Zoodles! Oodles and oodles of zoodles! You know what's got me so fired up over here? We grew a zucchini! In a bed now covering our pig roast pit. An enormous feat for the girl with the black thumb who has killed two rosemary plants and a few succulents. Indestructible plants, my big toe! I can definitely take care of your cat or probably even your baby, but it's not the wisest idea to trust me with your garden. Signs so far indicate that I did not inherit my mom's green thumb.
BUT we grew a zucchini!! Well, if I'm being truthful, Lucas grew it and I occasionally reminded him to water it, sometimes even nervously pulling out the hose myself when he was in China. Then after a few weeks of most everything else in our garden deciding it hated our soil clay and shriveling up, a zucchini grew!
It grew even despite the fact that our six overeager tomato plants were screaming "RAWWWRR! I'M A TOMATO PLANT MONSTER! LET ME BE FREEEE!!!" and spreading out over every square inch of our garden. Yes, probably we should have caged them; They were invading the garden, but they just looked like they were having such a grand summer and they made us feel successful, so we let them do their thing. Plus, they've settled down and decided to start fruiting.
The zucchini plant gave zero hoots about the tomato plant party and just minded its own business amidst the invasion. So now we've got a bunch of not-quite-ripe tomatoes and one bulbous zucchini. Call me Farmer Sarah!
So what did we do with our prized zucchini? We spiralized it into zucchini noodles, of course. ZOODLES! If you don't have a spiralizer already - what are you waiting for? Things get a lot tastier when you turn your veggies into noodles. We use our spiralizer for anything from sweet potatoes to butternut squash to zucchini. In this very non-traditional egg drop soup, zucchini noodles adding a textural bite.
Egg drop soup is a classic Chinese comfort soup made by "dropping" whisked egg into a hot broth and stirring. The hot broth cooks the egg into thin strands. For a classic egg drop soup, head over to Omnivore's Cookbook!
Whenever we have guests coming for dinner lately, I add this zucchini noodle egg drop soup with a side of gluten-free scallion pancakes to the menu. It comes together super fast, but has many dimensions: savory mushrooms in a lightly salted broth, thickness from the cracked eggs, freshness from the green onions, slurp-worthy zucchini noodles, and a spicy kick from ginger infused throughout.
We're in the Bay, where the weather only fluctuates about 5 degrees all year round. Lucky for us this means it's always soup weather. Especially since we've been having a few spurts of cold weather this July. If it's too hot for soup where you're at? Serve this zucchini noodle soup just below room temperature for a light and refreshing meal. No better way to use up your summer zucchini!
I'm sure you're all walking around with bright green thumbs, so please tell me: what fresh fruits and veggies do you have growing in your garden??
Before we get to the recipe for this soup, here's a step-by-step tutorial for using a spiralizer to cut zucchini noodles.
Spiralized zucchini noodle tutorial
- To pick a zucchini that is perfect for spiralizing, check the size and the straightness. It's best to use zucchini that's at least 1½ inches in diameter. I aim for medium zucchini. The spiralizer leaves a small core that isn't cut, so small zucchini won't produce as many noodles. Likewise, if you use a zucchini that is too large, the very center where the seeds are will produce mushy noodles that fall apart easily. Finally, you want a zucchini that's as straight as possible, or else when you feed it through the spiralizer, you'll end up with lots of "half-moon" pieces (these are tasty, but not as noodle-like).
- Cut the ends off of your zucchini, then using very straight cuts, cut your zucchini crosswise into 3-4 inch long pieces (as shown in the gif above).
- Put the small noodle blade in place (Blade C). Make sure your spiralizer is suctioned down to the table, and set a plate or cutting board on the end to catch your noodles.
- Carefully the very center of one end of the zucchini on the metal core of the cutter panel of the spiralizer, then slide the spiked holder into the center of the opposite end of the zucchini.
