11 Easy Miso Soup Recipes And How To Make It

5 from 2 votes

Find a new favorite Miso Soup recipe that'll warm your heart and soul with these 11 variations! Learn how to make it and enjoy a healthy and delicious Japanese soup!

Have you ever experienced the delicious flavor of soup served in a Japanese restaurant? Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup made from miso paste, dashi broth, and a variety of ingredients such as tofu, seaweed, and green onions. It is an everyday staple in Japanese cuisine.

Through this post, you'll be able to learn the step-by-step process of making easy miso soup, along with 11 delicious miso soup recipes. These recipes are simple to follow and can be made in no time!

Treat yourself to a delightful bowl of classic Japanese miso soup at home!

This recipe is for you if:

You love Japanese miso soup.
You want to make miso soup.
You are looking for miso soup recipes.

Let's get started!

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About This Recipe

Easy and simple Japanese soup
11 easy miso soup recipes
Japanese ingredients explained
List of Ingredients
5 steps to make miso soup

11 Japanese Miso Soup Recipes

Let's dive into the varieties of miso soup recipes! Here are easy and cozy classic miso soups you can try today!

1. Tofu Miso Soup

This is a classic miso soup and the most popular one with tofu cubes and scallions.

Ingredients: Miso paste, katsuobushi dashi granules, tofu, and scallions

Easy 8-Minute Tofu Miso Soup Recipe

5 from 8 votes

Learn how to make tofu miso soup in this recipe.

Make This Recipe

2. Mushroom Miso Soup

This is a vegan miso soup with kombu kelp dashi. Use four Japanese mushrooms, and the combination of mushrooms is the key flavor in this recipe.

Ingredients: Miso paste, kombu dashi powder, shiitake, shimeji, eringi, and maitake.

Simple Mushroom Miso Soup Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Learn how to make mushroom miso soup in this recipe.

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3. Wakame Seaweed Miso Soup

wakame seaweed miso soup served in a bowl.

This is another traditional miso soup with wakame, soft tofu, and chopped scallions.

Ingredients: Miso paste, kombu dashi powder, tofu, wakame seaweed, scallions

Easy Homemade Miso Soup With Wakame Seaweed

5 from 2 votes

Learn how to make wakame seaweed miso soup in this recipe.

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wakame seaweed miso soup in a soup bowl.

4. Daikon Miso Soup

Ingredients: Miso paste, niboshi dashi, daikon, daikon leaves, aburaage

Japanese Daikon Miso Soup (Niboshi Dashi)

5 from 6 votes

Learn how to make daikon miso soup in this recipe.

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5. Kabocha Miso Soup

Ingredients: Miso paste, niboshi dashi, kabocha squash, komatsuna, and tofu

Easy Kabocha Miso Soup

5 from 2 votes

Learn how to make kabocha miso soup in this recipe.

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6. Summer Vegetable Miso Soup

Ingredients: Miso paste, niboshi dashi powder, zucchini, eggplant, and tomato

Summer Vegetable Miso Soup

5 from 4 votes

Learn how to make kabocha miso soup in this recipe.

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Japanese summer vegetable miso soup in a bowl

7. Natto Miso Soup

Ingredients: Miso paste, dashi packet, natto, shimeji mushrooms, and scallion

Natto Miso Soup

5 from 5 votes

Learn how to make natto miso soup in this recipe.

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8. Egg and Cabbage Miso Soup

Ingredients: Miso paste, niboshi dashi, cabbage, moyashi, egg

9. Vegetable Miso Soup

Ingredients: Miso paste, niboshi dashi, carrot, onion, aburaage, shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp

10. Nameko Mushrooms and Cabbage Miso Soup

nameko and cabbage miso soup in a saucepan.

Ingredients: Miso paste, katsuobushi dashi powder, cabbage, nameko mushrooms

11. Japanese Sweet Potato Miso Soup

Ingredients: Miso paste, dashi powder, Japanese sweet potato, onion, and aburaage

Japanese Sweet Potato Miso Soup

5 from 3 votes

Try this delicious and hearty bowl of Japanese sweet potato miso soup! Made with savory miso paste and tender sweet potatoes, this soup will surely satisfy and nourish you!

Make This Recipe

Japanese sweet potato miso soup in a serving bowl.

How To Make Miso Soup

Let me walk you through the ingredients and how to make miso soup. There are three basic ingredients:

Miso paste
Dashi (soup stock)
Ingredients of your choice (such as vegetables and tofu)

Let's find out more in the following sections!

Learn more about miso soup in How to Make Japanese Miso Soup: Step-by-Step Guide

1. Miso Paste

Miso is flavorful, savory, and salty fermented food (soybean paste), an essential seasoning for Japanese cuisine. It's a healthy and nutritious-rich ingredient containing beneficial bacteria (see the benefits here).

Have you ever seen different types of miso paste? The darker miso means it was aged longer (the Maillard reaction), has a rich flavor, and tastes less sweet than light-colored miso.

White miso paste (shiro miso) is the way to go for a sweet and mild taste. If you're looking for more rich flavor, try red miso paste (aka miso).

Learn more about miso paste in What Is Miso Paste And How To Use It.

