Bacon Asparagus Miso Soup

With chunks of tender potatoes, this Bacon Asparagus Miso Soup provides warm comfort on a cool spring day. A thin slice of butter adds a creamy and sweet touch to this savory miso soup! {Vegan/Vegetarian Adaptable}

It’s high time for a good spring soup recipe! And if there were ever a soup to kick off asparagus season, this Bacon Asparagus Miso Soup would be it.

Here, I have fresh green asparagus joined with chunks of potatoes and slices of salty bacon to constitute a nourishing miso soup that will leave you feeling satisfied without being weighed down. It’s simple to make, full of flavor, and ideal for a light yet substantial lunch or dinner.

Ready to try this miso soup combination? Go grab the freshest asparagus from your local grocery store or farmers’ market now! You’ll be glad you gave this a try. It will get you into the seasonal spirit right away.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Makes for a filling soup but not at all heavy. It will satisfy your appetite and fuel you with energy.
• Packed with a ton of nutrients! You get antioxidants and vitamin K from the asparagus, potassium from the potatoes, protein from the bacon, and plenty of essential minerals from the miso soup base!
• Full of savory goodness and beautiful texture. Unlike Western-style asparagus and potato soup that is typically blended, this Japanese soup maintains the textural integrity of the ingredients, making it a surprising delight to enjoy.

Ingredients for This Recipe

• Dashi packets – This is the easiest and most convenient way to make dashi (Japanese soup stock). I use the Kayanoya brand, which you can get on Amazon or from Japanese grocery stores.
• Water
• Russet potato 
• Asparagus spears 
• Bacon slices – The addition of bacon adds texture, umami, and protein, but feel free to skip if you’re vegetarian/vegan.
• Miso – Any type will do. See my brand recommendation on our Pantry Page. I used white miso for this recipe.
• Unsalted butter – It adds a touch of creaminess and sweetness. Use ground sesame seeds for vegan.

How to Make Bacon Asparagus Miso Soup

Detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card below. Here’s a quick summary.

1. Make the dashi (Japanese soup stock): Add water and dashi packets to a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 2-3 minutes. Then, discard the dashi packets and transfer the dashi to a measuring cup or another container.
2. Cook the ingredients: Heat the same saucepan until it’s hot. Cook the bacon until slightly charred. Add the potatoes and coat them with the bacon fat. Add the dashi back to the saucepan and cover with the lid. Cook the potatoes until 80% done. Continue by adding the asparagus. Cook, covered, for about 4–5 minutes. Turn off the heat when both asparagus and potatoes are perfectly tender.
3. Add the miso and serve: Stir in the miso paste until dissolved. Taste and adjust. Serve the miso soup in individual bowls and add a thin slice of unsalted butter (or ground sesame seeds) on top. Enjoy!

Substitution Tips and Variations

You can certainly use and experiment with other ingredients as well. 

• If you don’t have bacon on hand, try another flavorful protein or seasoning meat like sliced pork belly, smoked ham, smoked turkey, or mild sausage. For plant-based alternatives, you can use baked tofu, smoked tofu, shiitake mushrooms, or any other mushrooms.
• You can use any mild-tasting green vegetable in place of the asparagus. A few that come to mind include sugar snap peas, green beans, broccolini, zucchini, snow peas, and artichoke. Experiment with what’s in season in your area.
• In place of the russet potato, you can use any variety like Yukon gold or red potato. Or, think out of the box and try another root vegetable like turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, celery root, or kohlrabi. Cauliflower can also be a potato substitute.
• For a touch of heat, mix in some shichimi togarashi, yuzu kosho, or even a dab of gochujang!

Recipe Tips and Techniques

• Make dashi using a dashi packet or prepare it from scratch. I always recommend avoiding dashi powder, especially when making miso soup, because the flavor is much weaker.
• Cook the bacon first to render the fat, which allows you to soak it up with a paper towel and enhances the flavor.
• Cut the potatoes into small, uniform chunks, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces, to speed up the cooking process while minimizing the risk of them breaking apart.
• Diagonally cut asparagus so it will cook more quickly.
• Add miso paste right before serving to enjoy its best flavor and aroma!

How to Store

It‘s best to consume all the miso soup immediately because it will lose its aroma and taste over time.

If you‘d like to keep leftovers, cool the soup to room temperature (no longer than 4 hours), store in an airtight container, and keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator or 2 weeks in the freezer. When ready to use, reheat in a pot over medium heat, but do not boil.

If you want to make a big batch to store for later, it‘s best to refrigerate the soup without adding the miso. When ready to use, add the miso paste only for the portion you need.

What to Serve with This Miso Soup

As I mentioned, this bacon asparagus miso soup makes a great lunch soup to accompany a simple bowl of rice or fried rice. You can also serve the soup as part of your dinner, especially in an ichiju sansai (one soup, three dishes) format.

