8 Of The Best Instant Dashi Products To Elevate Your Japanese Cooking

In our previous article, we introduced everything you need to know about the wonderful ingredient of dashi. In case you’re unfamiliar with dashi, it is essentially one of the most fundamental seasonings in Japanese cuisine. It is an umami-packed broth that is used in many different Japanese soups, stews, sauces, and more.

While dashi can easily be made at home with the right ingredients, it does take a bit of time to prepare. Luckily, there are many types of instant dashi products on the market that can replicate the taste of homemade dashi.

If you’re low on time or do not have the right ingredients to make dashi but still want to enjoy cooking Japanese cuisine, don’t fret! We’ve got you covered. In this article, we’re going to share the best instant dashi products and ready-made dashi stocks that you can purchase if you don’t have time to make your own.

Why Instant Dashi?

Many Japanese recipes include dashi in the recipes list. However sometimes, the recipe may only call for a small amount of dashi. (Maybe as little as only a teaspoon!) In these cases, instant dashi comes in quite handy. Instead of going through the trouble of making a pot of dashi broth, it is much faster to whip out instant dashi.

The more you get used to using instant dashi, you may also find ways to incorporate it into other dishes outside of Japanese cuisine as well. In fact, instant dashi makes a great secret ingredient for pasta sauces, salad dressings, and even dips.

If you want to include instant dashi as one of your pantry staples but don't know which recipes to use it in, check out our selection of authentic Japanese recipes.

Top Instant Dashi Products

Now, let's get onto our top 8 instant dashi product recommendations! As every type of instant dashi is different, there may be a particular product that suits your needs better than another product. For that reason, we would like to point out the best quality of each instant dashi.

Best Instant Dashi For Soups & Stews

Yamaki Kappo Shiro Dashi Sauce Stock Concentrate

This concentrated dashi stock from katsuobushi manufacturer Yamaki is made with their high-quality bonito flakes to add aroma, saltiness, and umami to any dish.

Best Instant Dashi That Can Be Prepared In A Jiffy

Kayanoya Original Dashi Stock Powder

This highly-rated dashi powder adds authentic Japanese flavor to any dish in just two minutes. It’s made from premium ingredients including roasted ago (flying fish), iwashi (sardine), kombu (dried kelp), and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). It is also pre-seasoned with sea salt and soy sauce for maximum flavor.

Kayanoya also sells dashi stock powder in other varieties such as sardine and vegetable. Everyone can find their favorite flavor of dashi in Kayanoya’s lineup!

Best Instant Dashi For Making Restaurant-Quality Dishes

Mizkan Shiro Dashi Sauce Professional Taste

This light-colored Japanese dashi is made only with high-quality ingredients such as bonito flakes and kombu seaweed, and unlike most dashi also contains chicken broth too for added depth of flavor. The Mizkan Shiro Dashi adds umami flavor and saltiness to any dish without changing the color of the food or ingredients.

Best Instant Dashi For Recreating Kyoto-Style Cuisine

Choko Kyoto Style Dashi Soup Stock

For those who want to experience a regional variety of dashi, then you need to try this Kyoto-style Dashi Soup Stock from Choko! Kyoto-style dashi is well-known in Japan for having a light flavor and containing both bonito flakes and kombu seaweed, which creates a unique umami flavor. This Kyoto-style dashi sauce contains both bonito flakes and kombu, as well as shellfish.

The best part about this Kyoto-style Dashi soup stock is that its flavor is not too overpowering, meaning that it can be used in a variety of ways. Try adding this soup stock to salad dressings, marinades, or use it for making dashi soup stock. It will add a pleasant flavor to whatever dish you decide to add it to.

Most Unique Instant Dashi

Teraoka Dashi Shoyu Japanese Oyster Soy Sauce

While this product is actually a soy sauce, it can also be used as a dashi soup base for hot pot, soups, and stews. Teraoka, a Japanese shoyu producer based in Hiroshima, has created a dashi soy sauce soup base that is not too salty and can be used as a multi-purpose seasoning.

Flavored with bonito flakes, kombu seaweed, and oyster extract, this multi-purpose dashi shoyu sauce will add a depth of umami and subtle dashi flavor to stir-fries, Japanese cold vegetable dishes, simmered dishes, and more! You will be able to recreate all of your favorite Japanese dishes at home with this special dashi shoyu sauce.

Best Kombu Instant Dashi

Daihoku Golden Kombu Dashi Sauce Concentrated Soup Base

Kombu seaweed lovers should not miss out on this Kombu Dashi Sauce from Daihoku! Kombu seaweed is full of umami and savory flavor that cannot be found in seafood. It is also packed with nutrients like vitamins A & C, and calcium. Daihoku only uses high-quality kombu seaweed harvested in Hokkaido, so you can rest assured that this Kombu dashi concentrated soup base will make anything you add it to instantly delicious.

Best Natural Instant Dashi

Natural Dashi Powder Sodium Free Japanese Soup Stock

This natural and sodium-free dashi powder stays true to its name by containing only simple ingredients like sardines, bonito, kombu seaweed, and shiitake mushrooms. It’s the perfect Japanese dashi soup stock option for those who want to avoid foods that contain chemicals and preservatives.

Since this dashi powder only contains a few ingredients that are also found in homemade dashi, you can easily recreate dashi stock at home that tastes as if it were homemade! The powder for this stock is also very fine, so it will dissolve into hot water quickly and easily.

Best Low Sodium Instant Dashi

Yamaki Low Sodium Udon Shiro Dashi Stock

Did you know that dashi stock is the base ingredient for udon broth? If you want to make a bowl of hot udon noodle soup at home, you can do so with this Udon Shiro Dashi Stock from Yamaki easily. However, you can also use this dashi stock to flavor any of your other favorite dishes too!

This dashi stock is lower and sodium compared with other instant dashi stocks, containing 30% less salt. It is also flavored with high-quality bonito and kombu seaweed meaning that it will pack the perfect umami punch. Just dissolve this dashi powder with hot water and you’ve got yourself some tasty dashi.

If you’d like to check out more products that contain dashi or other Japanese soups, you can find them here.

Are you a fan of dashi? Have you included it in your recipes before? Let us know in the comments below!