Are you a fan of the umami taste and would like to add more of it to your home cooking? Miso is an essential fermented ingredient from Japan, which is becoming increasingly popular in the USA and around the world for its flavor and beneficial qualities. It is made of soybeans, rice, salt, and water, and in some cases, added ingredients.
If you want to buy the finest miso paste to make delicious miso soup, add to marinades, salad dressing, or sauces for some added umami, then take a look at our list of the greatest umami miso paste for 2022.
Best Miso Paste
We have added the top-rated and best quality miso pastes of kinds, including red, white, awase, yellow miso, and some additional miso products as well, which can help bring that unforgettable umami flavor of Japan to your home.
Hikari Organic Miso Paste, White, 17.6 oz
Pros:
- USDA certified organic miso white paste
- Gluten-free, MSG-free, and GMO-free
- Conveniently packed in a resealable 17.6-oz serving-size container.
- It is made of fermented organic soybeans, rice, salt, KOJI culture, and yeast.
- Great for miso soups, dressings, and marinades
- Miso made in Japan
- Offered at a very reasonable price for the quality provided
Cons:
- Some customers have complained about receiving damaged packaging.
Miso Organic Shiro White Miso Cooking Paste
Pros:
- An Organic artisan-made white miso, produced in small batches
- High quality, fermented for 6 months for a richer taste
- Non-pasteurized
- Miso made of organic soybeans, rice, salt, Koji culture, yeast, and water from the snowy Japanese mountains in Honshu
- It is offered in resealable jars of 0.44 lbs.
Cons:
- It can be stored for only up to three months after being opened.
Miko Awase Miso Soybean Paste (Aka + Shiro)
Pros:
- A unique tasting awase miso which blends the flavors of white and red miso pastes
- Sold in large 17.6-oz. resealable containers
- It’s made of fermented soybeans, rice, salt, malt, alcohol, and riboflavin.
- It is made in Japan
Cons:
- The awase miso does contain alcohol added as a preservative.
Tetsujin White Miso Paste USDA Organic
Pros:
- A large-sized pack of 2.2 lbs. of premium quality white miso pastes sold at an inexpensive price.
- A lighter and sweeter flavor than the red miso paste
- Excellent for miso dashi soups, dressings, marinade, and more
- The miso soup paste is aged for three months giving it a unique and fresh umami flavor.
- Made of USDA certified organic soybeans, organic rice, and salt
- No added alcohol, preservatives, GMO, PNB, or sweetener
- The miso paste is vegan and certified by the OU.
- A 100% satisfaction guarantee backs it – you will receive a refund or replacement if you are not happy with the product.
Cons:
- The bag is not resealable, so it is recommended that you store the miso paste in a jar or another airtight container.
- The pack of 2.2 lbs. of soybean pastes may be too much for some customers.
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Shirakiku Miso Shiro Soy Bean Paste
Pros:
- What is white miso? – It is lighter and sweeter in taste than regular miso paste
- It is less salty
- Sold in 35.27-oz bags and in packs of 2 or more
- Perfect for miso soups, cooking, marinades, salad dressing, spreads, mayonnaise
- It easily mixes with water and easy to make miso soup.
- It is very affordable.
Cons:
- It isn’t organic
- The miso paste must be moved to another airtight container once opened.
Miko Shiro Miso Paste NON-GMO No MSG
Pros:
- The finest white miso paste which is made in Japan by Miko
- The ingredients used are all organic, GMO-free and MSG-free
- The ingredients include organic soybeans, rice, salt, malt, and alcohol as a preservative.
- It is sold at a reasonable price in packs of 35.2-oz.
- It comes with an excellent and easy to follow soup miso recipe on the back.
- A very long shelf-life prior to opening, and virtually infinite when opened and stored and refrigerated properly.
Cons:
- You will need to transfer it to an airtight container when refrigerating it because the package cannot be resealed.
- It contains alcohol as a preservative.
Honzukuri Low Salt Miso 26.4 Oz
Pros:
- This is a low-salt (genen) miso paste for people who don’t like salt or need to restrict the sodium in their diets.
- One serving contains 28% of the daily recommended value for sodium intake.
- It’s made in Japan
- The miso paste is sold in a 26.4-oz container with a lid, which can be used for storing the product.
