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!
SO delicious! Made it exactly as the recipe said, along with the chili garlic sauce (essential!) and sliced green onions. Added a soft-boiled egg, which was tasty, too! You’ve got to try this one.
#putaneggonit :)
Thank you, this is a quick and delicious meal! I doubled the recipe and our family of 4, including our 13 month twins, loved it!
Happy to hear it Melinda!
This is so much easier than what I do. I spend a lot of time chucking things into the pot to try to get a nice broth, this will definitely save me some time! Thank you!
Happy accident–I doubled the noodles but kept the broth amount the same while upping the coconut milk to 3/4 cup. This meant that the noodles absorbed most of the broth and I was left with creamy, savory, coconut sauce-coated noodles. It wasn’t ramen, but it was good!
Oh no! But happy to hear you still enjoyed it :)
You done did it again! Simple ingredients, easy to make, full of flavor. Adding this to my rotating list of meals (which is primarily comprised of recipes from this site).
I added tofu (put it in at the same time as I did the ramen noodles) to beef up the recipe, so to speak.
I agree that adding the garlic chili sauce adds a nice kick. I added a bit of pepper and the spice pack that came with my ramen (not the seasoning pack for the broth, the spice pack) too.
Thank you Zach!
This is perfect, Tasty, cheap, quick, easy, and nutritious. Yay Beth!
Thank you Jeri Ann!
I just made this ramen recipe for dinner tonight! It was sooo freaking good! This ramen recipe is a keeper for sure ! Affordable and delicious!! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Cynthia!
Yes, this Vegan Creamy Mushroom Ramen is amazing! Thanks, Budget Bytes!
This was great and super customizable! I added onions and bell pepper and fried curry powder in the oil for a minute before adding the broth. I added pan fried tofu to the side for protein and topped with Sriracha! My step daughter and I ate this instead of going out and it was a hit! This will be a repeat recipe for sure!
It really is that customizable! Glad to hear it was a hit!
This is amazing. We made it for dinner tonight. It’s a keeper for sure! Thanks Beth!
Thanks for sharing Ashley!
So tasty. Such an easy and inexpensive recipe that the whole family enjoyed.
That’s fantastic to hear Lauren!
OMG this was so good. I used the ramen noodle recipe from Serious Eats to make the noodles, then this recipe for the rest. It was so perfect. A small scoop of the garlic chili sauce was essential to round out the broth.
Yes! The chili garlic sauce was essential!
That’s awesome Seth!
Recommended substitute for spinach, which I detest? Was thinking baby Bok Choy?
Bok choy would be delicious!
I appreciate that many of your recipes are ideal for single people, and that you emphasize meal planning for larger-batch recipes.
Thank you EJ!
Oh my! This was a very pleasant surprise!
I was looking for an easy, cost effective meal prep recipe for a weeks worth of lunches, and this did not disappoint! To make a weeks worth of meals, I doubled the recipe, using 2 packages of Ramen, a whole can of coconut milk, an 8 oz. package of mushrooms, and a whole bag of baby spinach. I also threw in a package of smoked chicken sausage with garlic and Gouda cheese.
Oh my!
The dish was very delicious in and of itself, but the leftovers were even better! The smoky flavor from the sausage paired very well with the sautéed mushrooms and had a nice earthy/smoky taste.
I will absolutely be making this again!
Thanks for sharing Mike! That’s awesome!
Impressed? Oh yes! It looked so great I had to try it. This was my first experience with coconut milk. I absolutely loved the flavor of it – and so easy! Next time I may add tofu for some protein, but really – it was GREAT!
Happy to hear it Cynthia! Thanks for sharing!