Instant Pot Udon Soup (Vegan)

This healthy and light vegan Instant Pot udon soup is made with mushrooms and soy sauce infused broth and is served with protein-rich edamame and crispy tempeh. It’s quick, easy, and perfect for a weeknight meal.

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Here at Instant Pot Eats, we love making vegan recipes in our pressure cooker, and we’re particularly excited to share this udon noodle soup because it’s both nourishing and delicious. For a plant-based meal, it packs in a substantial amount of protein that will keep you well satiated.

There are three elements to this dish: the tasty broth with mushrooms and vegetables (this part is made in your Instant Pot), the udon noodles (cooked on the stove) and the crispy tempeh (pan-fried on the stove). The idea is that while the broth is cooking in the pressure cooker, you can simultaneously prepare the other two components and have the dish ready in a flash.

Before we get into the full recipe, let’s break down the ingredients and what you need to do.

MAKING INSTANT POT UDON BROTH

Our broth flavour comes from beautiful aromatics such as ginger, garlic, chili and scallions, the dried shiitake mushrooms, which add that essential umami flavour, soy sauce (or Tamari for a wheat-free version) and lime juice. These are ingredients that you can get in most places (see shopping notes below). If you can’t find shiitake mushrooms (dried or fresh), feel free to add dried porcini or oyster mushrooms, or slice a few regular button mushrooms.

We’re also adding some lovely protein-rich edamame beans (frozen and sold in a pack) and good ol’ broccoli, plus cilantro for garnish. Can you taste the broth in your mind already? Mmmmm.

For noodles, we used dried udon noodles that you can purchase in the Japanese section of your supermarket, at Asian grocers, Whole Foods and online (see notes below). You can also use regular ramen noodles, rice noodles (for GF option), soba buckwheat noodles OR zucchini noodles to make this dish more paleo/Whole30 friendly (please use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce).

HOW TO PREPARE UDON NOODLES

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. We recommend to undercook them ever so slightly (al dente like) as they will continue to cook in the hot broth in your bowl.

HOW TO COOK TEMPEH FOR UDON SOUP

Tempeh is essentially pressed fermented soybeans. You can usually find it in the refrigerated section of your local health food stores or in the vegetarian/vegan products section (it would be in the cold section, though). It has a texture of hard feta cheese, and you can easily slice it or dice it.

The best way to prepare tempeh is to pan-fry until crispy and to drizzle it with a little soy sauce or season with salt and pepper. Its taste is pretty neutral, and it will take on whatever flavours you add to it. In our recipe, we used a little soy sauce, honey and lime juice to drizzle over the crispy tempeh slices. So tasty!

If you can’t get tempeh, feel free to serve with diced silken tofu or pan-fried firm tofu or any other vegan protein of choice.

FINISHING THE SOUP

Once the broth is cooked, and noodles and tempeh are ready, assemble the soup ingredients in a bowl with hot broth poured over the top. Garnish with extra chili and fresh cilantro leaves.

SHOPPING INGREDIENTS

Most of the ingredients used in this recipe can be found either in your larger supermarket or a health food store, at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, and online of course. Get some of the ingredients on Amazon here: dry udon noodles, dry shiitake mushrooms, frozen edamame beans, tamari soy sauce (wheat-free).

MORE VEGAN INSTANT POT SOUP RECIPES

Find more Instant Pot Eats Vegan Recipes here
Carrot Lemongrass & Cilantro Soup
Instant Pot Turkish Split Pea Stew
Instant Pot Farmhouse Vegetable Soup
Thai Red Curry Lentil Soup (Vegan)

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