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This easy ramen soup recipe comes together in 30 minutes and tastes like something you’d order out. A restaurant-worthy ramen bowl recipe, but right at home!
This ramen soup recipe is the kind of thing you’ll want in your back pocket on a weeknight when you’re craving something that tastes like it took all day, but didn’t. In less than 30 minutes, you’ve got a steaming bowl of homemade ramen soup with a broth so good you’ll want to drink it straight from the pot! (And I do.) Garlic, ginger, sesame—it all comes together fast, and it all hits exactly the way a ramen bowl recipe should.
If you’re on a ramen soup kick, try my miso ramen, shoyu ramen, or this craveable chicken curry ramen soup (you’ll fall in love, and that’s a promise).
Table of Contents
Ramen Soup Ingredients
A full ingredient list with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
- Broth: Chicken or vegetable works, but go for low-sodium. You can always adjust the salt bit by bit if necessary.
- Sesame oil: This brings a signature nutty, toasty flavor to the broth.
- Rice vinegar: The mild acidity and subtle sweetness brighten the broth.
- Low-sodium soy sauce: Kikkoman’s low-sodium soy sauce in particular tastes exactly the same, so there’s no loss of umami goodness.
- Chili-garlic sauce: Add heat if you want it with chili sauces like Sriracha or sambal oelek.
How to Make Ramen Soup
Step 1: Sautée the Veggies
Heat the sesame oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and any other veggies you want to use. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.
Step 2: Bring In the Garlic and Ginger
Add the garlic and ginger to the pot and simmer for 30-45 seconds until it’s fragrant.
Step 3: Create the Broth
Pour the broth into the pot and add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, and Sriracha. Stir well to combine and let it all simmer on low for five minutes. Give it a taste and adjust the soy sauce or hot sauce if needed.
Step 4: Cook the Ramen Noodles
While the soup simmers, cook the Ramen noodles in a separate pot according to the package instructions. When the noodles are cooked, drain them and rinse them under cool water. Place them into soup bowls and set aside.
Step 5: Build Your Ramen Noodle Bowls
Spoon the broth over the noodles, then garnish the bowl with whatever fun toppings you have on hand. See below for ideas.
Dana’s Cooking Tips
- Simmer veggies first: I used to simmer the garlic and ginger before adding the veggies, but this resulted in slightly burnt garlic, which adds a bitter taste. You only want to simmer the garlic for a short time.
- Cook noodles separately: Cooking the noodles directly in the broth is convenient, and you can do it if you want, but they’ll absorb some of your broth and become mushy pretty quickly.
- Make it low-sodium: Typical ramen noodles are high in sodium, so choose low-sodium broth and soy sauce.
Substitutions & Variations
- High-Protein Upgrade: Rotisserie chicken, sautéed shrimp, salmon, beef, tofu, or ground pork work well. This is also a great opportunity to use leftover meat from a previous night’s dinner.
- Gluten-Free Option: Use GF ramen noodles made with millet and brown rice. You can find this particular brand on Amazon or at Costco.
- Low-Carb Version: Spiralized zucchini makes for great noodles in this soup.
- Make It Veggie-Heavy: Add chopped zucchini, seared baby bok choy, julienned cabbage, sautéed broccolini, or steamed broccoli.
What to Serve With Ramen Soup
Storage & Reheating
- Fridge: If possible, store leftover noodles and broth separately in airtight containers for up to 4 days. If you store the noodles and broth together, the noodles will absorb most of the broth.
- Freezer: You can freeze broth in silicone soup trays for up to 3 months. Transfer to the fridge the night before you plan to use it.
- Reheat: Bring the broth to a low simmer in a saucepan, then stir in the noodles to warm them up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Aside from the obvious Ramen noodles (yes, you can use the popular Instant Ramen packets you grew up with), Ramen soup consists of broth, vegetables, and protein, along with 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, and onion, can be added to Ramen soup, along with your favorite protein.
Easy Homemade Ramen Soup Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP sesame oil
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms, Stems removed
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated to a paste with a microplane
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 3 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce (more to taste)
- 1 TBSP rice vinegar
- 1 TBSP Sriracha sauce (more or less, depending on your heat tolerance)
- 6 oz ramen noodles, divided
Optional Toppings
- Sliced scallions
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Soft-boiled egg, *See notes
Instructions
- Over medium-low heat, warm the sesame oil in a medium saucepan until it's hot. Add the shredded carrots, sliced mushrooms, and any other chopped veggies you'd like. Simmer until the veggies are tender, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger to the saucepan; simmer for 30-45 seconds until fragrant.
- Pour the broth into the pot. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Sriracha if you're using it. Stir the broth well and let it simmer on low for five minutes. Give it a taste and adjust the soy sauce or hot sauce as needed.
- While the soup is simmering, you can cook the Ramen noodles in a separate pot according to the package's instructions. When the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse them under cool water, then transfer them to soup bowls.
- With a ladle, spoon the broth over the noodles in the bowls. Garnish with your preferred toppings and serve.
- *See the notes below for instructions on cooking a soft-boiled egg.
Notes
- Bring some water to a boil in a small saucepan. Make sure there’s enough water to just cover the eggs.
- Add the eggs to the boiling water. Let them boil for 5-8 minutes. (5-6 minutes will give you a runny yolk, while the 7-8 minute mark will yield a softer, jammy center).
- While the eggs boil, prepare an ice bath in a bowl.
- When the eggs are ready, use a slotted spoon to transfer them from the pot to the ice water. Give them about a minute to cool off enough.
- Lightly crack and roll them over a paper towel, peel, and slice in half.
- Place the halves on top of each ramen bowl.
It was easy to make and the best ramen I’ve ever had. It certainly was restaurant quality. Only changes I made was I added wakame seaweed strips and red pepper flakes. I did not add sriracha.
Hi Jackie—I’m so glad you enjoyed this and I love your addition of wakame!
Making now. If we choose to cook noodles in broth can you advise?
Hi Amber—you can definitely cook the noodles in the broth. They will absorb a bit of the broth though, so you may need to add a bit more. Depends on your preference!
Do not overheat the sesame oil. We did so and it ruined the broth.
Yes, overheated sesame oil can impart a bitter flavor. Sorry this happened to you!
This was an easy to follow recipe. It was the best ramen I’ve ever had.
The flavor is amazing. BUT – – the portions are waaaaaay off. For a single serving, the recipe calls for 4 cups of chicken broth and TWO 3 oz ramen noodle packages – but only 1/2 cup of mushrooms. So that one serving recipe produced over 6 cups of soup with just a few sad little mushrooms swimming in it. But – the soup flavor is good – so I will try again with only 2 cups of broth, one package of noodles,half of what the seasoning are but twice the mushrooms and carrots. Do you think that will work?
Hi Dede, the recipe is for two servings, which is noted in the heading of the recipe card. You may be confusing the “1 X” next to the ingredients, which means “1 x the recipe”, the “2 x” being to double it, and the 3 to triple it. This helps to easily scale the ingredients if someone wants to double or triple the recipe. I hope this makes more sense to you.
Amazing!!
Happy to hear it, Fiona!
Absolutely delicious!!! That broth is perfect. The only thing would change for next time is cook the egg 6 1/2-7 min. Mine were still raw after 5 min. This is going to be a permanent recipe in the rotation.