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This Easy Chicken Ramen can be made at home in about 30 minutes! A flavorful broth with chicken and noodles, and don’t forget the ramen egg!
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Let’s talk about ramen. And I’m not talking about the ten for a dollar packs beloved by college students the world around. I’m talking about the good stuff. It has been all the rage for quite a few years, but for some reason I had never bothered to get myself to a ramen house for a bowl until recently when my cousins invited me to try it with them. I had a feeling I would love it and I was not wrong.
A bowl of ramen is a total flavor bomb, filled with a rich, flavorful broth, tender meat, noodles, and topped with the crowning glory if you ask for it – the ramen egg. And there is a reason that ramen is so flavorful. It is pretty time-consuming to make a broth that complex. I have been craving ramen prettty much every day since the first time I had it, but there isn’t a restaurant convenient to my house that serves it. I thought about embarking on the task of making my own real, authentic ramen, but after reading a few recipes I decided that was best left for another time. What I really wanted was to be able to whip up a super flavorful soup but in not very much time. Oh, and I still wanted that ramen egg, it is EVERYTHING.
So, this is not an authentic ramen recipe. But it is a bowl full of flavor, and you can make it in about 30 minutes. Also I have made it four times in the past few weeks, soooo, I’ve been eating A LOT of it and am not sick of it yet.
This Easy Chicken Ramen is a bowl full of flavor, and you can make it in about 30 minutes.
I learned a few things while making this recipe, and the most important one is about the noodles. I used fresh yakisoba noodles because I wanted that fresh noodle texture. But here is the thing. You can’t just cook the noodles in the broth and call it good. I really wanted to cook them in the soup because that makes sense and I didn’t want an extra step of cooking noodles separately. But the problem is that if you cook the noodles in the soup, they release a bunch of starch which thickens up the broth AND they start sucking up all the liquid in the soup. Then you are left with a bunch of soggy noodles and a soup with hardly any broth. It is not good. I mean, it isn’t bad. I still ate it. But it isn’t ideal Plus, if you reheat the leftovers the noodles pretty much dissolve. Nope, best to just cook the noodles separately , then serve them individually and pour the soup over them. Bonus points: You are totally in control of your noodle portion. Lots or just a few, it is your choice.
And let’s talk about the ramen egg. I now have an INSTANT POT RAMEN EGG RECIPE on the blog! For stovetop directions, I followed the instructions over at Just One Cookbook – except I subbed rice vinegar for mirin because that is what I keep on hand. I marinated them overnight and then just reheated them in soup. If you can’t be bothered with the marinating, you can just make a soft boiled egg and skip the marinating. Or even use a poached or fried egg! But really, I do recommend using an egg, it just takes the whole thing up another level. And if you happen to have the time to make the eggs the night before and marinate them, it is really good.
If you have an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker, I have a recipe for the Ramen Egg in the Instant Pot HERE. You may also like my recipe for easy chicken ramen in the instant pot – see that recipe HERE.
Easy Chicken Ramen
Ingredients
For The Soup:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root
- 4 garlic cloves pressed or finely minced
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms stems removed and sliced
- 1/2 - 3/4 pounds baby bok choy sliced into quarters lengthwise
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1-2 packages fresh yakisoba noodles* one package is about 7 ounces. Use two packages if you like lots of noodles. Fresh noodles are usually found in the produce section of the grocery store
For The Ramen Egg**
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
Additional Toppings (Optional)
- sliced green onion
- cilantro
- chili garlic sauce
- sesame seeds
- lime wedges
Instructions
To Prepare The Ramen Egg:
- Whisk together the 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of rice vinegar and 3/4 cup water, set aside.
- Prepare an ice bath by filling a bowl with ice and water.
- Bring a pot of water to boil (make sure there is enough water to cover the eggs). When boiling, carefully lower the eggs into the water using a slotted spoon or spider. Reduce heat if necessary to keep the water just barely boiling. Cook for 7 minutes, then remove from pot and place eggs in the ice bath. Leave in the ice bath for 3 minutes. Remove from ice bath and gently peel (egg will be soft). Place peeled eggs in the marinade and make sure they are completely covered with the marinade. Leave in the marinade for several hours or overnight. If keeping longer, discard the marinade and store in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Reheat the egg in the ramen broth (don't leave in the broth very long before serving or the egg will overcook).
