Who didn’t love ramen growing up? That cheap (10 for $1.00!) easy, deliciously salty supper? I sure did. But, my taste buds and I have grown up, so now when the craving hits, I make this homemade quick chicken ramen recipe. My homemade chicken ramen recipe is nearly as easy to make as the packaged stuff, and so much healthier.
My recipe uses packaged ramen noodles. Just throw out that chemical-y, sodium-filled flavor packet in favor of healthier, homemade flavor bombs like fresh ginger, scallions, soy sauce and tons of garlic!
Want more homemade ramen? Try slow-cooker beef ramen, homemade curry ramen, or a (ramen-esque) gingery vegetable soup!
Featured Comment
This ramen is so good! I've made it multiple times for my family (including my 8 and 10 year old boys) and they all agree it's delicious! It's such a healthier version to the packages of Nissin Top Ramen from my youth. Thank you for this!! - Elisha
Easy Chicken Ramen Ingredients
- Ramen noodles: Just use the dried ramen noodles that come in those packages! Just discard the flavor packet.
- Chicken: Use any leftover chicken that you have on hand. Simple poached chicken would be ideal, or use meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
- Chicken stock: Homemade chicken stock is always wonderful if you’ve got it, but store-bought works fine.
- Soy sauce: I use low-sodium soy sauce, and add salt as needed.
- Sesame oil: Toasty and nutty, sesame oil is a MUST. No subs!
- Fresh scallions: Fresh scallions give my homemade ramen a restaurant-quality flavor.
- Fresh garlic and ginger: How do you flavor ramen broth without all those sodium-bomb chemicals? Tons of fresh garlic and ginger make this broth rich and delicious.
- Shiitake mushrooms: Beautiful and healthy, I love their earthy flavor.
- Egg: A perfectly-cooked 6 minute egg, with a nice jammy yolk, is a ramen MUST.
- Chili sauce: I like sambal oelek, but sriracha would also work fine.
How To Make Easy Chicken Ramen
- Make the ramen topping: Whisk together scallions, chili paste and sesame oil to make a topping that makes every bite of this easy ramen burst with flavor.
- Make the chicken ramen broth: In a big pot, sauté garlic and ginger in sesame oil, and pour in stock, soy sauce, scallions, mushrooms, chicken, and salt.
- Add the ramen noodles: Boil just until the noodles are done, about 3 minutes.
- Make it look like real ramen: Grab your favorite bowls, and serve the ramen topped with perfect egg halves, and drizzled generously with the chili-scallion ramen topping.
Meal Prep Tips
This recipe is pretty darn fast, but if you’re a weekend meal-prepper, you can make it into an even faster (as in 5-10 minute) weeknight dinner. Here’s how:
- Prep the chicken ahead of time. I’d make poached chicken, but air fryer chicken would also work. Store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Make the broth ahead. You can store it in the fridge for 3-4 days or you could even make it way ahead and freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Prep the 6-minute eggs up to 4 days ahead of time.
- Make the scallion-chili topping. This will keep well for a few days in the fridge, too.
When you’re ready to eat, bring the broth to a gentle simmer, and add the noodles for that quick, 3-minute boil. Serve it up!
Variations + Add-Ins
- Instead of chicken, this recipe would work with cooked shrimp, extra-firm baked tofu, or even thinly-sliced pork.
- Instead of packaged, dried ramen noodles, try using Japanese udon noodles (they’ll take longer to cook than the ramen so just follow the package instructions), rice noodles, gluten-free ramen noodles, or even zoodles.
- Add more veggies! Always love adding veggies to my ramen. I’ve had good luck with baby bok choy, snap peas and even a handful of chopped spinach or other dark, leafy greens.
- If you love spice, try finishing the ramen with a spoonful of chili crisp or you could even just skip the scallion oil topping and use store-bought chili crisp instead.
- Other ways to add big flavor: Stir in a spoonful of miso paste, a splash of rice vinegar, or a dash of fish sauce.
Is This An Authentic Ramen Recipe?
Very much no. This is a quick ramen recipe inspired by instant ramen, meaning the packets of Top Ramen or Maruchan Ramen. Real Japanese ramen is a whole different, gorgeous thing, and is one of those incredible dishes that is hard to recreate authentically at home. Most ramen shop ramen recipes take a lot of time to develop an intense flavor profile that is hard to compete with. But, this quick homemade ramen recipe is authentically delicious, that I promise!
More Easy Homemade Ramen Recipes
How’d You Like It?
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