Making a delicious Ramen at home is not hard! This easy Vegetarian Homemade Ramen Soup comes together quickly and features a rich broth, crisp tender vegetables, ramen noodles, and is so much healthier and tastier than those ramen packets.
Homemade Ramen
I know that most people eat chicken noodle soup when they are not feeling well, but I tend to opt for a big bowl of Ramen Soup.
Filled with a rich broth and hearty noodles, I always feel comforted after a bowl of ramen. Not to mention the garlic and ginger in ramen soup helps to clear up congestion.
According to Wikipedia, Ramen is a Japanese soup that is made with a mushroom or beef broth, Chinese wheat noodles and topped with meat, veggies, poached eggs and/or seaweed.
When most people think of making Ramen at home, they picture opening a dry packet of ramen noodles with pre-packaged seasonings and digging in. I get it, but homemade ramen is SO much better tasting and SO much better for you.
My recipe for Vegetarian Ramen is ready in less than 30 minutes and is just as good as any traditional Japanese Ramen or ramen you get at an expensive ramen shop.
How to Make Ramen at Home
Step One: Prepare Broth
- For this Vegetarian Ramen, pour vegetable broth or mushroom broth into a large saucepan.
- Add in minced garlic, freshly grated ginger, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. I love to add in white miso paste if I have on hand, but that is a harder to find ingredient, and completely NOT necessary.
- Bring the broth to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
Step Two: Add in Vegetables
- Add in sliced mushrooms, minced red pepper, and bok choy into broth.
- I like to use shitake mushrooms, but baby bella mushrooms or oyster mushrooms are good substitutes.
- For the greens, I find the tops of bok choy to be perfect for this Ramen recipe, but you can use napa cabbage, kale, or spinach or omit greens.
- Simmer for 10 minutes until greens begin to wilt.
Step Three: Cook Ramen Noodles
- Add in packaged ramen noodles (discard seasoning pack) and cook according to package directions--about 3 minutes. You can even find really great organic ramen noodles that are made with just wheat, water, and salt.
Step Four: Serve
- Dish up cooked ramen into serving bowls.
- Top Homemade Ramen with shredded carrots, diced green onions, diced red peppers, soft boiled egg, Sriracha, and/or dried seaweed.
Notes on Homemade Ramen
- If you are not Vegetarian, feel free to use chicken stock in place of vegetable or mushroom stock.
- You can also add cooked shredded chicken or pork to this ramen as well, just add with the noodles to warm through.
- I recommend using low-sodium stock to help control the level of sodium in this ramen.
- Most ramen recipes call for dried seaweed, I personally leave this out of my homemade ramen.
- Topping the ramen with a soft boiled egg is classic, but if you want a vegan ramen, just omit the egg.
- The toppings for Ramen are up to you, I recommend something crunchy (shredded carrots and peppers), something creamy (soft boiled egg) and something spicy (Sriracha).
- Mirin and rice wine vinegar are interchangeable for this ramen recipe.
- For ramen noodles, use packaged ramen or refrigerated ramen. Just be sure to discard any flavor packets that accompany the noodles. Those packets are filled with preservatives, sodium, and MSG.
More Homemade Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Baked Potato Soup
- Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
- Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Lasagna Soup
Easy Homemade Ramen
Ingredients
- 4 cups mushroom or vegetable broth reduced sodium
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger root grated
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- ½ cup shitake mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons red pepper minced
- 9 ounces ramen noodles about 3 packages
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste optional
- 2 cups bok choy greens thinly sliced
Toppings for Ramen
- 4 soft boiled eggs
- 1 large carrot grated
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1 small red pepper diced
- Sriracha
- Dried Seaweed optional
Instructions
- Pour vegetable or mushroom stock into a large saucepan. Add in minced garlic, freshly grated ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and miso if using. Bring the broth to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Add in sliced mushrooms, red pepper, and bok choy into broth, and simmer for 7-10 minutes, or until greens are wilted.
- Add in packaged ramen noodles (discard seasoning pack) and cook according to package directions–about 3 minutes.
- Dish up cooked ramen into serving bowls and top ramen as desired.
Notes
- Nutrition is calculated without toppings.
- Feel free to use sliced napa cabbage in place of bok choy greens.
Monica Weatherspoon
This was perfect and delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe. I feel much better giving this to my son than the packaged kind. I was so worried about finding a great broth recipe, but my son (and all of us) loved the broth! It was easy, and when I made some for my husband, it only took me 10-15 minutes once I knew what I was doing.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed---gotta love a fast, yet healthier recipe!
Four
Very tasty! Will definitely come back to the this ^^
Meghan
I’m so sorry! I was so excited to tried this and it smelled so good, but the broth tasted terrible! We followed the recipe, I’m wondering if we were expecting it to be more like Pho and it just wasn’t the same? 😰
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Meghan! I hate hearing you did not enjoy this soup. If you were expecting pho, this would be completely different. Pho is a really rich, yet light meat broth with less additional flavors.
Nicole
If I make ahead of time - will it keep in refrigerator and heat up as well? Wondering how the BokChoy and noodles hold up in broth overnight?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Nicole. I have reheated with success. The noodles do get a bit softer and swell, but we still enjoy!
Lena
Tasted really good! But only served 2 people... I don't know why it said 4 (unless you're into REALLY small servings lol). Last minute I had to double the broth and the noodles and didn't have time to double the veggies... ended up feeling kind of empty 🙁 I'm excited to make it again though with double everything! I added mensa, a cup and a half of mushrooms, and half as much ginger and it tasted great!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Lena! I am glad you enjoyed but sorry you did not feel the serving size was adequate.
Doris
Due to the pandemic, my hubs and mines plans of vacationing to Japan this summer got cancelled. I decided to make a Japan theme night at home, and of course we needed a ramen dish for dinner. I picked this one because it seemed easy enough for a beginner. (I only had made packaged ramen before) This was a hit! We finished the whole pot.
I opted to Japan ramen noodles instead of the instant kind. I wanted a more quality and authentic texture for the noodles. This recipe was so flavorful and fun to make. Quite elaborate, but well worth the time. I've also never had any other kind of ramen besides instant beef/chicken. This was a whole new experience for my taste buds. So glad I picked this one. I will be making it again!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Doris! I am so sorry your vacation plans were cancelled. But I am glad you found this recipe, made the best of a disappointing situation and enjoyed! I hope you enjoy many times again and I hope you get to take that trip soon!