Home / All Recipes/ Japanese/ Carrot Ginger Miso Soup
Last updated: —Published: —By: Anita—44 comments
This brightly orange color carrot ginger soup is creamy thanks to the addition of Japanese miso paste. Kombu (dried kelp) dashi makes this soup full of umami.
Winter is a great time to enjoy hearty soup, but hearty soup doesn’t necessarily call for heavy cream to make it look creamy and inviting. You can create a creamy and rich looking soup with miso paste, like this very simple recipe for carrot ginger miso soup.
What goes into this carrot ginger miso soup?
For the soup, you will need oil, onion, garlic, carrot, ginger, salt, pepper, Japanese kombu dashi (or vegetable stock), and white miso.
If you don’t have white miso paste (shiro miso), you can also use red miso paste (aka miso) and combination miso paste (awase miso).
Using different miso paste to make the same soup will give you a slightly different flavor to the soup, so feel free to experiment to find your favorite.
Also, although miso paste is vegan-friendly, they are not necessarily gluten-free, so always double-check the packaging to confirm.
For garnish, you will need scallions, nori, nanami togarashi (Japanese seven spice chili pepper), and sesame oil.
You can use roasted nori sheet for sushi roll, or even seasoned roasted nori for snacking. In fact, most of my family members prefer snacking nori.
What is kombu dashi?
Kombu dashi is a Japanese vegetable stock made from kombu (Japanese dried kelp). There are several ways to prepare kombu dashi.
1. Cold brew method
Soak 10 gram or 1/3 oz kombu in 4 cups of cold water for 2 hours, preferably overnight. Remove the kombu and use the soaking water as kombu dashi.
2. Simmering method
Place 10 gram or 1⁄3 oz kombu and 4 cups of cold water in a pot. Heat over a medium-slow heat, and remove the kombu right before it boils. Use the liquid as kombu dashi.
3. Using kombu dashi powder
The easiest method is to buy some instant kombu dashi powder. To use, simply dissolve the powder in hot water. The ratio will differ from one brand to another, so follow the packaging instruction.
I know that in some places, it may be really difficult to buy kombu or even instant kombu dashi powder. In that case, you can still make this delicious soup with any vegetable stock, so don’t worry about it. :)
How to cook carrot ginger miso soup?
Whether you decide to use kombu dashi or vegetable stock, the step-by-step is the same:
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot. Sauté onion, garlic, and carrot until onion is translucent. About 10 minutes.
- Add ginger and kombu dashi stock. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the carrot is very tender. About 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Puree the soup in a blender, or with an immersion blender. If using a blender, return pureed soup back into the soup pot.
- In a small bowl, whisk together white miso paste and a ladle of the soup until the miso paste is fully dissolve. Return this mixture back into the soup pot. Add salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve the soup hot in soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with some scallions, nori, nanami togarashi, and sesame oil.
Carrot Ginger Miso Soup
5.0 from 40 reviews
Author: Anita Jacobson
Courses:Soup
Cuisines:Japanese
Diets:Vegan
Ingredients:Vegetables
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Serves:4
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 450 gram (1 lb) carrot, thinly sliced
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 4 cups kombu dashi stock (or vegetable stock)
- 3 tablespoon white miso paste (shiro miso) (Note 1)
- salt & pepper, as needed
- Garnish
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 roasted nori, cut into thin slivers (Note 2)
- nanami togarashi (Japanese seven spice chili pepper)
- sesame oil
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot. Sauté onion, garlic, and carrot until onion is translucent. About 10 minutes.
- Add ginger and kombu dashi stock. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the carrot is very tender. About 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Puree the soup in a blender, or with an immersion blender. If using a blender, return pureed soup back into the soup pot.
- In a small bowl, whisk together white miso paste and a ladle of the soup until the miso paste is fully dissolve. Return this mixture back into the soup pot. Add salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve the soup hot in soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with some scallions, nori, nanami togarashi, and sesame oil.
Notes
- (1) You can also use red miso paste (aka miso) or combination miso paste (awase miso).
- (2) You can also snacking nori.
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Comments
Robertasays:This was very good. It will stay in my soup repertoire. Didn't use kombu dashi or nanami togarashi, but it was still delish. I'll have to try it with all the 'called for' ingredients next time. Also, only had Trader Joe's Organic Roasted Teriyaki Seaweed Snack so I garnished with strips of that. Also sprinkled with black sesame seeds.
- Anitasays:
I'm glad you like the soup even with some missing ingredients. And to be honest, I also preferred using seaweed snack for garnish since they are usually more savory compared to plain toasted nori. :)
- Meagansays:
This soup is delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
- Jelle Vanheerssays:
This soup looks great!! How much water do I have to add? Thanks a lot.
- Anitasays:
I use 4 cups of kombu dashi stock, which is Japanese vegetable stock. If you don't have vegetable stock, please use 4 cups of water.
- Irinasays:
You are making my mouth water with this recipe! This soup sounds delicious and is a great example of comfort food to enjoy during cold winter months.
