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Satisfy your craving for Ramen soup with this homemade ramen bowl recipe. In less than 30 minutes you can be slurping up this restaurant-worthy Ramen in the comfort of your own home with little effort. This is the noodle soup everyone deserves!
Table of Contents
This homemade Ramen soup remains a reader comfort food favorite after years of it being published. To be able to enjoy a big yummy bowl of your favorite Japanese soup in your own home is some kind of bliss! Between this recipe, my Shoyu Ramen Recipe, and my Miso Ramen, we’re all set come soup season.
We aren’t all fortunate enough to have access to restaurants that offer this good stuff. So having this simple recipe up your sleeve is awesome.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Accessible ingredients—A quick trip to the grocery store will get you what you need! (If you want to build yourself an authentic Japanese Ramen bowl however, check in with Nami at Just One Cookbook and her collection of authentic Ramen recipes.)
- So flavorful—The garlic, ginger, and sesame do wonders for the broth. You’ll want to drink it by the mugfull!
- You can make it your own—Readers love to cook this recipe as their very own by adding their favorite veggies, proteins, and garnishes.
Featured Comment
I used shimeji mushrooms , cuz we dont have other ones here, and it still ended up really good, love the recipe thank you very much ♡ this was my first homemade ramen experience and you made it amazing 🤩
— Sarah
Ramen Soup Ingredients
A full ingredient list with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
- Sesame oil—This brings a wonderful nutty flavor to the broth that is familiar with Japanese foods. You could use olive oil instead, though. Or half and half!
- Rice vinegar—The mild acidity and subtle sweetness offers a nice balance here.
- Soy sauce—I highly recommend going for low-sodium. Kikkoman in particular, as their low-sodium soy sauce takes exactly the same as the regular type, so you won’t lose out on any flavor.
- Chili garlic sauce—Making your Ramen soup spicy is optional, but if you do, reach for the chili sauces like Sriracha or sambal oelek.
Recipe Variations & Modifications
- Vegetables—I love using shredded carrots and sliced shiitake mushrooms, but you could also add others, like cabbage, broccoli, diced zucchini, or seared baby bok choy.
- Protein—Anything goes with this Ramen soup recipe! You could add chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or even tofu to keep it vegetarian.
- Egg—The jammy soft-boiled egg will always be my favorite part of a Ramen bowl, but you could omit it if eggs aren’t your thing. See the recipe card for instructions on cooking a Ramen egg.
- Other fun Ramen toppings—Narutomaki (fish cakes), enoki mushrooms, nori (dried seaweed), bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, or corn kernels
How to Make Homemade Ramen
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger; simmer until fragrant.
- Add the carrots, mushrooms, and any other veggies you want to cook and add to the soup. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until tender.
- Pour the broth into the pot. Add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, and Sriracha. Give it all a good stir to combine.
- Let the soup simmer for about five minutes, then give it a taste and add more soy sauce or Sriracha if needed, depending on how salty and spicy you want it.
- While the soup simmers, cook the Ramen noodles in a separate pot as per the packages instructions.
- When the noodles are ready, drain them and give them a quick rinse under cool water, then place them into your soup bowl; set aside.
- Spoon the broth over the noodles, then garnish the bowl with whatever fun toppings you have on hand.
Pro Tip
I don’t recommend cooking the noodles in the broth because the noodles will soak up the broth, leaving you with less of it! For this reason I always cook and store my noodles separately.
How to Serve Homemade Ramen Bowls
Ramen soup is hearty, so it can be eaten like a meal on its own. Especially if you add some protein. There are some great sides you can bring to the table, however. I love this cool and crisp smashed cucumber salad. You could also work in these honey miso roasted sweet potatoes or some seared baby bok choy, which could be added right to your homemade ramen bowl.
Storage & Reheating
- Leftover broth and noodles can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days, but be sure to store them separately if possible. Otherwise the noodles will soak up all of the broth and turn mushy.
- To reheat, bring the broth to a low simmer in a saucepan then stir the noodles in. Remove from heat, then transfer to a soup bowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Aside from the obvious Ramen noodles (yes, you can use the popular Instant Ramen packets you grew up with), Ramen soup is made up of broth, vegetables, and proteins in addition to various seasonings like garlic, ginger, sesame, and soy.
