This vegan hot and sour vegetable soup is one of my favorite dishes. Spicy, tangy, and loaded with vegetables, it’s also a breeze to make. It’s the perfect pick me up when the weather is cold or you’re not feeling a hundred percent.
I like to squeeze as many vegetables as possible into it, but feel free to lessen the amount or swap out some if you don’t have them or would prefer a thinner more broth-like soup.
I like mine seriously chunky and full of vitamins. Only add the chili pepper if you can handle quite a bit of heat, as the white pepper also packs a spicy punch.
Noodles are completely optional and you can add whichever type you like. I frequently make it without noodles as all the vegetables are filling enough.
In restaurants it’s usually made with beaten egg drizzled across the top at the end of cooking, while quickly stirring the soup, resulting in lacy threads of egg.
I’m allergic to eggs so that’s not happening, but feel free to add some if that’s what floats your boat/if you really must… I actually started experimenting with making it at home years ago and it regularly features in our menu rotations.
It’s also gluten-free as long as you’re careful with the type of noodles you add.
Most hot and sour soups call for difficult to find ingredients such as lily buds and exotic dried mushrooms, but I’ve kept it simple with my easy-to-find (albeit kind inauthentic!) vegetable choices. This is the perfect soup to curl up around or have as a light dinner.
It’s also amazing at clearing your sinuses if you’re suffering from a cold or the flu, a great alternative to chicken noodle soup.
Nothing cheers me up more when the weather is horrible than eating a bowlful of my hot and sour veg soup by the window, with a good book in one hand and a spoon in the other. Enjoy!
Hot and Sour Veg Soup
Tangy, tasty, fiery spoonfuls slurped up full of vegetables, noodles, and tender chunks of tofu in a flavorful broth...
Ingredients
- 200 g firm tofu chopped into small cubes
- 150 g sliced shiitake mushrooms
- 1 large red pepper, chopped
- 1 large green pepper, chopped
- 1 stick young celery with leaves, thinly sliced
- 1/2 onion sliced
- 1/2 red chilli pepper deseeded and chopped finely, optional
- 6 cups water
- 1 low-sodium vegetable stock cube
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 - 1 tsp white pepper, (depending on your spice and pepper tolerance)
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ tsp toasted sesame oil
- 75 g frozen or canned sweetcorn
- 125 g beansprouts
- 50 g baby spinach
- 50-100 g dried noodles of choice
- 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander
Instructions
- Add the tofu, mushrooms, chopped peppers, celery, onion, chili pepper, water, vegetable stock cube, ginger and garlic to pot and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 7 minutes.
- Add the sugar, white pepper, vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil to the soup and simmer for one minute.
- Add in the sweetcorn, beansprouts, baby spinach and noodles and simmer until the noodles are done. If you’re not adding noodles, just simmer until the spinach has wilted.
- Add the cornstarch to a ¼ cup of water and stir until dissolved. Quickly stir into the pot and turn heat up high.
- Stir frequently for three minutes until nicely thickened. You need to keep cooking the soup for at least two minutes after it has thickened, to remove the cornstarch flavour.
- Stir through half of the chopped coriander and sprinkle the rest on the top when serving.
Notes
Feel free to change up the vegetables to suit your particular tastes and depending on what's in season.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
400mlAmount Per Serving Calories 369Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 0mgSodium 639mgCarbohydrates 42gFiber 27gSugar 13gProtein 82g
Mary Smith
Well done on your recipes ,Dee.Delighted for you and right up to the minute.Tried this recipe.Very happy except it was too peppery.Was it really meant to be one teasp of white pepper? Seems like an awful lot.Will def maje it again but will def tone thar done to a shake of pepper.I like hot food but it was a step too far! Thanks againmHope life is really good for you all
The Fiery Vegetarian
Hi Mary! Thanks so much for the feedback, it is indeed meant to be very peppery as the white pepper gives it a good kick of heat and that distinctive hot and sour soup flavour. I totally get your point though, I like my food quite spicy but usually only mildly spice my online recipes as it’s no fun if something is too spicy to eat. I do remember this one failed the kid spice-test, which is my benchmark for normal tolerance, so I’ll edit the ingredients to suggest 1/2 – 1 tsp. Thanks so much for the feedback, really helpful.