no. 92 egg drop soup with pork and chicken meatballs

Healthy, high protein and gut friendly

Hi lovies! Welcome or welcome back to The Salty Chronicles. Are we all thawing out and emerging from our hibernation caves? Or is that just me?

I swear daylights savings has given me my spark back. I love taking walks outside and it was such a buzz kill when the sun was setting before 6pm. I normally like to do a post dinner stroll to balance my blood sugar, which is hard to do when the days are shorter. But now it’s getting easier to do as spring/summer slowly approaches 🙌🏼

Plus it’s so much easier to film recipes when the days are longer. Nothing beats natural light ✨

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Now let’s talk egg drop soup. We’re nearing the end of soup season (even though every season is soup season for me), and I want to squeeze one more in before warm weather in upon us!

If you’ve never made egg drop soup before, this is your sign to do it. For something that’s a staple in Chinese restaurants, it’s surprisingly healthy, high protein, gut friendly and super easy to make. If you really want to take things to the next level, try making your own beef bone broth for extra benefits.

Classic egg drop soup is pretty simple but I jazzed mine up a bit with homemade meatballs and veggies.

Here’s a simple bone broth recipe if you want to give it a try. It’s honestly so easy to make and simmers all night to really draw out the collagen in the bones to maximize the health benefits. I love making a big batch and keeping the extra in the freezer to have on hand whenever I need it. I love it in soups, but I honestly really enjoy having a warm cup of it in the morning on an empty stomach. I add some turmeric, black pepper and tamari to season it and drink it like a cup of coffee in my favorite mug.

Here’s a simple beef broth recipe if you’re interested in making your own:

Beef broth recipe (double or triple this recipe if you want to make a ton to freeze)

Makes 5-6 cups

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10-11 hours

Total time: 10+ hours

Ingredients:

5lbs meaty beef bones

2 large carrots, unpeeled roughly chopped

1 onion, peeled and quartet

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

2 TBS tomato paste

2 bay leaves

1/2 TBS whole black peppercorns

2 fat sprigs of thyme

Handful of parsley stems (optional)

1 TBS salt

3 liters of filtered water

Preheat oven to 45oF.

Spread bones out across 2 baking trays. Roast for 45 mins, or until very well browned, turning halfway through.

Place bones into large stock pot (enough to hold the bones, veggies and water)

Deglaze the trays:

Remove cooked bones to stock pot then quickly add 3/4 cup water to trays and scrape the bottom of the trays to get all the drippings loosened up so you can add them to the stock pot as well. This is where all the flavor is. If the drippings aren’t coming loose, you can also place the trays directly onto a burner on your stove, turn the heat to medium, then add the water and scrape them off.

Once most of the drippings are removed from the trays, pour all the liquid into the pot. Repeat with other tray.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 8-10 hours. You want a very light simmer because the stock will be cooking for a long time. You just want a few bubbles to be floating to the top.

Strain - Fish out most bones. Strain stock with remaining vegetables through a fine mesh colander/strainer set over a large pot or bowl. Leave strainer for a few minutes to let it drip.

Cool to room temperature then store in containers and freeze whatever you aren’t going to use right away! Make sure to label and date!

Once stock is cooled in the fridge overnight, I like to scrape off the excess oil/fat on the top. You can do this while it’s still hot, but it’s so much when it’s cold.

Egg drop soup with pork and chicken meatballs

Makes 6-7 servings

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes