Hello, dear reader! I’ve got another easy weeknight meal for you with this loaded miso soup recipe. Miso soup is served as a side dish in Japan, full stop. However, in my true American fashion, I decided I wanted to dump a bunch of veggies and protein in there to make it a complete meal in and of itself. Traditional Japanese food enthusiasts, avert your eyes! For everyone else, read on.
Basic Building Blocks of Miso Soup
A standard miso soup recipe consists of dashi and miso paste. Dashi is a soup stock usually made from kelp and fish flakes. If you’re vegan, you can make dashi just from kelp. It can be made from scratch (see Just One Cookbook’s recipe), but I’m lazy and always buy dashi packs from the Japanese market that you steep like tea bags.
Miso is fermented soybean paste. You can generally find two kinds of miso at Asian grocery stores in America: white and red. I like red for its strong flavor, but really you can use whatever you like.
If these ingredients are totally new to you, take a look at my food glossary for more information.
Choose Your Mix-ins
Aside from the basic miso soup ingredients, you can add literally whatever you want to this soup. I typically use potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, tofu, and garlic. But here are some other options:
- sweet potato
- noodles (udon, vermicelli, somen, etc.)
- pumpkin
- spinach
- cabbage
- gochujang
- bok choy
The possibilities are endless. I like to serve this soup with rice, but again, it’s completely up to you! If you find a really good soup combination, be sure to let me know.
P.S. I have a video of me making this soup on Instagram Reels! Go check it out!
Loaded Miso Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 packet dashi (instant powder or the kind you steep)
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 yellow onion diced
- 1 zucchini diced
- 2 yukon gold potatoes diced
- 1 cup mushrooms of choice sliced
- 1 block firm tofu cut into 1/2" cubes
- 3-4 tbsp miso
- 1 tbsp gochujang optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, make about 4 cups of dashi. I use my 4 cups of water and steep one dashi packet for 3-5 minutes, like I'm making tea. Of course, you can make dashi from scratch as well, if you'd like.
- Bring dashi to a boil. Add garlic, onions, and potatoes.
- Simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the cubed potatoes are soft. The smaller you cut the potatoes, the quicker they'll cook. Once they're soft, add in your zucchini, mushroom, and tofu. These only take 1-2 minutes to cook.
- Turn off the heat and dissolve in your miso to taste. I usually start with about 1 tbsp per cup of water, but you can start with less and keep adding until it's flavorful enough for you. Also stir in your gochujang or other chili sauce, if using.
- Serve by itself, with noodles, or over rice!
For more easy weeknight meals, make sure to check out my furikake tuna mac salad and my 5-ingredient spaghetti meat sauce!