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

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.

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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 simmered kombu (an umami superstar among dried sea vegetables) and dried bonito flakes
• 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 shishito peppers
• Spicy mayo
• Ramen eggs
• Chili-salted edamame

4.76 from 25 votes

Miso Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach

By Carolyn Gratzer Cope

Miso soup is easy and rewarding to make at home. You'll start by making dashi, the world's easiest broth. Then you'll strain it into a clean pot, add a few stellar ingredients, and have a nourishing, comforting bowl of miso soup in minutes.

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Additional Time: 30 minutes mins

Total: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 4

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 5- inch-square piece kombu
• ▢ 8 cups 1(900 ml) cold water
• ▢ 1 cup (5 grams) bonito flakes
• ▢ ¼ cup (60 grams) white (shiro) miso
• ▢ 8 ounces (277 grams) button mushrooms, sliced
• ▢ 12 ounces (350 grams) firm or extra-firm silken tofu, diced
• ▢ 3 ounces (85 grams) baby spinach
• ▢ ¼ cup sliced scallions

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Instructions 

Make the dashi

• Place the kombu into a medium-sized pot. You don’t need to rinse it, even if the package says you do. Pour in the water.
• Bring the water to a fairly brisk simmer, but not a full boil. Then turn down the heat and let it simmer very gently for 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and add the bonito flakes. Let steep for 10 minutes.
• Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot.

Make the miso soup

• Return strained broth to a low simmer. Ladle out about a half cup of the broth into a small bowl and whisk in the miso paste until smooth. Set aside for a moment.
• Add mushrooms and simmer until cooked to your liking, about 5 minutes.
• Add the diced tofu and the spinach and simmer for. a minute or so, until the spinach wilts.
• Off the heat, pour the miso mixture and the scallions into the pot and stir to combine.
• Ladle into bowls and serve.

Notes

1. 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.
2. Bonito flakes are dried, smoked skipjack tuna. They impart a deep, smoky savoriness to miso soup.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Truth be told, I like to. sauté the sliced mushrooms in a little bit of butter or oil before adding them to the soup, rather than letting them cook in the broth. But either way is fine.
6. Vegan miso soup variation: Omit the bonito flakes, and instead add five whole dried shiitake mushrooms in the first step along with the kombu and water. Strain them out before serving. Some people like to slice dried shiitakes and eat them, but I find them too rubbery. You’re welcome to add them to the final soup if you like.
7. You can make the dashi up to a few days in advance and store it in the fridge. If you make the whole soup in advance, it will keep just fine for a few days, but make sure to reheat it gently, without boiling, so you won’t lose the nutritive benefits of the miso. (Miso contains live, active cultures that won’t survive very high temperatures — though it will still taste fabulous.)
8. Leftovers will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat gently before serving.

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

Nutrition

Calories: 61kcal, Carbohydrates: 5.4g, Protein: 4.8g, Fat: 2.5g, Fiber: 1.1g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Soups

Cuisine: Japanese

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