Vegan Miso Soup
This easy vegan miso soup recipe is a healthy soup you can serve for lunch, as a snack, or as a pre-dinner appetizer. If you’re looking for a nourishing and filling soup, this will be a go-to favorite.
Do you love all things miso? Be sure to try this miso tofu too!
If you’re wondering what you can eat to help improve your digestion this Spinach Miso Soup recipe is a good start. It’s simple to make, easy on the digestive system, and pretty tasty too.
Ingredient Spotlight
What is Miso?
Miso (Pronounced MEE-so) is a Japanese fermented paste made mostly from soybeans combined with a grain, such as rice or barley. The fermentation process can vary in length, changing the depth of flavor in each type of miso paste. White or yellow mild miso paste has a mild flavor that adds umami to vegan dishes. I agree with Bon Appetit that Miso is a secret weapon that should be in every kitchen.
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Adding carrots creates texture, color, and nutrients to this simple soup
- Using mild miso paste makes an undeniably delicious flavor
- Tofu cubes are added to the broth, causing them to soak up the savory flavors, adding plant-based protein and texture to every bite
- Adding a bit of chopped nori sheets creates umami flavor that tips the scales toward amazing!
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Water — You should use filtered water if your water has a strong flavor to it.
- Vegetable stock — Use high-quality vegetable stock, such as vegetarian Better than Bouillon combined with water.
- Miso Paste — I recommend white or yellow mild miso paste.
- Fresh ginger — You can substitute ground ginger.
- Spinach — You can use fresh or frozen spinach.
- Carrot — We’ll be adding a quarter cup of minced carrots to this soup.
- Tofu — You can use either extra-firm tofu or silken tofu to add protein and fiber. Here’s more on how to buy tofu.
Marly’s Tips
For a fishier taste to your vegan miso soup, chop up half of a sheet of nori (the sheets you use for vegan sushi) and add that to your broth.
How to Make Miso Soup
It’s easy to make this miso broth.
- Combine the water and vegetable stock in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of the warm broth into a small bowl and stir in the miso paste.
- Add the carrots to the broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to low.
- Stir the miso paste, tofu, and greens into the broth.
- Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, being careful not to boil the soup once the miso is added.
- Pour into bowls and serve.
What is miso soup made of?
Some traditional miso soup recipes are made with meat like sardines. However, you can make vegan or vegetarian miso soup. It’s made using a variety of vegetables, like mushrooms or spinach, vegetable broth, and, of course miso.
How healthy is white miso soup?
Miso soup is a low-calorie soup that is full of nutrients, such as protein, folic acid, and more. Also, because miso is a fermented food, miso provides beneficial bacteria for digestion.
Here’s a nutritional estimate for each serving of this miso soup recipe:
Calories: 137 Protein: 12g Carbs: 8g Fat: 6g Fiber: 2g Net Carbs: 6g
More Miso Recipes
More Healthy Vegan Recipes
That’s it for this vegan miso soup. Enjoy!
Vegan Miso Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon white miso
- 1 cup greens (like spinach)
- ¼ cup minced carrots
- 1 cup cubed tofu
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onions
- 1 tablespoon nori , chopped
Instructions
- Combine the water and vegetable stock in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Once the liquid is warm, pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of it into a small bowl and stir in the miso paste. Set aside.
- Add the carrots to the broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to low.
- Stir the miso paste and the spinach mixture into the saucepan with the broth. Then add the tofu. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, being careful not to boil the soup once the miso is added.
- Pour into bowls and serve. Transfer any leftovers to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recommended Equipment
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The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2012 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2020.
Miso soup took me so long to perfect, but stumbling on white miso was an epiphany for me as well. Winter weather makes me crave soups.
Duuuu-LICOUS.
We all have our “vices” – I can totally live without sugar and dairy and bread, but find it hard to give up wine and meat. Which is making it nearly impossible for me to lose weight or cleanse at all. But I do love seeing everyone’s version of a “cleanse soup” – it’s giving me some variety to consider if I can put down the wine glass and cook one of them!
That looks like a perfect bowl of soup heaven!! Love miso soups 😀
Miso soup is one of my favorites, and I love adding spinach to it.
What kind of tofu did you use? This looks exactly like what I’ve been looking for!