Homemade, Easy Miso Soup
If you’ve ever eaten at a Japanese restaurant, chances are high that you’ve had miso soup, as it’s often served as a starter. But you don’t have to order out to enjoy the cancer-fighting benefits of this healthy dish; you can prepare this miso soup recipe quickly and easily at home.
Why is miso soup so good for you? It lies in the power of fermentation, which helps increase digestion and bioavailability of nutrients, as well manage and prevent disease.
In addition, miso soup is relatively low calorie and boasts good macros, at 128 calories per bowl and 24 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fat and 7 grams of protein.
What Is Miso?
What makes this miso soup recipe so nutritious is properly prepared miso, made from soybeans. While I’m not usually a soy fan, because the beans are fermented, miso is loaded with probiotic benefits. And making the best miso soup recipe from scratch means you can avoid the additives and excess sodium that too often are included in restaurant versions.
I love this easy miso soup recipe with mushrooms and greens as a meal starter or even as a hot tonic when I feel a cold coming on, as ginger contains immune-boosting qualities. I’m positive you’ll enjoy it.
While I’m generally in the “no soy” camp, what sets miso apart — and similarly natto and tempeh, two other soy products — is that they’re fermented sources of soy. When you ferment soybeans, you have a completely different product that yields a completely different set of available nutrients.
Organically grown fermented soy products like miso, tempeh or natto are the only types of soy I recommend consuming for this reason.
How to Make Miso Soup
How do you make miso soup from scratch?
Let’s begin by heating the broth. Water is fine, too, but the broth will make this Japanese miso soup recipe more flavorful. Meanwhile, prep the vegetables. (Pro tip: Freeze the fresh ginger before making this soup; it’ll grate very easily.)
Once the broth is simmering, toss in the mushrooms, onion, garlic, ginger, collards and coconut aminos. Cook for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the miso with a some hot water until it’s thoroughly combined.
Remove the broth and vegetable mixture from heat. Add in the miso and stir to combine.
This miso soup recipe with mushrooms can be customized to your tastes. For example, I haven’t specified what type of mushrooms to use here because they all taste great in this soup. Morels, baby bellas, crimini, shiitake, oyster — choose your favorite or grab a variety from what’s on sale at the farmers market.
If you enjoy a little heat, hot peppers would be a terrific addition. Make this miso soup recipe with vegetables of your choosing.
Other Flavorful Soup Recipes
- Thai coconut soup
- Tom kha gai
- Pumpkin cashew soup
- Pho
- Tuscan white bean soup
- Greek avgolemono soup
- Red lentil soup
Miso Soup Recipe
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Try this healthy, delicious miso soup recipe with mushrooms. The soybeans are fermented, so this it’s loaded with gut-friendly probiotics.
Ingredients
- 4 cups organic broth or water
- 2 cups fresh mushrooms or 1/2 cup dried, chopped
- 1 large yellow or red onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1–2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 2 cups coarsely chopped collard greens
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons mellow white miso
Instructions
- In a medium pot, heat broth or water over medium heat and bring to a low simmer. Add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, ginger, collards and coconut aminos. Cook for 5 minutes.
-
Meanwhile, put the miso into a small bowl and add a little hot water. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.
- Remove the broth and vegetable mixture from heat. Add in the miso and stir to combine.
Notes
- You can use water instead of broth, though broth brings more flavor.
- As far as broth goes, use vegetable broth for a vegan version. You can sub in bone broth if you aren’t looking to keep this recipe vegan/vegetarian.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 5
- Category: Soup
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: Japanese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2
- Calories: 128
- Sugar: 10.7g
- Sodium: 1,764mg
- Fat: 1.7g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 24.3g
- Fiber: 4.8g
- Protein: 7.2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Comments
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Why tofu is not added to this soup?
Can you add multi collagen protein to blackeyed peas in the crockpot??
Coconut Aminos are a soya sauce substitute to avoid soy doodle jump
I made a mistake of using red miso and increased to 3 tbsp. Too much miso and sodium for this soup. I’ll stick to miso as called for next time. I always increase the garlic 2x and that was fine. I live at 4750’ elevation, and increased the simmer time accordingly.
What are Coconut aminos??
Coconut Aminos are a soya sauce substitute to avoid soy. There are many brands available.
Sodium…Oh my god, way too much for me (more than what I consume in a whole day)! What about potassium. Can collards really cook in 5 minutes?
Too much sodium!!! I would leave out the coconut aminos for sure, but I do like that it doesn’t have any seaweed in it.
What is mellow white miso? Where do you get it, or do you make it?
It is a milder Miso. I find mine at whole foods, Sprouts or health food stores.