Trust us: you need some of this Miso Chicken Noodle Soup. Why? Every winter, it seems to happen suddenly. People are fine and healthy, and then, like a bat out of hell, seemingly everyone is affected by the latest oh-so-gnarly stomach bug.
Somehow, despite flights and meetings and every other chance to catch it, I’ve stayed healthy (so far. It could be the Zinc or the loads of sleep I’ve forced upon myself. I like to think it’s actually because of this soup.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You probably already know that chicken noodle soup is seriously healthy for you (especially when you make it with a homemade broth), but let’s be real: it can be so blah and boring. Enter this miso chicken noodle soup that is super simple to make but provides a welcome change of pace.
Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients you need to make this miso chicken noodle soup are:
- Canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil
- Leeks
- Shitake mushrooms
- Scallions
- Low-sodium broth
- Chicken breast or thighs
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Dried soba noodles
- Yellow miso
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Baby bok choy
How To Make This
Here’s how to make this miso chicken noodle soup:
- Make The Soup Base: Cook the leeks, mushrooms, and scallions in oil until soft, then add the broth.
- Simmer The Chicken: Add the chicken, ginger, and garlic and simmer.
- Cook The Noodles: Meanwhile, cook the noodles as needed.
- Shred The Chicken: Shred the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces, then add to the soup.
- Serve The Soup: whisk in miso paste, soy sauce, and bok choy and cook briefly, then serve topped with the remaining scallions and the cooked soba noodles.
Tips To Make This Recipe
One of the reasons we adore this soup is that it checks the boxes on all things soup because it’s salty, hearty, filling, and nutritious.
After you add the chicken, it may create a foam on top of the soup. To avoid this, you could cook the chicken in a separate pot (we’d suggest you add onions, garlic, ginger, and peppercorns to the water or broth if you go that route). Otherwise, you can simply skim the surface of the soup once the chicken is cooked.
Of course, it is a perfect way to use excess ingredients, so you could make this anytime you have a lot of shredded chicken (or turkey from Thanksgiving!) lying around.
FYI, you don’t want to add too much salt while cooking because the miso will add a blast of salt at the end. Speaking of miso, make sure you don’t let it boil, or it will separate. Instead, whisk in the miso and only simmer the soup from that point forward.
Variations On This Recipe
Here are a few variations we make to this soup on the regular:
- Use rice or rice noodles instead of soba to make it 100% gluten-free
- Add in tofu instead or in addition to the chicken
- Add carrots for more veggies
- Swap broccoli, collard greens, or kale for the bok choy
Other Soup Recipes To Try
Here are a few of our other favorite soups to try:
There you have it! Now go stock up on all your cooking essentials, head into the kitchen, make this, and share it with us by tagging @saltandwind and #swsociety on social!
Miso Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil
- 4 medium leeks light green parts halved and thinly sliced
- 8 ounces shitake mushrooms stemmed and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
- 1 bunch scallions white and light green parts thinly sliced, divided
- 12 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken breast or thigh pieces
- 2 inches peeled ginger sliced into coins
- 8 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 8 ounces dried soba noodles
- 1/2 cup light yellow miso
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 pound baby bok choy (about 3) sliced into 1-inch thick pieces, ends discarded
Instructions
- Make The Chicken Miso Soup Base: Heat oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the leeks, season with salt, and cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms and the white pieces of green onions and cook until begins to soften about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth or vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil.
- Simmer The Chicken: Add the chicken, the ginger, and the garlic then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked for about 30 minutes. Remove to a plate until cool enough to handle. If the foam has formed on the soup, continue to let it boil and skim it off. This isn't essential but helps make the soup cleaner in flavor.
- Cook The Soba Noodles: Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the soba noodles and cook until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Shred The Chicken: Remove the skin from the chicken, shred the chicken meat into bite-sized pieces, and discard the bones. Meanwhile, whisk in the miso paste, soy sauce, and bok choy into the broth and keep at a low simmer.
- Serve The Soup: Add the shredded chicken to the soup. Taste, adjust seasoning as desired, and stir in the dark green parts of the green onions.Using tongs, divide the soba noodles evenly among warmed bowls and then ladle in the soup. Serve immediately.
