Simple Homemade Chicken Ramen
Easy homemade chicken ramen, with a flavorful broth, roasted chicken, fresh veggies, lots of noodles, and a soft cooked egg. Inspired by traditional Japanese ramen, but on the table in under an hour.
The Honey’s parents are American ex-pats living abroad in Tokyo, Japan, and while visiting them over the last seven or eight years, he’s collected dozens of favorite eateries throughout the city.
There’s the best izakaya in Kichijoji, serving up casual Japanese pub food, and countless kiten-zushi restaurants, where my English-speaking Honey can choose small plates of freshly-made sushi from a moving conveyor belt without having to order in Japanese.
He always makes sure to buy at least one Pocari Sweat from a vending machine (think Japanese gatorade), and of course, there’s his favorite ramen shop in Shinjuku, a tiny, crowded restaurant with a line out the door. Paintings of pigs adorn the walls, and big, steaming bowls of pork ramen are served to hungry patrons at a single bar counter.
what you’ll love about this easy chicken ramen
Real Japanese ramen, the kind that my Honey tells stories about, takes years and great skill to perfect. I wanted to create a simple ramen noodle soup that reminded him of Japan, but could be made quickly, with ingredients on hand.
I opted for chicken instead of pork, but kept the rest of the ramen vibe somewhat traditional: a killer chicken soup base with garlic, ginger, shitake mushrooms and soy sauce, filled with squiggly ramen noodles and slices of succulent chicken, and topped with fresh spring onions and a soft-boiled egg.
My version is on the table in less than an hour – and half that if you opt for store-bought chicken – and while it might not be completely authentic, it’s a flavorful, comforting soup just in time for the unmistakably crisp, chilly autumn weather that these first days of October have ushered in.
Be sure to check out these other weeknight dinner favorites:
- Easy spinach and goat cheese pasta
- Ginger noodle soup with Swiss chard
- Lemony kale and white bean soup
If you make this ramen, be sure to tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #forkknifeswoon and leave a comment and rating below letting me know how you liked it! Star ratings are especially helpful because they help others find my recipes too. xo, Laura
PrintSimple Homemade Chicken Ramen
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 2 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Saute, Pan-Roast,
- Cuisine: Japanese, American
Description
Easy homemade chicken ramen, with a flavorful broth, roasted chicken, fresh veggies, lots of noodles, and a soft cooked egg. Inspired by traditional Japanese ramen, but on the table in under an hour.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (boneless, skin-on)*
- kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to season
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tsp sesame or vegetable oil
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp mirin
- 4 cups rich chicken stock
- 1 oz dried shitake mushrooms (or 1/2 cup fresh)
- 1–2 tsp sea salt, to taste
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup scallions, sliced
- 2 (3 oz) packs dried ramen noodles
- optional: fresh jalapeño or chili slices, for serving
Instructions
Cook the chicken: ¹
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper.
- Melt the butter in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until the skin is golden brown and releases easily from the pan, about 5-7 minutes. Flip the chicken over and cook for another 4-5 minutes, until golden.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven, transfer the chicken to a plate, and cover with foil until ready to serve.
Make the ramen broth:
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add the soy sauce and mirin, and stir to combine. Cook for another minute.
- Add the stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Remove the lid, and let simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, then add the dried mushrooms. Simmer gently for another 10 minutes, and season with salt, to taste.
Make the soft-boiled eggs:
- Fill a pot with enough water to cover the eggs, and bring to a boil. Gently lower the eggs (still cold from the fridge) into the boiling water, and let simmer for 7 minutes (for a slightly-runny yolk) or 8 minutes (for a soft, but set-up yolk).
- Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water. When the timer finishes, transfer the eggs to the ice bath to stop the cooking process. Wait at least 5 minutes, or until cool enough to handle, then carefully peel away the shell and slice in half, lengthwise. Set aside until ready to serve.
Assemble the ramen bowls:
- Meanwhile, chop the scallions and jalapeño (if using). Slice the chicken into thin pieces. Set aside. When the eggs finish cooking, add the ramen noodles to the boiling water.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, until soft, then divide the noodles into two large bowls. Add the sliced chicken and the ramen broth. Top with the fresh scallions, jalapeño, and the soft boiled egg. Serve immediately. Enjoy!!
Notes
¹ Ask your butcher to remove the rib bone from the chicken breasts (leaving the skin on), or use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and increase the oven roasting time 5-10 minutes, as needed. You can also cut your ramen prep time in half by using a store-bought whole rotisserie chicken, simply slice off as much as you wish, and add to the ramen.
Keywords: ramen, chicken ramen, homemade ramen, easy ramen, japanese, soup, dinner, noodle, broth, quick, healthy
Delicious and so simple to follow your recipe. Look forward to trying more.
★★★★★
Thanks Billy! So happy you enjoyed the ramen!!
I mean, this is okay as a start, but it is still just chicken noodle soup.
