Meal prep Homemade Instant Miso Soup ahead of time and take it to your office or school! It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, and you can enjoy miso soup instantly at any time.

For many Japanese, a bowl of delicious miso soup is a daily necessity for the soul. Today I want to introduce Homemade Instant Miso Soup (即席味噌汁) for those who love miso soup.
Traditional Way of Making Miso Soup
You most likely have cooked miso soup before, but just in case you haven’t, the process is pretty simple:
- Make dashi (Japanese soup stock). I have a detailed dashi guide, explaining different types of dashi and how to make them. Unlike chicken or beef stock, Japanese dashi is SUPER easy to make and takes just 15-20 min total from scratch.
- Add ingredients of your choice such as tofu, wakame seaweed, etc.
- Add miso.
That’s it. And here are some of popular miso soup recipes on Just One Cookbook.
- Miso Soup (4 kinds) [with video]
- Vegan Miso Soup
- Vegetable Miso Soup
But what if you don’t have 20 minutes to make homemade dashi? How about the time you wish to drink miso soup outside of the home at the office or school? And what if you want to drink miso soup right now? Enter Instant Miso Soup.

Make Instant Miso Soup at Home
My Instant Miso Soup is the solution for those of you who are too busy and always on the go but still crave the warm comforting soup to soothe the soul.
Let’s go over 4 things you need for making Homemade Instant Miso Soup.
1. Containers

When I was looking for an efficient way to make individual miso soup packages, I figured that mason jars would work the best to serve as the portable single-serving container. It’s convenient and environmentally friendly.
I chose a 1-pint (2 cups/473 ml) mason jar as the Instant Miso Soup container because you will have plenty of space on top to hold the jar safely when hot water fills up to half of the jar. It also provides extra room if you want to add more ingredients.
To cap the jars, you can purchase these plastic caps for easy storage and cleanup.
2. Dashi – Japanese Soup Stock

It’s not a true miso soup unless you use dashi. And please do not consider substituting with vegetable or chicken stock. If you are vegetarian/vegan, your dashi option is Kombu Dashi.
Realistically, to make dashi instantly, we have two choices.
- Use dashi powder (buy at Japanese grocery stores or on Amazon). You can find kombu dashi powder as well. One thing to note, I always use additive-free or msg-free dashi powder. If you are sensitive to MSG please check the dashi powder ingredients before purchasing.
- Use miso that already includes dashi (see next).
3. Miso

The great thing about miso is that you can consume it straight out of the tub/package. It’s quite salty by itself, but you don’t need to cook it.
For homemade instant miso soup, using miso that already contains dashi, such as “Maru-Yu” Dashi Iri Yuki Miso (Organic) from Hikari Miso above, becomes extremely handy.
If you can’t find miso with dashi in it, simply use your favorite kind of miso and add dashi powder that I mentioned.
I’ve been partnering with Hikari Miso® monthly to share various miso recipes on Just One Cookbook. Personally, I’ve been using their miso for over a decade (I discovered the brand after I got married), and it’s been fun trying out varieties of their amazing miso. Depending on the availability at your grocery store, there are all different types of miso from Hikari Miso (Learn about types of miso here).


Miso-to-Water Ratio in Miso Soup
If you have used different brands and types of miso in the past, you know each miso tastes pretty different. As I explained in my Homemade Miso recipe/post, the amount of salt used for each miso varies. Hence, you have to adjust the amount of miso depending on the brand/type of miso and your own preference.
In Japan, the general rule of thumb for miso to water ratio is 1 Tbsp miso to 200 ml water. The typical size of the miso soup bowl contains about 200 ml liquid. When you buy a new tub of miso, taste a tiny bit and see how the new miso taste compared to the previous one.
And finally, the last thing you need for Homemade Instant Miso Soup…
4. Miso Soup Ingredients

For today’s recipe, my focus was to store the Instant Miso Soup in the refrigerator as long as possible, at least enough to last the whole week. Therefore, keeping the ingredients dry was the most important factor. My miso soup ingredients include:
- Aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch)
- Green onion/scallion
- Dried wakame seaweed
I chose relatively dry/drier ingredients so that ingredients won’t go bad in the refrigerator. The goal is to make Homemade Instant Miso Soup accessible, and ideally, you don’t have to prepare them too frequently.

