Easy Paleo Hot & Sour Soup (Whole30 & AIP)
This post contains affiliate links.
This hot & sour soup is an easy and nourishing dish! It’s paleo, whole30, AIP, and an all-around healthy and filling meal.
Soup season is here, and hot & sour soup is one of those classics that we all know and love. The good new is that’s it’s so simple to make at home! It’s made with easy-to-source and healthy ingredients that are paleo, gluten free, AIP, and whole30. Sign me up, right?
The Ingredients You’ll Need for the Easy Hot & Sour Soup
- Pork tenderloin. You can also use ground pork, or tofu if you’d like. You can even adapt this to be an egg drop soup.
- Chicken broth.
- Cabbage. You won’t always find this in hot & sour soup, but it adds more nutrients for not a lot of cost. Bok choy would be another great addition.
- Shitake mushrooms. You can also use wood ear mushrooms.
- Arrowroot starch. This replaces what would traditionally be cornstarch in this dish and thickens the soup. You can likely use tapioca starch.
- Garlic & ginger.
- Chili sauce or chili oil. This is optional if you’re nightshade-free like me, but this is where the heat would come from! You can add 1 tsp at a time.
- Lime. Gotta have that sour flavor! We use lime juice in this recipe instead of rice vinegar to keep it grain free, but that works as well.
- Coconut aminos. This is the soy sauce substitute that you can buy at most health food stores and online.
How to Make Hot & Sour Soup
- Step One. Cook the pork tenderloin and set aside.
- Step Two. Saute the garlic and ginger then add the mushrooms and bamboo shoots and then shredded cabbage at the end.
- Step Three. Add in the chicken broth, coconut aminos, lime, chili sauce, and salt and pepper.
- Step Four. Add the pork in and allow to si,mer.
- Step Five. Combine 1/4 cup of broth with arrowroot starch. Mix and then add to soup to thicken.
- Step Six. Finish with green onions and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- Add seasoning to taste. Make the soup as hot or as sour as you’d like with more lime juice, or chili oil if using.
- Up the veggies. Bok choy would be a great addition to this soup as well as more mushrooms.
You’ll also like…
Easy Paleo Hot & Sour Soup (Whole30 & AIP)
This hot & sour soup is an easy and nourishing dish! It's paleo, whole30, AIP, and an all around healthy and filling meal.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 12 oz pork tenderloin, sliced into very thin strips (sub ground pork, or even ground chicken)
- Salt and pepper, omit pepper for AIP
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1- inch ginger, grated
- 2 cups shitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small head green cabbage, shredded
- ½ cup sliced bamboo shoots, optional
- 8 cups chicken broth, divided
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1-2 tsp chili sauce, omit for AIP
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1 ½ tbsp arrowroot starch
- 2-3 tbsp green onion, chopped
Instructions
- Using a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the avocado oil over medium heat. Add the pork tenderloin, seasoning with salt and pepper. Saute for about 3 min on each side or until cooked through.Set aside.
- Adding more fat to the pan if needed, cook the garlic and ginger for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Add the mushrooms and bamboo shoots and saute for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add the shredded cabbage and cook until mostly wilted for about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken broth (reserving 1/4 cup and setting aside), coconut aminos, lime, chili sauce if using and more salt and pepper to taste. Add the pork back and simmer for about 10 minutes to combine the flavors.
- While the soup is simmering, combine the 1/4 cup of broth with the arrowroot starch. Whisk together to thicken and add to the soup and stir. Simmer for another few minutes to allow the soup to thicken.
- Finish with green onion and further to taste.
Notes
All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Nutrition facts do not include optional bamboo shoots.
Did you Make this Recipe?Tag @unboundwellness on Instagram and hashtag #unboundwellness!
This recipe was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2024. Photos by Modern Food Stories.
Amazingly good, and easy to prepare. This recipe will go on high rotation! Thank you 🙂
Thank you so much!!
This was super yummy. Hubby even went back for a second bowl, and he never does that! Great recipe. Thank you!
I might have to tr this for the family.
This is AMAZING! I’ve been craving hot and sour soup and this was perfect! I will be making this at least once a week, I already know it, haha! I can’t thank you enough for your incredible recipes. I’ve been living off of them, you’re a life saver!
This is so good!! Can’t wait to make it again.
any recipe for those crispy chinese noodles you add to it? i love normal hot and sour soup with those in it? would love a paleo version. maybe its just a dream but i’d love it if possible
I haven’t seen one personally but I’m sure there’s one out there! 🙂
Very good. Added a bit more coconut aminos to salt it a bit more.
Thanks so much, Lisa! So glad you liked it!!
Just made this soup. It is delicious! One of my new favorites. Tasted so good it was hard to stop eating even when I was full. Oops!
Thank you so much, Cecilia!! So glad you liked it!!
I made the Hot & Sour soup – oh my, it was so good. I haven’t eaten Chinese foods for years, but this really hit the spot.
Thanks for the great recipe. I did half cabbage half bok choy and added a splash of fish sauce and cilantro after I took it off the heat. Definitely adding an egg with leftovers. It really feels like take-out!
Ooooh yum! Love those additions! Thanks for sharing, Nicolette!
Oh Michelle, as I contemplate doing AIP I keep coming back to your recipes because they resonate with my tastebuds and give me hope. Either way this recipe will be delicious no matter what! I have everything in stock already! Thank you.
Thank you so so much Sarah!!!