- SHANIKAsays:
I love a great soup recipe and the sound of carrots and ginger combined sound so warming and delicious! This recipe looks amazing!
- Maikesays:
This soup looks so inviting. I've had Carrot Ginger Miso Soup for the first time not that long ago in a restaurant in NYC (I think it was the threefold cafe) and loved it but didn't know how to make it. Thank you for sharing, I can't wait to try it.
- Danielle Woltersays:
What awesome flavors in this soup. I just love anything with miso and this was incredible!
- Danniisays:
What a beautiful colour soup. So vibrant.
- Katysays:
This was delicious! Thank you so much! My husband and I both loved it (I’m veggie and he’s a meat eater), umami for all!
- Lesliesays:
Great soup! To freeze batch, add miso after it’s thawed and reheated.
- Janettesays:
This was delicious. Made with vegan kombu dashi. I even had a go at making the nanami togarashi myself. Served with Chinese green onion pancakes. We will definitely be having this again.
- Alisonsays:
Just made this and it is delicious. I added a little bit of chopped fresh coriander instead of the recommended toppings.
- Robertasays:
This was very good. It will stay in my soup repertoire. Didn't use kombu dashi or nanami togarashi, but it was still delish. I'll have to try it with all the 'called for' ingredients next time. Also, only had Trader Joe's Organic Roasted Teriyaki Seaweed Snack so I garnished with strips of that. Also sprinkled with black sesame seeds.
- Tiffanysays:
Very yummy!
- Susannesays:
New favorite soup! Easy recipe, even without adding salt it’s got good flavor. It was my first time making and using Konbu Dashi stock. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
- Kawaiisays:
Made it in my slow cooker 4hrs on high, I love,love, love this soup amazing flavour perfect for this cold I have 😷
- Brisays:
I’ve made this several times. It has a few simple ingredients, low prep time, and is so delicious
- Fannysays:
I didn’t have enough carrots so I put half carrots half sweet potatoes and it’s just perfect and yummy.
- Taylorsays:
So delicious! Will definitely be making again. I only had regular vegetable stock this time, but will be keeping an eye out for kombu dashi to make next time.
- Stefaniesays:
So delicious. My boyfriend loved it!
- Matelijansays:
10/10 will make again!
- Kellysays:
Very tasty!
- Rebeccasays:
Absolutely delicious. I love miso so added a little extra.
- Sydneysays:
The miso was too strong for me but my boyfriend and friends all loved it! Looks beautiful.
- Linsays:
Reused the kombu by simmering it in soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and some sugar to make a side dish. It was so good. Definitely a keeper.
- Melsays:
A damn fine soup!! Maybe even best ever soup I’ve had. The depth of flavour... and the miso, ooooh so good!!! 👅❤️👌
- CINDYsays:
So creamy and rich! Worth the trip to the asian market for miso! Best carrot soup I've ever had.
- Ansays:
This is so good, making it for the third time today! Don't have the 7 spice, wil look for it in the asian store. Thanks from belgium.
- Suzannesays:
This looks so good! What a great way to add some extra nutrition to this soup!
- Vanessasays:
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
- Bsays:
I made this today because it’s snowing and I wanted a cozy meal. It’s so good I wanted to eat the whole pot! I used half kombu dashi broth and half veggie broth. This is my new favorite recipe.
- Andreasays:
It turned out soo... good! I added mushrooms near the end as well.
- Rensays:
This exceeded my expectations!. Thank you for the recipe. I didn't have Dashi, so used water plus 4 shiitake mushrooms (which I removed after and sliced as condiment) and a 1" strip of Kombu. I reduced the liquid to 3 cups and cooked the soup in the instant pot 15 minutes - perfect!
- Krissays:
The miso is such a nice addition to this soup! So very tasty. Thank you!
- Sharonsays:
A really lovely soup! Thanks for the tip about the kombu dashi powder - it worked perfectly.
- Claudia Lamascolosays:
Ginger was a great addition and we loved this rustic flavor will make again.
- Kechisays:
This soup looks so tasty and delicious. I like the color too!
- April Brownsays:
This was delicious, one of my new favorites for sure! Soup is the way to my heart lol.
- evasays:
This was a tasty soup. I wish that it would've made more- really just enough for two people for dinner, or four as an appetizer. Delicious!
- Victoria Adlersays:
I riffed on this base recipe, adding a few extra strips of Kombu to my dashi base, and choosing to puree that right along with the rest of it, rather than fishing it out. It made it less vibrantly orange, but added a bit more flavor. I also upped the ginger and added a bit of tumeric as well. I saute'd some mixed mushrooms and mixed in the shrooms as well as some cubed tofu after the puree step. Served topped w/ snacking Nori, toasted sesame, hot sesame oil, and a side of kimchi.I doubled the recipe to serve a party of 5.
- sheila.ksays:
Oh MY, it looks great! Can't wait to cook em this Sunday!
- RSsays:
A unique soup. I did have low sodium veggie broth and half hon dashi. VERY strong ginger flavor. I didn't like sesame oil on top at all, but white pepper and togarashi was a great topping.
