8 Unexpected Ways to Use Miso

Miso is well known for its ability to bring savory, nutty complexity to a wide variety of Japanese dishes, particularly soups, glazed salmon, and braises, but its versatility is almost boundless.

The fermented soybean paste can add a touch of sophistication to your favorite cookie, deepen the umami in garlic bread, and provide a supporting flavor boost to Caesar salad dressing. Here are our favorite unexpected ways to use miso, including the sweet, the savory, and everything in between.

Give your bolognese big flavor (fast)

Japanese food culture has enthusiastically embraced Italian cuisine, in addition to adapting dishes to suit local tastes, it has coined the term itameshi to categorize Japanese-Italian dishes. There are even Japanese “spaghetti houses” specializing in pasta dishes paired with ingredients like cod roe, sea urchin or salted plum. This sauce is our version of what might be called “Japanese bolognese.” Thanks to umami-rich miso and soy sauce, it’s faster and simpler to prepare than traditional ragù bolognese. That means you can get a rich, meaty pasta dinner on the table in under an hour. Red or white miso work equally well, as does a mixture of the two.

Get the recipe.

Make better garlic bread

For this update of all-American garlic bread—everyone’s favorite accompaniment to spaghetti and meatballs—we sauté chopped garlic until lightly browned to tame its fieriness and crisp its texture. There’s no need to painstakingly chop the cloves—as long as the bits aren’t larger than about ¼ inch, it’s fine if they’re uneven. Richness comes from two forms of fat: olive oil and butter. Parmesan is no surprise here, but white miso is; it ratchets up the flavor and adds another level of savoriness.

Get the recipe.

Elevate your peanut butter cookies

“Bang! These are good,” one of many readers wrote in about our peanut butter-miso cookies. Credit here belongs to Melbourne’s Falco Bakery: these are adapted from their wildly popular upgrade to the classic peanut butter cookie. As one reader notes, the key is the umami-rich miso—“it makes people ask what is in these cookies, they are addictive.” Sweet and salty, chewy and crunchy, they are deemed “a super sophisticated version of an old favorite.”‘

Get the recipe.

Replace the mayo in chicken salad

This crunchy salad skips the mayo in favor of a tangy, gingery miso-based dressing, with lots of texture from cucumbers and almonds. To keep things simple and streamlined, we use the shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken. (One 3-pound rotisserie chicken will yield about 3 cups of shredded meat, which is exactly how much you need.) The dressing can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 4 days, so you can make a batch and enjoy it for lunch all week.

Get the recipe.

Upgrade your salted caramel

If you love salted caramel, miso caramel will blow your mind. It’s the perfect embellishment for ice cream, apple pie or even French toast. Be sure to use white miso, which is the mildest variety, and opt for one with a smooth texture. And keep in mind that miso brands vary in saltiness—so add only 1 tablespoon to start, then whisk in more to taste.

Get the recipe.

Amp up Caesar dressing

“Best dressing ever!” is what one reader wrote of this spin on the classic Caesar. Instead of emulsifying egg yolks with oil—a painstaking process—we use store-bought mayo (which is, essentially, an emulsion of egg yolks and oil). Parmesan (or anchovies) build an umami-heavy backbone; a couple tablespoons of white miso adds incredible depth of flavor, loads of complexity and a subtle sweetness. A splash of olive oil and garlic, its bite tempered by a quick steep in tangy lemon juice, complete the dressing. We use this on blanched Broccolini, but you could substitute 1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces, then finish the salad with crunchy croutons.

Get the recipe.

Make a more elegant chocolate pudding

This chocolate pudding is a standout: it’s made with butter, brown sugar, and a combination of cocoa and chocolate, with umami-packed white miso adding extra layers of depth and complexity. Dutch-processed cocoa is best here, as it gives the pudding a darker hue and a smoother, richer flavor. That said, natural cocoa will work, if that’s what you have on hand. Serve chilled and topped with whipped cream, if you like. “I definitely licked the spatula clean,” wrote one reader.

Get the recipe.

Up the umami in your mushrooms

In this hearty vegetarian dish, an umami-rich mushroom sauce combines with tarragon-tossed tagliatelle pasta. Red miso and mild portobellos ground the flavors in earthy richness that contrasts well with a finishing spoonful of chive-seasoned ricotta cheese. Tagliatelle is an egg noodle similar in shape to fettuccine, but with a finer texture and richer flavor. We used dried tagliatelle, which is sold bundled in nests.

Get the recipe.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

And if you're looking for more Milk Street, check out our livestream cooking classes with our favorite chefs, home cooks and friends for global recipes, cooking methods and more.

Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.