Simple Miso Soup (103 calories)

Miso Soup is a staple of Japanese cuisine. It's often served with a bowl of rice for breakfast, and is used as a side dish for many meals. With a few ingredients you can throw together a big bowl of this tasty soup in about 5 minutes!



The basic ingredients of Miso Soup are miso paste and dashi. For the miso you can either use Shiro (white), Akai (red), or Awase (a mix of the two). I always buy Awase, but our store was out so I used half of each for this recipe. On the right you can see the instant dashi bouillon. Hondashi is the brand name, and this is the kind you will most likely find in the store. For this recipe you'll also need some tofu, green onions, and some dried wakame seaweed if you can find it. Now let's make some soup!



(For those of you counting calories, I've added the amount for each ingredient so you can easily make tweaks without having to re-calculate everything.)

1 1/2 cups warm water (0)
1 1/2 Tbsp. miso paste (45)
2 1/3 oz. firm tofu (1/6 of a 14 oz. block), cut into small cubes (55)
1/4 tsp. dried wakame seaweed (optional, 0)
1/2 tsp. instant dashi granules (0)
1/2 green onion, thinly sliced (3)


1) In a microwave safe container, measure out your water. Pour a little of the water (about 1-2 Tbsp.) into your soup bowl and mix it together with the miso until you create a smooth paste.



2) Squeeze the tofu to drain them and then add them to the water along with the wakame. Microwave for 2 minutes (longer if needed, until nice & hot).

3) Meanwhile, sprinkle the dashi and green onion over the miso paste. Just before serving, pour the hot water into your bowl and stir to mix well. Serves 1.

Calories - 103

(Note - Boiling the miso paste slightly alters the flavor, kills beneficial bacteria, and reduces it's health benefits. If you need to reheat the soup, try not to bring it to a boil.)



Since this soup is so low in calories, there is plenty of room to add in some extras! I normally make mine with 1/4 of a block of tofu, which adds 30 calories. And I'd definitely recommend throwing in some Shirataki noodles for 0 calories!



Try experimenting with different meats, root veggies, greens, and mushrooms. Here are some other common ingredients ~

2 oz. mushrooms (13 calories)
1/4 cup carrots (13)
1/4 cup potatoes, cubed (25)
1 oz. shrimp (28)
1 oz. fish (30-40)

Add the extra ingredients to the water and microwave longer if needed until very hot. Itadakimasu!