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.
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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.
Equipment
- Garlic Press
- White Cutting Boards
- Grater
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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!
Thanks for all the ideas. I add curry, turmeric, ginger, lime, green onions, and cilantro. So glad they make a vegetarian version of this inexpensive meal! So delicious!
Cayenne! I love adding cayenne to the packet mix whether or not I add an egg (I normally poach one because I’m too lazy to boil one).
If I’m not using the packet I’ll try and make this dry ramen I got once at a restaurant: garlic, butter, fish sauce, and a poached eggs.
I eat a lot of these lately — ironically, way more now than when I was the proverbial “broke college student.” Dressing up the ramen makes me feel better about it.
My go-to add in combo is diced yellow onion, garlic, fresh cilantro, a tiny splash of lime juice, two or three eggs poached right in beside the noodles (cook noodles first, then turn down heat and add eggs), green onions, hoisin sauce and sriracha. (Since my other go-to poverty meal is tacos, I usually have onions pre-chopped with cilantro and lime).
Once in a while, I’ll do onions, garlic, poached eggs and American cheese (which I loathe in almost every other recipe, but apparently love in Ramen, who knew).
Emphatically do not recommend mixing American cheese with sriracha under any circumstances. Truly awful combination.
I use 1/2 the seasoning packet, and pour out all but 1/2 cup of the broth, then add in a real good quality butter like a kerrygold, shredded parm, sriracha, garlic powder, grated ginger and toasted sesame oil. SOOOO good!
I didn’t start getting into ramen until after graduating from college. First just the noodles thanks to your dragon noodle with shrimp recipe, then the full blown thing very recently. When making bowls with just the noodles I like to do a variety of sauces and add plenty of fresh veggies. When doing ramen with the broth I like to try and make my own broths to keep sodium counts down and of course top with an egg and sesame seeds.
thanks so much for suggesting the toasted seseme oil drizzle. after all these years, i didn’t think of it myself. thanks beth.
I will poach an egg in the water while the noodles are cooking and also add a handful of broccoli (cut small) and dehydrated shiitake mushrooms. To the bowl I add nori, scallions, and a slice of cheddar cheese.
I’ll only pour a small amount of the broth into the bowl (to melt the cheese).
Next time I’ll try some shrimp and spinach.
I don’t use the seasoning packet because of the high salt content. The stuff I put in it already has enough salt. I have different ways I eat them but my favorite is no broth, hot chili oil, garlic powder, amish butter. Simple but delicious!!
coconut milk (like the thicker kind you get in a can) + chili oil (or whatever hot sauce you have on hand) + ginger paste makes regular degular ramen taste just like a lazy singaporean curry laksa <3
I use more water and add one protein (chicken, ham, spam, steak, shrimp, one sliced hard-boiled egg (add after noodles are cooked), or drizzle in one beaten egg). Then add diced onion, minced garlic, and grated ginger. Add at least one veg (peas, pea pods, water chestnuts, mushrooms, or any leftover vegetable). Top with my choice of soy sauce, sesame oil, or my newest discovery, oyster sauce, and some sliced green onion. Never the same twice, and makes enough for at least two servings.
I like ramen soup, so I use 4c water per package. My favorite upgrades:
1. Spinach and corn with a good shake of soy sauce. (Frozen, fresh, whatever you have )
2. Chopped tomatoes- red and green if you have them- corn, and sazon Goya for Mexican style. Squeeze a wedge of lime on top.
Love this idea to “upgrade” the ramen. Do you still use the spice packet that comes with the ramen or negate it?
These are designed to be used with the seasoning, but you could always use your own broth in place of the seasoning packet. If you do that, I’d definitely suggest adding some ginger and garlic as well. :)
well I take the hard boiled egg and mix with my noodles it’a so good that way but being on a diet had to cut back n that now I did wonder how chicken would taste with the noodles so glong to try it and see will post how they taste later
Great tips! I am your #1 Dragon Noodle fan but love cheap ramen as well.
I usually add cut scallions and Tabasco (if I need my sinuses cleared). Sometimes those cheap, frozen, pre-made dumplings.
Can’t wait to try your additions! Have you used nori?
Keep up the great work!
Cheers!
BJ (@BeerZ0mbie)
Cook celery, crimini mushrooms, and cubed ham for a bit to soften them up and create create a tasty base. Add lots of sriracha plus half the seasoning (otherwise the ham makes it too salty). Reduce heat to a rolling boil. Drop one egg and swirl for a thicker texture, drop a second egg to poach whole, followed by the noodles last.
I prefer Ichiban noodles (ie $1 a packet). They cost more but have a better texture/flavor than cheapo instant ramen brands.
Reducing heat to a slow rolling boil before adding the second egg keeps it from breaking up. The result is much like a soft boiled egg without the extra effort.
4 minutes after reducing heat should cook both the egg and noodles to perfection.
Garnish with a sheet of Nori if you’re feeling fancy.