Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup
This Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup brings all the bold, tangy, peppery flavor you love—without the meat. It’s loaded with tender vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, and classic hot-and-sour seasonings that come together in minutes. The broth is cozy and comforting, perfectly balanced between heat and bright vinegar bite, making it the ultimate weeknight soup.
Why You’ll Love This
Simple to prepare and surprisingly satisfying, it’s a lighter take on the restaurant favorite that still delivers big flavor. Perfect for chilly nights, quick lunches, or anytime you’re craving something warm, fragrant, and full of depth.
This soup can be tailored to fit your taste. My daughter has been a pescatarian for over a year now. Much to my dismay. She was suffering from a head cold and requested Hot and Sour Soup.
The standard order when we go to our favorite Chinese restaurant is Hot and Sour soup. She can no longer have it because they typically use chicken stock. So this easy vegetarian hot and sour soup recipe was developed to suit her new lifestyle.
- It’s packed with classic hot-and-sour flavor using simple pantry ingredients.
- A lighter, vegetarian take on the restaurant favorite that’s still incredibly satisfying.
- Ready in less than 30 minutes—perfect for weeknights.
- Easy to customize with extra veggies, different mushrooms, or your favorite heat level.
- Naturally dairy-free and easily made vegan with one quick swap.
- Great for meal prep—reheats beautifully without losing flavor.
- Comforting, cozy, and full of rich umami without needing meat or heavy ingredients.
Key Ingredients
- Liquids – To keep this hot and sour soup vegetarian, we use vegetable stock. But this soup is also really flavorful, using chicken stock for those who aren’t vegetarian.
- Vegetables – Shitake mushrooms, fresh cremini mushrooms, and firm tofu. If using dried shitake mushrooms, be sure to soak them in warm water before use.
- Seasonings – Garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce, and white pepper(or black pepper).
- Eggs – These are drizzled in at the end for the egg ribbons in hot and sour soup.
How to Make Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup
Serve and enjoy this Chinese hot and sour soup. Spice up your individual bowls with more sesame oil, sriracha, and soy sauce. Some people in our house like it spicier than others. And I adore sesame oil, so I add extra to my bowl.
Tips
- If you use dried shiitake mushrooms, be sure to soak them according to the package directions.
- Be aware that white pepper is much stronger than black pepper. It’s what is used for the peppery heat.
- If you are vegan, just omit the eggs.
- Use firm or extra firm tofu; it holds up better in this easy hot and sour soup.
- Feel free to add more vegetables. You can add bok choy, napa cabbage, shredded carrots, baby corn, or sprouts.
Variations
- Vegan Hot and Sour Soup – Omit the eggs entirely. Add an extra 1/2 cup of mushrooms or a splash of soy sauce to boost umami.
- Extra-Spicy Version – Increase the sriracha or add chili crisp, red pepper flakes, or a spoonful of chili garlic sauce.
- Milder, Kid-Friendly Soup – My daughter loves spicy food. So if your family doesn’t use half the vinegar and half the sriracha, then let each person adjust their own bowl.
- More Traditional “Restaurant-Style” Soup – Add rehydrated wood ear mushrooms and dried shiitake for deeper flavor and classic chewy texture.
- Veggie-Packed Hot and Sour Soup – Stir in shredded carrots, napa cabbage, bok choy, baby corn, snap peas, or bean sprouts.
- Gluten-Free Option – Use tamari instead of soy sauce. Ensure your vinegar and sriracha are GF-friendly.
- Low-Sodium Option – Use low-sodium vegetable stock and reduce the soy sauce by 1–2 tablespoons.
FAQs
Let the veg hot and sour soup cool to room temperature. Place in an air-tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
I don’t recommend freezing this soup. The tofu and eggs will change texture during freezing.
More Vegetarian Soup Recipes
Hot and Sour Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
- 1 ounce shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 4 ounces Cremini mushrooms or button, thinly sliced
- 8 ounces bamboo shoots, drained and thinly sliced (1 can)
- 8 ounces firm tofu, drained and sliced into 1/4-inch strips
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seed oil
- 1 teaspoon white pepper (or black pepper)
- 4 green onions, diced (green tops only)
Instructions
- Bring the stock, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tofu, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sriracha and soy sauce to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Mix in the cornstarch and water mixture and simmer until the soup thickens a little, about 2 minutes.
- Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a thin stream while stirring the soup constantly.
- Mix in the sesame oil, white pepper, and green onions, remove from heat and enjoy!
It’s delicious, and it tastes, smells and looks like food from a good Chinese restaurant (there are dozens in my area so I’d know!)
NOTE: very, very spicy. I used 1/2 of the Sriracha and still my family couldn’t eat it and I struggled. Also, I used 1/2 of the vinegar and 1 tsp of ginger (instead of 1 1/2) since they both have very strong flavors and it was still great.
Yum! I love this soup! Just like Mr. Tony’s at Mandarin House!
We can’t get enough of soup when the weather turns colder! Thanks for sharing your recipe! Pinning to share. Thanks for taking the time to link up with us this week on Brag About It!
Thanks for sharing, Laurie! 🙂
This looks wonderful. It’s getting pinned for later. My husband loves soup and will want this very soon. Thanks so much!!
Thank you, Melissa! I hope he enjoys the recipe.
I love soup, and I love that this is vegetarian! I can’t wait to try it out!
Thanks, Courtney!