What makes it actual ramen is using a dashi stock (simple preparation of kombu & bonito flakes that only takes 10 min the prepare), a teaspoon or so of topping oil (like sesame at the least) and a “tare” (which can just be sea salt with mirin, sake, etc). Just adding these steps in may add an extra 30 mintutes time but otherwise it is not real ramen and I just get tired of ramen being cheapened with shortcuts.
★★
Hi Yusuke, thanks for taking the time to comment, though I’m sorry to hear you weren’t inspired by my recipe. As I mention in the blog post, this is absolutely not an authentic ramen, and I don’t claim that it is. Instead, it’s a simple weeknight version inspired by the ramen that my husband had many times while visiting his parents in Tokyo. I’d like to think that if you try the recipe, you’ll find it’s pretty great, especially for being ready in as little as half an hour, and using more easily accessible ingredients than “true” ramen requires.
My husband and I made this last night for our family – delicious! Kids LOVED it too (ages 4 and almost 7). We doubled the broth and subbed Udon for ramen noodles. Then had a bunch of “toppings” (from the recipe + more) for the kids to choose and build their own soup (after we had poured the broth over their noodles and chicken). Toppings: chopped scallions, shaved carrot, sautéed sweet potato, chopped yellow pepper, sautéed kale, soft boiled eggs, and sliced jalapeño (for grownups). Total hit. Will definitely make this again, and likely with even more broth so we can have it on hand for a couple dinners during the week and switch up the proteins and toppings.
★★★★★
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you, Kat! I absolutely love the idea of doing the toppings. We do a similar thing with burrito bowls, but I’ve never tried it with ramen. Definitely going to try this. So happy the whole family enjoyed the recipe!
This recipe is awesome! My wife loves it and we cannot eat enough of it. The only thing I do different is add Bok choy into it and I double the broth. Thanks for an awesome recipe, I cannot wait to try the rest of your recipes.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Frank! Happy to hear it’s a favorite 🙂
Excellent directions yielding a seriously good easier ramen.
★★★★★
We made this and it turned out great! Except the noodles absorbed almost all the broth, leaving a thick, very salty sauce. I’d recommend cooking the noodles separately, or doubling the amount of chicken broth. We may even try adding some water to the soup base to help prevent this.
Otherwise awesome recipe!
★★★★
Really good ramen recipe, would just recommend using no sodium chicken stock and low sodium soy sauce. Using full salt versions are waaaay too salty. Also, I’d recommend using 1/2 the ginger , a bit extra garlic, and you can sub rice wine vinegar for the mirin. Also, add boc choy and bean sprouts for a more traditional vegetable component. Also, you can add about a cup of hot water if you need more broth and/or if it’s too salty. For those that like it spicy, add red pepper flakes to the oil, garlic, ginger mix as it’s simmering. Top notch!
Bob, this is essentially shoyu ramen, in other words soy sauce ramen. Soy sauce is naturally salty. If the mirin is too much for you and you chose to add rice wine vinegar maybe you should try Campbells Chicken Noodle.
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The best ramen recipe I’ve tried to date.
★★★★★
Loved this recipe! Even my picky husband liked it 🙂 The only thing I change is reducing the salt by using low sodium chicken stock – otherwise it’s a bit salty for my taste. Otherwise, no other changes! Great recipe!
★★★★★
My go to ramen recipe! It’s perfect.
Quite tasty! Added shaved carrots, chopped red and yellow peppers and spinach to broth, as I was combining two recipes that looked good. This one seemed more authentic. Will make again!
This recipe was great! I made it for my mom, dad, and little brother and everyone enjoyed it and wanted more. We couldn’t find mirin at the store so I just used wine but it was still a great and quick recipe that impresses.
★★★★★
Made it today and it was excellent. Definitely will make again.
★★★★★
jeff likes
★★★★★
Absolutely delicious!!!
Fortunately I tripled your recipe for our family of 7 and it worked out great! All the kids loved it!
Hubby was so impressed with the flavor! My oldest daughter said this was the best ramen she’s ever had! 😊
★★★★
5 stars!
★★★★★
Wow! I was so impressed with the recipe! So much flavor and so easy to make! yummy!
I made this recipe last night for my husband and I. We have the flu and needed some comfort food. It was SO good and easy!!! I do have a question about the Mirin since my kids may have it next time. Is there something that I can use that does not have alcohol in it? Or is it safe to feed them with only boiling it for a few minutes? Thanks!
Mirin and alcohol in general will burn out when boiled or heated in most cooking processes. Once the broth is ready, it will basically be nonalcoholic.
That’s what I thought, at first but when I researched it, it seemed like I was reading that a lot of the alcohol is actually retained so that kind of freaked me out.
I had put a leftover rotisserie chicken in the pressure cooker to make some rich broth and then looked online for something delicious to make with the chicken in the broth and found this recipe. I have made some very complicated Ramen recipes before and this one was very easy. It also ended up being one of the most delicious ones I’ve ever made. I made a very few substitutions: I use the rotisserie chicken leftovers, I didn’t have mirin so I substituted rice wine vinegar with a touch of sugar, and I use ground ginger instead of fresh. This soup was rich, full tasting, and absolutely fantastic. I plan to make this again and again. Thanks so much for this recipe
★★★★