Roasted Garlic Miso Soup Recipe.

This Roasted Garlic Miso Soup Recipe is so flavorful, comforting, and healthy too (it’s filled with vitamins and minerals)! The soup can be made vegan by using vegan dashi stock, or you can go with the seafood-based (awase) stock like I use.

You may be wondering, what is miso soup? Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup that is made by mixing miso (a fermented soybean paste) with dashi stock. I also added a whole bulb of roasted garlic to mine (yummm). Ingredients like tofu, nori, and scallions are common additions, but you can customize it to your liking.

I’ll talk more about all of this below!

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this recipe

If you’ve ever been to a Japanese restaurant (getting sushi, gyoza, udon 😍🍣🥟🍜) I’m sure you’ve tried or had the chance to try miso soup. The restaurant normally delivers small bowls of it to the table at the beginning of the meal, but Jon and I usually order an additional appetizer anyway, knowing without a doubt we’ll soon be too full to eat our ridiculous amount of sushi and noodle dishes we just ordered.

It’s worth it though. Those midnight leftovers are the best!

How to Make Roasted Garlic Miso Soup Recipe

Miso soup is great as a starter, but it can also be enjoyed as a full meal. I would say this recipe makes two to three entree bowls, and eight to nine smaller appetizer bowls. It just depends on how much you’re serving to each person.

Whats in Roasted Garlic Miso Soup?

• Dashi Stock (more on that below)!
• Whole Roasted Garlic Bulb
• Miso Paste (I used Red)
• Scallions
• Dried Seaweed
• Tofu

You can also add or substitute ingredients. If tofu isn’t your thing, you can try adding shrimp or chicken. If you want to bulk it up with carbs, add some ramen or udon noodles. Not a fan of seaweed? Try using kale, cabbage, or other greens in its place. Mushrooms, bok choy, edamame, and/or broccoli can be added as well. It’s very customizable according to your preferences!

What does Miso Soup Taste Like?

Miso soup is extremely savory. The deep umami flavor of miso paste gives this soup a salty, earthy, and the tiniest bit funky taste. Funky in the best way.

Traditional Miso Soup Recipe

Traditional and authentic Japanese miso soup always starts with a flavorful dashi stock. You may be wondering what that is (as was I until recently). I’m going to point you in the right direction!

Jon and I made miso soup a while ago, but I’m quite sure we just added miso paste to water or vegetable broth, then added tofu, seaweed, etc. I know for sure we didn’t make dashi. I think I would have remembered buying fish flakes and dried kelp…

You can use vegetable broth or water as a dashi substitute in this roasted garlic miso soup recipe, but where’s the fun in that? It won’t taste as good and isn’t authentic. I suggest making time (it only takes about twenty minutes) to make homemade dashi for a traditional miso soup!

Dashi Stock

Like I do with all my published recipes, I did some research on the subject beforehand. I especially wanted to do this for a recipe from a different culture to ensure I was doing it justice.

While digging deeper into how to make miso soup the right way, I was introduced to the world of dashi stock, and realized how much of a staple it is in Japanese cooking. It’s a savory broth adding umami to dishes like miso soup, noodle soup, and more. No wonder why Japanese soups are so flavorful and delicious!

Now that I learned all about dashi stock and how to make it at home (it couldn’t be easier, trust me), I wanted to share what I found with you all.

There are several types of dashi. Some ingredients used are kombu (dried kelp), bonito (fish) flakes, and shiitake mushrooms. The ingredients are sometimes combined, depending on which dashi you decide to make. Just One Cookbook created How To Make Dashi (The Ultimate Guide), which is how I learned, and I can confirm her instructions and dashi stock recipes are on point! Easy to follow, and so flavorsome.

Below, I have provided some details on my favorite dashi option (awase dashi), as well as a vegan option (shiitake and kombu).

Awase Dashi

Awase dashi is what I use for this roasted garlic miso soup recipe. I’m going to be making it all the time now since I have lots of leftover kombu and katsuobushi.

This type of dashi stock is made by simmering kombu (dried kelp) in water, followed by katsuobushi (bonito flakes, which come from a tuna-like fish which is dried, fermented, and then smoked).

