Udon Noodle Soup Recipe

This Japanese udon noodle soup recipe features an easy udon soup base that you can make in minutes. Choose your favourite udon toppings such as spring onion, katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and shichimi togarashi (Japanese chilli flakes)! This light, tasty Japanese noodles soup is perfect as a quick lunch, dinner or appetiser. 

Why We Love This

This udon noodle soup recipe is so simple to make at home – all you need are a few basic Japanese ingredients: dashi powder, soy sauce, and mirin (sweet rice wine). Even better, these ingredients can also be used as the base for a wide range of essential Japanese dishes – our favourites are okonomiyaki savoury pancakes, onigiri rice balls and gyoza dumplings.

Udon noodles are a fantastic dish to slurp down when you’re in a rush. But we like to take our time a little more to appreciate the subtle flavours, and enjoy the differences of the dashi stock between restaurants, home made and powder form.

The great thing about this dish is the ability to make it as quick or a slow as you like, depending on how hands-on you want to be, and what toppings you’d like. While our Udon Noodle Soup Recipe uses only basic ingredients for a quick eat, below are some further ideas for beefing up your dish.

P.S. If you’re looking for a spicy noodle soup, try our simplified recipe for Japanese tantanmen ramen with creamy broth and crispy pork!

Related: How to Make Udon Noodles / Yaki Udon (Stir Fried Udon Noodles)

Where We Learned This Recipe

Our favourite place for Udon noodles is a tiny place near Osaka Station which we walk past on our way back to our apartment. The noodles there always have the best texture, and their dashi broth is so flavourful!

Now that we’ve been able to replicate the flavours so easily at home, we’re in heaven, and love that we can bring another little piece of Japan back home with us.

What You’ll Need

For our simple udon noodle soup recipe we opted to make our dashi stock with dashi powder. If you have time, you might like to make your own proper dashi stock base with kombu seaweed and bonito flakes. 

• Udon noodles – dried, frozen or fresh
• Dashi stock powder
• Light soy sauce
• Mirin
• Salt
• Sugar

Optional Toppings

• Spring onion
• Dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)
• Japanese chilli flakes (shichimi togarashi)

How To Make Udon Noodle Soup

• Cook udon noodles according to packet directions, or recipe if you’re making them by hand.
• Place dashi, soy sauce, mirin, salt and sugar into a deep bowl, then pour boiling water over the top.

• Take cooked udon noodles and slide into the soup base.

• Top with sliced spring onion, bonito and chilli flakes.

Wandercook’s Tips

• For the best experience, use the freshest udon noodles you can source. Any noodles will do of course, but freshly made udon noodles have the most delicious chewy texture that you just can’t beat. Cook them until al dente, just like pasta, so they don’t become too soggy.

FAQs

What other toppings can you put on Udon Noodles?

The most simple udon noodle topping is a handful of sliced spring onion (scallions) with bonito flakes, but why stop there?

Try these other popular udon noodle toppings:

• Fried tofu
• Wakame (seaweed)
• Tempura vegetables or prawns (shrimp)
• Kamaboko – fish cake slices
• Thinly sliced beef
• Egg
• Anything else you’d like to experiment with!

What are your favourite topping combinations?

Variations

• For a vegetarian/vegan version of this dish, be sure to use kombu dashi powder – it’s made with only seaweed and no bonito flakes.
• For a more intense flavour we usually use hon dashi (note, this is made with bonito flakes).
• Make it a curry by adding a block or two of Japanese curry roux to taste. You can use a strainer to help it dissolve into the stock.

For more delicious Japanese noodles, try these recipes next:

★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!