- It doesn’t have added alcohol like some other types of miso products on this list.
- Made of ingredients without MSG
Cons:
- While it has a lower sodium content than most other miso pastes, it is more of a reduced-sodium product rather than a low-sodium one.
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Roland White Miso Paste, 2.20 lbs.
Pros:
- White miso paste with sweeter overtones as compared to others
- Excellent for miso soup, marinades, dressings, or spreads
- With a sodium content of 740mg (31% of the daily value) per serving, it is not as overly salty as what is in miso paste by other producers
- Made of soybeans, rice, salt, water, and alcohol
- It comes in packs of 35.3-oz (1kg)
- The product is made in Japan
- Gluten-free
- Sold at a very competitive price
Cons:
- The bag is not resealable and may be too large for some casual miso users
- It contains alcohol, which has been added as a preservative
Clearspring – Organic Miso Bouillon Paste
Pros:
- This is an alternative to the traditional miso paste, which is more of concentrated vegetable stock with added brown rice miso
- It comes in a convenient form, which is easy to use and can be used to add umami to more traditional and non-Japanese recipes like broths, stews, sauces, and other meals, as well
- Each sachet is easy to dissolve in boiling water
- Each box contains 4 sachets of miso bouillon, which should be dissolved in 500ml of boiling water
- It contains 35% brown rice miso, which is made of soya beans, brown rice, sea salt, and water
- Also included are leek, carrot, onion, and ginger purees, as well as Kuzu starch thickener, Kombu Sea vegetable extract, and cold-pressed sunflower oil
- Each sachet is 28g and contains 5.7g of salt, 2.7g of carbohydrates, and 0.9 g of fats
- It doesn’t need to be stored in a refrigerator, and you can stock up instead of wondering where to buy miso paste
Cons:
- It is not traditional miso paste
Marukome Organic Reduced Sodium Miso
Pros:
- A reduced sodium organic white miso which contains ¼ less salt than the standard kinds of miso
- All ingredients used are certified USDA and Canadian organic
- It is also kosher and gluten-free
- Made by Marukome, the largest Japanese miso producer in the USA
- It is sold in a 13.2-oz resealable box
- It is also available in a regular sodium Marukome miso variant
Cons:
- It may taste different than regular white miso to some people used to the original flavor
Maruman Organic White Miso 26.4 oz
Pros:
- Organic certified in Japan, additive-free white miso
- Sold by one of the most popular store chains in Japan – Maruman
- It is gluten-free, MSG-free, gluten-free, preservative-free
- It has a mild, very traditional Japanese flavor
- Sold in resealable boxes of 1.65 lbs.
- Suitable for miso soup, marinades, dressings, and other dishes
Cons:
- It comes in Japanese packaging without any English labels, which some users may find frustrating
Namikura Miso Organic Kyoto Shiro Miso Paste
Pros:
- Made in Japan with organic Japanese-grown ingredients by a 5th generation family-owned miso maker
- It is made of up to 2 times more white rice koji and lesser salt than other white miso
- It contains organic white rice koji, soybeans, sea salt, and water only
- It is smoother and has a milder flavor than other miso pastes
- It is kosher certified
- Sold in 2.2 lbs. packages
Cons:
- It is not in a resealable package, so you will need to transfer it into a jar or another airtight container for prolonged storage
Namikura Miso Co. Organic Red Aka Miso Paste
Pros:
- The red aka miso paste has been made with more soybeans and less rice than most other products on this list.
- The red miso paste has been aged for at least 6 years for a richer taste and darker red color.
- It has a savory, aka miso flavor, and a smooth red miso texture.
- Easily mixes with water to make miso for soup, salad dressings, marinade, or others.
- It is made in Japan by a family-based traditional manufacturer – Nakimura Miso Co.
- The red miso paste is Organic, and Kosher OU certified
- It doesn’t contain artificial additives and only contains organic cooked soybeans, rice, salt, and water.
- The miso paste red has a stable shelf life but needs to be refrigerated once it is opened, where it can last for years.
- Offered in 2.2-pound packs
- It is also available in a white miso version.
Cons:
- The red miso package cannot be resealed, so you may want to store it in another suitable container like a mason jar in your refrigerator.
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