Chinese Hot and Sour Soup is a quick and easy way to make your favorite takeout Chinese American soup at home. Slow cooker and stove top instructions included!
A recipe that combines your favorite takeout food with the slow cooker is an all around win! We get to enjoy our very favorite soup, that we would typically reserve only for eating out or takeout, and makes it completely accessible for the every-day busy schedule. It simply doesn’t get any easier than the slow cooker. Toss it in and come back later for a delicious soup! But if busy mornings make the slow cooker inaccessible to your family, we’ve got you covered with stove top instructions as well! It is filling enough with that tofu to make for a good light lunch, or as a side to your favorite Chinese American meal. You can frequently find us in the fridge, looking for leftover soup to snack on. Especially on a cold day, it just doesn’t get any better.
Chinese Hot and Sour Soup is not an authentic Chinese recipe, but rather a typical American version of Chinese-American takeout restaurants. The Stay At Home Chef uses ingredients that are easily accessible for most people in the United States and Canada so that anyone can easily celebrate world cuisines even if their opportunities for travel or access to regional ingredients are limited.
What is tofu?
Tofu is a soybean product and is made by compressing curdled soy beans, very similar to how cheese is made. Tofu is high in protein and is often used as a meat replacement. Tofu has varying textures and levels of firmness depending on the protein content and how much water it contains.
What variety of tofu should I use?
Tofu is sold at various levels of firmness, starting from the softest: Silken, Extra Soft, Soft, Medium, Medium Firm, Firm, Extra Firm, and Super Firm. You may see all, or only some of these firmness levels in your grocery store. The firmness level is determined by how much water has been pressed out, so more firm versions contain the least amount of water content.
In this recipe you want to use a firm tofu as it will absorb the most flavor while still holding its shape.
Is Chinese Hot and Sour Soup vegetarian?
As written, this recipe is not vegetarian due to the chicken broth. If desired, you can substitute with vegetable broth.
Spice Level:
You get to decide just how much spice you want in your soup by controlling the amount of sriracha. If you don’t tolerate heat well, stick with one teaspoon of sriracha. If you want to keep it spicy, use up to a whole tablespoon!
Can I add an egg?
Eggs in hot and sour soup is all about personal preference. Some prefer with eggs, and other prefer without. We have written the recipe without eggs, but you are welcome to slowly add one or two beaten eggs as the final step.
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious Chinese American recipes:
We really enjoyed this. I added extra spice because my husband likes spicy food, but then it was a little too hot for me.
My husband who is a finicky eater said he could eat this soup every day.
Made this tonight with a few variations to my taste. YUMMO! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
My husband and I swear by your recipes. They are always my go too! This soup is delish! Thank you!
we made this the other day and it was fantastic Very flavorful and simple. Strongly recommend.
I made this for dinner tonight. So far it tastes great. I added water chestnuts and bean sprouts to make it more of an entree. Its a nice base recipe to be creative with. Thanks!
I have it in the crockpot for supper tonight. It already tastes great but I will add a tsp of sesame oil when it’s finished. I’m out of tofu so I added a large can of chicken breast in stead. I left out the sugar. Such an easy recipe! As for people’s negative comments, as someone earlier say, they put the sour in the soup! To each his/her own, but don’t rain on someone else’s parade! Thank you for sharing your recipes and videos!
You state 8 cups 2 quarts. Excuse my ignorance but is it 8 cups plus 2 quarts or just 8 cups! Thanks
There are 4 cups in a quart so it’s 8 cups OR 2 quarts.
So yummy. I used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. And I did it Steve top. I made a half batch in case… but I immediately had to make more. Lol. YUM!
Hi Rachel. This looks absolutely delicious! I love hot & sour soup and despite having a few recipes that are pretty quick and easy to whip up for dinner, I’ve been looking for a slow cooker version so I can set it all up at once and not worry about it until it’s done. I’m curious if you found the broth to be an OK consistency at the end (it’s hard to gauge in the video, but it doesn’t look necessarily too thin – just average maybe) or if it should be thickened up with a cornstarch slurry for those of us who enjoy the style of hot & sour soup with the much thicker broths. If adding a cornstarch mixture, should that be done before or after it’s cooked? Perhaps add it in with 15 or so minutes left to go? Thank you!
A cornstarch slurry would be added at the end. It should thicken up rather quickly with just a few minutes of stirring.