Name: Instant Pot Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 2 chicken leg quarters; 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth or 4 tsp bouillon and 4 cups water; 1 pound frozen corn kernels divided; 1/4 cup water; ¼ cup cornstarch; 1 tablespoon rice wine; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 1 teaspoon Rodelle organic ground ginger; 1 teaspoon sesame oil optional; 1/4 teaspoon white pepper; 2 eggs lightly beatened; scallion greens chopped (optional)

I make Instant Pot Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup at least 1-2 times a month. It’s a super easy Chinese-American mom’s version of filling and comforting chicken soup. The soup also serves double duty as “food as medicine” for my son’s egg desensitization.

Disclaimer: I am a brand ambassador for Rodelle and receive products to use and review. Please check that all ingredients are suitable for your allergies and be sure to ask your medical care team regarding any allergy related questions (I do not share medical advice). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Update: 10/27/2022 Rodelle has discontinued selling ground ginger and it’s not longer available as one of their cooking spices products.

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Life with Egg Allergy and Egg OIT

My mom used to make a chicken, corn, and egg drop soup using canned cream of corn, which I loved so much. But due to my younger son’s egg allergy I haven’t made this soup and many egg containing dishes until recently.

My son was desensitized to peanuts via his participation in a peanut patch trial and then desensitized to some nuts and egg in a follow up OIT trial. Since he has braces, I help him prepare his daily nut dose by crushing the nuts and aliquoting them into little containers.

However, it’s much more of a challenge to prepare eggs to eat daily. He was diligent about making a scrambled egg every day but cooking an egg after dinner is so hard to sustain as a daily activity. I have had to add recipes to our dinner rotation that has eggs but are too repulsive with too much egg-iness or flavor, such as steamed egg custard.

French toast is great when I have time to make French toast for breakfast on a school day. He likes oyako donburi because it has a lot of flavors and texture to minimize the egg. This Instant Pot Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup isn’t very egg-y.

So much chicken soup goodness!

Making Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup in an Instant Pot vs. Stove Top

You could prepare this Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup in either the Instant Pot or in a pot on your stove top. I prefer using the Instant Pot for the nutritional benefits of using a pressure cooker and for the freedom to start the soup at my convenience and do other things during the cooking process.

There’s so much to love about the Instant Pot which I talk about in my review (and super yum adapation of teriyaki chicken thighs), but the “keep warm” function keeps the soup at a safe temperature until I have time complete the last few steps. More recently, I’ve been using an Instant Pot Pro which has some improved features compared to the Duo.

The stove top method is simpler but takes longer and requires more active waiting and watching from me. I like to make the soup on the stove top if I want to substitute sliced boneless skinless chicken breast instead of chicken legs. Boneless skinless chicken breast would make the soup very light and lean (zero Weight Watchers points) but requires closer attention in order not to overcook the chicken.

A peek inside my Instant Pot after I drizzled in the eggs to make egg ribbons and after I returned the shredded chicken back into the pot.

Sweet Corn, So Many Options!

Canned Cream Style Corn: My mom used to make a simple version of this soup for me using canned cream style corn, broth, and chicken. The cream style corn is already thick, so add just enough broth to make it soupy without cornstarch and it’s a great way to make the soup egg-free.
Frozen Organic Corn: I avoid GMO corn for our family and I can’t find an organic or non-GMO version of cream style corn so I improvise by using frozen organic corn and cooking and pureeing half of the corn before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Whole Corn on the Cob: If you happen to have whole corn, you can shuck and cut the kernels off, add them to the soup.

If you are wondering why I prefer organic non-GMO corn, I recommend that you read Marion Nestle’s books such as Food Politics or Safe Food (affiliate links). Marion Nestle is a retired NYU Nutrition professor and her books are invaluable to help consumers make informed food choices.

Making Pretty Egg Ribbons

You want to make distinctive egg “ribbons” in your Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup and that requires that the soup is boiling hot but not bubbly. The key to forming beautiful egg ribbons is to make sure the soup is boiling hot so that the egg will cook quickly but also be sure that the soup is not bubbling or swirling as the excessive movement of the soup will break up the ribbons.

When I have tried pouring the egg in from a small bowl and inevitably a large piece of egg “plops” into the soup and forms a big blob of egg. I use a fat separator with a spout (looks like a small teapot) instead of a small bowl to scramble the egg and then it’s easy to drizzle the egg slowly around the pot into the soup. If you don’t have a fat separator, you can also use a spoon to drizzle in the egg.

