheat a portion on the stove to 165°F, then take it off the heat and let it cool to eating temperature before adding the raw oil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Does This Recipe Use Water As Well As Stock?

Its two-cup stock and two-cup water combination makes a lighter base for the ginger and egg. Keep that ratio when making this version. The related soups above use different amounts of undiluted stock and have separate cards.

Should I Use Three Eggs Or Five?

Use three for a brothier soup or five for more egg in each spoonful. The recipe allows the full three-to-five range without changing the four cups of combined stock and water.

Can I Use Toasted Sesame Oil?

This GAPS version uses raw cold-pressed organic sesame oil as a finishing dressing. Keep it out of the simmering pot and add it only to ready-to-eat portions. The flavor will be milder than toasted sesame oil.

What Happens When I Double The Recipe?

The 2× card gives four cups stock, four cups water, six to ten eggs, one teaspoon coconut aminos, two inches of ginger and two tablespoons green onion greens. The raw sesame-oil finish becomes half a teaspoon across the whole doubled batch. The unsalted-stock salt range becomes three to four teaspoons, still reduced as needed for salted stock.

Recommended Equipment

Use a medium stainless-steel or enameled cast-iron pot with a lid, a fork, a small glass mixing bowl or pouring cup, a stirring spoon, measuring cups and spoons, and a knife and cutting board. Finely mincing the ginger with the knife works without another appliance.

I use Le Creuset cookware, with Artichaut as my color choice where it applies. Choose a pot with enough room above the four cups of liquid and the eggs to stir without spilling.

The upcoming Soups & Stews Cookbook will collect more ways to turn prepared stock into meals. The Stock-Day Planner fits the preparation behind this bowl: make the stock, label the container and reserve the two cups you need. Find upcoming resources in the WFLI shop.