Miso Soup with Napa Cabbage and Noodles! Miso the ultimate flavor enhancer; perfect in salad dressings, soups and stews, homemade condiments, sauces, and so much more! We’ve got an amazing soup you’ve been craving feature the healthy, one-of-a kind ingredient: miso!

Easy to make and nourishing, this oil free Miso Soup with Napa Cabbage and Noodles is bursting with umami flavor and plant based ingredients. Inspired by Japanese Miso Soup, this comforting soup is filled with nutritious veggies, mushrooms, and noodles.  It makes for an excellent side dish, appetizer or it can be a meal all on its own.

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi there, Ameera here!

Miso soup is a bowl full of deliciousness!  Warm, cozy, and full of oodles-of-noodles, it’s perfect for warming you up on a cold day.

Mom and I loved using dried shiitake mushrooms in this soup. The soaking of the mushrooms gave the soup broth this delightfully light mushroom flavor.

Bonus, this soup is easily adaptable with you favorite veggies and noodles. You gotta give this one a try!

Tips for Success:

• Flavor Profile: The soup broth has a light mushroom flavor foundation.  The cabbage gives it some sweetness.  It has a sweet-sour play.
• Dried Shiitake Mushrooms: This recipe was designed specifically to use dried shiitake mushrooms.  You can use fresh shiitake mushrooms if you wish, but you will need to skip over the steeping of the mushrooms. You also won’t get the same mushroomy flavor in the soup broth if using fresh mushrooms. We suggest sautéing the mushrooms in a splash of tamari, then removing and setting aside until Step 5.  We strongly suggest sticking to dried shiitake mushrooms to get the full experience of this tasty soup.
• Soaking the Mushrooms: After soaking the mushrooms, you will pour the water that the mushrooms soaked in into the soup pot.  There may be a very tiny bit of sand that comes out when soaking the mushrooms which falls to the bottom of the bowl, be sure not pour that into the soup pot.
• Mushrooms after Soaking: Dried mushrooms tend to be a bit more chewy than regular fresh mushrooms.  We love them.  We do not find the texture off-putting, but we can see that some folks might not enjoy them with an extra bit of ‘toothiness’ to the them.
• Noodles: You can use your favorite noodle/pasta in this soup. For example, you can use udon, glass, soba, spaghetti, linguini, or similarly long noodles.  Dependent upon the noodles selected you may need to scale back or increase the noodle amount.
• Napa Cabbage Substitutes: You can substitute the Napa cabbage with finely chopped green cabbage, just cook until the desired tenderness is reached.
• Keeping the Noodles out of the Soup while cooking: Pasta is thirsty.  It will soak up a lot of liquids and make for a less brothy soup.  Additionally, if using a gluten-free pasta, it really tends to get mushy.  That is why we suggest cooking the pasta separately and placing it in your soup bowl, then ladle the hot soup over top.  This is how most restaurants serve soups that have pasta in them.  They keep the broth and pasta separated until ready to serve.
• Low Fat Dish Expectations: This soup is designed to be a low-fat dish.  It is not going to taste as decadent as a soup that has a higher fat content.  It is very delicious for what it is and that is a low-fat soup. We want to make sure the reader understands this.
• Amount of Water in this Recipe: This recipe uses a total of 3 ½ cups of water.  2 ½ cups of boiling water in the dried mushroom steeping step which will eventually be added to the soup and 1 cup in the Base Ingredients.
• Miso: There are many health benefits that come from miso, especially when it is not boiled/cooked.  The miso in this soup is used primarily for flavor. It is understood that you will not receive the maximum health benefits because the miso is boiled; however, you will receive some. Feel free to add the miso in at the end, if you prefer, but the end result will be the same since the miso is in a hot soup. There are no substitutions for the miso. It is an essential ingredient.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.  Store in a covered container.  Reheating can be done on the stovetop, or in the microwave.

This dish can be frozen.  We suggest freezing this soup without the noodles for a perfectly delicious soup when thawed, then add freshly cooked noodles accordingly.

Pantry Products Used:

• Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
• Miso: We used Miso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free.  Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil.  You can also use chickpea miso for a soy free version.
• Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
• Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

Kitchen Products Used:

• Enamel Lined Dutch Oven or similarly large stock pot

We certainly hope you give this deliciousness a try.

If you try this cozy soup, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us!  We would love to hear from you.

Miso Soup with Napa Cabbage and Noodles

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 40 Minutes
• Total Time: 55 Minutes
• Yield: 3-4 Servings 1x
• Category: Soup
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Asian
• Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

Easy to make and nourishing, this oil free Miso Soup with Napa Cabbage and Noodles is bursting with umami flavor and plant based ingredients.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Steeping Ingredients:

• .5 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms *
• 2 ½ cups boiling water

Base Ingredients:

• ½ cup yellow onion, minced
• ½ cup grated carrots
• ¼ cup red peppers, fine dice
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth *
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup white miso *
• 2 Tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari *
• 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (optional)
• 2 ½ to 3 cups Napa cabbage, chopped * 

Spice/Herb Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon dried minced onions
• Pinch to ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
• Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Other Ingredients:

• 6 to 12 oz. noodles *
• 3 thinly sliced green onions

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Place the dried shiitake mushrooms in a bowl, cover with 2 ½ cups boiling water (they will steep for 30 minutes as you prepare the rest of the soup.)
2. Cook the noodles according to package instructions, drain, rinse with cold water, set aside.
3. In the meantime, in a large ceramic/enamel-lined pot or similar stock pot, add the diced onions, carrots, and red bell pepper, sauté over medium-high heat until the veggies begin to soften, approximately 7 to 9 minutes, stirring periodically to prevent burning. Add a tablespoon or so of water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
4. Add the minced garlic and ginger, sauté for 30 seconds, then add all the remaining Base Ingredients (except the cabbage) and Spice/Herb Ingredients, stir well to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower to a low-boiling simmer.  Simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Once the dried mushrooms have finished steeping for 30 minutes, remove the mushrooms, then pour the mushroom water into the soup. Slice the mushrooms into smaller pieces (if needed), then place into the soup.
6. Add the cabbage and simmer for 5 to 15 minutes, largely dependent upon how tender crisp to tender you enjoy the cabbage.
7. Add the sliced green onions, simmer for one minute.
8. To serve, place some the cooked noodles in the bottom of individual soup bowls and ladle the hot soup over top. Allow to sit for a few minutes, then serve and enjoy!

---

Notes

*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used. 

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.   

*Servings:  3 to 4

This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.