8-Minute Tofu Miso Soup

How would you like to enjoy authentic Japanese tofu miso soup at home? It's cozy, healthy, and delicious. You can make this tasty soup with just 10 minutes of your time! Learn how in the recipe below!

Have you ever experienced the delicious flavor of miso soup served in Japanese restaurants? The most popular one is tofu miso soup, a soothing and warming soup that makes you feel so content!

You might not be familiar with the ingredients, but I'll show you how simple it is to make. It only takes under 10 minutes!

In addition, homemade miso soup is much healthier and tastier than instant varieties. So, try out this easy recipe and enjoy the traditional Japanese soup at home!

This recipe is for you if:
• You love tofu miso soup.
• You want to make tofu miso soup.
• You are looking for easy tofu miso soup recipe.

Let me walk you through the ingredients and the instructions. If you want to check the recipe, jump to the recipe. Let's get started!

Jump to:

• About this recipe
• How to make miso soup
• 📋 Ingredients
• Where to buy Japanese ingredients
• 🔪Instructions
• Vegan Adaptable
• Variations
• What to serve with
• Varieties of miso soup
• FAQ
• Thanks For Stopping By
• 📖 Recipe
• 8-Minute Tofu Miso Soup

About this recipe

• Traditional Japanese savory soup
• Only five ingredients
• Ready in under 10 minutes
• Japanese ingredients explained
• Easy to adapt for vegan/vegetarian

How to make miso soup

First, let me briefly walk you through how to make miso soup before diving into the recipe.

Miso soup is made from these main ingredients:

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

I will give more details about each component in the following section.

And how to make it is so simple and easy as follows:

• Step #1 - Cut ingredients
• Step #2 - Add dashi (soup stock)
• Step #3 - Bring to a boil and simmer
• Step #4 - Add miso paste and dissolve

Did you get the idea? Great! Let's move on to the ingredients!

📋 Ingredients

Here are the ingredients (amounts are in the recipe card below).

• Tofu
• Scallion
• Instant dashi powder
• Miso paste

See more details on each ingredient below.

Miso Paste

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

Have you ever seen miso with various colors? The darker miso means aging 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 (aka miso). 

Click here to learn about miso paste.

Instant Dashi powder (Dashi granules)

Dashi broth is essential in giving miso soup its unique flavor and aroma. Making your dashi gives you an authentic flavor and feeling, but if you don't have time to make it, here are easy dashi powder variations:

• Kombu dashi powder - made from Kombu seaweed. It's vegan and has a mild flavor.
• Katsuobushi dashi powder - made from katsuobushi (bonito flakes), kombu, and shiitake mushroom. This brings a well-balanced umami flavor.
• Niboshi dashi powder - made from niboshi (baby anchovy), katsuobushi (bonito flakes), kombu, and shiitake mushroom. It has a more intense flavor than the other two.

Choose the one that suits your preference, but if unsure, pick katsuobushi dashi, which is the standard for miso soup. I use katsuobushi in this recipe.

Click here to learn about Japanese dashi.

Homemade dashi stock

It's easy and quick to use store-bought dashi powder, but homemade dashi stock makes your soup more delicious.

Homemade Dashi recipes:

• Vegan dashi (Shiitake mushrooms and kombu seaweed)
• Awase dashi (Katsuobushi and kombu seaweed)
• Niboshi dashi (Baby anchovy)

Niboshi is my favorite. When you have time, try these recipes!

Tofu

Tofu is a classic miso soup ingredient, which gives a soft texture to the soup. Tofu comes in 2 different types - Momen (firm tofu) and Kinu (silken tofu). You can use both of them for miso soup. I use Momen in this recipe.

Where to buy Japanese ingredients

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

• Japanese grocery stores: Mitsuwa marketplace, Marukai
• Asian grocery stores
• Whole foods market
• Health food stores
• Online stores: Instacart, Walmart, Amazon

🔪Instructions

Let me show you how to make it. You can also watch this recipe video.

1. Chop scallion.
2. Cut tofu into cubes.
3. Put the scallions, tofu, and dashi powder in a medium saucepan.
4. Add water.
5. Bring to a boil on medium heat.
6. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and add miso using a miso measuring whisk (if you have it).
8. Stir gently until it dissolves.
9. You can also use a ladle to dissolve miso paste.

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

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

Helpful Tips

• 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).
• It's easy to add miso paste with a whisk (see 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!

Storage

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 and store it in the fridge. It will be good for 2 to 3 days.

I don't recommend putting it in the freezer because freezing and thawing change the texture of the tofu.

Vegan Adaptable

Is miso soup vegan? No, because miso soup's essential ingredient is dashi, usually made from fish.

But it's easy to make it vegan using vegan dashi. You can use kombu dashi powder or make vegan dashi (Shiitake mushroom and kombu seaweed) from scratch. Just replace regular dashi with them, and you will have a vegan miso soup.

Variations

Ingredients for miso soup are limitless, so we don't get bored eating it every day. Here are other ingredients you can add to tofu miso soup:

• Dehydrated wakame seaweed
• Green onions, spring onions
• Bean sprouts
• Bean sprout
• Mushrooms
• Carrot
• Napa cabbage
• Bok choy
• Aburaage (fried tofu)
• and many more!

What to serve with

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

• Tofu miso soup
• Japanese steamed rice
• Vegan vegetable gyoza (dumplings)
• Cucumber salad with shiokomb
• Eggplant teriyaki

Varieties of miso soup

Try these homemade miso soup recipes. They are tasty, easy, and ready in under 10 minutes!

FAQ

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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📖 Recipe