Every summer I need at least one new recipe for leafy greens, and this year I’m starting with mizuna. A full bunch of mizuna is wilted into this lightning-fast miso soup, which is both nourishing and hydrating.
We are getting a CSA from a local farm again this year which means 8 vegetables per week, from June through November, with the selection varying with the seasons. Early summer always brings a lot of leafy greens and often some unique or unusual ones. (Last year I got to try choy sum for the first time). The veggies all taste great because they’re really fresh, so it’s an ideal time to try new things!
Mizuna tastes like a cross between bok choy and mustard greens, and has the texture of arugula. There I go, name dropping every leafy green I know… but seriously, it does. It’s a quick-cooking green with a bit of bitterness and spiciness. It mellows out a lot after cooking, without wilting into nothing, so it is perfect for soup!
Craving soup in the summer but don’t want to heat up your whole dang house by boiling things on the stove? Miso soup is going to be your lifeline. This easy 15-minute (truly) vegan miso soup requires very little chopping, a very short cook time, and has few ingredients. You’ll be in and out of the kitchen in no time with a very nutritious meal.
Remember to stock up next time you’re at a natural store or Asian market – kombu and wakame are the other two keys to making fast and flavorful miso soup without non-vegetarian ingredients. Both are nutrient-rich sea vegetables, with kombu in particular bringing a lot of umami to the table and wakame bringing brininess.
For throwing silken tofu into soup I’m almost too lazy to even cut it into cubes. You can simply crumble it gently into the pot and it will work great, since it doesn’t need to be seared off or anything.
Lastly, the miso. It’s fun to experiment with different types of miso and a wide range of them would be suitable here but I did use red miso this time around. It has a deeper flavor than white or yellow miso, which means it might overpower in some dishes but it’s the star of the show in this soup!
Let me tell you just how easy this vegan quick miso soup is! We’ll be making it all summer long.
Vegan 15-Minute Miso Soup with Greens
The world's fastest and easiest vegan miso soup, with homemade kombu broth, healthy greens and only 6 ingredients! A slurp-worthy soup that comes together in no time. Adding the miso after cooking has completed preserves its beneficial properties.
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 2 strips dried kombu (3.5" strips / about 7g total)
- 4 tbsp dried wakame seaweed (about 7g total)
- 8 oz mizuna or other quick-cooking greens (1 bunch / 6-8 cups sliced) cut into bite-sized pieces
- 14 oz silken tofu drained and crumbled or sliced into pieces
- 1 small bunch scallions chopped
- 4 tbsp miso
Instructions
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Add the water and kombu to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the kombu and save it for another use, or discard it.
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While the kombu is cooking, soak the dried wakame seaweed in a bowl with cold water for 5-10 minutes. (It will expand quite a bit, so use a large bowl.) Drain the wakame and squeeze it to remove excess liquid.
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Add the rehydrated wakame, mizuna, silken tofu, and scallions to the pot. Simmer for about 5 minutes more, or until the mizuna becomes more tender and mild. Turn off the heat.
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Scoop out a few tablespoons of the soup into a bowl, and stir the miso into the liquid until evenly combined. Transfer this mixture back into the soup pot and stir it in. Serve right away.
Recipe Notes
VARIATIONS: Use other quick-cooking greens such as bok choy or spinach. Add rice noodles or serve with a rice of rice for a more filling meal.
PREP TIMING: I usually do the rest of my prep (soak and drain wakame; drain and chop tofu; wash and chop greens and scallions) while the kombu is boiling, that way the rest of the recipe comes together in only a few minutes.
Adapted from Eden Foods and Emerald Cove.
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Anna says
Hi! I’m kind of surprised this recipe doesn’t have more comments/reviews? It’s basically the only miso soup that I make now. I’ve been following the recipe probably twice a month. I started adding shredded napa cabbage which takes a little bit longer to cook so I throw it in at the same time as the kombu. Everything for this recipe is a staple ingredient plus whatever vegetables you have on hand. It’s great?