- Simultaneously lightly press the side handle forward, while spinning the back handle. Watch your zucchini noodles come out the other side with ease! I prefer to pause and cut my noodles every 12-15-inches so they don't get too tangled.
- Repeat until you've used up all of your zucchini pieces, saving the core for another use.
- To cook zucchini noodles, I prefer to toss them with whatever sauce in a sautée pan for about 2 minutes or just throw them in my soup and cook for about 1-2 minutes until tender (they cook really fast!).
Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 medium to large zucchini
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 5 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 8 cups vegetable broth, divided
- 2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
- ½ teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 5 tablespoons low-sodium tamari sauce or soy sauce
- 2 cups thinly sliced scallions, divided
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare the zucchini noodles with a spiralizer using the step-by-step guide above.
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the minced ginger and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Add the shiitake mushrooms and a tablespoon of water and cook until the mushrooms begin to sweat.
- Add 7 cups of the vegetable broth, the remaining water, the red pepper flakes, tamari sauce, and 1½ cups of the chopped scallions. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, mix the remaining cup of vegetable broth with the corn starch and whisk until completely smooth.
- While stirring the soup, slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a thin stream. Continue stirring until all of the egg is incorporated.
- Slowly pour the corn starch mixture into the soup and cook for about 4-5 minutes to thicken.
- Season to taste with salt & pepper (usually I add just a bit of pepper, but as long as I'm using a full-sodium vegetable broth, I don't need any extra salt).
- Add the spiralized zucchini noodles to the pot and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, or until the noodles are just soft and flexible (remember, they'll continue cooking in your bowl!).
- Serve topped with the remaining scallions.
Adam Scully -
Normally I don't bother with reading through the blog portion of the recipe, but once I saw the all caps portion of the tomato situation I had to go back and read the whole thing. Definitely entertained.
Heather -
do you use the entire scallion, white and green parts? how many bunches would you say you need for this? thanks!!
Sarah Menanix -
I would say 2 big bunches and I use both parts (but I reserve only green parts for the garnish!)
Xana -
I have made this soup three times and love it! I came up with a great modification and figured I'd share.
I'm always trying to eat more beets, so I chopped and boiled 2 medium beets to use in the soup and then used the liquid as stock with some chicken consumme. The sweetness of the beets goes great in the soup and I love the dark red color!
Zoe Lau -
Thank you so much for this recipe! I'm chinese from Hong Kong and I miss having asian food now that I'm here in the US. I don't often make soups but this is healthy and delicious! I love the spiciness of the ginger. We made our version of it! https://sprinkleofvanillasugar.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/paleo-zucchini-noodles-chinese-egg-drop-soup/
Mary -
Just made this for lunch and it was totally awesome. I added about 1/2 a cup of apple cider vinegar so it's sort of a cross between hot and sour and egg flower soups. This is a keeper. Thank you for the recipe.
Alyssa Altorelli -
Hi Sarah! Could you recommend a substitute for the ginger?! Thanks!
janb -
Seriuosly the best egg drop soup i have Ever had!
Sarah Menanix -
Oh my gosh - you're so sweet! I'm so glad you loved it as much as I do! Thank you so much:)
Jeff -
I just tried cooking this for dinner tonight, and it was amazing! Zoodles with egg drop soup are incredible.
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you so much for coming back to let me know you liked this recipe! I'm a huge fan of zoodles in soup because they add just the perfect texture to the soup.
LCz -
I wasn't sure about this while I cooked it but it turned out excellent! Both my (college age) kids liked it too.
Monika -
Excellent recipe! I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and was a little hesitant, because I've never had an egg drop soup and this is very much adventurous in comparison to the things I make regularly. We recently bought a spiralizer though so I've been on the hunt for new things to try. I am so glad I went out on a limb and made this! Absolutely delicious!!
Sarah Menanix -
It makes me so happy that you tried it and came back to let me know you liked it! Thank you so much! You're going to have SO much fun experimenting with your spiralizer.
