Japanese Clear Onion Soup
Japanese Clear Onion Soup, also called hibachi onion soup, Japanese clear soup, or Benihana onion soup, is a light, broth-forward soup made with simple aromatics, onions, celery, and carrots simmered until the flavors deepen.
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A Quick Look at the Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Japanese Clear Onion Soup
🕒 Ready In: ~40 minutes
👪 Serves: 4 servings
🍽 Calories: ~88 calories per serving
🥣 Main Ingredients: Vegetable broth, onion, mushrooms, green onions
📖 Dietary Info: Gluten-free, dairy-free, light and low-calorie, vegetarian/vegan
👌 Difficulty: Extremely easy - quick prep, simple simmer, authentic hibachi-style flavor
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It's the same warm, soothing starter you're served at hibachi restaurants, and it takes just minutes of prep at home. This version uses clean, whole-food ingredients and delivers the same savory, umami flavor while staying naturally low-calorie and easy to pair with weeknight meals.
Enjoy it as a cozy appetizer, or serve it alongside a simple salad like Asian Cucumber Noodle Salad or with homemade Veggie Spring Rolls for a complete takeout-style dinner.
Jump to:
- A Quick Look at the Recipe
- Why You'll Love this Japanese Clear Onion Soup:
- Key Ingredients:
- Easy Substitutions & Variations:
- How to Make Japanese Clear Onion Soup:
- Recipe Notes & Tips:
- How to Store:
- Japanese Clear Onion Soup FAQs:
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- Japanese Clear Onion Soup
Why You'll Love this Japanese Clear Onion Soup:
Light & Nourishing: A warm, comforting broth packed with fresh vegetables and aromatics.
Easy to Make: Simple ingredients and minimal prep make this a quick and fuss-free recipe.
Customizable: Add extra mushrooms, tofu, or your favorite vegetables for a heartier soup.
Naturally Vegan & Gluten-Free: Perfect for various dietary needs; just skip soy sauce or use tamari for a gluten-free option.
Flavorful & Aromatic: Fresh ginger, garlic, and sesame oil create a deep, rich taste.
Key Ingredients:
- vegetable broth. Use homemade or store-bought vegetable broth for the best flavor. You can use homemade chicken broth or beef broth as well.
- onion. Yellow or white onions work best for their natural sweetness, which enhances the broth.
- carrots & celery. These add a classic depth of flavor. Chop them evenly to ensure they cook at the same rate.
- scallions. Fresh scallions add a bright, slightly spicy contrast to the warm broth. Use both the white and green parts.
- sriracha (optional). Adds a spicy kick; adjust the amount to your heat preference.
Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this page for exact quantities.
Easy Substitutions & Variations:
- Try different mushrooms: If you can't find button mushrooms, substitute baby bella, cremini, or shiitake mushrooms.
- Use Tamari for a Gluten-Free Option: If you prefer the soup gluten-free, replace soy sauce with tamari or coconut aminos. Or omit it altogether, the soup is flavorful without it.
- Add proteins for a fuller soup: While Japanese clear onion soup is traditionally simple, you can add cubed tofu, sliced cooked chicken, shrimp, or even thin-sliced beef to turn it into a full meal.
- Brighten it up: A squeeze of lemon juice, extra green onions, or a small handful of fresh parsley can add freshness right before serving.
How to Make Japanese Clear Onion Soup:
- Heat a little oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they become soft and slightly caramelized.
- Stir in the carrots, celery, garlic, and ginger. Pour in the sesame oil and vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it cook uncovered for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Use a fine-mesh strainer or slotted spoon to remove the vegetables, leaving a clear broth. Discard the solids or save them for another use.
- Place a handful of thinly sliced mushrooms and scallions into serving bowls.
- Pour the hot broth over the mushrooms and scallions, allowing them to soften slightly in the heat.
- Add a splash of soy sauce for extra depth or sriracha for a spicy kick.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Gentle Heat for Mushrooms: Pouring hot broth over raw mushrooms lets them soften naturally while keeping their texture intact.
- Prevent Cloudy Broth: Simmer gently and avoid boiling too hard, as rapid boiling can break down vegetables and create murkiness.
- Clear Broth Tip: Strain the vegetables well using a fine-mesh strainer for a smooth, clean broth.
- Make It Heartier: Add rice noodles, bok choy, or extra mushrooms for a more filling dish.
- Spice It Up: A drizzle of sriracha or chili oil adds heat, while a dash of rice vinegar gives a bright, tangy contrast.
- Balanced Seasoning: Start with a small amount of salt and pepper and adjust after simmering, especially if adding soy sauce later.
How to Store:
Refrigerate: Let the broth cool completely, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep the broth separate from the mushrooms and scallions for the best texture.
Freeze: Pour the broth into a freezer-safe container or ice cube trays for portioned servings. Freeze for up to 3 months. Mushrooms and scallions lose texture when frozen, so always add them fresh after reheating.
Reheating: Warm the broth on the stovetop over medium heat until hot, or microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between. Add fresh mushrooms and scallions when serving for the best texture.
Japanese Clear Onion Soup FAQs:
Japanese clear onion soup is made from a light broth base, typically beef broth or vegetable broth, simmered with fresh onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and ginger to build flavor. The vegetables are removed after simmering, leaving a clean, clear broth. Many hibachi-style restaurants finish the soup with sliced mushrooms and green onions. This recipe follows the same traditional method, using whole fresh ingredients for the most authentic flavor.
