Ever get ramen cravings? (I know I do.) Welcome to fast food, Japanese style! Perfect for your average college student or on-the-go mom.
Start to finish, this healthy and light Japanese Udon Noodle Soup with Miso takes less than 15 minutes, making it easily fit in with the rest of your go-to meals.
Why This Udon Noodle Soup Is So Good
- Adding miso makes the soup savory, and flavorful
- Using just a handful of ingredients, this 15 minute udon noodle soup recipe is super easy to make
- A quick dish that’s great for noodle lovers
- Packed with goodness from a variety of vegetables
Ingredients
- Udon noodles
- Vegetable or chicken stock
- Carrots, snow peas, mushrooms, green onions
- White miso paste
How To Make This Udon Noodle Soup – Step By Step
- Cook the udon noodles according to the package directions, drain and set aside.
- In the meantime, in a medium pot, bring the stock to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and add the carrots and cook until the carrots are crisp-tender, 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and snow peas and cook until slightly tender but still bright green, about 1 minute.
- In a medium bowl, add the miso paste. Add a ladleful of hot broth. Whisk until the miso is completely dissolved, then pour the entire miso mixture into the pot with the soup. Do not boil the soup with the miso, as the miso will become gritty. Stir in the cooked noodles and the green onions.
Types Of Japanese Udon Noodles
Udon noodles are white, fat ‘n slightly chewy, wheat-based noodles from Japan. There are 3 different forms of noodles: dried, fresh-prepared, and make from scratch. (If you are eating low-carb or gluten free, try Shirataki Noodles)
Dried udon noodles
Dried udon noodles are easy to find – most grocery stores will carry it (look in the Asian section). When cooking udon noodles, there’s no need to salt the boiling water. Almost all Asian style noodles contain salt, so adding more is unnecessary. Hime is my favorite brand of dried udon noodles that are easy to find. You can even buy them on Amazon for less than $10.
Fresh, prepared udon noodles
Fat, chewy, delicious noodles!
Fresh udon noodles are already cooked, all you need to do is boil for a minute or so to warm up the noodles. Read the package instructions.
Can I Make Udon Noodles From Scratch?
If you’re interested in learning how to make udon noodles from scratch, Iron Chef Morimoto shared his recipe with us!
Miso Paste for Udon Noodle Soup
What makes this udon miso soup so flavorful is the addition of miso. Miso is fermented soybean paste, one of the main ingredients in Japanese miso soup. It’s a great staple to have in your refrigerator since there are so many recipes that use miso and the stuff lasts for about 6 months in the refrigerator.
The miso that I prefer to use for Udon Noodle Soup is Shiro Miso, or White Miso. It’s milder and less salty than red miso (aka) or yellow miso (shinsu).
Vegetables for Udon Noodle Soup
The type of mushrooms I used in the recipe is called shimeji mushrooms, or white beech mushrooms. They’re incredibly healthy and I love the slightly slippery texture.
You can use any type of vegetables you’d like, but make sure to slice them thinly. For example, the carrots are sliced as thin as possible, into coins, so that they will cook in just a few minutes.
- Snow peas
- Carrots (sliced thinly or use julienne carrots)
- Fresh mushrooms
- Corn kernels
- Hard boiled egg (already hard boiled, just cut in half)
- Thin, roasted seaweed slices (nori)
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Fresh bean sprouts
- Spinach
- Daikon sprouts
- Fresh tomato slices
Video: How to make Udon Noodle Soup
Top Tips For This Udon Noodle Soup
- If you don’t have udon noodles, you can use pasta noodles.
- Keep vegetables thinly sliced, so they all cook quickly.
- I used shiro miso, it is the least salty. If you go for a different – more salty – miso, reduce amount by a teaspoon or two.
- Do not boil the soup with miso, or it will become gritty.
- Get creative and throw in any protein of your choice, just be sure it’s thoroughly cooked through!
- Store any leftover miso udon noodle soup in an airtight container and use within 2-3 days.
Check Out These Other Recipes Using Miso Paste
- Miso Salmon
- Miso Almond Sauce (dressing, dipping sauce, toss with noodles)
- Chicken Salad with Sesame Miso Dressing
- Miso Butter Shrimp Appetizer
- Rachael’s Gyoza
- Japanese Noodles with Shimeji Mushroom
- Grilled Miso Tenderloin
- Sake Miso Marinated Butterfish
Have you tried this Udon Noodle Soup recipe? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
Udon Noodle Soup Recipe with Miso
Ingredients
- 12 ounce udon noodles
- 6 cups prepared low sodium vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1/2 cup snow peas sliced on the diagonal
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste
- 2 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Cook the udon noodles according to the package directions, drain and set aside.
- In the meantime, in a medium pot, bring the stock to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and add the carrots and cook until the carrots are crisp-tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and snow peas and cook until slightly tender but still bright green, about 1 minute.
- In a medium bowl, add the miso paste. Add a ladleful of hot broth. Whisk until the miso is completely dissolved, then pour the entire miso mixture into the pot with the soup. Do not boil the soup with the miso, as the miso will become gritty. Stir in the noodles and the green onions.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
Stay in touch with me in our 
Thank you. I made it and was fantastic.
Stunning recipe! I’ve made it twice and it takes me like 5 min! This is my go to for those I’ve run out of ideas, I’m tired meals and I added kimchi at the end. Love it!
Loved this! Tweaked it a bit as I basically didn’t have any vegetables (student life….) so chucked in a can of chickpeas and added some pan fried shrimp and chicken. Worked beautifully but imma go to the market next time and grab some mushrooms/peas to go with it. Just wanted to say that the broth bit was fab. I’ve got two meals worth of noodles/broth/protein prepped, plus two meals worth of soup base in the freezer! Thank you!
