Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup
Jan 27, 2024
This easy vegetarian hot and sour soup is packed with tons of vegetables, lightly seasoned and makes the perfect light meal of a cold day.
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Cozy up on a cold day with this Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup! This soup has a lot of vegetables and is lightly seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce and pepper. It is light and nourishing and also vegan. You can also make it gluten free by using a gluten free soy sauce.
When I was a kid, soups at my home were mostly restricted to a simple tomato soup. That’s one soup which my mom made for us during winters. I used to like tomato soup but I was also very fond of sweet corn soup and hot and sour soup. I would always order either of these soups when we went to Indo Chinese restaurants. When I was a kid, I would buy these “Knorr” soup packets that we would get at stores and make these soups at home.
Well technically I made nothing since it just involved emptying the contents of the packet into a pot and adding water to it. But it felt like an accomplishment at that point!
The Indo Chinese Vegetable Hot and Sour Soup is a great way to eat lots of vegetables in one go. You can literally load this soup with vegetables like beans, peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, corn and more!
Ingredients
- Vegetables: The base of this soup is made with all the vegetables. I have used cabbage, carrots, beans, and peppers. You can also use mushrooms, leeks, spinach.
- Seasonings: This soup is lightly flavored with soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, salt and pepper. You can definitely adjust the seasonings to taste. Add more hot sauce for a spicier soup.
How to Make Hot and Sour Soup
- Prep all your vegetables before you begin. Heat 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or large pot on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add 1-inch ginger (minced), 2 & 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic and 2 finely chopped green chilies. Cook for a minute or two until the ginger and garlic start changing color.
- Then add all the vegetables- 1 large carrot (finely chopped), 1/2 head of cabbage (finely chopped), 8-10 green beans (finely chopped), 1 medium green pepper (finely chopped), and 1 medium red pepper (finely chopped).
- Set heat to medium high and cook the vegetables for only around 1 to 2 minutes, they should remain crunchy.
- Now add around 6 cups of water to the wok and stir.
- Now add the seasonings to the soup- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 & 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1 teaspoon hot sauce, 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste), and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
- Stir everything and let the soup boil for 5 minutes.
- Then make a cornstarch slurry by mixing together 3 teaspoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water. Mix it well and add it to the boiling soup.
- Let the soup boil for 2 to 3 minutes more until it thickens slightly. I didn’t want this soup too thick but you can definitely add more cornstarch if you like. Add chopped green onions and serve hot!
Important Tips
- Prep all the vegetables before you start making the soup because this soup gets done quickly. The vegetables are finely chopped and they need to remain crunchy so we don’t cook them for much time.
- Use a food processor to chop the vegetables fine, especially the cabbage.
- You can make hot and sour soup in the Instant Pot. Cook the vegetables on sauté mode for a minute and then add water and pressure cook for 1 minute. Quick release the pressure. Once the pressure is released, press the sauté button again. Add the cornstarch slurry and let the soup simmer for 5 minutes.
- I have kept this soup’s consistency neither very thin nor thick. If you prefer a thicker soup, you might add more cornstarch to the soup.
- I have used water as a base for the soup but you can use vegetable stock as well.
Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ tablespoons oil use any oil of choice
- 1 & ½ inch ginger minced
- 2 & ½ teaspoon garlic minced
- 2 green chilies finely chopped
- 1 large carrot around 130 grams, finely chopped
- ½ head green cabbage 180 grams, finely chopped
- 8-10 green beans 65 grams, finely chopped
- 1 medium green pepper 60 grams, finely chopped
- 1 medium red pepper 60 grams, finely chopped
- 6 cups water around 1.4 liters
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 & ½ tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼-½ teaspoon black pepper adjust to taste
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
- green onions chopped, to garnish
Instructions
- One important thing before you start making this soup is to prep all your vegetables beforehand. Chop everything and keep it ready to go. Heat oil in a wok on medium heat. Once hot, add the ginger, garlic and chilies. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the ginger and garlic start changing color.
- Now, add all the finely chopped vegetables: carrots, cabbage, green beans, green pepper, and red pepper. Cook the vegetables on medium-high heat for around 2 minutes or so. They need to remain crunchy, so do not overcook them.
- Then add 6 cups of water to the wok followed by the seasonings: soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, salt and black pepper. Stir and let the soup boil for 5 minutes.
- Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing together 3 teaspoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water. Stir and add it to the boiling soup. Let the soup boil for 2 more minutes until it thickens. This soup does not get very thick, if you prefer a thicker consistency, add more of the cornstarch.
- Garnish with chopped green onions and serve!
Notes
- To make this soup gluten free, use tamari (gluten free soy sauce).
- I have used water for the base of this soup, you can use vegetable broth as well.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What brand/kind of hot sauce did you use? Do you mean Sriracha in this recipe?
you can use sriracha or any hot sauce of choice