To Prepare The Noodles:
- If using fresh noodles:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. When boiling, add the noodles and simmer for 3 minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water. Toss with just a little oil if necessary to keep them from sticking (mine already had a little oil on them, so I didn't need to). Set aside.
- (If using another type of noodle, follow package instructions)
To Prepare The Soup:
- Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant so that they don't burn. Add the chicken broth and 1 cup of water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce, stir to combine. Bring back to a simmer.
- When broth reaches a simmer, add the chicken thighs. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and reaches a temperature of 165°F.
- Remove the chicken and shred it with two forks. Add it back to the broth along with the bok choy and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
To Serve The Ramen:
- In a bowl, place a serving of noodles, then pour the soup over them. Top soup with ramen egg, sliced green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds if desired.
Video
Notes
**The egg is optional but I really recommend it. If you don't have time to marinade the egg, you can just skip the marinading step. You can also serve with a fried or poached egg if you prefer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
*NOTES: Many readers love the broth as is. However, some people find it too salty. This may depend on the brand of ingredients being used and personal taste. If you find the broth is too salty for your taste, add 1-2 cups of water to the broth.
Ramen Egg adapted from Just One Cookbook
HELPFUL EQUIPMENT: Dutch Oven
I am super excited to make this recipe!! I am going to a 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Party with a group of our closest friends. Everyone is bringing an appetizer from a country that participates in the winter games. This dish is what my husband and I chose to bring. We both love ramen bowls and can’t wait to try it with our friends. Out of all the recipes we liked at… this looked the best!!!
Hi Cheri – what a fun idea for a viewing party! So excited you are making this. I would suggest keeping the noodles in a separate container until people are ready to eat – the noodles tend to get too mushy and start to disintegrate if they are in the soup too long. Hope you love it!
I have been completely intrigued by the Ramen noodle craze, but hadn’t found “the” perfect broth until this one. It has everything – rounded flavor, acidic tang, garlic, ginger, and the perfect amount of spice. It wasn’t too salty, but I used a homemade chicken broth that wasn’t salty to begin with. I also added organic dried goji berries (Wolf berries) on my friend’s advice to make it more nourishing. Thank you so much for the recipe!!
Hi Karen – I’m so happy to hear that! That is interesting about the goji berries, I would never think of that but might have to try it!
Im not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but I imagine the overload of salty flavor is due to the oyster sauce. Fear not and for the love of all things ramen, dont skip the oyster sauce. My favorite way of combating powerful salt flavor is brown sugar and red pepper flakes or jalapenos. The sugar counters the saltiness and the peppers give it a great smokey element. If using jalapenos, slice, seed, and sear them in a very small amount of olive oil to cook out some of the heat. Dont over sugar or over spice. Start with small amounts and add as desired. Niether should stand out.
For diabetics, you can do the same thing with vinegar, but be very cautious.
I use this method with sugar and spice everytime I use oyster sauce and it hasnt failed me yet.
Thanks Kyle! Great tips! I would wait to add the sugar until after tasting so it can be added to personal taste.
The broth turned out absolutely incredible, but I did however have to water it down a bit. Regardless of using low sodium chicken broth and low sodium soy sauce, it was extremely salty (and believe me, I love everything to be salty lol). I ended up adding probably another 2 cups of water to the broth just to tone down the saltiness. Surprisingly, adding the water didn’t really take away from the flavor at all. This is a keeper recipe for sure!
Hi Cory, thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you liked the recipe. It doesn’t usually turn out too salty for us, but I have had a few other people think it was a little on the salty side. I suspect that it is a combination of what brands are used and personal taste. I’m glad adding the water made it perfect for you! I may add a note to the recipe suggesting this. Thanks again!
The ramen already sounds good man, I wanna make it but, I sadly don’t have the ingredients but, I would love some yummy Ramen!