2. Dashi

Dashi stock is essential for giving miso soup its unique umami flavor and aroma. We use the ingredients below for making dashi in Japanese cooking. They are used by themselves or combined.

Katsuobushi (Bonito flakes)
Kombu Seaweed (Kelp)
Shiitake Mushroom
Niboshi (Baby anchovy)

How are they made into dashi? There are 3 types:

Make homemade dashi, such as awase dashi, from these dashi ingredients.
Dashi powder or dashi granules
Dashi packet

Learn more about Japanese dashi in What is dashi: How to make Japanese Dashi.

3. Ingredients of Choice

The ingredients of choice are limitless, so we don't get bored eating the soup every day. The most popular ones are wakame seaweed, tofu, and green onions, like this wakame seaweed miso soup.

Here are the ingredients you can pick for your miso soup!

Root Vegetables - Daikon radish, sweet potato, carrot, onion, potatoes, gobo
Leafy Vegetables - Spinach, bok choy
Other Vegetables - Green onions, chives, scallions, kabocha squash, tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, zucchini, cabbage, napa cabbage, moyashi sprout
Mushrooms - Shiitake mushrooms, eringi mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms
Dried Seaweed - Wakame seaweed, aosa, tororo kombu,
Soybean Products - Silken tofu, firm tofu, aburaage, atsuage, natto
And many more - Egg, clams, fish cake

Pick your favorite ingredient from the list and make your own miso soup daily! By the way, I like to put three or more ingredients to make it a hearty soup.

Where to Buy Japanese Ingredients

If you live in the US, you can find Japanese ingredients in the list below.

Japanese market: Mitsuwa Marketplace, Marukai
Asian market
Whole Foods Market
Health food stores
Online stores: Instacart, Walmart, Amazon

Tofu Miso Soup Ingredients

Here is an example of Tofu miso soup, which is one of the basic miso soup recipes, and they are made of these ingredients:

Rice Miso paste (yellow)
Katsuobushi dashi powder
Soft tofu
Scallions

How to Make Miso Soup (5 Easy Steps)

How to make it is so simple and easy as follows:

Step 1 - Cut ingredients
Step 2 - Put ingredients, dashi, and water in a saucepan
Step 3 - Bring to a boil and simmer
Step 4 - Add miso paste
Step 5 - Dissolve miso paste

Please see more details in this tofu miso soup video.

How To Make Tofu Miso Soup

Let me guide you through the step-by-step process of making tofu miso soup. These steps are the same for other ingredients as well. You can watch a video tutorial on this Tofu miso soup video.

1. Chop scallion and cut tofu into cubes.

2. Put the scallions, tofu, dashi powder, and water in a saucepan.

3. Bring to a boil on medium heat, lower the heat, and simmer for one minute. Since both tofu and scallions can be eaten raw, they don't require much cooking time. Simply cook them to warm them up.

4. Turn off the heat and add miso paste using a miso measuring whisk.

5. Stir gently until it dissolves.

Serve

That's it! Miso soup is best enjoyed when it's hot, so serve it immediately!

By the way, we use these Miso soup bowls (Owan in Japanese) to serve miso soup. Maybe it's just me, but the miso soup tastes better when eaten in this bowl!

Helpful Tips

In Japanese cooking, it is common to cut tofu on your palm. Doing so lets you gently transfer the tofu directly into the pot after cutting without worrying about breaking it.
Always add miso paste after turning off the heat. If you boil the miso, you will lose the excellent flavor.
When adding the miso to your soup, stir gently (try not to break the tofu).
I highly recommend the miso measuring whisk for convenience and precision! More information on this whisk can be found below.

Miso measuring whisk

This miso measuring whisk is a MUST tool for making miso soup.

You can easily measure and scoop miso paste. All you need to do is to put this whisk into the miso container and turn it around! Plus, you can put the whisk into the soup directly to dissolve the miso.

I love it so much! I highly recommend having this simple tool if you make miso soup often!

How To Store

Fresh miso soup is the best, but if you have leftovers, let it cool and keep it in the fridge.

Transfer the soup to a glass jar or airtight container and store it in the fridge. It will be good for 2 to 3 days.

What To Serve With

onigiri, tamagoyaki, and salad served on a plate along with miso soup.

You can serve your soup with onigiri rice balls a bowl of rice, and other traditional Japanese dishes to give it a more authentic feel. Here are some recipes you might want to try:

Thanks For Stopping By!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog♡ . If you've tried this recipe (or any other recipe on the blog), please give it a star rating below!

Also, feel free to leave comments if you have any questions. I love hearing from you!

Chef JA Cooks is a Japanese food blog that shares simple and healthy Japanese home cooking recipes, including vegan and vegetarian. From traditional Japanese recipes to modern recipes with step-by-step instructions.

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FAQ

What is typically in a miso soup?

Miso soup is made from three basic components: Miso paste, dashi (soup stock), and Ingredients of your choice. The most common ingredients are tofu, scallions, and wakame seaweed.

Why is miso soup not vegan?

Because we usually use katsuobushi (bonito) dashi for miso soup. But you can easily make it vegan using kombu dashi.

How often do Japanese people eat miso soup?

Miso soup is a daily staple in a traditional Japanese meal. It depends on the family, but I make it almost every day, and we eat it a couple of times a day.

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