Soups
Single Serving Udon Noodle Soup
Prep
5 minutes
Cook
15 minutes
Yield
1 large bowl
It’s officially soup season! And this vegetarian udon noodle soup is the perfect easy recipe to help kick it off.
It’s officially soup season and this vegetarian udon noodle soup is the perfect easy recipe to help kick it off. We all have those days where you need to quickly whip something up for just yourself and that is exactly why this udon noodle soup is one of my go-to’s!
❤️ Why You’ll Love Udon Noodle Soup
- Flavorful: You will love how all the flavors come together in your bowl. My delicious tip is to let the soup simmer for an extra 2-3 minutes to bring out more of the flavors
- Quick: A delicious and nutritious soup in only 20 minutes? It doesn’t get better than that
🍲 Ingredients
Shiitake Mushrooms: One of the more popular mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms are loaded with a rich, earthy flavor. And like this recipe, they are best when simply sautéed in a pan with just a few ingredients.
Silken Tofu: Did you know there are different kinds of tofu? This udon noodle soup recipe calls for silken tofu, which is also referred to as soft, silk, or Japanese-style tofu and has a softer consistency than regular tofu. Because of its softness, it crumbles more easily than regular tofu and has more of a creaminess than regular tofu.
Miso: Miso is a Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans. It is often used in Asian-inspired soup recipes and will be found in most grocery stores in the refrigerator section.
👩🍳 How to Make Udon Noodle Soup
- Prep your ingredients by dicing your onion, mincing your garlic and ginger, and slicing your mushrooms
- Next, add 1 tbsp sesame oil into a small soup pot, and warm it over medium heat before adding the onion, garlic, and ginger
- Cook the ingredients, stirring often to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and cook evenly. These should cook for about 3-4 minutes or until they’re soft
- Add sliced mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes, allowing them to absorb the beautiful, fragrant flavors of the garlic, ginger, and onions
- Add vegetable stock and miso paste. Alternatively, you can use vegetable bouillon and water if you don’t have veggie stock on hand. Bring to a simmer (turn up the heat if needed)
- Cook until miso is dissolved, about 4-5 minutes
- Next, add udon noodles, tamari (or soy sauce) and spinach. Cook for 3-4 minutes until noodles are cooked and warmed through. Be sure not to overcook your noodles
- Turn the heat off, stir in your tofu, taste, and add more soy sauce as needed
- Pour into your serving bowl and top with green onions and sriracha if you like some spice
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Serving Size: Use the tool in the recipe card to adjust how many servings you’d like to make. This recipe makes a great meal prep for the week
- Broth: If your udon noodle soup seems to not be soupy enough for you, you can add more broth towards the end of cooking. Just simmer for 2-3 minutes longer so it melds the flavors
🗒 Variations
There are definitely some ways to customize this udon noodle soup recipe to your liking. Here are some ideas:
- Veggies: Add more veggies to your soup. Just cook them up with the onions, garlic, and ginger
- Protein: Not a fan of tofu? You can easily add in cooked or leftover chicken instead
- Toppings: Add your fav fresh herbs, hot sauce, or even some crispy crackers to this udon noodle soup
- Spicy: If you want this recipe to be spicy, you can add freshly sliced hot peppers on top such as Thai chili peppers or jalapenos. You can also just add your fav hot sauce
🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
This soup is best consumed freshly made, as when stored, the noodles can absorb a lot of the liquid. If you want to meal prep this, or store the leftovers, I suggest cooking and keeping the noodles separate from the broth and warming them up together on the stove when ready to eat.
Udon is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There is a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as kake udon with a mild broth called kakejiru made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions.
🤔 Common Questions
A thick noodle made of wheat flour that is used in Japanese cuisine. They can be prepared in soup or served in dishes with veggies, like this pesto udon pasta salad.
Udon noodles contain similar nutrition as other noodles, which means that they can be healthy in moderation, or when part of a well-balanced meal.
You can definitely swap udon noodles with ramen here if you want. The main difference (other than the obvious size and shape) is that ramen noodles are usually made with egg, while udon noodles are vegan.
Udon Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 3 cups vegetable stock or 1-2 tbsp vegetable boullion with 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp miso paste
- 200 g udon noodles
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 1 cup spinach
- 150 g silken tofu diced
- 2-3 sprigs green onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Add 1 tbsp sesame oil to a small soup pot. Warm to medium heat and add the diced onion, minced garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock (or vegetable boullion and water) and miso paste. Bring to a simmer (turn up the heat if needed) and cook until miso is dissolved, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add udon noodles, tamari and spinach and cook 3-4 minutes until noodles are warmed through.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the tofu. Taste and add more tamari if needed. Pour into a bowl and serve topped with chopped green onions.
This is one of my “go to” soups on a cold day. It’s so flavourful and delicious. It’s so nice to be able to make something like this at home. 🙂
the dressing in the recipe card is the recipe… we added our twist to it (hers only has 3 ingredients)
I am definitely going to make this soup – have you tried freezing it? I like to make extra portions of soups and freeze them for later.
you know what, I haven’t frozen this one yet! I gobbled it up so fast but honestly I imagine it freezes just fine!