Is Miso Soup Vegetarian? (Dashi & Bonito, Explained)

Miso soup is one of those dishes where the answer is not in the ingredients you can see. The miso paste is plant-based, but the broth it is dissolved into is usually made from fish. Here is what makes miso soup non-vegetarian, and how to find the vegan version.

Key Takeaways

Miso soup is usually not vegetarian: the broth is made with dashi from dried bonito fish.

The miso paste itself is plant-based, and so are the tofu, wakame and scallions.

Even “instant” miso soup packets usually contain fish-based dashi.

Ask for kombu (seaweed) dashi, or check the packet for bonito or fish powder.

TL;DR: Miso soup is usually not vegetarian. The miso paste is plant-based, but the broth is almost always made with dashi from katsuobushi: dried bonito (fish) flakes. Vegan miso soup uses kombu (seaweed) dashi instead.

The miso is fine: the dashi isn’t

Miso paste is fermented soybeans, salt and koji: vegan. The problem is the stock it’s dissolved into:

Katsuobushi dashi: made from dried, smoked skipjack tuna. Not vegetarian. This is the default.
Kombu dashi: made from kelp. Vegan.
Niboshi dashi: made from dried sardines. Also not vegetarian.

Most restaurants (and many instant packets) use katsuobushi dashi, so a bowl of miso soup with no visible fish is still not vegetarian.

What else is in it

Wakame (seaweed): vegetarian
Tofu: vegetarian
Scallions: vegetarian
Sometimes clams (asari) or fish cakes

How to get vegan miso soup

Ask if the dashi is kombu-only.
Check instant packets for “katsuobushi”, “bonito”, “fish powder” or “dashi (fish)”.
Many vegan Japanese restaurants and health brands sell kombu-dashi miso.

The bottom line

Vegetarian? Only if made with kombu dashi.
Vegan? Same: the rest of the ingredients are already plant-based.

See our Miso Soup dish guide and our Japanese food guide.

Check before you eat. The Verify Veg app scans a barcode or reads an ingredient list from a photo and flags ingredients against your diet (vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher, Jain and more). Download on the App Store - Android is coming soon.

Written by Samir Narain, founder of Verify Veg. Verify Veg helps people check packaged food against their diet by scanning barcodes and reading ingredient lists from photos.

Note: Verify Veg provides ingredient-based compatibility checks, not certification. Recipes and preparations vary by restaurant, region and cook, so always confirm with the restaurant, brand or vendor.