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!
Cant forget egg drop girl! Cracking, and swirlying the egg into the boiling broth!! yummm
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I love to put any savory left overs such as beef sliced thin, seafood( including Krab), canned fish(kippers are great!) And top it with cut up nori.
Drain, add butter ,cayenne pepper, honey, and one pack of seasoning per 2 packs of Ramen
Not sure if anyone suggested it yet, but I like to add some low-sodium soy sauce and some sweet chili sauce.
Poor man Chinese food….lol… I make a stir Fri with what ever veggies I have on hand, such as cabbage, onions, zucchini, shredded carrots ect. Add a little cooked chicken. Add top Ramen that is not cooked all the way, cook it all together and toss some teriyaki sauce on it. Omg so yummy!
Another thing I do, and it is so tasty, is cook top Ramen acording to package. Drain liquid and add butter. It is so bad yet so good.
Yes! I love when you post and I have no idea what I’m doing for dinner and then BAM! There it is. Fancy ramen for us tonight. :-)
Cream cheese and crushed red pepper!
I have a dirty confession…I (not so) secretly love ramen, especially if I’ve had a glass of wine too many the night before. I’ve tried some of your (and other) recipes that call for just the noodles and tell you to discard the seasoning packet. I actually save those for times that I need broth or bouillon for a recipe. It might not be EXACTLY the same flavor, but I hate throwing food away and if the recipe already has a lot going on, the taste difference is negligible. Thanks for all the great ideas, Beth!
Love all the ideas for ramen.
I have a question about your reference to sambel oelek – isn’t it chili paste without garlic? You called it rustic chili garlic paste. Maybe it is just different in Canada.
No, I think you’re right. I keep getting it confused with the chili garlic paste that I have that looks the same. Fixing the post now. Thanks! :)
I love adding nori (dried seaweed), cheese, vegetable, and some chili to my instant ramen. I never thought about ginger, maybe I’ll give it a try, thank you! Greetings from Asia ^^
Girl, this saved my butt tonight. Husband’s out of town, don’t feel like cooking, but want real food in my belly and BAM you saved my day. Had never made soft boiled eggs before either, and your instructions were spot on! Thanks, girl!
I throw away the crappy spice packet and make my own with poultry seasoning or whatever else, or I’ll use miso concentrate to make miso ramen. I also like to throw in shrimp, thinly-sliced chicken (not as thin as lunchmeat, though), edamame, narutomaki (fish cake), etc.
My husband adds butter or ranch orrrr about anything else that makes me want to vomit. I’m sending him the link to this hahaha. I usually add soy sauce, sesame oil, green onions, garlic, and sriracha. Either to ramen or regular cooked spaghetti. So good!
Not sure if my ways have been mentioned. It’s early and I found myself zoning out while skimming comments. :p
About once a year I will make soup out of them. I brown ground beef with onions, drain the grease then add cooked mixed mixed veggies, a large bottle of V8 , a packet of onion soup mix, some pepper and other seasonings and heat up until hot then add the cooked and drained noodles. It’s pretty good actually.
Another way I eat them on occasion may sound really weird but it tastes good to me is just to add a can of tuna, black pepper and red pepper flakes to the cooked and drained ramen.
You hit most of the things I do to turn ramen into ‘real food.’ However, I often use dried shiitake mushroom caps – if I am in the mood for serious umami, I soak the caps in a glass of water for awhile and use that water as part of the broth! Definitely need to slice the caps though, they can be tough otherwise, but they have a super strong mushroom flavor. For the egg, I usually crack an egg right into the boiling water just as the noodles finish and stir it around gently to get egg bits throughout.
Ramen can also make an interesting snack. In high school I discovered that you can break the noodles up inside the bag, pour in the seasoning packet (or half maybe if you haven’t read the newer research on salt showing its not bad for you), and shake – then just eat em dry! It’s like a really crunchy snack mix, like Chex Mix or such.
P.S. I hate your site. Every time I visit, I end up with SO MANY TABS open. As of right now, I have 13 open just on Budget Bytes. You make far too many recipes that are aimed directly at my tastebuds. Never stop.
This happens to me too…. so many tabs!!!