A comforting, vibrant, flavor-packed easy ramen recipe to make at home that elevates your ramen bowl to a whole new level!
What is ramen?
Japanese ramen is a type of noodle soup that is widely popular in Japan and in ramen shops throughout the world. Although the origins of ramen (noodles in a soup broth) are rooted in China, and Chinese immigrants that settled in the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it’s a distinctly Japanese dish today with all its toppings, flavorings, and variations. While it’s mainly popular as a fast, inexpensive, convenient meal in Japan, ramen can also be a surprisingly intricate dish with layers of exquisite flavors. If you love classic homemade chicken ramen, that is simple to make, but can still customize to your taste – then this chicken ramen recipe is for you! My easy pork ramen has been a hit with my readers, but I realized that I’ve never shared my easy chicken ramen recipe with you guys! So here I’ll fix that with this flavor-packed easy ramen recipe. I show you how to make a delicious bowl of ramen that tastes like an authentic shoyu ramen bowl, plus I’ll share shortcuts to make this homemade chicken ramen even easier. The easy version of this recipe can be made in 30 minutes, and the more elaborate version (with the caramelized chicken) can take about 45 minutes.
Ramen ingredients
How to make the best chicken ramen
This is my favorite way to make homemade chicken ramen – Japanese noodles (straight or wavy) in a delicious soy sauce chicken broth (shoyu broth), topped with a jammy egg marinated in a sweet soy marinade (i.e. ramen egg), with flavor-packed caramelized soy chicken and vegetables! I prefer using homemade chicken stock for ramen, but I don’t always have homemade chicken stock at hand. So, I use store-bought in a pinch. To upgrade the store-bought chicken stock, I simmer it with ginger, spring onions, and some chili (because we like it a little spicy). Bring the stock to a boil over medium high heat (or high heat, depending on your stove), with all the aromatics. Then reduce the heat to a medium and let it simmer to infuse all the flavors. You can increase the amount of stock if you want to cook the noodles in the broth, but I prefer to cook the noodle separately.
Chicken
Here’s a pro tip on how to cook the chicken for this chicken ramen (easy chicken version vs classic chicken version).
Soy sauce – This is what makes the ramen broth a shoyu ramen. You can leave out the soy sauce for a shio ramen base. Or add some white miso for a miso ramen base. Mirin – A classic addition to Japanese ramen that really enhances the flavor. It’s a sweet rice wine with a slight tang. Supermarkets usually sell “Aji-Mirin” which isn’t really mirin, but it works just as well. Garlic – I always add garlic, but because there’s ginger in the recipe, the garlic isn’t a necessity. Or you can leave out the ginger, and just add garlic. It’s up to you. Dried shiitake mushrooms – Optional, but a fantastic and easy way to add umami flavor without adding MSG (not that there’s anything wrong with MSG though, because it makes this broth delicious too!) MSG – MSG gets a bad rap, but it shouldn’t! Mono sodium glutamate is also present in tomatoes, and tomatoes are incredible delicious! So if you have MSG, you can absolutely add a pinch of this to your broth too.
Straight ramen noodles – Usually this type of noodle is used with heavier broths. But I love these noodles, so I use them regularly for homemade ramen. Wavy ramen noodles – These noodles work better for lighter ramen bases, such as this shoyu ramen recipe. If you do have them, you’re more than welcome to use it for this ramen recipe. Instant ramen noodles – Perhaps the most popular type of ramen noodles out there. I prefer not to use these, because these noodles overcook so quickly and swell up in the broth and get soggy. And soggy noodles are an absolute no-go for an authentic ramen bowl. But you can use them for this chicken ramen recipe if you like. Just make a note to under-cook them a bit, so that they don’t get soggy in the ramen broth. Udon, soba, somen noodles – These are usually sold as dry noodles in supermarkets. You can use these too if you prefer. Fresh noodles vs dried noodles – You can use either! If you have access to fresh ramen noodles, just make sure to cook them according to the instructions on the packet.
For the easy version – To make this chicken ramen even easier, you can cook the chicken RIGHT IN THE BROTH, and then shred the chicken so that it gets mixed with the ramen noodles and broth. This does save time, but personally, I much prefer to cook the chicken separately, because it adds another great layer of flavor to your ramen bowl. For the classic version – Make the caramelized soy chicken separately. Making caramelized soy chicken is easy, and you wouldn’t believe how delicious the results are! The chicken is marinated in a soy, dark soy, and mirin mix (the same marinade that I use for ramen eggs), and then grilled in the oven OR on a pan. I find it easier to do this in the oven, because this way I can cook more chicken at the same time (extras are great for fried rice!), and it leaves the stove free for the ramen broth and noodles. For both versions of chicken, you can use chicken thighs OR chicken breast pieces. I prefer boneless chicken thighs, because chicken breasts dry out very easily when overcooked. Chicken thighs are more forgiving.
