A traditional Japanese dish, miso soup can be served on its own or used as a stock for other dishes, making it a very versatile soup. You may want to refrigerate a smaller batch for immediate use or make up a large pot and freeze it so you always have miso soup available to cook with. Regardless of how you want to consume the soup, storing options are simple and take very little effort.
If you want to refrigerate miso soup, put it in a container that can be tightly sealed to keep it fresh and free from any bacterial growth. The soup should be eaten within three days of being cooked and refrigerated to be safe. You can heat up refrigerated miso soup on the stove using a saucepan or in the microwave with a microwave-safe bowl.
Use containers with lids that seal well to freeze miso soup so as to minimize freezer burn. It is best to leave at least a full inch of head space in the soup containers when freezing, so the soup has room to expand. Once you've poured the miso soup into freezer-safe containers and sealed the lids, the soup can be kept frozen for up to six months and still retain a high quality of flavor.
Tips
If you're using the miso soup as a base broth and adding other ingredients, or just storing it for one individual, consider freezing the soup in ice cube trays and then putting the cubes in a freezer-safe bag. Then you can take out exactly what you need without wasting any excess soup.
You can thaw miso soup before using it by placing the frozen container of soup in the refrigerator and allowing it to thaw overnight. Soup can be reheated directly from its frozen state as well, perfect for days when you're pressed on time. Place the frozen soup block in a saucepan and heat on medium until it is fully thawed and reaches a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Miso soup is often thought of as a sort of pre-appetizer, as in many Japanese-American restaurants, it is served in a small bowl before the rest of the meal. But while the miso soup base is a flavorful stock with tofu and miso paste, it certainly isn't limited to that. Try these additions in your next batch of miso soup--they can be added to a reheated soup or included in the initial recipe and frozen.
- Include vegetables such as onions, carrots, eggplant, or leafy greens.
- Mushrooms in particular add rich bursts of flavor.
- Dumplings turn miso soup into a filling meal.
- Seaweed such as wakame adds a unique and vibrant flavor.
- Shallots, leeks, or Japanese ginger can provide a subtly different taste to miso soup.
- Or mix in additional proteins to a thawed miso soup such as clams or shrimp.