Shoyu (soy sauce), miso (fermented bean paste), shio (salt), and tonkotsu (pork) are the four broths you’ll most often see served with Ramen soup in restaurants.
Various vegetables such as mushrooms, baby spinach, broccoli, bok choy, onion, zucchini, etc. can be added to Ramen soup, as well as your favorite protein.
Ramen Soup Essentials
- Japanese Style Ramen Bowl
- Chopsticks
- Wonton soup spoon, the best way to slurp up that homemade Ramen broth.
If you try these Easy Homemade Ramen Bowls, or any other recipe here at Killing Thyme, please pop back in and leave a 🌟 star rating! And let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
More Ramen Soup Recipes You Have to Try…
Easy Homemade Ramen Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced (optional)
- 4 cups Chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 TBSP rice vinegar
- 3 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce (more to taste)
- 1 TBSP Sriracha sauce (more or less, depending on your heat tolerance)
- 2 3 oz portions of Ramen (discard the flavor packets)
Toppings
- Sliced scallions
- Sesame seeds
- Shredded carrots
- Soft-boiled egg
Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium-large saucepan over moderate heat. Add garlic and ginger, and simmer until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Do not brown the garlic, or else you'll get a bitter flavor.
- Add the carrots and mushrooms if you’re using them, and simmer until they soften, about a minute, stirring frequently.
- Add the broth, Sriracha sauce, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir, and bring to a simmer; let it go for about five minutes. Taste, and adjust heat and taste to your liking by adding more Sriracha and soy sauce if needed.
- While the broth simmers, cook the Ramen noodles in a separate pot as per the package's instructions. (You could cook the noodles in the broth directly, but I don't recommend it as they will soak up some of the broth and it also makes for a messy transfer to the bowl. It's much easier to transfer drained cooked noodles to a bowl and spoon the broth over top.) Once the noodles are tender, drain and rinse under cool water, place into a soup bowl, and set aside.
- When the soup is ready, spoon the broth over the noodles. Allow to cool. At this point, make your soft-boiled egg if you're garnishing with one, and add the rest of your toppings to serve.
Soft-Boiled Egg
- Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan.
- Add the egg(s), and let them boil for five minutes. In the meantime, prepare an ice bath in a bowl.
- Once five minutes are up, remove the egg(s) and dunk them into the ice bath for about a minute to cool them off enough to handle. Then, lightly crack and roll them on a flat surface, peel, slice in half, and place on top of your Ramen soup.
Simple and delicious! I added some Bok Choy in there too! Bean sprouts may even be a fun touch next time. Thank you!
Made for dinner tonight and was hugely impressed how easy and tasty it turned out! It’ll be made often for me!
This was the first proper dish I made for my family 4 years ago and we still make it frequently because it’s just so good!! Pork belly is the best for this.
I’m so happy to hear this, Alicja! I actually made this tonight for the first time in a lonnnnggg time and it was so great to enjoy again. You can do something different with it every time! Pork belly sounds incredible. I appreciate you taking the time to pop in with a rating and feedback!
Olive oil is not one of the ingredients! Can you add it please?
Hi Brigette! Sorry for the confusion. I recently changed it to just sesame oil, and you can use olive oil in place of it if you wish. But I forgot to update the recipe instructions, so thanks for pointing it out! Fixed! :)
I don’t even care if it’s mid summer, I will eat this all year long. Best ramen recipe. It’s the perfect easy tasty base recipe that lets me add things as I want depending on my mood and ingredients.
Haha, I love this. We’re the same here. We had a similar soup this week—NO REGRETS :)
I’d like to prepare this so it can be taken to work throughout the week. There’s access to an electric kettle and microwave. Can you suggest how one could prep this ahead?
For example I’m thinking I could make the broth and portion it out. Make the eggs ahead and let the reheated broth warm it through.
What recommendations do you have?
Hi! So, yes. That’s exactly how I’d do things. Prepare the broth at home, as well as the eggs, and pop the eggs into the broth once its reheated. Let them sit in there while you cook the noodles separately. Then once you transfer the noodles to the bowl, the eggs will be warmed and good to go :)
Let me know how it goes!