Amber -
I just found this through GreatIst, and think this recipe IS the greatest :)
Sarah Menanix -
Aww - thank you so much, Amber!
Vicky -
UM absolutely LOVE this recipe! Just came across this and have literally checked to make sure I have all the ingredients on hand to make this for lunch tomorrow! Am literally so excited! Though I do not have a spiralizer (tear tear) I think I'll make this soup anyway just without the zucchini!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks, Vicky! I think it'll still be awesome without the zucchini noodles...but also - you DEFINITELY need a spiralizer for all the healthy vegetarian cooking you do :) That's definitely portable for all of your travels, right? ;)
Kelly -
Haha your black thumb sounds like mine and I definitely didn't inherit it from my mom who has the greenest thumb too :) That's so awesome that you grew a zucchini though! What's even more awesome is this soup! It looks amazing! I love zucchini noodles and adding them to egg drop soup sounds like such a great idea!
Sarah Menanix -
Maybe we'll get our green thumbs later in life? I hope so! And thanks, Kelly! I think zucchini noodles are just perfect for soup - in soup, they remind me of regular noodles.
Kristi @ My SF Kitchen -
This soup looks really amazing. It has been chilly in SF so I would love a bowl right now!!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you, Kristi! I'm just over the bay - Come over for dinner some night and I'll make you a big bowl! (Not joking).
Kelly - A Side of Sweet -
YOU HAVE A SPIRALIZER?! Shut the front door! I really want to buy one! What a great way to be healthy!
Sarah Menanix -
Haha, did you really not know I had one?? Come cook with me, girlfraaaaan!
Kayley | The Kitchen McCabe -
I share your black thumb! My rosemary is totally dwindling and I doubt I could ever even get a zucchini to grow myself...so kudos to you! Love the spiralizes zucchini in this soup...sounds so refreshing!
Sarah Menanix -
Thank you, Kayley! I just went out to check on the garden and discovered some animal took an enormous bite out of my prized tomato. Sigh, not destined to be a gardener... :)
Karen @ The Food Charlatan -
Sarah this sounds soooo good! I need to get myself a spiralizer stat. I'm super impressed with your garden skillz btw. We just planted our first garden with tomatoes only and they are pretty wimpy so far. I need to plant some zucchini to boost my ego :) so glad to meet you at blogher!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks, Karen! And you DEFINITELY do - I swear, best $30 I've spent in my kitchen. I'm going to let you be impressed with my gardening skills, even though it was about 99.9% Lucas who raised this zucchini. I'll take what I can get;) Ha. Had lots of fun dancing the night away with you at BlogHer! xoxo.
Veronica -
This looks wonderful! I want some now! Must make this recipe. I love your cutting board!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks! Someone super special made this wooden cutting board for me:)
Anna @ Bashful Bao -
Love this spin on egg drop soup! Super fun for the summer when you've got your garden groove on!!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks Anna! I'm trying to figure out all possible ways to put zucchini into things now haha - zucchini fritters, zucchini arepas, zucchini chocolate cake. You name it!
lana -
Want now please
Sarah Menanix -
Come visit and I'll make you a bowl. And bring zucchini from your garden because I know you've got a green thumb! xo.
Dane -
This looks so tasty, Sarah. I can't wait to try this out next week with my awesome girlfriend!
Sarah Menanix -
Do it. She's awesome.
Maryea {happy healthy mama} -
Your gardening skills sound a lot like mine. Everyone told me mint is the easiest thing to grow. Yep, I killed it. Nice job growing a zuke!!
Zoodles for the win! I don't have a spiralizer, but I'm in love with my julienne slicer. I've been making noodles with zucchini and squash like crazy. This looks like another great way to use them!
Sarah Menanix -
Thanks Maryea! I feel like a proud mama holding up my zucchini - haha. I also can't keep leafy greens alive to save my life - so you're not alone on that one!