Upgrade that 50 cent packet of instant ramen with something besides bacon and eggs but just as flavorful with these 21 easy vegan hacks.
While you can make ramen from scratch, we all know it’s so much easier to plop open a package of instant ramen and have a meal ready in minutes.
Boiling the soup with an egg or a few slices of meat can add instant flavor, but here are 21 ways to pack vegan ramen with extra savory goodness.
Upgrade your soup
We know the soup base from that little foil packet probably isn’t going to taste that great. Most brands usually need a severe boost of flavor.
Try adding a few of these easy to find ingredients to amp up the umami:
- Nutritional yeast – for that cheesy flavor everyone loves so much
- Soy sauce – just a touch will do because it is so salty
- Miso paste – but only if you enjoy miso flavor
- Vegan butter – melt in a pat or two for texture and body
- Peanut butter – if you’d like a little Thai flare and additional texture
- Seaweed – Add a few strands of rehydrated wakame to explode add a seaside flavor
Upgrade your noodles
Here are a few simple tricks to make those instant noodles just a little bit more “gourmet” shall we say.
7. Cook the noodles in vegetable stock instead of water.
8. Alternately, cook the noodles in a separate pot of water so they don’t get gummy. Some of the excess starch will wash off instead of ending up in your soup.
9. Finally, undercook the noodles, so they have some al dente chew. We all know how overcooked noodles are just a bit too plumpy and mushy (but we still eat them anyway!)
Easy Additions
You can’t add meat or egg, but you can add some colorful vegan options to brighten up those pale yellow noodle strands that look oh so lonely.
10. Tofu – drop in medium or firm cubes with the noodles, to soak up all the yummy soup
11. Frozen edamame – these add green and protein
12. Frozen peas and carrots – because aren’t they sitting around in the freezer anyway?
13. Frozen corn – along with vegan butter for butter corn ramen (double mmmmm…)
14. Baby spinach will easily wilt into the soup. Chopped up baby bok choy also just needs a minute or two in the simmering soup broth.
15. Mushrooms – No vegan meal is complete without fungus it seems. Add in the sliced shrooms of choice to cook with the noodles.
Don’t forget the garnish
Put the cherry on top with these easy garnishes for a pop of flavor.
16. Chili sauce – whatever favorite hot sauce you have sitting in the fridge
17. Togarashi – the dried red chili flake seasoning that sits on the table at Japanese ramen restaurants
18. Furikake – a flavorful seaweed seasoning commonly used for rice but works so well on ramen too
19. Nori crisps – the seaweed snacks everyone loves so much soften in the soup and turns silky
20. Fresh green onion or cilantro – fresh herbs go a long way to give pantry food some life off of the shelf
21. A few toasted sesame seeds and/or a drizzle of sesame oil provides nuttiness and savoriness
Brands of Vegan Ramen
Most packs of instant ramen come in beef, chicken, or shrimp flavors, but there are a few brands that are vegan friendly including these listed below:
Mighty Mike’s Vegetarian Kimchi Ramen
No matter which brand you buy, you’ve got 21 hacks to make it the best darn bowl of ramen EVER.
Kate
Doesn’t furikake commonly contain dried fish?
asiantestkitchen@gmail.com
Hi Kate! Thank you so much for asking. Furikake can contain dried fish. Does it commonly contain it? I don’t think it does. Dried fish is rather expensive, so it would really up the cost of the product. The brand I have in my kitchen now is Nashima from Japan. The ingredients are listed as sesame seeds, sugar, salt, dried green seaweed, black seaweed, and hydrolyzed soy protein. Great question, and let me know if you have any more!