Stracciatella Soup
This comforting soup recipe only calls for five ingredients.
Serves3 to 4
Prep10 minutes
Cook5 minutes
A bowl of this comforting stracciatella is just what my Italian grandma would make to satisfy hunger pangs on a cold day or soothe someone feeling under the weather. Clocking in at just five ingredients, it’s the sort of back-pocket recipe we all need in our repertoire.
To make this recipe, you don’t need fancy ingredients or a lot of time. The technique is easy and the ingredients — broth, eggs, Parmesan, and herbs — are simple:
- Start by making sure your broth is at a gentle simmer to ensure that the eggs cook almost immediately upon being added to the saucepan.
- Beat eggs with Parmesan and herbs, then slowly pour them into the simmering broth, while stirring, to create the stracciatella bits.
- If you like larger, more dumpling-like egg pieces (like in our photo), stir slowly and stop stirring after adding.
- If wispy, fine pieces are more appealing, stir faster while adding and continue to stir until the eggs are cooked.
Feel free to take this basic method and bulk it up with your favorite chicken soup ingredients. Cooked short pasta like ditalini or stars, shredded or chopped cooked chicken, or fresh spinach are some nice additions. If you don’t have both fresh parsley and fresh basil on hand, use one or the other.
Stracciatella Soup with Frozen Spinach
If you want to add some more green into the soup, try fresh or frozen spinach. To prevent watering down the soup, we recommend thawing and draining frozen spinach first, then adding at the end until the spinach is just warmed through. Fresh spinach can be added and stirred until wilted, usually less than a minute if the soup is at a nice simmer.
Egg Drop Soup Versus Stracciatella Soup
Egg drop soup is a traditional Chinese soup that relies on a similar technique of dropping raw egg into hot soup. It doesn’t include Parmesan cheese and often calls for cornstarch and fresh ginger.
Stracciatella Soup Recipe
This comforting soup recipe only calls for five ingredients.
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 5 minutes
Serves 3 to 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1 (32-ounce) box
low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 to 4 sprigs
fresh basil
- 3 to 4 sprigs
fresh parsley
- 4
large eggs
- 1/3 cup
finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt, plus more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Place 1 (32-ounce) box low-sodium chicken broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, pick the leaves from 3 to 4 fresh basil sprigs and finely chop until you have 1 tablespoon. Repeat with 3 to 4 fresh parsley sprigs. Place both in a medium bowl, add 4 large eggs, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and whisk to combine.
Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer. While stirring, slowly pour the egg mixture into the simmering broth. If you desire large egg bits, stir slowly. For more wispy egg bits, stir quickly for 1 minute, then add the egg mixture while continuing to stir. When done pouring, stop stirring and let simmer until the egg is just cooked through, about 1 minute.
Taste and season with black pepper and more kosher salt as needed.
Recipe Notes
Substitutions: Use all basil or all parsley or skip the herbs all together for an even faster 3-ingredient soup. Beef or vegetable broth can be substituted for the chicken broth.
Storage: Though best served immediately, leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.