Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Ramen noodles can be so much more than just a 2 a.m. drunken mistake

Turn your instant ramen into a restaurant-quality dish

Lindsay Parrill
By
Ramen noodles
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Coming into true adulthood is a mixed bag of emotions. While the perks of bigger bank accounts, spaces to call our own, and the ability to appreciate really good wine are beautiful things, it’s perfectly normal to find oneself nostalgic for simpler times. For most of us, gone are the good ol’ days of few responsibilities, hangovers that magically vanish in no time, and living off 5-for-a-buck packages of instant ramen. And while we can’t do anything about the hangovers (sorry), we can give ramen noodles an adult upgrade.

Now that your kitchen (hopefully) consists of more than a greasy microwave shared with five other students, it’s time to view instant ramen as the insanely convenient, perfectly delicious ingredient it is. For the most part, we’ve outgrown the version that’s simply boiled to death and then sprinkled with a packet of delicious MSG magic (though we won’t lie — this dish still slaps at 2 a.m. after a long night). So how do we turn this coming-of-age staple into fare fit for grown-ups?

Recommended Videos

Sure, there are countless instant ramen noodle recipes out there, but with a pretty basic guideline, you won’t need any of them. Learning how to make ramen the way you like it is key, and that means adding anything you want to that package of instant noodles. But we do have a few suggestions for some of the best things to add to ramen …

instant ramen noodles packet better
Charles Deluvio / Unsplash

How to elevate your ramen

Forget the foil

For starters, toss the foil flavor packet. We know it’s delicious. But it’s also a dead giveaway that what you’re making isn’t homemade. And no, just because you boiled water doesn’t mean you get to take credit for being a chef. So toss it. To really elevate your ramen recipes, cook your noodles in broth or stock that complements your dish — beef, chicken, vegetable, and seafood all work beautifully, depending on your other ingredients.

Related

Beef it up

Next, decide on a protein. To make your ramen dish a complete meal, and one comparable to one you’d order in a restaurant, you’ll want to bulk it up with a little protein. Pork belly is a classic choice for ramen, but you can use just about anything you please. Grocery store rotisserie chicken is a wonderful, easy addition, and no one has to know you didn’t roast the bird yourself. Shrimp and salmon are deliciously easy seafood options that you can add to your ramen either pre-cooked or raw, allowing them to cook in the simmering ramen broth. Of course, meatless alternatives like tofu are wonderful in ramen as well.

Eat your veggies

Once you’ve decided on a protein and complementary broth, you can get creative with your other ingredients. Classic vegetables in ramen dishes include bok choy, mushrooms, spinach, green onions, and bean sprouts. Shredded carrots and red bell peppers add gorgeous color as well.

Get saucy

This part is fun. You know all those sauces in your refrigerator door you haven’t used in months? This is their moment to shine. To flavor your ramen, you can add any number of sauces or condiments — like Korean kimchi, chili sauce, hot sauce, fish sauce, sriracha, sambal, or anything you please! The world is your oyster sauce.

One of our favorite combinations is peanut butter and soy sauce for a very Thai-inspired flavor.

Those are some of the easiest suggestions for making your ramen something you actually want to share with people, instead of slurping it alone while you watch Netflix. You say you want more suggestions? Keep reading …

Ramen with an egg
Joshua Ryder / Unsplash

Be extra – eggs aren’t just for breakfast

If you don’t add an egg to your homemade ramen dish, what are you even doing with your life? Okay, look, we know it’s trendy, but there’s a good reason for it. Beautifully runny eggs are on top of everything now, from pizza to sandwiches, and, yes, ramen. But that drippy golden yolk is straight from the gods and we refuse to feel guilty about wanting it on everything. Including our ramen.

Our favorite way to add an egg is to crack a fresh one directly on top of the simmering ramen as it finishes cooking. Be sure that it’s only at a gentle simmer; otherwise, your egg will come apart before it cooks. Simmer this way for about 5 minutes until you’ve reached eggy ecstasy.

