I hope I’ve convinced you to experiment with leftovers in your fridge by now. Most of my favorite recipe creations have come from me just piling whatever I have leftover in my fridge into a bowl or pot, and seeing how it turns out, including this Vegan Creamy Mushroom Ramen. I’m not kidding when I say this is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted, and it only takes about 15 minutes and a handful of ingredients. #totalwin
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I had some coconut milk leftover from making my Easy Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala on Facebook live the other day, plus Aldi had baby bella mushrooms on sale for $1.69 per container 😱 so I had purchased some of those with the intent of roasting them, which didn’t happen. I came home ravenous for carbs after Orange Theory, saw that coconut milk and the mushrooms in my fridge, and immediately knew what I needed to make!
The super simple broth for this ramen (vegetable broth + coconut milk) is so freaking good that I’m 100% going to be making a regular “cream” of mushroom soup with this method in the near future. So if you don’t like ramen but love creamy mushroom, just hang tight. ;)
What Kind of Mushrooms Should I Use?
Definitely try to get baby bellas or full sized portabella mushrooms for this recipe. The deep color and robust flavor of these mushrooms makes a big impact, and I think regular button mushrooms would fall flat.
What Kind of Coconut Milk Should I Use?
I used full-fat coconut milk in a can for this recipe and it made the broth extremely rich and delicious (and surprisingly it didn’t taste like coconut). I think you might be able to get away with using light coconut milk, but just be aware that the broth won’t be nearly as creamy or thick. I do not suggest using the dairy milk substitute type of coconut milk that comes in a carton. It is FAR too thin. Only canned coconut milk for this recipe.
What Kind of Ramen Should I Use?
I used the super basic, super cheap, 25₵ per pack ramen. Nothing fancy needed here. I did toss the seasoning packet and use my own vegetable broth, though (Better Than Bouillon).
What Else Can I Put in My Vegan Creamy Mushroom Ramen?
Whatever you want! Ramen is one of those great “catch all” dishes that is good for tossing all your leftover vegetables and proteins into. Check out my post about 6 Ways to Update Instant Ramen to see what other fun things I like to put in my ramen. Some quick ideas are tofu, sliced bell pepper, sesame seeds, or shredded cabbage or carrot.
Vegan Creamy Mushroom Ramen
Servings 1 (or two)Ingredients
- 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
- 4 oz. baby bella mushrooms ($0.85)
- 1.5 cups vegetable broth ($0.20)
- 1 handful fresh spinach ($0.53)
- 1 package ramen noodles (discard seasoning) ($0.25)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (canned) ($0.66)
Optional Garnishes
- 1 green onion, sliced ($0.11)
- 1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce or sriracha ($0.13)
Instructions
- Slice the mushrooms. Add them to a small sauce pot with the cooking oil and sauté over medium heat until the mushrooms are soft, dark, and all the moisture in the bottom of the pot has evaporated.
- Add the vegetable broth, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the broth up to a boil. Once boiling, add the ramen noodles (without the seasoning packet) to the broth. Cook the noodles in the boiling broth for about 3 minutes, or until tender.
- Turn the heat off, add a heaping handful of fresh spinach, and stir until the spinach is wilted (about 30 seconds). Pour the coconut milk into the pot and stir to combine.
- Serve the Vegan Creamy Coconut Ramen as-is, or with garnishes like green onion or chili garlic sauce.
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Nutrition
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Love Mushroom Soup? Try our Creamy Mushroom Soup recipe.
How to Make Vegan Creamy Mushroom Ramen – Step by Step Photos
Slice 4 oz. baby bella mushrooms (about 4-5 mushrooms or half of an 8 oz. package). If you want to do full sized portobella mushrooms, just slice the caps in half, then slice crosswise into thin strips.
Add the sliced mushrooms to a small saucepot with about 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil (your favorite type of oil to cook with, any type is fine). Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they are soft and dark, and all the liquid they release has evaporated out of the pot.
