Vegan Miso Soup

Pour the veggie broth into a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add the dried mushrooms, cover, and let stand 20 minutes, or until mushrooms have softened. If using fresh mushrooms, you can skip this soaking part.

Remove the rehydrated mushrooms from broth with a slotted spoon. Cut off and discard the mushroom stems. Thinly slice the caps and set aside. If you make your own veggie stock, the stems would be perfect to add to your scrap bag in the freezer.

I also sometimes buy dried mushrooms that are already sliced thin, which makes this recipe (and others) come together even faster because there’s no need to slice the mushrooms.

I like to slice the broccoli into small bite-sized florets and grate carrots. However, if you want to just purchase a bag of julienne carrots already prepped, that would eliminate another step for this recipe.

You will also want to go ahead and grate the fresh ginger. If you only have dry ground ginger on hand, that can work in this recipe, but I really enjoy the flavor of fresh.

The tofu will need to be drained and pressed before using in this (or any other) recipe. Making sure the water is removed allows the tofu to have room to soak up the flavors and spices being used. I describe two options for draining and pressing tofu in the article above.

Once the tofu is ready, slice it into 1/4″ cubes. Then, cut the nori sheet into 1″ squares using scissors.. Helpful hint: if your nori has become softened over time and needs to be crisped back up, simply hold the sheet over the heat of a stove eye or a toaster for about 30 seconds. It will become crunch and crisp again.

Add tofu, nori, and ginger to the broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, broccoli, and carrots. Cover and simmer for 1 minute, just until the broccoli turns bright green.

You’ll need to need to break the miso paste down into a broth before adding it to the soup. To do this, transfer 1 cup of the broth from the pot of veggies into a bowl. Stir in the miso with a whisk or fork until it is completely dissolved. Pour the dissolved miso into the soup and stir until it is well incorporated. There is no need to cook the soup anymore.

Serve immediately.

Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, it will keep up to 1 week.