To make Japanese clear onion soup taste like hibachi-style soup, you need a clear, deeply flavored broth. The key is simmering fresh onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and ginger long enough to extract flavor before straining. Using a combination of broths (such as beef + vegetable) also helps replicate the signature depth. Finishing the soup with mushrooms and green onions in the bowl adds the classic Japanese steakhouse flavor.
Yes, you can make Japanese clear onion soup with vegetable broth instead of beef broth. Beef broth adds richness similar to hibachi restaurant versions, but a high-quality vegetable broth still produces a clean, savory soup. If you want to keep the soup vegetarian, use vegetable broth and ensure your soy sauce or tamari is also vegetarian.
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Japanese Clear Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups onions, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 cup carrots, peeled and diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 cup button mushrooms, thinly sliced
- ½ cup green onions, sliced
- soy sauce (optional)
- sriracha (optional)
Instructions
- Heat a little oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they become soft and slightly caramelized.
- Stir in the carrots, celery, garlic, and ginger. Pour in the sesame oil and vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it cook uncovered for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Use a fine-mesh strainer or slotted spoon to remove the vegetables, leaving a clear broth. Discard the solids or save them for another use.
- Place a handful of thinly sliced mushrooms and scallions into serving bowls.
- Pour the hot broth over the mushrooms and scallions, allowing them to soften slightly in the heat.
- Add a splash of soy sauce for extra depth or sriracha for a spicy kick.
Nutrition
Notes
-
- Gentle Heat for Mushrooms: Pouring hot broth over raw mushrooms lets them soften naturally while keeping their texture intact.
- Prevent Cloudy Broth: Simmer gently and avoid boiling too hard, as rapid boiling can break down vegetables and create murkiness.
- Clear Broth Tip: Strain the vegetables well using a fine-mesh strainer for a smooth, clean broth.
- Make It Heartier: Add rice noodles, bok choy, or extra mushrooms for a more filling dish.
- Spice It Up: A drizzle of sriracha or chili oil adds heat, while a dash of rice vinegar gives a bright, tangy contrast.
- Balanced Seasoning: Start with a small amount of salt and pepper and adjust after simmering, especially if adding soy sauce later.
This was delicious, just like hibachi but at home.
so simple and easy!
This was the perfect meal for a cold Saturday. Easy and delicious.
I just tried this recipe for the first time. I bought all my ingredients this morning, fresh. I only could not get sesame oil; that's ok; did not take away from the taste. It was simple and quick to make. I used some more of the veggies than the recipe called for, just to use them up. Wonderful and flavorful. Will happily make this again.
Thank you so much for the feedback, Anita!
So delicious!!! I will be making it again !! Reminded of the Benihana soup .. thank you for sharing
Hi Mari, thank you for the feedback! So happy you enjoyed the recipe:)
I love it!!!!! I did not separate the vegetables though but it still came out awesome!
Thank you so much for the feedback, Marilyn! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I tried making this myself, the thing is I'm not a very good cook so I'm pretty sure I may have messed something up. I was unsure what type of onions to get so I had bought sweet onions, either I had let them sautéed for to long, or used the wrong type of onion or something because I had found my soup to be extremely sweet. I guess my point here is perhaps specify what type of onion I'm suppose to use next time I decide to try again
Yes the sweet yellow onions can be very sweet. Ì would use Spanish (white) onions or even red onions if you love a strong onion flavor.
It could also be the vegetable broth you got, some are actually pretty sweet, so you might want to try something other than vegetable broth. Mine turned out too sweet the first time too.
Loove this soup- thanks for the recipe!
I wasn't impressed with this recipe at all. It just tasted like chicken broth - really had no taste. I won't be using this recipe again.
You are mean i love it so much
How could it possible taste like chicken broth ??
It didn’t taste right to me at all...I think I did too much celery....The recipe said two stalks which seemed extensive to me considering how little carrots there were. Is it actually supposed to be that? Like you mentioned in other comment replies you can’t know for sure because you weren’t there. I’m just a college student trying to learn how to make more stuff with very little cooking skills. Maybe not enough onions too. I added a lot of salt which seemed to help. It’s not horrible but isn’t what I was expecting compared to all the hibachi places i’ve been too. Especially Benihana’s! I will definitely try again though because I love this soup all year round...you can’t beat it!
Maybe it's got to do with the size of the ingredients? If they used small celery stalks and yours are huge... it can affect the taste! Same goes for onions and carrots!
The receipe only calls for one stalk.
Hi, we’ve recently updated this post - we’ve also retested the recipe and adjusted some of the quantities after reading user feedback! It’s impossible to know the size of the stalks each person uses, so we thought it better to stick with one.
My recipe only says 1 celery stalk
I was surprised also but realized that onions are sweet and carrots are sweet. Note that doesn't mean they are bad just that when onions are sauteed their sweetness is released (making onion soup as delicious as it is) and when carrots are simmered their sugars are released. Both are healthy vegetables but I suspect that is where the carbs come from. I do not have the nutritional information on Siracha which may also contain some form of sugars. There are many brands of Siracha and I have seen cane sugar on at least one label. Brands may make a difference.
Delicious! Just like when we go have Hibatchi.
I’m surprised there are 10 carbs in a serving. Is this correct?
I see that a serving is 100 calories, but what is considered a serving size? One cup? Also, what type of onions do you recommend?
Hello Kiley! Yes, a serving would be approximately one cup. And we used regular yellow onions for this recipe:)
Just made this tonight and adapted it to cook in the Instapot, it tastes exactly like the Japanese steakhouse! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback, Erica! Glad the recipe worked out well for you in the Instant Pot!:)