Slow Cooker Sunday: Loaded hot-and-sour soup is a complete meal in a bowl

A complete meal that’s served in one bowl is the way to go for an easy dinner any night of the week.

This soup has so many goodies in it I hardly know where to start when eating it. The broth is slow-cooked with fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil, which give it a wonderful Asian flavor.

And the taste of hot-and-sour comes from the red pepper flakes that seem to get spicier as they cook, along with the tang of the rice vinegar.

As a bonus, this meal also comes with noodles, which is one of my favorite things about the soup, because it tastes so good along with the broth.

The flavor of the broth complements the chicken, veggies and noodles with every bite.

Slow cooker hot-and-sour chicken and veggie soup recipe

Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 3 hours | Total time: 3 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
• 1-1/2 teaspoons peeled and minced ginger root
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 pinches dried red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 (8-ounce) can bamboo shoots, drained
• 1 cup carrots, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 3 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup shredded napa cabbage
• 1/2 cup Chinese pea pods
• 1/2 cup white beech mushrooms (or sliced regular white mushrooms)
• 2 servings Thai stir-fry rice noodles, cooked al dente, according to the package instructions, for the serving bowl
• 1/2 cup green onion, chopped, for garnish
• 1 sliced red jalapeño, for garnish

Directions:

1. To a slow cooker, add the chicken broth, ginger root, garlic, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, salt, rice vinegar, carrots and bamboo shoots. Stir together.
2. Turn the slow cooker on to the 3-hour setting, and cover with the lid.
3. After the soup has cooked for 2 hours, to a small bowl, add the cornstarch and water. Stir until a thick mixture forms. Uncover the slow cooker, and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Then add the egg through a slotted spoon to the soup. Add the chicken, stir, and cover with the lid.
4. After the soup has cooked in total for 2-1/2 hours, add the cabbage, pea pods and mushrooms, stir, and cover back up with the lid.
5. Just before serving, fill each serving bowl with cooked noodles.
6. To serve, ladle the hot soup over the noodles, and top with green onion and slices of jalapeño.

More Asian soup recipes

Soba noodle soup with shrimp
Thai shrimp noodle soup
Filipino chicken egg noodle soup