However, if you plan to consume your Homemade Instant Miso Soup in 1-2 days, you can add:
- Tofu
- Blanched greens (spinach, snap peas, bok choy, edamame, etc)
- Mushrooms
- Or any raw ingredients that go well with miso soup
What’s your favorite miso soup ingredients?

Store-bought vs. Homemade Instant Miso Soup
Lastly, I also want to mention that you can purchase Instant Miso Soup packages at Japanese and Asian grocery stores. I’ve tried different brands in the past (my lazy cooking days in college) but I can truly say I like the ones from Hikari Miso most (Amazon sells this less-salt one). Their miso is really good, maybe that’s why.

In any case, I still recommend making your own homemade instant miso soup. The main advantage of homemade soup is that it’s MSG/additive-free, you can use your favorite miso, and it’s totally customizable!

Homemade Instant Miso Soup On-the-Go
Take your homemade instant miso soup to your work or school. All you need is hot water. My kids grab them and make their own instant miso soup for breakfast (my babies have grown up!).
As I work from home, I usually take one for a mid-morning snack (after drinking Japanese Iced Coffee Mr. JOC makes every morning) to avoid snacking. Miso soup is so comforting and I hope you enjoy Homemade Instant Miso Soup any time of the day!

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Homemade Instant Miso Soup
Ingredients
For the Instant Soup Ingredients
- 1 aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 2½ tsp dried wakame seaweed
- 5 Tbsp miso (with or without dashi)
- 2½ tsp dashi powder (skip if your miso has dashi in it)
To Make the Miso Soup
- 200 ml boiling water (per serving)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. If you use miso which contains dashi in it, skip the dashi powder. If your miso doesn’t contain dashi, then you will need to prepare the dashi powder. The one I use in this recipe is MSG-free/additive-free. You can purchase a similar one on Amazon or Japanese grocery stores.
- Boil roughly 2 cups (460 ml) water and pour over both sides of 1 aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch). The hot water help remove some of the oil from the production process. Once it’s cool to the touch, squeeze tightly or pat dry with a paper towel.
- Cut in half lengthwise and cut into thin strips widthwise.
- Cut 2 green onions/scallions in half and cut into thin rounds. Pat dry the chopped green onions with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
To Assemble
- Prepare 5 mason jars and caps.
- If you are using miso without dashi: Scoop 1 Tbsp miso and add to each jar. Then add ½ tsp dashi powder to each jar.
- If you are using miso with dashi: Scoop 1 Tbsp miso and add to each jar.
- Divide the aburaage strips and green onion and add to the 5 jars.
- Add ½ tsp dried wakame seaweed to each jar. Close the lid.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. If you make them on a Sunday, consume by Friday.
- Pack in the insulated lunch box and you’re ready to go! I usually drink one of these in mid-morning as a snack.
To Enjoy Instant Miso Soup
- Pour boiling water to the 200 ml mark on the jar and mix well to let it dissolve into the broth. It’s the same amount of liquid as Japanese miso soup bowls. Enjoy!
What kind of miso do you use?
Hi Jenica! Thank you so much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
You may make Miso Soup with a variety of miso.
Here is more about Miso and Nami’s favorite Miso.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/miso/
We hope this helps!
I’m very pleased with how this turned out. I had misread the recipe and accidentally did a full teaspoon of dashi powder instead of half. I compensated with a little extra water and it still tasted wonderful! I did wakame, green onion, and some frozen mixed veggies we had on hand. This will be a great way to use up leftover veg in the fridge, too. I’m looking forward to experimenting more! Thank you for the easy lunch!
Hi Jessi, Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are glad to hear it worked out nicely for your leftover veggie and easy lunch. ☺️
Thank you for sharing your cooking experience with us.
I literally eat miso soup everyday sometimes twice in a day and it has never occured to me to meal prep like this. Thank you for sharing this idea! It will definitely make my mornings a bit less hectic!
Hi Sebrina! Thank you so much for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback!
We are glad to hear you enjoyed this post. ☺️
This is brilliant, simple, and perfect to bring to work. I don’t have access to aburaage so have been using the medium-firm tofu I already have in my fridge cut into small cubes (about 30g). I’ve had some wonderfully warming and delicious breakfasts and lunches thanks to this recipe. Thank you!
Hi Emjay, Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback.
We’re so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe. Homemade is the best indeed. Happy Cooking! 😊
Thanks so much for this recipe! It’s going to be so helpful to have the containers in the fridge… my son loves miso soup any time of the day and I will be able to have it for lunch at work.