Rodelle’s Organic Ground Ginger vs. Grated Fresh Ginger

Ginger adds a tiny bit of heat, gives the Chicken, Corn, and Egg Drop soup an authentic flavor, and is anti-inflammatory. I learned a few years ago that ginger can help people with asthma so I include it in our food whenever possible for the possible health benefits in addition to following our allergist’s allergy treatment plan.

If I have fresh ginger, I want to get the most flavor out of it by chopping or grating the ginger. However, it can be startling to bite into a piece of ginger in the soup. I love using Rodelle’s Organic Ground Ginger (discontinued product, check what’s in my cupboard for other recommendations) instead, we get all the flavor without super zesty bits of ginger in the soup and more palatable for people with sensitive palates. If you haven’t heard about Rodelle yet, definitely read my review about Rodelle.

Allergy Aware Chicken Corn and Egg Drop Soup

This recipe is free of peanuts, tree nuts, milk, fish, and shellfish.

The big top 8 allergen in this recipe is egg. You can leave out the egg and still have a delicious soup, but it wouldn’t be an egg drop soup. People with soy allergies could use coconut amino or soy free soy sauce. If avoiding wheat, substitute with tamari sauce which is gluten-free. It’s ok to omit sesame if allergic. The soup recipe is so versatile that you could omit or substitute a few items and it would still be good.

If you like this recipe and want an even easier version of the recipe using canned cream style corn, you will want to check it out in my Chinese Instant Pot Cookbook (affiliate). If you like making soup in your Instant Pot, I think you will enjoy making Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Corn and Vegetables, A Dream Come True.

Instant Pot Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup

I make Instant Pot Chicken Corn Egg Drop Soup at least 1-2 times a month. It’s a super easy Chinese-American mom’s version of filling and comforting chicken soup.

Course Soup

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword Chicken, corn, egg drop soup, instant pot

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 140 kcal

Author Sharon Wong

Ingredients

2 chicken leg quarters
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth or 4 tsp bouillon and 4 cups water
1 pound frozen corn kernels divided
1/4 cup water
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Rodelle organic ground ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil optional
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 eggs lightly beatened
scallion greens chopped optional

Instructions

Prepare the chicken legs – remove the chicken skin, any innards from along the spine, and check the tail for feather pieces, rinse away bone fragments, trim off any extra fat, and set aside to drain in a colander.
Combine 1/4 cup water, cornstarch, rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil (if using), ground ginger, and white pepper in small bowl (or gravy separator if you have one) and set aside.
Instant Pot Cooking Instructions:
Place liner into the Instant Pot, add the broth and half of the frozen corn, and turn on “saute” mode.
Allow the broth to boil for a few minutes and then use an immersion blender to puree the corn.
Add the rest of the corn, the chicken legs, and enough water to bring the level of liquid to the 9 cup line.
Turn off the Instant Pot, switch it to “soup” mode and set the timer for 10 minutes, and put the lid on and turn the venting knob to seal.
When the timer goes off, allow the pot to natural release (15-20 minutes).
Turn the Instant Pot off and switch it back to “saute” mode, take the chicken out and set aside, stir the cornstarch mixture and stir it into the soup, bring the soup to boil.
Scramble two eggs in the a bowl (or fat separator), switch the Instant Pot to “keep warm”, and drizzle in the egg slowly around the pot into the soup in ribbons, do not stir.
When the chicken is not too hot to handle, pick out and discard the bones, shred the chicken meat with two forks, and return the chicken meat into the soup and serve and garnish with chopped scallion greens if desired.
Stove Top Cooking Instructions:
Cook half of the corn with the broth in a 6 quart stock pot on medium high heat and boil for a few minutes.
Use an immersion blender to puree the corn.
Add the rest of the corn and chicken legs and 4 more cups of water, bring to a boil and then lower temperature to medium low and simmer for 40 minutes.
Take the chicken out, add the cornstarch mixture, raise the temperature and bring the soup back to boil.
Scramble two eggs in a bowl (or fat separator), turn off the heat, and drizzle in the egg into the soup in ribbons, do not stir for 1-2 minutes.
When the chicken is not too hot to handle, pick out and discard the bones, shred the chicken meat with two forks, and return the chicken meat into the soup and serve and garnish with chopped scallion greens if desired.

Recipe Notes

Easy, low fat (0 Weight Watchers points) stove top variation: Instead of using chicken legs, use one skinless boneless chicken breast and thinly slice. Proceed to cook half the corn in the broth, puree, add the rest of the corn, chicken breast, cornstarch mixture, bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through), and drizzle in egg ribbons.

Nut Free Wok Instant Pot Recipes

I love using my Instant Pot, and authored Chinese Instant Pot Cookbook. Here’s a list of my favorite Instant Pot recipes.

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