SICK DAY MISO NOODLE SOUP
Sick day miso noodle soup, made with a miso and mushroom stock broth. Loaded with Japanese Somen noodles, tofu, Napa cabbage, ginger, garlic, scallions, and cilantro. Perfect easy vegan soup when you are feeling under the weather.
Jump to RecipePERFECT HEALTHY VEGAN SOUP FOR A SICK DAY
Feeling under the weather and need an easy vegan soup to fuel your healing body? This Sick Day Miso Noodle Soup is absolutely perfect for just that! This healthy vegan soup is full of savory, umami flavor that we all love and crave, but is also very mild in flavor to keep it simple while sick.
This Sick Day Miso Noodle Soup starts with a miso and mushroom stock broth simmered with ginger and garlic. This soup is nice and filling with the addition of Japanese Somen noodles, tofu, and Napa cabbage. It’s finished off with cilantro, scallions, and toasted sesame oil to round off the flavor in a nice way.
SICK DAY MISO NOODLE SOUP
Although you don’t have to be sick to appreciate and enjoy this medicinal soup, this recipe is definitely great to have in your back pocket when feeling unwell. It’s loaded with healing foods, like ginger, garlic, and miso paste, used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, to help fight whatever ails you. It also had a nice dose of vegan protein, thanks to the addition of tofu and Somen noodles, to help fuel your body.
SIMPLE MISO SOUP
This recipe is super simple to make and is even a great vegan recipe for beginners. There are only a handful of ingredients in this soup and this is a one pot soup recipe that can be made in about 20-30 minutes. Also a great soup recipe for meal prep. This miso soup is easy to double or triple and have on hand all week.
***If you meal prep this soup or have left overs be sure to separate the broth from the other ingredients before storing in containers. This is super important. By separating the broth you will prevent noodles from absorbing all of the liquid and becoming soggy. Do this by using a strainer.
THE VEGAN MISO BROTH
Broth is by far the most important part of any soup, in my opinion. It can really make or break a soup. So needless to say a lot of thought and love went into creating this one. In this particular case, the broth is only important for flavor, it’s very important for medicinal purposes. This healing broth is super simple to make. It only has a couple of ingredients and takes very little time. And this miso broth is delicious on its own. Too sick to actually eat food? Just make a nice big batch of this broth to sip on in between naps.
To make the broth you start off with sautéing ginger and garlic in olive oil. Then add water, miso paste and mushroom stock. Let that cook down for a bit, finish with a touch of toasted sesame oil and DONE! Perfect, healing miso broth.
The mushroom stock I used was Kayanoya Original Mushroom Stock Powder. I absolutely love this stock! I found it in a local grocery store in the Asian isle, but you can order it on Amazon. It’s a super easy way to add flavor to many dishes, so I always try to have it on hand.
BENEFITS OF MISO
Miso is AMAZING! Not only does it have a delicious, umami flavor, it is incredibly healing. Miso has been a staple in the Japanese culture for over 1,300 years.
What makes miso so good for you? It’s the fermentation process. Miso is fermented soy beans, salt, and a koji starter. The fermentation process allows probiotics, good bacteria, to form. This is great for the immune system and helps aid in digestion. Miso is also a good source of Vitamin K, manganese, Cooper, and zinc. Plus it has a couple grams of protein.
BENEFITS OF GINGER
With its long history of medicinal use, ginger is beneficial to have in your diet on any given day. Gingers main bioactive compound, gingerol (which has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects), is responsible for many of ginger’s medicinal properties. It’s known to increase levels of serotonin and dopamine, which can help with depression. Ginger can also provide benefits for Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and dementia.
Ginger is of course a great ingredient to have on hand when you are sick. You can add it to tea, fresh juice, smoothies, or in this case, soup. It helps boost the immune system, alleviate nausea, help fight the flu and common cold and aid in digestion.
BENEFITS OF GARLIC
Garlic is also amazing, not only for flavor, but for its medicinal properties. It has antibiotic properties and can help boost the immune system. Garlic is also known to aid in digestion and may even help prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia.
BENEFITS OF NAPA CABBAGE
To help bulk up this healthy vegan soup I added some Napa Cabbage. Napa Cabbage is light and delicious with a delicate flavor. But it also a nutrient powerhouse. Amongst many benefits, its an excellent source of vitamins B6, B9, Cooper, iron, calcium, and most importantly for this soup Vitamin C, which is important for boosting immunity.
VEGAN PROTEIN
When you are feeling under the weather, eating is not usually on your mind. But it is of course important to fuel you body and keep it going. I like to add a bit of protein rich ingredients to my medicinal soups whenever possible. For this sick day miso noodle soup I added Japanese Somen noodles and tofu, which provides about 15 grams of protein for this soup.
Want more protein? Add more noodles and tofu. Edamame or peanut powder would also be excellent additions to pump up the protein with.
SICK DAY MISO NOODLE SOUP
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, diced can add more if desired
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 5 cups water
- 1 tbsp miso paste I used white miso, but any miso works
- 1 packet of mushroom stock (1 tbsp) I used Kayanoya Original Mushroom Stock (on Amazon)
- 1/6 packet of Somen Noodle (half serving) can substitute any soba or asian noodle
- 1 cup napa cabbage, chopped
- 1/5 package of extra firm tofu, cubed
- 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1 scallion stock, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Instructions
MAKE THE BROTH
- Chop garlic into small pieces
- Grate ginger
- Add garlic, grated ginger, and olive oil to pot
- Cook over medium heat for about 3 minute. Just enough to allow the flavors to start to release, but you don't want to brown or burn the garlic
- Add miso paste and 1/2 cup of the water to the pot. Stir in miso paste until it is fully blended into the liquid
- Add the rest of the water (4 1/2 cups)
- Add Mushroom Stock and bring to a boil
- **While broth is coming to a boil, prep other ingredients
PREPARE OTHER INGREDIENTS
- While broth is coming to a boil, chop cabbage and set aside
- Chop tofu and set aside
- Chop green onion and set aside
- Chop cilantro and set aside
ONCE BROTH HAS COME TO A BOIL
- Once broth has come to a boil, add noodles
- Cook for about 5 minutes over medium/high heat
- Add Napa cabbage and allow to cook for another 2 minutes
- Add tofu and green onion. Allow to cook for another 2 minutes
- Once noodles are done (I like mine a bit firm), remove soup from heat
- Add toasted sesame oil and cilantro
- Serve and enjoy
- ***If storing leftovers, strain broth from other ingredients and store in a separate container. This will prevent the noodles from soaking up all of the broth and becoming soggy