Quick Ramen Noodle Soup
This Quick Ramen Noodle Soup only takes 15 minutes to make, and gets its great depth of flavor and richness from two secret ingredients. This is the perfect weeknight meal that’s fast and easy to customize.
I was really tempted to call this something like “faker’s ramen noodle soup” because instead of the 3 days that an authentic ramen requires, this one takes about 15 minutes and has a ton of flavor.
Despite its short cooking time, we start with a ton of aromatics as the base and add plenty of umami so the broth takes on a deeply rich flavor, without a long simmering time!
So if you’re a fan of ramen soup but don’t feel like spending three days simmering chicken bones and pork bones, definitely give this one a try. It’s a good compromise between instant ramen using that questionable seasoning packet, and the real stuff.
It also reminds me of another one of my favorite meals: Ramen Noodle Stir Fry. You can never go wrong with Asian noodle dishes!
Tips for Best Results
Use good soy sauce and fish sauce – To add umami to the broth, we will use soy sauce and fish sauce. Make sure to use good quality brands, as there’s HUGE variability there. My favorite brands of soy sauce are San-J, Lee Kum Kee, and Kikkoman. Stay away from La Choy as well as grocery brands. For fish sauce, I recommend Red Boat or Tiparos.
Use fresh aromatics – To make the broth really flavorful and aromatic, we’ll start with fresh garlic, scallions, and ginger. Make sure to use the fresh stuff from the produce section, and not jarred ginger. It makes a big difference!
Save the noodles until the very end – Make sure that the broth is exactly to your liking in terms of seasoning before adding the noodles. For the best eating experience, you won’t want to risk overcooking the noodles, so they should be the very last thing you add.
Another bonus to this recipe is that all of the ingredients should be easy to find in any typical grocery store. I love visiting asian markets sometimes for unusual things, but there’s nothing there that’s very out of the ordinary.
In other words, anyone can make this! College students rejoice in leaving those instant ramen noodles behind 😂
Step by Step Overview:
Start by adding minced garlic, sliced scallions, grated fresh ginger, cooking fat, and sriracha to a big soup pot or large saucepan:
Cook for about a minute, over medium-high or medium heat, until the scallions have softened and the garlic smells aromatic, but isn’t scorching. These ingredients make for a really flavorful soup.
Then add chicken stock (or broth) and beef stock:
As I mention in the full video below, I like adding a mix of the two broths because it keeps the flavor of the soup from being one-note. The mix gives a really nice flavor.
Recommended Broths
I once did a taste test comparing several brands of chicken broth, and the differences were staggering. Since you’re not making the broth yourself from the whole bird, a lot of the deliciousness hinges on starting with a good broth. My favorite brands are Imagine and Swanson, but you may want to do your own taste test with the options available at your local grocery store.
I also recommend determining if you prefer broth or stock more. Although many people think of them as interchangeable, they are different. Broths are typically made more with meat whereas stocks are made more with bones, giving a different type of mouthfeel. Either will work here, it’s just personal preference.
Next, add soy sauce and fish sauce to the pot:
These are the secret ingredients that give the rich broth a depth of flavor and complexity.
Finally, drop in some ramen noodles, and eggs if you’re making them, and cook for three minutes, until the noodles are al dente:
How to Serve
Serve the ramen noodle soup with extra green onions, or any other toppings you wish to add. If you enjoy it, add a teaspoon of sesame oil or chili oil for more aroma.
To increase the protein, I sometimes add leftover Crockpot Chicken Breast, Roasted Pork Tenderloin, or Slow Cooker Pulled Pork. A soft-boiled egg is also a great addition.
More of my other favorite soups are this Quick Chicken Noodle Soup, Carrot Coconut Soup, and Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili. Enjoy, my friends! And here is a step-by-step video of the ramen soup if you’d like more guidance.
Recipe Variations
Mushrooms – Add sliced mushrooms at the beginning with the aromatics. Shiitake mushrooms are great, as are maitake or “hen of the woods” mushrooms.
Vegetables – Add thinly sliced baby bok choy or any quick-cooking vegetable you wish at the beginning with the aromatics.
Recipe Tips and FAQ
If possible, I recommend storing the noodles and the broth separately, as otherwise, the noodles will become overly soft. Keep both separately in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Yes, but I recommend storing the noodles and the broth separately. Keep in airtight containers for up to 3 months.
The stovetop and microwave are best. For the stovetop, heat the desired amount of broth in a pot over medium high heat, until boiling. Then add the noodles and serve. For the microwave, heat the desired amount of broth in 30-second intervals until boiling, then add the noodles and serve.
Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!
Quick Ramen Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp cooking fat of choice *
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 4 scallions sliced (white and green parts)
- 1/2 tsp chili sauce or sriracha
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 tbsp fish sauce**
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- 4 eggs optional
- 12 ounce package ramen noodles
Instructions
- Place the cooking fat, garlic, ginger, scallions, and chili sauce in a dutch oven or large pot and cook over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant and the scallions start to soften.
- Add the chicken stock, beef broth, fish sauce, and soy sauce and bring to a boil over high heat. Taste and adjust as necessary (I add about a cup of water to reduce saltiness).
