Confession time: sometimes I actually like instant ramen. You know, those cheap little packets of salty noodles that only cost 30¢? I don’t eat them often, maybe once per year, but when I get the craving I love grabbing a packet of instant noodles and going to town with all sorts of add-ins and toppings. Over the years I’ve found 6 easy ways to upgrade my instant ramen, to the point where it feels like fancy ramen and can qualify as a legit meal. Plus, I get to use up the leftovers in my kitchen at the same time! So I’m going to share what I add to instant ramen to make it better because it’s a total win-win.
Can you believe that’s instant ramen in that bowl in that photo?? And those upgrades were pretty inexpensive.
Now it’s obvious that the best way to make instant ramen better is to just get real ramen noodles from a restaurant or from an Asian grocery store, but that’s not what we’re talking about today.
We’re talking about what you can add to those inexpensive little ramen packets to make them better. Ingredients that you can find in your fridge or just about any grocery or convenience store. So, when cheap ramen packets are what you’ve got, here’s how you can spice up your instant ramen and turn it into a bowl of fancy ramen!
What to Add to Ramen
Instant ramen is a blank slate for all sorts of flavors and ingredients, so you can really have fun when customizing your bowl! Here is a summary of some of the ingredients that I like to add to a bowl of instant ramen to really spice it up:
- Broth: experiment with using your own broth and different flavors of broth (vegetable, coconut, curry, shrimp base, etc.)
- Aromatics: Adding a few fresh aromatics, like garlic, ginger, or scallions, can really add a lot of depth to the flavor of your broth.
- Sauces: scour your fridge for sauces that you can stir into the bowl, like sriracha, chili crisp, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, fish sauce, or even peanut butter.
- Vegetables: Instant ramen is a great way to use up leftover vegetables in your fridge. They add color, flavor, and texture to every bite!
- Protein: Make your bowl a little heartier by adding in some rotisserie chicken, cooked shrimp, a soft-boiled egg, or some tofu.
- Toppers: I like to add a little flair at the end, whether it be something for texture like sesame seeds or furikake, or something fresh like cilantro. It’s just another layer of delicious that takes the ramen over the top!
how to Make Ramen Better – Step by Step
1. Use Your Own Broth
Skip the flavoring packet and use your own broth, whatever kind you prefer. I like to use either vegetable or chicken-flavored Better Than Bouillon (I do half broth, half water to keep the salt down), but you could also use a homemade bone broth, dashi, or even just some miso mixed with water. Not only does this give you more control over the salt and other ingredients, but it offers you a lot of flavor options!
2. Add Aromatics
Upgrading instant ramen is all about the add-ins, and that begins with adding fresh aromatics to your broth to really give the flavor some oomph. I like to add fresh garlic, ginger, and green onion. I usually have all three of these on hand (I keep my ginger in the freezer), so it’s a no-brainer. Plus, fresh ginger gives the soup a pleasant medicinal quality that is great when you’re under the weather.
TIP: Mince the garlic and grate the ginger. Sauté both in a little oil for a minute or so before adding your broth to the pot. The green onion can either be sprinkled over top at the end, sautéed with the ginger and garlic, or both!
3. Sauce it Up
If you’re like me, you have no less than 20 half-used bottles of sauces in your fridge. Well, Instant ramen is a great way to use up some of those sauces. You can stir sambal, chili garlic sauce, sriracha, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, fish sauce, gochujang, soy sauce, or any number of other sauces into your broth for more flavor. Or add them to the finished bowl as a sort of table seasoning.
TIP: Adding sauces usually comes with added salt, so keep this in mind when choosing your broth. That is one reason I like to do half broth and half water—it gives me more wiggle room to add sauces later.
4. Add Vegetables
I looooove my bowl of ramen packed full of vegetables. This is where spicing up instant ramen gets really fun and useful. Browse your fridge for any vegetable that might need to be used up, like carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, and more. You can also toss in frozen vegetables, like broccoli florets, peas, or corn.
TIP: If you don’t have any vegetables in your fridge, stop by the salad bar at your local grocery and grab a small handful or two of your favorite vegetables. That way you don’t have to buy a whole package of each one. You can also score proteins like tofu (see photo above) or rotisserie chicken to toss in there.