Thank you Penny! Jaden
You said chicken stock in the video but the recipe says vegetable stock? Which one is it?
Either. I had chicken stock on hand while shooting the video, but you can use either.
I made this tonight, and I must be the only one who didn’t like it as written. The miso gave my soup a weird, fermented taste. After a lot of salt, I poured a bowl and doctored it with a squeeze of lime and some Sriracha and now I can eat it. Not my favorite, and the first one I made with vegetable broth!
I’ve been wanting to try udon for a while now and found one at our local supermarket. Good thing I still have some left over miso paste and tried this recipe. I also added a bit of tom yum paste thinking that it’ll taste well with miso and it surprisingly did so 🙂 (or could be that my taste buds are weird)
This ending up delicious! I loved it so much and definitely making again, Thank you!
Hi Jaden, I love your recipe and appreciate your sharing. It somehow inspires me with an amateur version:
http://servicefromheart.blogspot.sg/2014/02/no-fry-udon-with-vegetable-soup-recipe.html
baked ziti when the cheese is oozing out of the pan!
By stock do you mean broth or is it made with stock? thanks 🙂
do you know if it’s bad to cook with dried udon noodles after the “used best before” date? Lol. I’ve had a packet of dried udon noodles sitting in my pantry for months, but now I feel like making some udon soup. What if I make your recipe without the miso? And just use clear chicken broth as the base…?
thanks!
I made this last night…. awesome. I am vegan and have been searching for a replacement for my chicken noodle soup. I exchanged the chicken broth for vege broth- YAY! It worked out wonderfully! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jaden,
Can I ask where you got those beautiful bowls for the udon?
thx,
linda
This was great! Thanks so much for sharing. My whole family loved it – all three kids ate and ate and ate!
Just made this tonight–it’s AMAZING! Definitely adding this to my recipe collection!!
Thanks Heather!
That looks like a mouthwatering soup. I love soup especially mushroom and it is so amazing to learn that there are some other ways for mushroom soup. I will try this one of these days. I must say the more I dig differ to your blog I find more interesting recipices.
Thanks for the tip on miso! I’m about to make some udon soup for dinner right now and am glad I caught your video!
thank you – finally, a decent authentic japanese noodle recipe. But I do prefer to make my own udon-men rather than buy from the super market – they just taste so much better!
I just read this post and was wondering if you know of any chain stores/grocers or local grocers in the area that carry the fresh, fat white udon? I recently moved here and have not found it at any asian markets yet. 🙁 Thanks
I love this….being in Japan, we eat udon quite often, but usually not with miso – so I like the idea of trying something new and unconventional. The colors of this dish look fresh and appealing!
This is so light and healthy. I can’t wait to make it. It looks so fresh!
I made something similar a week ago, because I had some miso soup in the fridge. And I happened to have the beech mushrooms (every time we go to our oriental 99 Ranch market in Irvine, Ca, I buy them). The only things missing were show peas and udon noodles.
My kids wen gaga over the soup, and it is so easy! Next time I am adding the noodles and peas!
And thanks for the tip on on boiling miso.
Greetings from SoCal.
This is my kind of comfort food. I can eat this any time of the day. The quick preparation makes it even better.
that must be so delicious!
This looks Sooo good! and your sons are adorable!
I love anything that takes 15 minutes:)! This sounds right up my alley!
That looks marvelous. I love the idea of the already cooked noodles and thinly sliced veggies for quick cook time. In this hot weather, I’m all about meals that require limited cooking. Great suggestion on how to prepare the miso. I have definitely had a problem in the past with gritty miso. Thanks.
This looks fabulous, Jaden! I love your videos, and your helpful hints (like don’t boil the miso or it will get gritty)! You really have wonderful “stage” presence! 🙂
What a gorgeous healthful dish! I saw mushrooms like that at the farmers market–I’ll have to pick some up this week!
What a pretty, healthy dish. I love that this can be made in such a short amount of time. Miso really does add a depth of flavor that is unparalleled.
Looks great! I always have a bag of udon in my freezer for a quick meal. And I love your addition of the mushrooms, yum!
That looks a yummy soup for any winter day.
Love udon because so versatile to season! Your recipe with the miso flavour soothes my heart in hot and humid summer. Thanks 🙂
Yum! Noodle soup is one of my favorite meals.
ooo. I love udon!
I sometimes make a ‘dry’ version of udon. a real lazy boy’s method of a quick meal using Japanese Curry cubes!
I boil up the udon and drain most of the liquid. Stir in the half a curry cube into the noodles and add in snow peas, mushrooms, leftover chicken, etc. It taste rather nice!
this is so comfort food for me…specially the fat udon noodles and the miso ….
I love udon, AND miso! This sounds really yummy 🙂
Wei-Wei
I’d kill for that now. I miss udon. I have to make do with Tallarines here. 🙁
Somehow, this soup seems very summery–I guess because it looks so light and fresh. It never occurred to me that I could freeze udon noodles. That’s so handy!
Looks so yummy!!! Will have to see if my grocery store has the already cooked noodles! LOVE udon! (and soba)
This looks much more time consuming than it is! What a great, quick soup. I love all the fresh veggies and the pre-cooked noodles. It will be a perfect dinner for the nights when I am not interested in cooking a big meal.
This is a great quick and tasty soup! I love fresh udon noodles. I’m so lucky to have a wonderful Asian mark within walking distance of my house! This is going on my menu this week, maybe tomorrow after the beach run! Nice job on the video, I like he tips that you give too! So funny how you keep missing Cat Cora.
Looks great! I sometimes add a little almond butter to my miso soup to add a little richness.