This vegan miso soup is delicious and comforting! Easy to make with just a handful of ingredients, it's the perfect starter for any vegan Japanese meal!
I love pretty much anything made with miso, and miso soup is no exception! It's almost always part of my order when I go out for Japanese food.
I say almost because not all miso soup is vegan. Traditional miso soup is made with dashi, a type of Japanese stock that's normally made with seaweed and bonito flakes, which are composed of dried fish.
So make sure you ask if the miso soup is vegan before ordering it at your favorite Japanese restaurant. Or just make vegan miso soup at home using my simple method. It's really easy, only takes a few minutes and a handful of ingredients, and tastes just as good as what you'd get at a restaurant!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Water.
- Dried kombu. Kombu is a type of kelp that we'll be using to make our dashi (broth). It can be found at Asian markets or online.
- Miso paste. We're using white miso paste (also known as shiro miso), which is available in the international foods sections of most grocery stores. Feel free to experiment with other types of miso paste if you'd like. You can learn about the different types of miso in this article.
- Silken tofu. You can really use any variety of tofu (learn about them in this tofu guide), but silken tofu is what you'd find in traditional miso soup.
- Scallions. Also known as green onions.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Place your water and kombu into a small saucepan and place it over high heat.
- Bring the water to a boil, then remove the pot from heat and cover it. Let your kombu steep for 10 minutes. This is our vegan dashi!
- You can prep your remaining ingredients while the dashi steeps: dice the tofu and chop the scallions.
Tip: Silken tofu is very delicate and might crumble a bit when you remove it from the package and dice it. Don't worry about it! Just use all of the pieces, perfect or not. Some brands of silken tofu come in varying degrees of firmness. Buying the firmest one you can find will help with the crumbling issue.
- Once your dashi has finished steeping, take off the lid and remove the kombu.
- Ladle out a bit of your hot dashi and place it into a small container with your miso. Whisk the mixture until smooth, then add it back to the pot, along with your diced tofu and scallions.
Tip: Avoid placing your vegan miso soup back over heat once it's ready. Heating it up too much can kill all of the beneficial probiotics in the miso paste.
- Serve your soup immediately, and enjoy!
Leftovers & Storage
Vegan miso soup is best served right away, but if you do have leftovers they'll keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat it on the stove and try to avoid bringing it back to a boil, in order to preserve the probiotic content.
Frequently Asked Questions
It can be! Just check the label on your miso paste to ensure it's gluten-free.
If you notice a white film on your kombu, it's most likely salt — after all, kombu is a type of seaweed! You can rinse it off if you prefer, or leave it on if you don't mind some extra salt in your soup.
More Vegan Japanese Recipes
- Vegan Japanese Curry
- Vegan Ramen
- Japanese Fried Rice
- Japanese Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
- Smoky Tofu Veggie Sushi
- Eggplant Katsu Curry
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Comforting Vegan Miso Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 (4 inch by 4 inch or 10 gram) piece dried kombu
- ¼ cup white (shiro) miso paste
- 8 ounces silken tofu, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2 scallions, chopped
Instructions
- Place the water and kombu into a small saucepan and place it over high heat.
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Remove the pot from heat, cover it and allow the kombu to steep for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the lid from the pot and remove the kombu.
- Ladle a small amount of the hot liquid from the pot and into a small cup or container. Add the miso and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the miso mixture into the pot and stir in the tofu and scallions.
- Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.
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Hello! I have a question please -- can kombu be re-used?
Good question! I wouldn't recommend reusing for another batch of soup, as it will probably have lost quite a bit of flavor, but apparently you can freeze it and repurpose it. I found this article with some ideas: http://www.kurakonusa.com/blog/2013/02/reusing-kombu-seaweed/
Thanks so much! Ad I made this last night -- it was just wonderful. Tasted completely authentic to me -- I didn't miss the bonito at all. Thank you! I'm thrilled. I've tried other vegan miso recipes and this is definitely both the easiest and the best!