Hi Ethan – I hope you get to make it sometime! I have had some readers leave out certain ingredients that were hard for them to find and they still enjoyed the recipe, but of course I think it is best with everything to get the most complex flavor.
Aren’t oyster sauce and fish sauce the same thing? I’m planning making this recipe but need to reconcile the amounts of those ingredients! Thanks!
Hi Jonathan! No, they are actually two different things. Oyster sauce is thick, savory and sweet. Fish sauce is very pungent, and is a much thinner liquid. They each bring different flavors to the party! I hope that helps!
This was so SO good!! I can’t believe how flavorful the broth was for the amount of time I spent on it. So rich with a little sour at the end. I did marinate the egg but only for 20 min. It came out fan-freakin-tactic. Im going to eat this ramen all winter long!
Yay! It makes me so happy to hear that! Thanks Angela!
I absolutely gonna try this amazing recipe! Although I don’t like a whole lot of ginger is there anyway I can adjust the recipe so I won’t have to use 4 garlic cloves.
Thanks 🙂
Hi Reyna, sure you can just use less if you don’t like that flavor to be too strong. I hope you love it!
I am making this for the second time tonight. I am leaving out the chicken and just going for the fresh veggies. I am impressed and that is saying a whole lot. My friend said this was better than the ramen she has had at restaurants. She also was very impressed by the egg. Thank you…. thank you.
Hi Shaprell, thank you so much! That means so much to me to hear. I’m really glad you like it. The veggie ramen sounds great!
I made this tonight for my house of ramen lovers, and it was awesome! The egg though….was my favorite part! We are in love and I will be making it again and again!!!!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that, thanks Jennifer!
Goodness gracious this ramen is so freaking fabulous!!!!
Yay! So glad you think so, Brooke!
Found this recipe on Pinterest. Tried it tonight and it was amazing. the only thing I did different was used chicken breast instead of thighs and button mushrooms instead of shiitaki. even my picky husband thought it was fantastic.
*for some reason the shift key is not working in the comment box for capitalizing. checked my computer and it works everywhere else. just thought you’d like to know.
Hi Louisa, Thanks so much, I’m so glad you loved it! I will look into getting that comment glitch fixed, thanks for letting me know 🙂
went to my first ramen place in NYC last weekend… fell in love. So I tried this recipe tonight and my husband and I love! Sooooooo delicious! I’ll have to go to an Asian market next time to find the fresh noodles… I could only find rice noodles at my store. (Still yummy) The egg is the best thing that has ever happened in my food world. 😂
Thank you!
Yay! So happy to hear that Amy!
I made this for dinner tonight, I t was good, but the ginger came thru really strong. I went ahead and made some chasu pork also. Great dinner thanks
Hi David, I’m glad you liked it! The ginger can definitely be adjusted for personal taste. It can be a strong flavor and not everyone loves it as much as I do, so feel free to reduce that. The chasu pork sounds great!
FYI – “marinade” is a noun. If you’re using a marinade to impart flavor to something, you want the verb “marinate.”
Thank you for sharing this recipe!! I had Ramen for the first time last week and was craving it so much that I wanted to try and make it myself. I’m so glad I tried YOUR dish…it was SO flavorful and delicious…and of course the Ramen egg topped it off! I made it for my 17 year old who is kind of picky and he loved it!! Keep the recipes coming 🙂
Meredith, thank you so much for your sweet comment, you made my day! I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
This broth recipe is amazing! Thank you! Surprised a recipe so quick and simple could taste so good. Unami heaven 🍜
Hi Michelle, I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to let me know you loved it!
My family and I are making this tonight! We can’t wait! It looks So good! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Tosha! Yay! Be sure to come back and tell me how it turned out! Thanks so much!
This looks lovely and I’m so excited to be able to make ramen in just half an hour!
Thank you so much Amy! I hope you love it!
Looks great. Is is possible to leave out the egg….I don’t like eggs….can’t help it
Hi Katie – yes, if you don’t like eggs you can absolutely leave the egg out! I hope you enjoy the ramen!