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This light, simple Clear Soup has rich, clean flavors thanks to a combination of chicken and beef broth being slowly simmered with seared vegetables. Sliced mushrooms and green onions are added at the end to bring out the delicate flavors of the broth. It’s perfect to serve as an elegant appetizer or to meal-prep as a base for noodle soup!
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Why You’ll Love This Simple Soup Recipe
- This classic clear soup method shows you how to easily make an elegant, restaurant-style soup that is perfect to serve as a light appetizer for guests (it takes a few hours to simmer but the flavors get even better if you make it ahead!) but which I also like to meal-prep as a base for simple noodle soups.
- This soup uses a mixture of beef and chicken broth to build a complex flavor without the need to make your own broth from scratch (but you can if you want to!) It tastes light, clean but still deeply savory.
- As long as you check the broths you’re using are suitable (and the fried green onions if you’re adding them as an optional garnish) this soup is naturally gluten-free! It is also keto-friendly, paleo and Whole30-compliant (the latter only if you skip the fried onions).
What I Learned Testing This Recipe
- Don’t skimp on searing the stockpot veggies. Searing the onion, garlic, and carrots before adding the liquid caramelizes their natural sugars, which helps build a deeper, richer flavor into the broth. It tasted a little flat when I tried skipping this step!
- You need to simmer the broth for at least an hour to get a good flavor from the vegetables, but I’ve found simmering it for 2-3 hours will develop even deeper flavors, similar to a bone broth.
- Make sure your broth doesn’t come to the boil. Keeping things at a simmer will help keep the broth clear; if you let it come to the boil it might turn cloudy.
- This soup will serve 8 people as an appetizer, but you may only get 4-6 portions if you’re using it as a base for a more substantial soup.
Ingredients
Sesame oil – As well as acting as the cooking fat for the vegetables, this adds a lovely toasty flavor to the broth.
Chicken broth and beef broth – Using a mixture of both broths helps layer this clear soup with complex flavors you just won’t get from using a single type of broth.
White onion, large carrot & celery rib – Coarsely chopped. Brown onion will also work, and you only need to peel the onion, don’t worry about the carrot. These will infuse the broth without ending up in the final bowl of soup.
Garlic – Whole cloves, peeled and smashed. Again, these are for infusing the soup and won’t end up in the final finished dish.
Mushrooms – Thinly sliced. Any kind of mushroom will work, but with the green onions and sesame oil in the soup shiitake mushrooms would be nice to lean into that Asian vibe.
Green onions – Sliced, green part only.
Fried onions – Optional, to serve if you want to those restaurant-style vibes!
Serving & Storage Suggestions
This is a lovely light soup to serve as an appetizer, but it would also make a great base for noodles and sliced proteins like grilled chicken.
The strained broth can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and add the mushrooms and green onions after reheating, not before freezing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! The broth actually improves in the fridge. Make it up to 3 days ahead, adding the fresh mushrooms and green onions just before serving so they stay bright and don’t overcook.
As this is a clear soup, the vegetables are simmered purely to infuse flavor into the broth. Leaving them in will make the broth turn cloudy.
I’ve not tried it, but I can’t see why not! I’d sear the vegetables on the sauté setting first if using an Instant Pot, then pressure cook on high for about 30–45 minutes with a natural release. For a slow cooker, sear on the stovetop first, then transfer everything to the slow cooker (unless you have one of those sear-and-stew Crockpots) and cook on low for 6–8 hours. If you try either of these methods, do let me know how you get on!
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Clear Soup with Sliced Mushrooms & Green Onion
Equipment
- large 8-quart stock pot
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 white onion peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 large carrot coarsely chopped
- 1 rib celery coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 medium mushrooms thinly sliced
- 4 green onions diced, green part only
- fried onions if desired, for restaurant style
Instructions
- Place a large 8-quart stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the oil and place the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery in the pot. Sear the veggies on all sides to caramelize, making sure not to burn the garlic.
- Pour in the chicken broth, beef broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a low boil and simmer for at least one hour.
- Use a skimmer to remove the vegetables from the broth. Taste, then salt as needed.
- To serve: ladle hot broth into bowls and sprinkle chopped scallion and sliced mushrooms over the top.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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