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This delicious spicy ramen is a quick fix for your savory cravings. Featuring elevated instant ramen and flavorful homemade broth, these cook in just 10 minutes.
Love FAST and TASTY noodle recipes? Try my spicy noodles, Korean spicy noodles, Pad See Ew, and curry noodles next.
How do you make your stock-standard package of instant ramen taste like it’s from a restaurant? Make my famous spicy ramen recipe! Sure, you can buy this pre-packaged that involves adding hot water, but it is all preservatives and artificial flavorings.
In my elevated, homemade version, I make a simple yet flavorful broth with a handful of pantry staples and some aromatics. Once you boil the noodles in this broth instead of water and seasoning packets, you’ll be left with the most slurp-worthy and flavorful dish in less than 10 minutes.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Pleasantly spicy. If you LOVE spicy food, this ramen recipe will not disappoint. The warming broth provides pleasant heat.
- Budget-friendly. Instant noodles, a few spoonfuls of chili paste, pantry staples, and a couple of fresh veggies are all you need to make this recipe work.
- Ramen is a perfect dish for customization. Add your favorite proteins and veggies to make it your own.
- Incredible flavor. With sugar, vinegar, chili paste, and soy, you’ll have a symphony of sweet, salty, acidic, spicy, and umami flavors.
Ingredients Needed
- Dried ramen noodles. Use only the noodles, not the sauce. Fresh ramen will work, too, but you will need to simmer it in the broth for an extra 2-3 minutes.
- Vegetable broth. Instead of water, I love using vegetable broth for more flavor.
- Sesame oil. A must for any good broth-based dish. A little goes a very long way, so be mindful when adding it.
- Onion and garlic. Red onion adds a great flavor and body to the sauce, and the garlic boosts flavor.
- Tomato. Tomatoes and anything spicy are a fabulous combination. I used cherry tomatoes for the base as they are sweeter and balance out the strong and spicy flavor well.
- Sambal oelek. The ‘spicy’ element. You’ll find this hot Indonesian chili paste in any supermarket (it can sometimes be labeled as chili garlic sauce). Other sauces can work too, including sriracha or chili oil.
- Soy sauce. For the umami flavor and to balance out the spicy elements. Use tamari for a gluten-free option.
- Rice vinegar. You want to balance the heat with the acidity of rice vinegar. It works well in Asian recipes.
- Brown sugar. Similar to vinegar, sugar also balances the heat.
- Green onions, sesame seeds, and boiled eggs. Simple yet must-have toppings for any good bowl of ramen.
How to make spicy ramen
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Sauté the veggies. In a soup pot or small saucepan, sauté sliced onions, garlic, and tomatoes, then add the chili sauce. Continue cooking until the onions become translucent.
Step 2- Make the sauce. Blend the cooked mixture with broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar until smooth.
Step 3- Boil the noodles. Transfer the broth to a saucepan, bring it to a simmer, and cook ramen noodles until al dente.
Step 4- Garnish and serve. Finish the noodles with sesame seeds, spring onions, and soft-boiled eggs, and serve hot.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Adjust the spiciness. Add more or less red chili paste, depending on your love for the heat or add some other spices, like red chili flakes or cayenne pepper.
- Don’t skip out on the broth. The spicy tomato-based broth helps build the flavor that resembles a slow-cooked restaurant-style ramen.
- Don’t use the seasoning/ sauce from the ramen packet. The dehydrated sauce, seasoning, and oil don’t compare to the customized homemade spicy sauce. And you don’t want those artificial flavors when you can use fresh ones!
- Use leftover protein. If you have any leftover meat, use it in the ramen. It’ll warm up in the broth and flavor it simultaneously. Try sliced chicken breast, shrimp, tofu, or pork.
- Toss through more veggies. I love adding bell peppers, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, mushrooms, or carrots.
- Use different broths. I used vegetable broth to keep this overall dish vegetarian but feel free to use chicken broth, beef broth, or even fish broth.
Storage instructions
To store. You can refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
To reheat. Heat the ramen in the microwave until warm or in a saucepan to enjoy it the next day!
Frequently asked questions
Of course! Don’t feel limited by the noodles you use! The broth works beautifully with rice noodles, soba, udon noodles, and even buckwheat noodles.
More delicious Japanese recipes
Spicy Ramen
Video
Ingredients
- 2 packets ramen noodles seasonings discarded
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 tablespoons chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- In a non-stick skillet to pan, add the sesame oil and place over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and tomatoes and cook for a minute, before adding the chili sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
- Transfer the mixture into a blender, along with the broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the broth into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Once simmering, add the ramen noodles and cook until al dente.
- Top with sesame seeds, green onions, and soft boiled eggs.
Broth was absolutely delicious, also have never thought to add tomatoes into my ramen ***** 5 stars🤩!! New lunch recipe