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This Easy Chicken Ramen can be made at home in about 30 minutes! Â A flavorful broth with chicken and noodles, and don’t forget the ramen egg!
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Let’s talk about ramen. Â And I’m not talking about the ten for a dollar packs beloved by college students the world around. Â I’m talking about the good stuff. Â 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. Â 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. Â And there is a reason that ramen is so flavorful. Â It is pretty time-consuming to make a broth that complex. Â 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. Â 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. Â What I really wanted was to be able to whip up a super flavorful soup but in not very much time. Â Oh, and I still wanted that ramen egg, it is EVERYTHING.
So, this is not an authentic ramen recipe. Â But it is a bowl full of flavor, and you can make it in about 30 minutes. Â 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’ve made this 3 times in the past two weeks now. First time I didn’t have low sodium broth/soy sauce. The taste was there, but was way too salty. Definitely use low sodium broth/soy sauce. The second time I made it (with low sodium broth/soy sauce),I left out the chicken and just used veggies I had on hand (zucchini, onions, and green cabbage), and left out the ginger because I didn’t have any, and it still tasted amazing! Today, I made it again, without ginger, and used a TON of veggies that needed to get used up (green cabbage, onions and zucchini). I also didn’t use noodles this time because I put so many veggies in the pot, but did make the soft boiled egg, not marinated this time, and it was still delicious! Honestly, if you’re looking for a quick 20 minute meal (minus cutting up veggies), make it without the chicken, and just do the soft boiled egg and noodles and it’s just delicious. I’m hooked and will be making this many times, with many different vegetables.
Sooo happy to hear you loved it! Yes, low sodium soy sauce is an absolute must!
This recipe was awful. An absolute waste of time and was hardly edible. DO NOT add vinegar to ramen – incredibly bitter. Will be tossing out the entire batch.
Amanda, what kind of vinegar did you use? Rice vinegar should not have made the ramen bitter.
I agree. Low sodium everything is a must and this is AMAZING! Making it for the 5th time now! Give it another try 😊
Definitely, Low-sodium is very important! Thanks Kellie!
Good taste, but its not a 30 minute recipe when the first direction requires several hours of soaking the eggs. frustrating when you think its a quick weeknight meal
THIS RAMEN IS AWESOME! I am so happy I found this recipe. I found the flavor profile to be wonderful. The egg was perfect. My husband was so so impressed. The only change I made was to use thin rice noodles instead of Ramen since we are avoiding wheat. I hope my kids don’t get tired of it because we will be having it frequently.
So happy you loved it Rae!
It’s sooo delicious! It’s now our regular 🙂 thanks a lot for it!
I’m so happy you love it!
Very good, friends are always asking me for the recipe. You can make the broth in advance I soak the cut up chicken in teriyaki and stir fry it before putting it into the broth, I don’t shred it either.
So glad you love it Alex!
Tried this and it was great.
Even better when I had it for lunch the day after.
I do not think it was too salty and didn’t taste any vinegar at all.
Hi Fredrik – I’m so glad that you loved it!
I used this recipe to make ramen for first time. My boyfriend and I absolutely loved it!I used spinach instead of bok choy because it was what I had. I can’t wait to make this again.
I’m so glad to heat that Karen!
I’ve made a variety of ramens before, Tonkotsu being my favorite, but gave this a try because of the high ratings. Don’t recall ever seeing vinegar in a ramen recipe before. Very strong. My wife found it inedible. To me, the broth tasted more like hot & sour soup than ramen.
I’m in heaven! So comforting and delicious. I just did the noodles and eggs, no chicken this time. Also used manchuran noodles and tossed the seasoning pack. Soooo delicious. Thank you!
I’m so happy you loved it Sharon!
Both my teenage boys like to try cooking new things, so when my older suggested making ramen, I found your recipe. We were all impressed by how quickly it came together and how yummy it was. I make my own low sodium chicken broth, so no problems with the soup being too salty. We also added red bell pepper and julienned carrots, and subbed regular cabbage for bok choy (because that’s what I had). So delicious!
So glad you loved it!
Can we use regular soy sauce and just reduce the amount? If so how much to use?
Hi Raymond – Regular soy sauce is much saltier so I wouldn’t recommend it. I haven’t ever tried it with regular so I’m not sure what the correct proportions would be. I would definitely not use more than 1 TBSP to start. You can always add more if needed.
Thank you! We loved this recipe. I can suggest some chicken lover friends!
So happy to hear that!
The best soup I made in my life so far. I am not a big fan of mise base soup so this one is perfect for me. Thanks. So tasty
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that!
This was my first time trying to make Ramen. My teenage son loves the local Ramen restaurant, so I decided to try this EASY recipe. It was really good! It was a little salty for me, even though I used unsalted stock instead of low-sodium broth. I may decrease the soy sauce next time. There will be a next time! Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked it Gigi! Did you use low sodium soy sauce as well?
This was so delicious! First time ever making ramen for my wife (who is not adventurous when it comes to food) and I but it was a total success. Even our 4 year old daughter liked it. Cant wait to make it again.
Wonderful! I’m so happy your family loved it, Jacob.
Hello I have a question. How do you make it spicy? By adding more of the chili garlic? There is a ramen place that we go to that has 5 different levels of spicy. My son loves level 5 but the rest of the family prefers the level 3.
Hi Lupe – yes, you can just add more chili garlic sauce to taste, or sriracha. You can also make it medium spicy and then have your son add additional chili garlic or srirach to his own bowl to make it as spicy as he wants. I hope you all love it!
Wow!! SUCH a delicious and easy recipe!! Everything worked really nicely together and your tips were very appreciated! I added bean sprouts to your recipe, and loved every second of it. My husband couldn’t stop talking about how much he loved it!! Great recipe!! 🙂
Yay! I am so happy to hear that Natalia!
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious!!!! We were craving ramen from our favorite ramen restaurantbut due to the recent mandates, all restaurants were closed.the egg was better than the one served at the restaurant! This was so easy and will be a staple at our house. The store did not have baby bok choy so I used regular bok choy and cut it into smaller peices.
Yay! I am so happy to hear that Donna!
go to ramen recipe. easy and tasty
I’m so happy you love it!