Miso soup calories and sodium calculator
Choose your miso, how much you stir in, the dashi and the add-ins, and see the calories, sodium and salt in each bowl and in the whole pot.
| Calories | 56 kcal |
|---|---|
| Sodium | 1,023 mg |
| Salt | 2.6 g |
| Share of a day | 44% of 2,300 mg sodium (US); Japan's targets are under 7.5 g salt (men) and 6.5 g (women) |
| From the miso | 33 kcal, 879 mg sodium (18 g of miso) |
| Miso | Calories | Sodium | Salt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light-colored miso (shinshu or awase style) | 33 kcal | 879 mg | 2.2 g |
| Sweet white miso (shiro, saikyo style) | 37 kcal | 432 mg | 1.1 g |
| Red miso (aka) | 32 kcal | 921 mg | 2.3 g |
| Barley miso (mugi, common in Kyushu) | 33 kcal | 758 mg | 1.9 g |
| Soybean miso (mame, hatcho style) | 37 kcal | 772 mg | 2 g |
How to use it
Miso soup calories are low, but the salt adds up quickly, so this calculator shows both. Choose the type of miso, how much you use per bowl in tablespoons (1 tablespoon is about 18 g), how much dashi (Japanese soup stock) goes into each bowl in milliliters, the add-ins, and the number of bowls. You get calories, sodium in milligrams and salt in grams, for one bowl and for the whole pot.
Each result is set against three daily figures: under 2,300 mg of sodium (the Dietary Guidelines for Americans), under 2,000 mg of sodium, which is 5 g of salt (the World Health Organization), and Japan's salt targets of under 7.5 g for men and 6.5 g for women. The print button prints your bowl and the full chart.
How the numbers work
Calories and sodium are added up from three parts: the miso, the dashi and the add-ins. All the figures come from the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan (8th edition). The Japanese tables list salt rather than sodium, so the tool converts: sodium in milligrams = salt in grams ÷ 2.54 × 1,000.
| Miso (per 100 g) | Calories | Salt | One tablespoon (18 g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light-colored (shinshu or awase style) | 182 kcal | 12.4 g | 33 kcal, 879 mg sodium (2.2 g salt) |
| Sweet white (shiro, saikyo style) | 206 kcal | 6.1 g | 37 kcal, 432 mg (1.1 g) |
| Red (aka) | 178 kcal | 13.0 g | 32 kcal, 921 mg (2.3 g) |
| Barley (mugi, common in Kyushu) | 184 kcal | 10.7 g | 33 kcal, 758 mg (1.9 g) |
| Soybean (mame, hatcho style) | 207 kcal | 10.9 g | 37 kcal, 772 mg (2.0 g) |
Dashi made from kombu (kelp) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) adds 2 kcal and 34 mg of sodium per 100 ml. Instant dashi granules add more salt, so check the packet if you use them.
| Add-in, per bowl | Calories | Sodium |
|---|---|---|
| Silken tofu, 30 g | 17 kcal | 3 mg |
| Firm tofu, 30 g | 22 kcal | 3 mg |
| Dried cut wakame (seaweed), 1 g | 2 kcal | about 90 mg |
| Aburaage (fried tofu), 5 g | 19 kcal | trace |
| Green onion, 5 g | 1 kcal | trace |
| Shiitake, enoki or shimeji, 20 g | 5 kcal | trace |
| Potato, 40 g | 24 kcal | trace |
| Asari clams, 30 g of meat | 8 kcal | 261 mg |
A worked example
A 150 ml bowl with 1 tablespoon of light-colored miso, silken tofu, wakame and green onion comes to 56 kcal and 1,023 mg of sodium (2.6 g of salt). The miso alone brings 33 kcal and 879 mg; the dashi adds 3 kcal and 51 mg; the wakame adds 90 mg.
Make the same bowl with sweet white miso and it is 60 kcal but only 576 mg of sodium (1.5 g of salt). Red miso with clams is 43 kcal and 1,233 mg (3.1 g of salt), close to half of Japan's daily target for women in one small bowl.
The pattern is clear: the calories hardly matter, and the miso decides the salt. Two bowls of the first soup reach 2,046 mg of sodium, already past the WHO's 2,000 mg for the whole day.
What it can't tell you
Miso varies from maker to maker, and reduced-salt miso is sold in Japan and elsewhere; when your tub gives figures, they beat the averages here. A heaped tablespoon can hold far more than 18 g, so weigh your usual spoonful once. The tool also cannot see the rest of the meal: pickles, soy sauce and other dishes on the same tray add their own salt.
To cut the salt, use more dashi and vegetables and less miso, try sweet white miso, and add potassium-rich ingredients such as potato. That last tip needs care. People with kidney disease are often told to limit potassium as well as salt, and some blood pressure medicines raise potassium levels. If you have kidney disease, take blood pressure medicine, or have been told to watch your salt, ask a doctor before changing your diet. A very high home blood pressure reading together with chest pain, a severe headache, breathlessness or changes in vision needs urgent medical help.
Miso is made from soybeans, and barley miso contains barley, so it is not suitable for people who must avoid gluten. Japan's yearly health check measures blood pressure; our piece on the kenko shindan explains what else is included.
Questions
How many calories are in a bowl of miso soup?
With 1 tablespoon of miso, roughly 35 to 80 kcal, depending on the add-ins. A plain bowl with 1 tablespoon of light-colored miso in 150 ml of dashi is 36 kcal; with tofu, wakame and green onion it is 56 kcal; with potato and aburaage it is 79 kcal.
Is miso soup high in sodium?
For its size, yes. One tablespoon of light-colored miso carries 879 mg of sodium, so a bowl made with it lands between about 900 and 1,000 mg.
Which miso has the least salt?
Sweet white miso, at 6.1 g of salt per 100 g, less than half of red miso's 13.0 g. Per tablespoon that is 432 mg of sodium against 921 mg.
What about instant miso soup?
Use the nutrition panel on the packet. The figures here are for miso stirred into homemade kombu and katsuobushi dashi.
Does miso soup help the gut?
Hot soup kills most of the live microbes in miso, and there is no good evidence that those in a bowl settle in the gut. What a bowl reliably brings is warmth, tofu and vegetables. The article on miso, natto and nukazuke goes through what is known.
Sources
- Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan, 8th edition (MEXT)
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, sodium limit for adults
- World Health Organization, guideline on salt and sodium intake: who.int
- Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese, salt targets: mhlw.go.jp