Miso Soup Recipe (Super Easy!)

This Japanese miso soup recipe is very simple to make, and is so comforting to sip on! This reciple has silken tofu, miso paste, dashi, and dried seaweed.

If you cook a lot of Japanese food, you may already have these ingredients stocked. The ingredients list is as simple as the method to cook it!

miso soup bowl

As a youngin, my parents took me out to eat with them a lot. They were great cooks, so a lot of going out was about discovery and enjoying new foods. To be honest though, it was partially because I was a stubborn customer who couldn’t stomach homemade food.

It’s mind-blowing now to think we did all this dining without some kind of trusty compass, like Yelp. WITHOUT YELP! I’m embarrassingly reliant on the ‘Yelps’ of today in discovering new spots and determine which places are worth trying.

What we did have back then was recommendations from friends, newspapers, and maybe some of the few food programs on TV. I’m getting flashbacks of Yan Can Cook as we speak. It was a dark time, but hey we eventually found good food.

Anyways, let’s reel this back a bit. We had this Japanese restaurant we’d frequent every month or so. They had a revolving sushi bar, but we always got a table because I had my eye on the only prize that mattered: the bento box. It was delicious, and I’m glad my parents agreed.

diced soft tofu for miso soup

The starter for this box always came with a steamy bowl of miso soup. It had this slightly cloudy broth, with pieces of white, silken tofu bobbing up and down with some seaweed friends. This restaurant was packed, and there would always be a wait. I’m realizing how easy (and smart) it was for them to have a pot of boiling miso soup to serve as quick damage control.

What’s in miso soup?

Miso soup has since taken on a sort of Zen vibe with me. It is very easy to make, too. Ingredients for this Japanese miso soup recipe simply include tofu, miso paste, dashi, and dried seaweed. That’s it! Not exactly stuff you may always have in the pantry, but trust me–it’s super simple to make.

Miso paste is the main flavoring component–a thick, salty, protein-rich paste made primarily of fermented soybeans. There are many wonderful varieties of miso, classified usually by their mix of grains, color and taste.

The wakame, or seaweed, adds a great visual contrast to the dish and a slight oceany aroma. It only takes a few minutes to hydrate–look how much these guys expand after soaking!:

hydrating dried seawead (wakame) for miso soup

Miso soup typically isn’t vegan since it’s made with dashi, a fish broth made from kombu and bonito flakes. Some miso even has dashi in it. However miso soup can easily be made vegan. Miso paste itself is packed with so much flavor that you can swap the dashi for other flavors, essentially making a vegan dashi if you wanted.

You’ll use instant dashi in this recipe, which are granules you just dissolve in water. You could make dashi from scratch, but quite frankly ain’t nobody got time for that (today, anyway!).

Lastly, miso is a ALIVE. You’ll be adding miso paste off the heat after everything else hits a boil. Miso, much like yogurt or cheese, contain beneficial living organisms that can be killed from over-heating.

bowl of miso soup

Now go make some soup! Then report back with some of your favorite types of miso!

miso soup Pinterest image

Easy Japanese Miso Soup w/ Silken Tofu

5 from 1 vote
A very simple and comforting Japanese miso soup, which is great served as a small side dish or for a quick and light snack.
BY: Hungry Huy
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
SERVINGS: 2

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup dried wakame dried seaweed
  • 2 tsp dashi granules
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 lb soft / silken tofu drained and cut into small cubes
  • 3 tbsp white miso other types work fine too
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions optional

Instructions 

  • Hydrate seaweed in warm water, then drain.
  • Add water and dashi granules into a pot and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to medium, add tofu and wakame long enough to heat through.
  • Remove from heat and mix in miso, taking care not to mash the tofu.
  • Garnish with scallions and serve.
Nutrition Facts
Easy Japanese Miso Soup w/ Silken Tofu
Serving Size
 
0 g
Amount per Serving
Calories
118
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
5
g
8
%
Saturated Fat
 
1
g
6
%
Sodium
 
1003
mg
44
%
Potassium
 
292
mg
8
%
Carbohydrates
 
11
g
4
%
Fiber
 
2
g
8
%
Sugar
 
3
g
3
%
Protein
 
9
g
18
%
Vitamin A
 
125
IU
3
%
Vitamin C
 
2
mg
2
%
Calcium
 
73
mg
7
%
Iron
 
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: Miso soup
Did you cook this recipe?Tag @HungryHuy or #hungryhuy–I’d love to see it!

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4 comments on “Miso Soup Recipe (Super Easy!)

  1. nicole (thespicetrain.com) says:

    I know, can you imagine life without yelp or tripadvisor? I wouldn’t know where to start!
    I love the photo you took of this soup, the light is beautiful and brings out the texture perfectly. Nicely done! Also, I just nominated you for the Liebster award, if you are interested in participating! 🙂

    1. Huy says:

      I feel lost as it is even with Yelp, hehe. Thanks Nicole!

  2. troy le says:

    Hi Huy,

    Could you let me know where to get these ingredients? My daughters would love these soup!!

    Thanks
    tl

    1. Huy says:

      Hey Troy, I got all of this at a Japanese market. Sometimes general Asian ones carry it all too. If you don’t have one nearby, you can find the dried stuff like wakame and dashi granules online (I like Amazon). They also sell the miso paste there, but that’s something that needs refrigeration so I dunno abut that one.

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