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 show you how to make it. If you want to check the recipe immediately, please visit the link below. Let's get started!
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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!
Learn more about miso soup in How to Make Japanese Miso Soup: Step-by-Step Guide
📋 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients (amounts are in the recipe card below).
- Miso paste
- Instant dashi powder
- Tofu
- Scallion
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).
Learn more about miso paste in What Is Miso Paste And How To Use It.
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.
Learn more about Japanese dashi in What is dashi: How to make 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 market: Mitsuwa Marketplace, Marukai
- Asian market
- 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.
- Chop scallion.
- Cut tofu into cubes.
- Put the scallions, tofu, and dashi powder in a medium saucepan.
- Add water.
- Bring to a boil on medium heat.
- Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add miso using a miso measuring whisk (if you have it).
- Stir gently until it dissolves.
- 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 Shisk
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.
Miso Soup Ingredient 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 onigiri rice balls and other traditional dishes to give it a more authentic feel. Here are some recipes you might want to try:
- Tofu miso soup
- Kombu onigiri
- Tuna and scallion tamagoyaki
- Wakame salad
- Nukazuke
10 Easy Miso Soup Recipes
Try these homemade miso soup recipes. They are tasty, easy, and ready in under 10 minutes!
FAQ
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.
The flavor is mild and gives a lovely soft texture.
Because we usually use katsuobushi (bonito) dashi for miso soup. But you can easily make it vegan using kombu dashi.
No, you don't. You can add the tofu as it is.
Miso soup is a daily staple in Japan. It depends on the family, but I make it almost every day, and we eat it a couple of times a day.
You can find it at Japanese grocery stores: Mitsuwa marketplace, Marukai, Asian grocery stores, or online stores like Amazon.
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.
More Recipes You Might Like
- What Is Miso Soup?
- Miso Soup Ingredients (And How To Make It)
- 10 Easy Japanese Miso Soup Recipes
- Wakame Seaweed Miso Soup
- Simple Japanese Mushroom Miso Soup
- 10-Minute Vegan Miso Soup
📖 Recipe
8-Minute Tofu Miso Soup
Print Pin SAVEEquipment
- Medium saucepan 18cm/7 inches
Ingredients
- 1 Tofu, 200g, 7oz
- ½ Scallion, 50g, 1.7oz
- 1½ teaspoon Dashi powder, 5g
- 3 c Water, 720ml
- 2 tablespoon Miso paste, 36g, 1.3oz
Instructions
- Preparation: Chop scallion, cut tofu into cubes.
- Bring to a boil: Put the scallions, tofu, dashi powder, and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil on medium heat.
- Simmer: Lower the heat and simmer for one minute.
- Add miso paste: Turn off the heat, add miso (use a miso measuring whisk if you have it), and stir gently until it dissolves.
Video
Notes
- Storage: 3 days in the fridge.
- If the taste of the soup is light to you, feel free to add more miso paste.
- If you want to try making dashi from scratch, here are the recipes: vegan dashi (shiitake mushroom and kombu), awase dashi (bonito and kombu), niboshi dashi (dried sardine)
- 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).
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