Miso Soup (with Mushrooms and Spinach, if You Like) (2024)

Here’s how to make miso soup (with mushrooms and spinach, if you like) quickly and easily at home. It’s nutritious, soul-warming comfort food at its best.

Why we love this recipe

Miso soup deserves a place in every umami-lover’s repertoire. It’s a wholesome, holistic take on comfort, one that soothes both with its deep, rich flavors and with its obvious nutritive benefits. The process is very simple, and the results are very good.

Our version begins by hewing reasonably closely to tradition, by:

• Starting with a basic dashi, a simple broth of simmeredkombu(an umami superstar among dried sea vegetables) and driedbonitoflakes
• Adding a heaping spoonful of miso paste, some diced silken tofu, and sliced scallions

After that, you can decide whether to keep it simple or add ingredients to your heart’s content. I often add mushrooms and swap in baby spinach for the traditional wakame, so that’s what I’ve shared here. But you can add other starches, proteins, and vegetables too. Refer to the FAQ section below for guidance.

I first published this recipe here way back in 2010. I’ve updated the post for clarity, but the recipe remains the same.

What you’ll need

Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. You can buy them all at a local Asian grocery if you have one nearby, at Whole Foods, or through the Amazon affiliate links below.

• Kombu is kelp, a type of seaweed. It’s jam-packed with umami and helps create a savory base for your miso soup. It comes dried and lasts for a long time. Buy it here.
• Bonito flakes are dried, smoked skipjack tuna. They impart a deep, smoky savoriness to miso soup. Buy them here.
• White miso paste is made from fermented soybeans. It has a salty, sweet, and savory vibe and is among the most mellow of the miso varieties. Buy it here.
• Silken tofu has a tender, more fragile texture than its “regular” counterpart. I like to use firm silken tofu since it’s reasonably easy to dice without having it all apart. Buy it here.

How to make it

Here’s what you’ll do to make a comforting, nourishing pot of miso soup (with mushrooms and spinach, if you like). You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.

1. First, you’ll make the dashi — a clear, umami-powerhouse broth. Place the kombu and water into a pot, bring to a simmer but not a full boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
2. Off the heat, add the bonito flakes and steep for 10 minutes, then strain.
3. Mix a bit of the hot dashi with the miso paste until smooth.
4. Pour the rest of the dashi back into a clean pot. Add tofu, mushrooms, and spinach, and warm through. Off the heat, stir in the miso and scallions. That’s it!

Expert tips and FAQs

Creator spotlight

As an umami devotee, I love cooking and sharing Japanese-inspired dishes with you. But I also want to yield the spotlight to creators with Japanese heritage. In the past couple of years I’ve been enjoying the work of Sara Kiyo Popowa at Shiso Delicious and Namiko Hirasawa Chen at Just One Cookbook. If you don’t know their work already, please check it out. I think you’ll love it too.

More favorite Japanese-inspired recipes

• Vegetarian ramen with rich, savory broth
• Spicy salmon roll
• Sushi rice
• Charred shish*to peppers
• Spicy mayo
• Ramen eggs
• Chili-salted edamame