Add 1.5 cups vegetable broth to the pot with the mushrooms. I use broth made with Better Than Bouillon broth concentrate. Turn the heat up to medium-high and allow the broth to come up to a boil (this goes faster with a lid).
Add one “brick” of ramen noodles (discard the seasoning packet) to the broth and continue to boil for about 3 minutes, or until the noodles are tender.
Turn off the heat and add a heaping handful of fresh spinach to the soup. Stir until the spinach is wilted (about 3o seconds).
Finally, pour in 1/2 cup coconut milk (the canned kind, not the dairy milk substitute kind in a carton). Stir to combine.
And that’s literally all it takes! Done in about 15 minutes. You can serve it as is, or add some fun toppings.
I added sliced green onion and some chili garlic sauce to mine. The sharp chili garlic sauce added a nice contrast to the super creamy broth!
This was super easy and so delicious…the broth flavor was kind of unbelievable given that it only had a handful of ingredients. I used frozen spinach and ended up with quite more green stuff than intended, but seriously this is something we will make again.
Can’t go wrong with more greens! Thanks for sharing Jackie.
Would this work with rice noodles if trying to make it gluten free?
Yes most definitely! I’ve actually used the Lotus Foods Rice Ramen and it’s perfect!
This was super easy, cheap, and filling! I thought it was a little bland, but at the same time, I couldn’t find chili-garlic sauce, which might’ve added a little flavor. I will definitely be making this again because of how easy it was!
Thanks Danielle! Let us know when you try it again. You typically can find the Chili Garlic sauce in the Asian foods section of your grocer.
This is our first time cooking with ramen noodles. Hubby made it by himself–and we both liked it except it is very, very, very salty! We used the Better than Bouillon. I guess that is where the salt came from or do ramen noodles have salt? I think next time we make it we will add a LOT more spinach and use a low salt boxed broth.
Can plain ole pasta or orzo substitute for the ramen noodles?
It was very hearty and big servings.
You didn’t happen to add the Better than Bouillon and the ramen seasoning packet, did you? It’s quite possible that the BTB is just too salty for your tastebuds on its own, though. If that is the case, you can always just use a lower dilution (1/2 tsp per cup of water instead of 1 tsp per cup of water), or they actually make a lower sodium version, too. :) You could definitely do a version of this with a different type of pasta if you prefer.
This was really delicious and filling. Kind of like a noodle-filled cream of mushroom soup. I added tofu and it was the perfect meal. I hope my husband is prepared to have this once a week, every week for the next six months or so.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it Colleen!
So easy and delicious! I added broccoli slaw for more veggies. FANTASTIC!
Made this tonight—soooo good. My spinach turned out to have wilted badly so I did without that. Instead of chili paste, I seasoned with white pepper, sesame seeds, a splash of soy sauce and just a little salt. Filling and scrumptious and cheap and easy and quick! This is going in regular rotation.
Very very good and so easy to make. I added chicken thighs to mine and did chicken broth instead of veggie but it was still delicious. A bit of sesame oil at the end was super yummy as well.
Delicious!
I have some dried wild mushrooms in my pantry that I might try in this!
This looks so good but my husband hates anything that tastes like coconut. Is there anything that can be used as a substitute to the coconut milk?
Can you have regular cream?
Made this for an easy dinner on Friday and it was AMAZING! So simple, but so delicious. Definitely gonna be a new go-to recipe for me.
That’s awesome Hilary!
So easy and delicious! I didn’t have the chili sauce so I added garlic powder and cayenne which worked great.
Any ideas for what to do with the rest of the can of coconut milk? Except for your coconut lentils (which I *love*, but it takes a full can), I’ve never used coconut milk so not quite sure what to do with it.
Also, to add tofu, does it need to be cooked or marinated or anything beforehand?
You can freeze it! I put mine into ice cube trays for perfect portions :)
This. was. Awesome!!! As-is, no tweaks needed. Delicious, a bit “exotic” and ridiculously easy to make – a rare combo 😍
This dish is so going to be made at my house, looks absolutely delicious!!