- Add your eggs, if cooking, and the noodles to the boiling soup, and cook for about 3 minutes (the noodles I use require about 3 minutes, but follow the package instructions).
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
77 Comments on “Quick Ramen Noodle Soup”
Thank you so much! I make this almost every night and It’s SO good! (Without fish Sauce. Its too fishy for me TwT . But my hubby loves it.)
It’s quick and full of flavor. A bit on the salty side but still super yummy and for me the eggs are a must have.
Love this recipe! It makes for such a quick rich broth – I used a mix of vegetable and better than bouillon mushroom base. So good and easy to customize!
This recipe has become a goto basic for me. Quick, simple and delicious!
Joanne, when I read your recipe I knew that it what I was looking for for a long time. I’m new to ramen and I’m only familiar with the 3.5-ounce “bricks” of Sapporo Ichiban dried ramen that also include a small packet of broth mix. Just add water and cook for 3 minutes. You are using 12 ounces of DRIED ramen. I’ve never seen the large slabs of dried ramen that you use in the video. If I have to order ramen online, would you kindly tell us, your fans, a little about some ramen options with links to the ones you prefer? No links would be OK if you have concerns about using them–brands alone would be helpful. I’m anxious to try your recipe as soon as possible. Many thanks for the well-written recipe.
Hi Rita, what grocery do you have nearby? At my local Whole Foods they have several brands of these ramen noodles. Ocean’s Halo is probably my favorite, but I also like rice ramen by Lotus Foods.
Thank you Joanne. I do have a Whole Foods nearby. I will check them out. I can almost taste your soup already!
I just made this recipe for my family for dinner tonight!! It is very tasty except I would not add fish sauce next time! First the recipe was easy and quick to make, which as a working mom is my kind of cooking! The no fuss ingredients are the best. My only complaint was the fish sauce, best to omit it. I rarely use this ingredient (I believe it’s an acquired taste, you may or may not like it). So be aware, if you’re not much of a fishy flavor fan avoid that ingredient in the broth. Otherwise, the recipe was easy to make and surprisingly had lots of flavors!!
This was delicious! I cut the liquid by about half just because I didn’t want too much broth, but I kept the amounts of everything else as called for. It was yummy and salty like I like it. I think this is about as close as I can get to a pack of instant ramen, which is what I was looking for. Thanks for the tasty recipe!
Hello, this ramen is amazing. This recipe is the most common recipe I use. Very simple, quick and tasty soup 🙂
Greetings from Poland
Delicious and easy. I added mushrooms and kale.
Just made this and it was amazing! I didn’t have any fish sauce at home but made it without and it still tasted great. This is going to now be a staple for me. So easy and delicious, I also had homemade chicken stock in my freezer so I was excited to try it out in a soup!
This is a great base recipe. I had a couple of Portobello mushrooms in the refrigerator that needed to be used, so I scraped off the gills, sliced them up and added them to the pan as I was sautéing the scallions, garlic and ginger. I also added a couple of tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro, a tablespoon of light sweet miso and a touch of chili oil. Finally, I had 2 cans of chicken broth and 1 can of low sodium beef broth, so that’s what I used. The results were yummy!!! Next time I will try adding the egg. I also suggest using as many reduced sodium ingredients as possible because the soup tends to turn out quite salty but delicious. This is a recipe that can take on any number of ingredients of your choosing. The sky’s the limit. I Love it!!!
this world is so lucky to have you! xx
I was looking for a simple easy recipe for noodle soups without involving the instant noodle seasoning packets. I first encountered this recipe via Youtube and I thought that I should give it a try. I tried it without adding hot sauce and it still turned out pretty satisfying for my stomach by adding fish balls and poached eggs!
I’ve been looking for a recipe that is similar to the “soy sauce” flavor Top Ramen. This was really good!
What if I already have done Chicken and beef broth and in the process of making them i already use scallions, ginger, and garlic to flavored them, do I need to still do the first step or just mixed them together with the other sauces?
Under the ingredients you have *chicken stock .. with beef broth .. under the cooking instructions you refer to everything as stock .. can you please clarify
It’s pretty hard to find actual beef stock at the store. If you can make your own, that’s best for optimal flavor, but defeats the purpose of the quick ramen noodle soup. So I altered the ingredients to call for chicken stock, which is pretty accessible, with beef broth. I just aligned the cooking instructions with that. Thanks for your comment!
Joanne! I hate fish sauce but I dont want to lose the depth of this recipe! Do you have a suggestion for a substitution?
I understand. I am so-so on fish sauce too. I don’t really…I would just leave it out. Enjoy!
How about Marmite, Vegemite, miso, Maggi Seasoning, or one of the excellent Better Than Bouillon beef bases? Your supermarket might carry some of them in the International or Soup aisles or they can be ordered from Amazon. They are all rich in Umami, which is what you are looking for from fish sauce.
The bases are so handy to use in all sorts of things. Add dried porcini or dried shiitake mushrooms to the list (grind them to a powder and use them sparingly in a liquid as a seasoning or soak the dried mushrooms in hot water until softened, chop them up (not the stems), and add to the rice with the vegetables. Strain the soaking water and use it as part of the liquid in the recipe.