Kombu and bonito flakes can usually be found in an Asian grocery store; however, if you don’t have one of those near you, you can find them on Amazon and I’m sure other places, too.

Shop Awase Dashi Ingredients on Amazon

Dried Kelp – Rishiri (Kombu)

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Japanese Bonito Flakes

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This is the seafood-based dashi recipe I used and it comes out perfect every time. You just need to double the recipe! You have to scroll down a bit and look for the Awase broth (if that’s the one you’re using).

Awase Dashi (Japanese Soup Stock).

Vegan Dashi

I haven’t tried making this vegan shiitake kombu dashi recipe (yet) but I can imagine it’s amazing since Just One Cookbook knows a thing or two about making dashi! It’s a great alternative to the seafood based awase dashi above.

Roasted Garlic

There is nothing better than the smell of garlic roasting in the oven! I usually need to restrain myself from squeezing the whole roasted garlic bulb onto a plate and eating it plain. I just love roasted garlic. To this soup, it adds another layer, and an even deeper flavor that is addictingly good.

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Love roasted garlic and other vegetables? Give these recipes a try, too!

🧄 Pasta with Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Sauce.

🧄 Roasted Tomato Basil and Red Pepper Soup with Cheesy Garlic Bread.

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I like to use parchment paper and butcher’s twine to wrap my garlic bulbs when roasting, but you can also use foil if you prefer. Jen from Peel with Zeel wrote an entire article on roasted garlic, which is super helpful if you’ve never roasted garlic before or want to try roasting garlic in something other than aluminum foil!

Smash the roasted garlic into a paste using a mortar and pestle, back of a wooden spoon, or whatever else you can find. Spoon the garlic into a saucepan, then incorporate the dashi with the roasted garlic.

How to Make Roasted Garlic Miso Soup from Paste

There are 3 Major Types of Miso, and in this recipe, I use this red miso paste. Red miso is fermented the longest, and has the most pungent taste of the three, which we love. You can also use white (shiro) miso, which is the mildest, or yellow (shinshu) miso which falls somewhere in the middle in terms of pungency.

Before adding the miso paste to the garlic and dashi mixture, make sure the heat is on medium-low, and don’t let the liquid come to a boil. When miso is boiled, it kills the gut-healthy probiotics (more on the health benefits below). It’s best to add miso towards the end of cooking for this reason.

Miso tends to clump up if you add it straight into the stock. To make it easier to incorporate, I like to use a small fine mesh strainer. Just dip the strainer in the warmed dashi and push the miso through so it slowly strains into the roasted garlic miso soup recipe. You could also transfer a small amount of the warmed stock to a cup, stir the miso paste into that, and dump it back into the saucepan (if you don’t have a strainer).

How Much Miso Paste for Soup

This is a personal preference. As I mentioned above, I use red miso paste in this recipe, which is the most pungent, as well as the saltiest. Two tablespoons of red miso paste works perfectly for me, but you can add more or less to taste.

The Remaining Ingredients

Now, I add the scallions, tofu, and seaweed and heat on low just until warmed through.

Roasted Garlic Miso Soup Benefits

Miso

Miso is not only filled with flavor, but it also contains several vitamins and minerals, and is said to offer powerful health benefits. According to Healthline, miso may:

• Improve digestion
  
• Reduce the risk of certain cancers
  
• Strengthen the immune system

Resource | Why Miso is Healthy

Roasted Garlic

Along with miso, roasted garlic has its own set of health benefits! Garlic may:

• Regulate cholesterol levels
  
• Protect from cardiovascular problems
  
• Lower and improve blood pressure levels
  
• Strengthen immunity.

Resource | Benefits of Eating Roasted Garlic Cloves

I hope you feel equipped to make this roasted garlic miso soup at home by now, and thoroughly enjoy the recipe as much as we do!

As always, I’d love to hear from you all! About your experience with this dish, any alterations you may have made and loved (or didn’t love), or just life and cooking in general. Please leave a review/comment/question below, reach out via email, and/or stay connected with me on social media, which I have linked below. Take care! – Jenna 🖤

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