5. Add a Protein
My favorite protein to add to my ramen is an egg because it’s just so easy and I always have them (soft boiled egg or hard boiled egg). But there are so many more options! Tofu cubes, sliced tempeh, rotisserie chicken, ground pork (browned), shelled edamame, pulled pork, shrimp, you name it!
TIP: You can crack a raw egg straight into your simmering broth and let it cook for about 6 minutes. Make sure the broth is not vigorously boiling or the egg will break apart into a million pieces and just make the broth cloudy. For the egg in the photo above, I cooked it separately, using my easy 6-minute Soft Boiled Egg method, and then added it to the finished bowl.
6. Top it Off
Time to go wild! Top off your ramen with lots of fun goodies to give your bowl flavor, color, and texture. Here are some things to add to ramen:
- Sriracha
- Kimchi
- Sesame seeds
- Crumbled bacon
- Nori (dried seaweed)
- Fresh herbs (cilantro, Thai basil, chives)
- Sesame oil
- Crushed chiles
- Furikake
- Fresh lime
And that’s it! That’s all it takes to turn a sad little packet of instant noodles into a truly epic bowl of fancy ramen that I’m sure I’d probably pay at least $8 for in a restaurant.
My Favorite Instant Ramen Recipe:
The bowl of instant ramen shown in the photos here is the ultimate representation of how to make ramen better, but on a regular run-of-the-mill day, I kind of go halfway between plain and the ultimate version. Here is my favorite upgraded ramen recipe:
Upgraded Instant Ramen
Servings 1 to 2Ingredients
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 handful sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 package instant ramen (seasoning discarded)
- 1 handful fresh spinach
- 1 large egg
- 1 green onion, sliced
- sriracha to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil, garlic, and ginger to a small sauce pot and sauté over medium for about one minute.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for about a minute more.
- Add the broth and water, and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the uncooked ramen noodles. Boil for about 3 minutes, or just until they are tender. Do not overcook the noodles.
- Stir in the spinach until wilted. Turn the heat down to low, crack the egg into the broth, and let sit for about six minutes, or until the egg whites are cooked and the yolk is still runny.
- Transfer the soup to one or two bowls, then top with sriracha and sliced green onion.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
And then depending on whatever else I have in my kitchen, I might add some other fun stuff in, like in the photos. :) Want to meal prep it? Check out our Meal Prep Noodle Soup Jars!
Try These Other Instant Ramen Recipes:
What About You?
Share your favorite ways to spice up instant ramen in the comments below! I love reading all the unique and creative ingredient combinations people come up with for their ramen!
The only way to eat packaged ramen is to upgrade it. When I was a young kid I’d watch my dad upgrade ramen, he always put the vinegary hot sauce in and I’d be so intrigued. Now as an adult I do the same with the Crystal sauce. I always add some form of veggies, whatever I have on hand (if nothing else I always have sliced mushrooms and frozen corn), throw in some left over meat, if any. But the key is to have an egg. When the noodles are boiling in the seasoned water (I use about 3/4 of the packet), I crack an egg into it. Then I take if off the burner, give it a gentle stir and pour it all into a bowl. Then I break open the yolk and stir that around to make the broth creamy like tonkatsu or miso soup! Add hot sauce. Mmmmmm!
Late to the party, but I just had an inspiration for an add-in — the meatballs from your teriyaki and/or sriracha glazed meatball bowls! We’d just made a double batch left unglazed (to leave our flavor options open) for quick freezer dinners. Wanted ramen today, wanted some protein without the hassle of an egg, remembered the meatballs – voila! The flavors blend perfectly with the original/pork/beef flavor ramen. Yum!
Yum!! Great idea!
My mum used to make us souped up (hah) Ramen from time to time as kids so it always has a nostalgic kick to it (Ichiban, for preference, though it’s not available where I live now.) Frozen peas are a must in my book, and miso paste is pretty good as well. That plus whatever vegetables are on hand (red pepper is nice) and, as mentioned above, an egg stirred through the broth (too lazy to boil separately) makes for a pretty quick and delicious meal. Thanks for sharing these suggestions – ramen might be the perfect meal between Christmas and New Years…
Delicious! I added most of the above, and cooked it in broth instead of the salty pack they include. My lunch was delicious today!
i always put parm cheese in mine and chilli flakes
Oh, yum! Thank you! It is below zero today and I am just not feeling the Christmas vibes this Christmas Eve. Hot upgraded ramen was just what I needed for lunch. I attempted soft boiled eggs for the first time(not too shabby!), used 3 cups of water instead of the usual two for the broth, used chicken better than bouillon paste instead of the seasoning packet, added chopped frozen kale, chopped frozen onion and a carrot thin sliced into half moons when the water boiled and the noodles when it returned to a boil. Powdered garlic, powdered ginger, sriracha and black pepper were great additions. I’m adding sesame seeds & sesame oil to my second bowl (I forgot the first bowl). Nom!