Ramen toppings
I could never have enough ramen toppings. But there’s only so much that your ramen bowl can hold… There are several classic ramen toppings and they all add great flavor to your ramen bowl.
Negi or chopped spring onions (green onions) – A must for any and every ramen bowl. Tamago or eggs – Another topping that I just have to have. You can serve the eggs however you like; hard boiled, soft boiled, plain, or marinated (ramen eggs – get the recipe here!). Sesame oil – I love adding a drizzle of sesame oil to my shoyu ramen, even if it isn’t a classic option. If I’m making shio ramen or miso ramen, then I might add a little butter instead. Sesame seeds – You can use white or black sesame seeds (the white stands out against the caramelized chicken, but the black will stand out against the noodles. Ultimately toasted sesame seeds are like little drops of flavor bombs! Radishes or sweet bell peppers – Another topping that’s not traditional, but I like them because they add a nice crunch and sweetness to my ramen bowl. Mushrooms – Shiitake mushrooms are my preferred choice for this shoyu ramen, but I also love enoki. Add a delicious umami flavor, and I also like how meaty they taste. Steamed or stir-fried greens – Baby bok choy (or Shanghai bok choy), bunch spinach, water spinach, gai lan, yu choy are all excellent toppings in a ramen bowl. Fried chili and garlic, or fried garlic – I buy this from the store, because it’s easier and we put it on everything. Even steamed rice. Naruto or Kamaboko – Steamed fish cake. I absolutely love this topping when I eat ramen at a restaurant, but I don’t add this when making homemade ramen. Nori or Furikake – Sometimes I add this, sometimes I don’t. I do love furikake on my Mazemen bowl though. Moyashi – Raw bean sprouts add some sweetness to the ramen, as well as a nice crunch factor. Crushed red pepper – I personally like to add a few flakes of red chili pepper on top. This isn’t traditional, but a personal favorite for me.
Pro tips to make the best easy chicken ramen bowl
Here are some pro tips to cut down the cooking time when making this easy chicken ramen. This homemade chicken ramen recipe takes about 45 minutes because I cook the chicken separately. I prefer to cook the ramen noodles separately as well. But here are some ways to make this recipe even faster using accessible ramen ingredients, and cut it down to 25 – 30 minutes!
Ready to use, store-bought chicken stock or broth eliminates one step altogether. Rather than adding large pieces of garlic cloves and ginger, mince or chop them finely in a spice grinder. That way you don’t need to worry about straining them out later. Add dried shiitake mushroom to the stock along with the garlic, ginger and spring onions, so that it will add even more umami flavor to the shoyu ramen broth. Add the chicken to the stock at the same time as the garlic, ginger, and spring onions. This will allow the chicken to cook as the stock is infused with all of the flavors. Once the chicken is cooked (about 20 minutes), you can chop or shred it and add it back to the base, along with mushrooms. Steam the greens in the microwave, or blanch the greens in the ramen broth. Spinach only takes 1 minute to steam in the microwave. I add a little oil, garlic, and soy sauce and steam in the microwave, and then it’s ready to be used. Using instant noodles will cut down on cooking time for the ramen noodles. If I do use instant ramen, I prefer to use NongShim Shin Ramyun ramen packets or Samyang ramen packets. They are thicker and hardy, and stay nice and firm for longer. If you’re using dried ramen noodles, you can increase the amount of stock (about 1/3 cup per person), and cook the noodles RIGHT IN THE BROTH too. Keep in mind though, this will make the broth more cloudy because of the released starches. This is why I prefer cooking the ramen noodles separately. If you didn’t have time to make the ramen egg earlier, no worries. It only takes about 10 minutes to make an egg, that’s not marinated. Just boil water, and cook the eggs for 6 – 6.5 minutes and then they are ready to eat as soon as they are cool enough to peel. You can boil the eggs while the ramen broth is being prepared. You can also cook the egg in different ways. If you don’t want to half boil an egg, you can just fry an egg, over easy, and serve it on top of the ramen too! You can also use the broth as a base, and top the ramen with leftover rotisserie chicken (or other leftover meat). This really cuts down on the time!
So, there you have it. This homemade ramen is nothing if not flavor-packed! I hope you guys love this chicken ramen recipe just as much as we do. If you are a fan of noodle recipes, then this chicken ramen is a must try!
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