Ramen in a white bowl
Ruthy Yang

Make your own spice blend

So we kicked this ramen adventure off by telling you to toss the spice packet. But if you really miss the little foil-wrapped burst of flavor, you can recreate that flavor in a way that avoids a ton of that blood-pressure-boosting sodium (yes, you need to think about stuff like that, you’re not a kid anymore).

So if you want your ramen to have that classic flavor, but in a healthier way, try this recipe from This Healthy Table.

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken bouillon cubes
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Method

Stir all the ingredients together and store the spice blend in a sealed container.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Lindsay Parrill
Lindsay Parrill
Contributor
Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…
Why you can (and should) add bourbon right to your banana bread batter without cooking it first
Bourbon alcohol cooks out as banana bread bakes - genius!
Banana bread

Cooking with booze is one of the best ways to achieve a robust and delicious complexity of flavor. For any number of dishes, we braise, poach, deglaze, and sauce with everything in the liquor cabinet, from wine to tequila to rum, and our food is better for it. And while you may have incorporated beer into your cupcakes or poached pear in a simmering pool of red wine, you may not yet fully appreciate the flavor spirits can bring to baked goods. Banana bread is one of the most delicious, comforting, feels-like-home treats there is, and it's hard to imagine it getting any better than it already is in its mildly sweet, toasty perfection. Enter bourbon.

It turns out that splashing a bit of bourbon into banana bread batter can take Grandma's recipe and elevate it to something one might find in an upscale restaurant. Here's why.

Read more
Can you freeze lettuce? The do’s and don’ts of making your produce last
What you need to know about freezing lettuce
Man outside holding a cut head of lettuce

While standing in the grocery store, picking up some lettuce to make healthy salads sounds like a great idea. Many of us buy lettuce as part of our weekly grocery run, only to find it going bad faster than we're able to use it. If you've ever found yourself tossing soggy or brown lettuce in the trash week after week, you know the disappointment of wasted grocery spending. With rising grocery costs along with inflation, finding new hacks to help cut down grocery spending is important -- but so is ensuring that no food purchased with your hard-earned money goes to waste.

One way to help cut down on wasted food is to freeze foods you won't consume before they go bad. Surprisingly, many people do not know that produce such as lettuce can be frozen. But how? Below, we'll teach you how to keep lettuce fresh by freezing it -- so you can skip that "throw it in the trash" disappointment.

Read more
Dark chocolate, beets, kale, and more: These 15 foods are high in antioxidants for optimal health
Add these foods to your diet and take advantage of the rich antioxidants
Foods high in antioxidants

Have you ever heard the advice to “eat the rainbow”? Essentially, this refers to consuming fruits and vegetables that span the color palette — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. As you browse the produce aisle in your favorite grocery store, you may notice all the different natural pigments. These colors are due to the specific phytonutrients and antioxidants present in the food.
Antioxidants and phytonutrients are compounds in plant-based foods that reduce oxidative damage in the body and can reduce the risk of certain diseases. Consuming these foods high in antioxidants is a great way to improve your health and feed your body with micronutrients and disease-fighting natural compounds. “Eating the rainbow” ensures you get a variety of types of antioxidants that provide your body with a well-rounded nutritional profile for optimal wellness. Improve your health and keep reading for a list of the rich antioxidant foods.

Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate may seem like just a delicious indulgence, but while you enjoy each creamy, sweet yet bitter bite, you're also giving yourself plenty of powerful nutrients. For example, it contains zinc and iron. In fact, one ounce of dark chocolate (70-85% cocoa) contains 3.42 mg of iron or 19% of the RDI for women and 42% for men. Unsweetened baking chocolate is an even better source of iron, with 5 mg per ounce. Dark chocolate is also a good source of antioxidants, which is why it is often considered a superfood. A 3.5-ounce portion has nearly 15 mmol (millimoles per liter), which is actually much higher than many of the healthiest fruits and vegetables!

Read more