I love upgrading my ramen! Learned this trick in college and would often toss in a handfull of spinach for some greens. I also love adding chopped scallion (I almost always have scallion on hand, it instantly upgrades so many dishes) or sometimes I’ll swirl in a beaten egg for egg-drop soup.
My next ramen attempt will probably be to mimic hot and sour soup with a good dash of rice wine vinegar and red chili paste.
I used to teach in Korea, and they habitually upgrade their ramen. Some of the popular toppings:
chopped scallions
spam or hot dog
mandu (potstickers). Seriously, toss a few frozen potstickers in, it’s awesome
a slice of american cheese
sliced rice cakes
egg (practically mandatory)
I’ve asked my students for others and have gotten some interesting additions. One that I haven’t tried is chocolate. The student may have been just messing with me, since the rest of the class thought it odd, but it might be worth a try if anyone is daring.
Oh, almost forgot: Korean-style, the egg is generally not soft boiled. They crack a raw egg into the boiling ramen and give it a quick stir just before they take it off the heat. That way, you get these little strands of egg throughout the soup.
Wow! This post has turned into a Ramen cookbook! I use them for a leftover meal–I stir fry in 1-2 T of oil 1 egg, scrambled, sliced onion or scallion, a mushroom or 2, a bit of finely minced ginger, a minced clove of garlic, whatever leftover veggies are in the fridge, plus a bit of meat or shrimp if I have it, but it’s totally fine to just do veggies and egg. I toss the “flavor packet” in the trash and add the soaked noodles to the wok or skillet, with a sauce of 1 T hoisin, 1 tsp chili paste with garlic, 1 T low sodium soy and toss together until everything is distributed–a fast, cheap meal for 2 at our house, and one of DH’s faves. If I don’t have leftover veggies, a couple of handfuls of shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, and/or carrot are perfect additions.A little dab of ground meat is often our protein of choice, and I have been known to chop up and fry a couple of slices of bacon, using that fat to stir fry everything and the crispy bacon as garnish–and cilantro always perks things up a little more
I don’t eat ramen, but I really love soup with all of these toppings. Just vegetables and soft boiled eggs are lovely.
I use A cozy kitchen’s recipe and make a broth with soy sauce, ketchup and rice vinegar. Then I add green onions, cilantro, lime, siracha, and chili paste.
My basic ramen recipe uses the “creamy chicken” pack. Cook noodles normally. Drain them (I don’t like it soupy), then add about a tablespoon of the drained liquid and just a dash of soy sauce back in. Add the flavor packet, a scrambled egg, and a little bit of shredded mild cheddar cheese…just enough that you can tell it’s there.
We love Ramen with tofu and Kimchee. I throw about half a jar of kimchee in some water and then when the water boils, take the Kimchee out and divide it between bowls, then cook the noodles in the spicy broth. I don’t use the flavor packets because the sodium is too high. We usually throw a raw egg in, too; the hot liquid poaches it.
Peanut butter ramen noodles from thekitchn.com are good as are Jaden Hair’s Garlic Scallion Noodles (aka Garlic Butter Noodle) from steamykitchen.com made with ramen instead of egg noodles or spaghetti. In her cookbook she uses Maggi sauce or soy sauce instead of the fish sauce. I’ve added shiitake mushrooms and spinach and chicken, pork or shrimp and those versions are also very good and still a quick meal.
Love these delicious quick meals. I have a version as well. At one and a half minutes into cooking the noodles simply add the seasoning packet, stir to mix, then crack an egg directly into the cooking noodles/liquid, and continue cooking for one and one half minutes. The egg is poached perfectly at this point. I then pour the entire contents directly into a bowl containing a few thinly sliced mushrooms, torn bits of spinach and a few shavings of carrot. The hot broth will soften these veggies by the time I reach the table. Will try adding either/or sesame oil and ginger!