Hi Kathia! We’re so glad to hear from you, and that you found Nami’s tutorial helpful.
Thank you for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback!
Happy Cooking!
Hi, you mentioned mushrooms as one of the possible ingredients. Do you use raw mushrooms? Will they be cooked enough just by adding hot water?
Hi Sindy, Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
We can eat some mushrooms raw, and most of them taste better when they are gently blanched a little. So, you can thinly slice the fresh shiitake mushrooms and add them to the jar. Hot water will make the mushrooms tender. Or you can dehydrate the sliced mushrooms (some oven function has a dehydrator) and add the dried one too.
Make sure the mushrooms are dry. Don’t wash the mushrooms and just brush them off if you see impurities.
(No moisture should be left when adding these ingredients to the jar.)
We hope this helps!
That’s great! Thank you for replying.
You are very welcome, Sindy!🙂
I loveeee this recipe. Its so easy to prep and makes really tasty miso soup for lunches. Pairing it with some onigiri or boiled eggs makes for a very nutritious and filling meal.
Hi S K, Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Nami’s recipe!
Genius recipe! Making this for my 96 yr old Dad who’s fallen in love with miso especially for breakfast. Love the mason jar idea. So comforting and energizing. Thank you, fell in love with the midnight diner thanks to you. Have a terrible crush on Master.
Hi Julie! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback!
We hope your father would enjoy comforting homemade instant Miso soup!☺️
Hi!
Wonderful idea!
I hope my questions aren’t stupid.
I was wondering, if you would eat the soup with a spoon, if so, is the mason jar hole big enough? Or do you just drink it anyways? (and eat the added vegetables with sticks)
Also, I was wondering if I could drink/eat miso right in the morning on an stomach.
Would highly appreciate an answer 🙂 <3
Kind regards
Bibi
Hi Bibi! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post.
In Japan, we do not use a spoon to enjoy the Miso soup. Instead, we drink miso soup out of the soup bowl/cup. Then use the chopstick to eat vegetables, tofu, etc.
If you would like to use a spoon, we recommend finding the spoon that fits your jar size.🙂
If you do not have a health issue or food allergies, drink/eat Miso soup in the morning should be fine as most Japanese breakfasts are served with Miso soup. We hope this helps!
This is one of those amazing recipes that make you say, “why didn’t I think of this?!”
Using the absolute bare minimums, I had a warm mug of happiness in the morning. I made a paste simply using red miso, hondashi granules, and green tea roasted seaweed. I kept the glob in the small portion of my prep container, and when breakfast came, I plopped the ball into an adorable mug I had stashed in my lunch bag.
I sipped it along with bites of rice mixed with edamame and sesame seeds.
Thank you for the morning comfort for Essential Workers.
Hi Meghan, As you as an Essential worker, We would like to thank you for all you do during this difficult unprecedented time.🙏🏻
We couldn’t be happier to hear how much joy and morning comfort Nami’s recipe has brought to you! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi Naomi,
Thanks for this quick way of making miso soup. Yes, I do make a big batch of dashi and I also freeze it. This is a great idea when I run out of dashi and to make it to drink first thing in the morning. I had seasoned tofu pockets so that added to the flavor of the soup. Thanks again.
Hi D, Thank you very much for your kind feedback! We are glad to hear you enjoyed this post. Happy Cooking!
I love Japanese food !!!!!! I have been to Japan 3 times’
I really like your recipes , keep up your GREAT work !
Hi James, Thank you very much for trying many recipes! We are so glad to hear you enjoyed Nami’s recipes and Japanese food. Thank you for your love and support.💕
More helpful to me as a tip than a recipe, I think: I’ve just grabbed a whole tub of dashi miso and left it at work so I can bring some ingredients in the morning (usually frozen vegetables), then toss some of the miso in and add boiling water for a good supplement to the day’s food and water intake. This has proven particularly useful for me as I have been known to have some…issues with consuming enough during the workday, and this is a very easy solution that helps out with that. Only done it for a day so far, but absent any issues with the process I imagine it will become a diet staple over the weeks to come. I am very much a fan of how miso tastes, and this seems like a great way to get that on the regular with ease and convenience.
Hi DC!
Thank you!
We are so happy to hear that you gonna try the miso soup at your work!
Hi nami! What age eat idea.. I’m going to try. How long will the mixture last? Should it be consumed within a week?
Hi Aileen! Yeah, depending on what toppings you add, but should be consumed in a week, to be safe. 🙂