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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
Made this tonight. Replaced mushrooms with enoki mushrooms and still loved it. Used a little less soy sauce since I hadn’t bought a low-sodium chicken stock. It was perfect! The one thing I’d skip is the lime, since the original has enough acidity and the lime overpowers the flavors.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Natalia!
This recipe took well over an hour, but the wait was worth it. The flavor was simply amazing! We cooked this for a couple friends and they also enjoyed it. The eggs are also delicious. I couldn’t believe how great this tasted. This recipe id’s definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Hi Brit! I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you for your comment!
Don’t Change a Thing It is perfect as is. I found this recipe last winter when looking for new ideas. I have now made this several times and everyone loves it. The eggs are so wonderful and the flavour of the broth is perfect. This is now a new family favourite. Thank you
I’m so happy to hear that, thank you!
I’ve made this several times and my family absolutely loves this recipe. I’m actually back on this page to get my shopping list together for this evening after another request. A big plus is how simple and quick it is to throw together after work!
Hi Breanna – I am so happy to hear that! Thank you!
Making this today for dinner with friends. Their daughter is allergic to oyster sauce, will leaving that out ruin the broth completely? Or suggestions for something to sub in place?
Hi Robyn – it shouldn’t ruin it, I know some other readers have left it out. I would just make it without and then you can taste it at the end. If it is missing something you could add a little more fish sauce (not much, it is very potent. Start with 1/2 teaspoon), soy sauce, or some brown sugar. Oyster sauce is a little sweet and a little savory, so those are the flavors it brings. You could also try a little hoisin sauce instead, as that is a sweet thick sauce too. I hope that helps and that your family enjoys it!
Hi,
I saw your message and have a tip. I thought that if you still make this for your family you could remove your daughter’s portion/portions, then add the oyster sauce. Or, maybe since August2018 you’ve been making it without and loving it!
I love this recipe! We make it often. I make it mostly vegetarian for my daughter but then add rotisserie chicken on top for the rest of our fam! So easy. Depth of flavor is awesome! Website on the other hand is so frustrating. Jumps back to the top, reloads slowly on its own, too many pop ups. Hate that I have to fight it so often cuz we love this soup so much!
Hi Sandy – I am so glad you love the recipe! I’m sorry to hear that you are having issues with my site. I don’t have popups on the blog, so I’m not sure what those are. I really try to make this site easy to use, so I will be sending you an email to find out more about the issues you are having and try to resolve them. Please look for my email! Thanks for your feedback!
My daughter is vegetarian too. What did you use to sub for the fish and oyster sauce or did you just leave them out?
Hi! There are vegetarian substitutes for fish sauce and oyster sauce out there, although I have never tried them. Other readers have completely left them out and still loved the broth. If you leave out the fish and oyster sauce, I would definitely not skimp on the shiitake mushrooms, as they had a very nice umami flavor. Let us know how it turns out!
So good and so easy! We’re going through a huge ramen phase in my house, especially since my daughter started watching Naruto – she wanted to try Naruto’s ramen since it looked so good. I made this and some homemade dumplings and they were a huge hit! I ran out of steam (the dumplings wore me out – rolling out all those little pieces of dough) so didn’t get to the egg. But I’ll be trying that out soon. Any thoughts on using zucchini noodles instead of ramen or yakisoba noodles?
Hi Kisha – Yay! I’m so glad to hear that your family loved it! I love the idea of using zoodles. I haven’t tried it but I would suggest just putting them into the soup raw right before serving. The heat from the soup will probably soften them up enough, since zoodles cook so quickly. Let me know how it turns out!
This recipe is PERFECTION! Lived in Japan for two years. This is truly the easiest way to get pretty dang legit ramen. Amazeballs
Hi Alani – Thank you! That is quite the compliment! I’m so happy you love it!
After reading all these amazing comments I can’t wait to try this tomorrow night. thank you.
Yay! Let me know how it turns out!
My daughter made this for dinner…perfect for a 26 degree Oklahoma night!!
Our bellies are full & our hearts are happy!!
Yay! So happy to hear that Tammi!
This was so delicious! I used spinach instead of bok choy because it was what I had on hand. Like someone else said, this was as good or better than some ramen I’ve had in restaurants. We will make this again and again. Thanks for a great and easy recipe!!!
