miso balls on ceramic plate

Learn how to make homemade Instant Miso Soup Balls with simple ingredients in under 10 minutes with your favourite ingredients. Simply pour hot water over a miso ball in a bowl, and you can enjoy miso soup instantly no matter how busy you are.

Whats one thing you can have every single day and not get sick of? For me, it’s miso soup. Growing up, we used to have 2-3 bowls, daily. It’s a nostalgic food that luckily is really easy to make. In general, it takes about 20 minutes to make miso soup the traditional way, but sometimes you just want something instant.

Since my mom had three kids to take care of, she would make ‘Miso-dama’ which translates to Miso-balls, at the start of every week. She would batch make about 30 per week and keep them in the freezer. I took this little meal prep idea throughout university and to this day. It saves a lot of time and while you can purchase store bought miso soup, it truthfully just doesn’t taste as good. Plus, it’s cheaper to make, you know what goes into them and they’re highly customizable.

Ingredients for Instant Miso Soup Balls

Instant miso soup balls require just two key ingredients:

  • Miso paste: White miso (shiro miso), red (aka miso) or mixed miso (awase miso).
  • Dashi stock granules: Some store bought miso paste already contain dashi in it, in this case you do not have to add the dashi stock granules.

Additionally, you may want to add other ingredients for variety and a heartier miso soup. Here are some suggestions:

  • green onion
  • dried wakame (seaweed)
  • fu (wheat gluten)
  • kiriboshi daikon (dried daikon)
  • aburaage (fried tofu sheet)
  • koya tofu (freeze dried tofu)
  • freeze fried vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, etc)

These ingredients will keep the best. You can add fresh, cooked ingredients but I find the texture and quality degrades over time so I recommend adding any fresh, cooked ingredients after making the soup.

How to make instant miso balls

Making homemade instant miso soup is so quick and easy. Simply combine the miso paste and dashi powder and then scoop them into balls. If you don’t have a ice cream scoop, you can mold them in silicon ice cube trays. For the add-ins, you can mix them straight into the miso mixture or decorate them by rolling it in the ingredients. I especially like to do this when I use decorative fu (wheat gluten).

How to store and how long does it last?

They will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week, but are best stored in the freezer and will last up to three months. Miso does not freeze into a solid so you do not have to defrost them ahead of time.

How to make instant miso soup

These are perfect for busy mornings, taking to work or school, or after a long day when you don’t want to do much cooking. Simply remove the miso ball out of the freezer and place into a bowl. I let it sit for about 5 minutes while I heat up some water in a kettle. In general, the ratio for miso to water is 1 tbsp (18 g) to 200 ml hot water. However, miso pastes all vary in saltiness so adjust accordingly to your taste.

SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓

If you recreate this Miso Balls recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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miso balls on ceramic plate

Miso Balls 味噌丸 (Instant Miso Soup Recipe)


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5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: Lisa Kitahara
  • Total Time: 11 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Learn how to make Homemade Instant Miso Soup with this quick and easy recipe. Even on busy days, you can enjoy miso soup just by adding hot water!


Ingredients

Units Scale

Miso ball base: 

  • 1/2 cup (150 g) white miso paste
  • 1 1/2 tbsp (15 g) dashi stock granules
  • 1/3 cup (35 g) finely chopped green onions

Other optional add-ins, per ball:

  • 13 tsp chopped green onion
  • 1 tsp dried wakame (seaweed)
  • 1 tbsp fu (wheat gluten)
  • 1 tbsp kiriboshi daikon (dried daikon)
  • 1 tbsp aburaage (fried tofu sheet)
  • 1 tbsp koya tofu (freeze dried tofu)
  • 1 tbsp freeze fried vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, etc)

Instructions

  1. Add the the miso paste and dashi granules to a mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
  2. Add in any optional add-ins and mix well to combine. If using aburaage, toast on high for 2 minutes until crispy. Slice into thin pieces.
  3. If making different variations, divide the miso base into separate bowls and mix in the add-ins.
  4. Divide mixture into 8 equal servings, which is about one heaping tablespoon (about 20-25 g) of the mixture into silicon muffin tins or into a ice cube tray. Store in an air tight container or wrap ice cube tray tightly. Store in the freezer for up to three months.

To make the miso soup:

  1. Add miso ball to a bowl. Add 200 ml of hot water and whisk until miso is fully dissolved. Add any cooked ingredients like spinach or mushrooms if desired. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

  • Helpful Equipment: mixing bowl, spatula, silicon muffin tins, cookie scoop
  • Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer). 
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 minute
  • Category: Soups
  • Method: Meal Prep
  • Cuisine: Japanese

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 40
  • Sugar: 1.4g
  • Sodium: 769 mg
  • Fat: 1.2 g
  • Saturated Fat: 0
  • Unsaturated Fat: 0
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 5 g
  • Fiber: 1g
  • Protein: 2.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 0

Konnichiwa

About Lisa

I'm Lisa, a home cook, recipe developer and founder of Okonomi Kitchen. Here, you'll find a mix of classic and modernized Japanese recipes, and creative, plant-forward meal inspiration using seasonal ingredients. I hope to share more about Japanese cuisine and culture through food and recipes.


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6 Comments

  1. I love these!! So easy. Prepped a batch and now get to have a mug of miso soup to sip on while I cook dinner. Will be making weekly for sure!!

  2. I’ve made about 75 balls today! only thing is my miso is much more wet than yours so it was hard to roll into a ball like that. I just plopped it on some saran wrap and formed the ball when I wrapped it.

  3. I love this recipe! Making these miso balls has been an absolute life saver! I take them to work with me and I am so happy to have a quick and easy addition to my lunch.






  4. Truth be told I did not make the balls XD BUT I am quite happy to have find a comprehensive guide to miso soup and ideas of add-ons <3 Thanks!