Miso is a simple product that’s traditionally made by fermenting pulses (usually soya beans) with salt and koji, typically a grain (rice or barley, and more recently oats, say) inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae mould. Bar one fabulous exception, however, our supermarkets seem to have flipped the “you get what you pay for” adage on its head when it comes to miso: the least authentic and most processed products in this test were also some of the most expensive, even though they’re little more than synthetic imitations cut with thickeners, colourants, acidulants and preservatives.

I asked my friend Jono Hope from Slow Sauce, a miso and shoyu brewery in Scotland, for advice, and he told me not to taste it straight from the jar; its intense, salty flavour would ruin my palate. Instead, he advised mixing a teaspoon with warm water, then drinking it – “the soup test”.

★★★★★

A glossy, burnt sienna paste with a granular texture and rich, floral, sweet and earthy aroma. Soup test: fresh, sweet on the nose, with a salty, fruity flavour. Made simply.

★★★★★

A very smooth, sienna-coloured caramel paste with a velvety texture and yeasty, umami aroma. The soup is mild and very sweet, with notes of barley. Great Taste two-star winner in 2024. A perfectly simple recipe formula (34% soya beans, rice, 11.9% salt) and incredible value.

★★★★★

A coarse yellow paste with a sweet and fruity aroma. Soup test: a soft, sweet lactic aroma and a clean taste. Made with Scottish oat koji, flamingo peas and sea salt, all magnified through the slow fermentation. Sweet, young, funky and alive – and this week’s best splurge.

★★★★☆

A shiny, dark chocolate brown paste with an unfathomably rich and mature soy sauce aroma. Soup test: a sweet, subtle aroma, and a deep, meaty, mushroom flavour with an underlying sour twang. Made from brown rice koji.

★★★☆☆

A matt, umber-violet paste with a smooth texture and deep, rich and floral aroma. Soup test: a sweet, fruity scent and a rich but mildly astringent taste. Made to a simple formula. Great Taste one star in 2025.

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★★★☆☆

A glossy, yellow paste with a super-smooth texture and a deep, smoky, fishy aroma. Soup test: a smoked bonito and fruity, sweet sake lees aroma, perfect for instant miso soups and noodles. An ultra-processed recipe, though, including MSG, bonito, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

★★☆☆☆

Thin, glossy, caramel-coloured paste with the aroma of ethanol, acetic acid and soy sauce. Soup test: mild, sweet and simple in flavour. Made with 53% miso cut with water, alcohol and yeast extract.

★☆☆☆☆

A thin, glossy, brown sugar-coloured paste with a sour but rounded umami aroma. Soup test: an acidic aroma and intensely salty taste with rich umami notes in the background. It’s 55% miso paste cut with salt, sugar, acidity regulators and preservatives.

★☆☆☆☆

A thin, ochre paste with an acidic umami aroma. Soup test: sour-forward with a rounded, earthy flavour. Made with 45% miso paste cut with cornflour, acidity regulator and preservative potassium sorbate.

☆☆☆☆☆

A thin, shiny, yellow paste with an odd sour but still umami aroma. Soup test: unexpectedly sour. If AI were asked to make miso, I expect it would taste like this synthetic impression of miso that’s nothing like the real thing. Contains citric acid, colour (plain caramel) and potassium sorbate.

For more, read the best (and worst) supermarket sushi, tasted and rated