Hi Kendall,
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m so glad you loved it. Great idea adding spinach!
it is a chilly, rainy day and I felt like a nice bowl of soup. I came upon your recipe in a general search. The “ramen egg” caught my eye. I enjoy the eggs in ramen soup at the noodle house, but I could never figure out the timing of doing one at home. I had to try your recipe. 🙂
Your method of cooking the egg, popping it into an ice bath and then boiling the noodles in the same water and saving them in a bowl with a bit of sesame oil worked brilliantly. The egg was perfect with the right amount of firmness/softness. I did not have the time to marinate the egg for my lunch, but I will try the egg marinade in the future. It looks like a good balance of flavor. The plain egg was excellent. Putting in the cooked noodles at the end kept their texture with the right amount of bite. Once the egg and noodles were done, I emptied the pot and made the soup in it. Only one pot to clean.
Surprisingly, I had all the broth elements in my cupboard along with the fresh noodles. My only deviation from the broth was the lack of meat. The onion, ginger, garlic, mushrooms along with the egg was more than enough to satisfy along with the packet of noodles. The broth was rich and what I expected a restaurant ramen noodle soup to taste like.
I’m surprised to read that others found this dish salty. I ended up putting a little sea salt on the top of each soft boiled egg as a garnish and it was very tasty. However, my broth and soy sauce were both low sodium varieties, so that may have been the difference.
All in all, this is an excellent recipe and it will be added to my tried and true file. Thank you very much for sharing this on your blog. It made my day.
Hi Wendy – thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the ramen. Have a great day!
Just made this, and it tastes absolutely incredible! Soooo delicious, will definitely be making this regularly, broth tastes amazing!
Hi Steph – Yay! So glad to hear that!
Just finished making this, it was amazing!
Yay! So happy to hear that!
GREAT RECIPE. TURNED OUT GREAT!
So happy to hear that! Thanks Suzi!
This is awesome, but it took me longer that 30 minutes. No worries, it was worth it.
Hi Denise – So glad you enjoyed it!
I AM SO surprised others DIDN’T FIND THIS OVERLY SALTY. ANOTHER RECIPE I found THAT USED SIMILAR amounts OF LIQUID SUGGESTED 3 tablespoons OF SOY SAUCE. WE ACTUALLY ADDED ANOTHER 2 CUPS OF WATER AND IT WAS STILL TOO SALTY. I PLAN ON MAKING IT AGAIN USING A SMALL AMOUNT OF SOY SAUCE. I WAS CURIOUS AS TO WHY THE NOODLES CAN’T BE ADDED TO THE SOUP? THANKS!!! SORRY MY CAPITAL LETTERS ARE NOT WORKING FOR THIS SITE.
So sorry not sure what is going on with my capitals.
Hi Melodie – did you use regular soy sauce or low sodium? If you didn’t use low sodium that would most likely be the reason. The same thing goes for the chicken broth. Most people do not find this too salty but it could be a difference in the brands people are using. The reason I keep the noodles separate is that I find they get soft and start to disintegrate in the soup after awhile. So I like to keep them separate and just add them to the soup right before eating it. Hope that helps!
I also found it a bit too salty even with no sodium chicken broth and low sodium soy sauce, and also would use less vinegar next time. Just a bit too flavourful and puckering for me. Going to try diluting it today as well. Otherwise tasty.
Thanks for the feedback! It should be easy to adjust to taste by adding a little more chicken stock or even water 🙂
Made this for the first time and it was delicious.. my husband has never had ramen soup from a restaurant and he cobbled it right up. i didn’t add the oyster sauce since hubby is allergic to shellfish and so i added a little hoisin sauce, added an extra 1.5 cups of chicken broth, bean sprouts and chopped jalepeno. we’ll be making this again, thanks for a great recipe.
Hi Sheila! I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for your comment!
thank you! I made this last night and it was incredible! I only mAde one small change. I used chicken thighs with skin and bone to impart more natural chicken flavour into the broth. I can’t wait to make this again. And such a great recipe for my wheat/gluten free friends. It would be easy enough to use tofo or yam shiritakki noodles in it! The eggs by the way were perfection and I don’t normally like eggs.
P.s. sorry for the lack of “caps”. My phone is misbehaving
Hi Blair – I love hearing that! I bet the bone in chicken thighs give it even more great flavor! I’m so glad to hear you love the ramen!
I’ve made this twice in the past week! perfect for the cold days this winter
So happy to hear that Emonie! I’m glad you enjoy it!
This was a really good recipe. Thanks for posting it.
Hi Jeff, thanks so much! I am so happy you enjoyed it.