Miso Soup (味噌汁) is a traditional Japanese soup, and it’s served with any Japanese meal at any time of the day. Tofu and wakame seaweed miso soup is probably the most well known and popular, but the possibilities of ingredients are endless. You can use all sorts of meat, seafood, eggs, and vegetables that you already have in your fridge at home.
If making Dashi stock from scratch sounds too much work, you can use instant dashi packet or powder that are readily available online and at supermarkets. They are very convenient and flavorful, and we use it, too, on a regular basis. Most of our miso soup recipes are ready in 15 to 20 minutes! Hope you can try one of our simple and easy recipes below, or you can come up with your own combinations of ingredients.
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Miso Soup with Tofu and Onion
We added sliced brown onion to a typical tofu miso soup in this recipe. Thinly sliced brown onion adds sweetness to the broth. If you are tired of a typical tofu miso soup, try adding brown onion for a change!
Get the Miso Soup with Tofu and Onion Recipe.
Miso Soup with Steamed Rice
Steamed rice gives miso soup some body, by very slightly thickening it. It is still a soup, not Okayu porridge or Zosui. It’s a perfect dish when you’re not feeling well and have no appetite. This simpler and milder soup is easy to take in, but it’s still got some substance to give your body energy.
Get the Miso Soup with Steamed Rice Recipe.
Miso Soup with Fried Eggplant
Japanese eggplant is cut into thick sticks and pan fried with oil before added to the broth. Softly cooked eggplant soaks up savory dashi and miso flavor.
Get the Miso Soup with Fried Eggplant Recipe.
Miso Soup with Soy Milk
Miso paste and soy milk are both made from soy beans, and of course they blend in perfect harmony. Together with Abuuraage thin fried Tofu, this is a triple soy-licious dish! Because Kombu sea kelp Dashi and Shimeji mushrooms add extra depth to the flavor, there’s no need to add any animal-derived ingredients.
Get the Miso Soup with Soy Milk Recipe.
Miso Soup with Salmon and Daikon
Fresh salmon fillet is cut into bite size pieces and cooked with daikon radish in savory dashi broth and seasoned with miso paste. Daikon is a long white Japanese radish, and it’s used in a variety of Japanese dishes such as pickles, salad, stew, and soup. As the name Daikon in Japanese literally means “large root” (大根), once you buy a whole daikon, it can be transformed into multiple dishes. Miso soup is a great way to use up a leftover piece of daikon in the fridge.
Miso Soup with Pork Meatballs
This is a hearty dish that can easily serve as a main course alongside steamed rice. There’s no need to make Dashi for this miso soup as the ground pork provides enough umami savory flavor. Napa cabbage adds a delightful texture and makes the soup both filling and healthy.
Get the Miso Soup with Pork Meatballs Recipe.
Miso Soup with Bacon, Cabbage, and Onion
Bacon is commonly used in western style soup such as chowder and minestrone, but it actually goes very well with Japanese miso soup, too! Dashi is almost not needed as the bacon has strong flavor, but we are adding instant dashi powder to the broth for added umami.
Miso Soup with Carrot and Egg
This miso soup is definitely an everyday dish with simple ingredients that are already in your fridge. The sweetness from the carrot makes the taste of the soup nice and mild, and the fluffy egg is irresistibly tempting. You can make this miso soup at a moment’s notice.
Get the Miso Soup with Carrot and Egg Recipe.
Miso Soup with Kimchi and Tofu
This miso soup is inspired by Korean Kimchi soup or Kimchi Jjigae, but it is not the authentic Korean soup. It’s rather a simple Japanese miso soup with kimchi in it. It’s lighter and milder than jigae (Korean stew). You can have the soup simply as it is, or add some thinly sliced pork, seafood, or eggs to make it heartier.
Miso Soup with Gyoza and Lettuce
This miso soup is made with store-bought frozen Gyoza and fresh lettuce. It is seriously easy to make, and you don’t even need to cut anything at all. Choose frozen Gyoza dumplings of your choice, chicken, pork, or vegetable, from super markets, throw them in the soup along with lettuce leaves, and done! No compromise on the taste either.
Miso Soup with Broken Tofu and Nori Roasted Seaweed
Medium hard Tofu is broken apart into chunks by hand, and Nori is also torn by hand. No knives and cutting boards are involved. On top of the nice oceanic aroma of Nori seaweed, toasted sesame seeds give the soup another layer of nice fragrance. And all is done in 10 minutes – that’s not bad at all.
Get the Miso Soup with Broken Tofu and Nori Roasted Seaweed Recipe.
Miso Soup with Broccoli, Onion, and Egg
We can use the whole broccoli including the stems for this miso soup, and onion slices add the sweetness to the broth. This is a perfect soup for breakfast or lunch.