• Rice – Steamed Rice, Brown Rice, Mame Gohan (Green Pea Rice), Fried Rice
• Main – Chicken Teriyaki, Niratama Donburi, Salmon in Foil
• Salad – Soba Salad, Green Bean Shiraae, Japanese Kani Salad
• Sides – Simmered Ganmodoki, Everyday Japanese Pickles

Let’s Cook Miso Soup for Miso Day

This recipe is part of my Miso Soup Day  (味噌の日) series, where I share a new miso soup on the 30th of every month to encourage readers like you to enjoy the soup as part of your diet.

As miso soup is a staple of Japanese cuisine and offers incredible health benefits, I hope you will always come back to try out different versions of the soup.

Check out my collection of miso soup recipes!

Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.

Bacon Asparagus Miso Soup

5 from 8 votes

With chunks of tender potatoes, this Bacon Asparagus Miso Soup provides warm comfort on a cool spring day. A thin slice of butter adds a creamy and sweet touch to this savory miso soup! {Vegan/Vegetarian Adaptable}

Print Pin

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the Dashi (Japanese Soup Stock)

• ▢ 4 cups water (or substitute 3½ cups (840 ml) Awase Dashi or Vegan Dashi)
• ▢ 2 dashi packets (skip if using pre-made dashi stock instead of water; skip for vegan and use Vegan Dashi)

For the Miso Soup

• ▢ 1 russet potato (10 oz, 280 g)
• ▢ 6 asparagus spears (4 oz, 130 g)
• ▢ 3 slices bacon (skip for vegan and use smoked tofu or shiitake mushrooms; see the blog post for more ideas)
• ▢ 4 Tbsp miso (any kind would work except for Hatcho or Saikyo miso; I used white miso today)
• ▢ 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (divided; skip for vegan and use ground sesame seeds instead)

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Gather all the ingredients. Keep the bacon in the refrigerator or freezer so it‘ll be easier to cut.
  

To Make the Dashi

• To a medium saucepan, add 4 cups water and 2 dashi packets. Cover the saucepan with a lid and bring it to a boil on medium heat.
  
• Once the water is boiling, shake the dashi packets with cooking chopsticks to release more flavor. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 2–3 minutes.
  
• Discard the packets. Then, transfer the dashi to a measuring cup or another container. Set aside the saucepan, as we‘ll be using it to cook the miso soup.
  

To Prepare the Ingredients

• Peel 1 russet potato and remove any sprouted eyes. Slice it crosswise into 1-inch (2.5-cm) rounds.
  
• Cut the rounds into quarters. Then, soak them in water to remove the starch.
  
• Meanwhile, prepare 6 asparagus spears. Trim off the woody ends, then peel the bottom 2 inches (5 cm) of the stems with a vegetable peeler to remove the tough outer layer.
  
• Slice the asparagus diagonally into pieces ½ inch (1.3 cm) wide.
  
• Remove 3 slices bacon from the refrigerator. Cut crosswise into ½-inch (1.3-cm) pieces.
  

To Cook the Miso Soup

• Heat the same medium saucepan on medium heat. When it‘s hot, add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally.
  
• When the bacon‘s edges are slightly charred, wipe off the rendered fat from the saucepan with a paper towel. The bacon will continue to release more fat as it cooks, so don‘t worry about losing bacon flavor.
  
• Drain the potatoes, then add them to the saucepan. Toss to coat them with the bacon fat.
  
• Add the dashi and cover the saucepan with the lid. Gently boil the potatoes until 80% cooked (this took me 10 minutes). Do not overcook the potatoes at this stage, as they will continue to cook with the asparagus in the next steps.
  
• Insert a skewer into a piece of potato to test it. When it doesn‘t go through quite yet but is getting close, add the asparagus.
  
• Cover and simmer to cook for 4–5 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on the asparagus thickness. When both the asparagus and potatoes are perfectly tender, turn off the heat.
  

To Add the Miso

• Put 4 Tbsp miso in a ladle, add some hot stock to the ladle, and stir with chopsticks to dissolve completely, then add to the soup. Alternatively, you can use a fine-mesh miso strainer and/or a miso muddler to dissolve it faster. Now, taste the soup and add more miso if needed. If it‘s too salty, dilute with more water or dashi (if you have any).
  

To Serve

• Serve the miso soup in individual bowls and top each bowl with a thin slice of unsalted butter. I also recommend mixing in some shichimi togarashi and yuzu kosho!
  

To Store

• It‘s best to consume all the miso soup right away because it loses aroma and taste over time. If you‘d like to keep leftovers, cool the soup to room temperature (no longer than 4 hours), store in an airtight container, and keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator or 2 weeks in the freezer. When ready to use, reheat in a pot over medium heat until it‘s just hot; do not boil.

Nutrition

Calories: 199 kcal · Carbohydrates: 17 g · Protein: 6 g · Fat: 12 g · Saturated Fat: 5 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g · Trans Fat: 0.1 g · Cholesterol: 21 mg · Sodium: 596 mg · Potassium: 433 mg · Fiber: 2 g · Sugar: 2 g · Vitamin A: 352 IU · Vitamin C: 6 mg · Calcium: 27 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: miso

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